Archive for January, 2009
Subscribe to comments is a must-have feature
Every Web site that allows users to write comments should also have a mechanism to allow users to subscribe to comments. Subscribing to comment is a way of notifying a user when new comments are left, typically via e-mail. This simple feature is a great way to foster deeper conversations and increase page views. It’s [...]
It’s not personal — it’s just Twitter
We don’t have to follow each other on Twitter, and it’s not poor form if I don’t follow you back or vice versa. That’s the point of followers and followees and not friends. It’s not a connection like Facebook or LinkedIn. Just because I follow you doesn’t mean you are required to follow me back, nor [...]
Is your proprietary software better than open source?
That’s a question every news organization should ask itself, whether it be for its main CMS or other Web software. And when I say proprietary, I don’t mean just software built in house but also software provided by vendors. If the answer is no, our proprietary solutions are inferior, than you have some serious soul [...]
Why even have a press if…
“If you’re just going to repeat press releases, why have the press?” – Dan Lyons. That’s fantastic insight from Lyons in these times of churnalism. Lyons was supposedly banned from CNBC for telling one of its reporters to apologize to viewers for being serially wrong about Steve Jobs’ health. Instead of Lyons being banned from [...]
How can we honestly ask people to pay for news?
All this talk about setting up an iTunes for news and getting people to pay for news is rather silly. Steve Yelvington nails it on Twitter: Repeat something I said years ago: How can you expect somebody to pay for content if they won’t read it regularly when it’s free? There isn’t one news source [...]
Is David Carr a troll?
Seriously. I’m not trying to be funny. There is no way that his columns are real. No way. I’m convinced they only serve as link bait. He writes some of the most asinine, unresearched, unfathomable crap ever. There is no way the NY Times hired him to do anything other than troll and bait people. [...]
News site needs new, innovative user interfaces
We can all agree that the Web is a vastly different medium than print. Which is why I can’t understand why almost every news site tries to emulate the user interface of a newspaper. The mediums are nothing alike, and they each have much different strengths and weaknesses. Why are we still making dynamic Web [...]
CICM offering internship to Web savvy students
Are you a student who is Web savvy? Are you looking for an internship that will help your future career in the changing world of journalism? If so, check out Innovation in College Media’s internship opportunity. The Internship has several advantages over traditional media internships. First, it’s sorta paid ($500 stipend), unlike many internships. [...]
The NYT is selling front page ads. Oh nos!
Seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. Well, it is, but it doesn’t mean the quality of The New York Times will diminish. Nor do I think for a second that front page ads will influence editorial decisions. But this is a big move for the Times, just not in a way traditionalists think [...]