Zombie Journalism

Yet another “academic” call has been made to change U.S. copyright law to provide special protection for mainstream news sources – and again, these academics ignore the very basics of what it means to aggregate news online.
This time, the nonsense comes out of the Wharton School, who one would think knows a thing or two [...]

Today is finally the day. Today, TBD.com has launched and all of us who joined this venture with high hopes of shaking up the news business get our chance to sink or swim.

A Massachusetts newspaper is banning anonymous comments by charging for the privilege. This seems like overkill – and it can eliminate important discussion.

I’m not sure where newspaper execs are getting their PR advice these days, but whoever/whatever it is needs to be fired. The print news sector has put out some head-shaking proclamations this week – all of which have a common theme of holier-than-thou insults directed at online news consumers.
First up is the absolutely appalling handling [...]

The federal government wants to help save journalism, but journalism doesn’t need saving. Old media needs saving, and they shouldn’t be given a lifeline.

Allbritton’s Washington, D.C. metro site will be named TBD – and I think it’s perfect. News at the start of the reporting process is “to be determined” – and that’s exactly where readers should come in.

Poynter had a talk with Jim Brady, president of digital strategy at Allbritton and my future boss, about the as-yet-unnamed metro site I’ll be working on in Washington, D.C. starting next month.
Brady outlines the site’s coverage plan, which is, essentially, a bit of the umbrella (regional news readers care about) and the microscope (community-level news). [...]

For months now, I have been excitedly following the developing news of Allbritton’s local news site. As the parent company of Politico, many online types have hopes this as-yet-unnamed project can revitalize online news – and maybe give the Washington Post a run for their money.
I’m proud to say that as of today, I’m going [...]

I’ve seen a lot of newsroom culture shifts in my admittedly young career, but the online deadline of now seems to be the biggest gap to cross. Many editors and reporters don’t think there even IS competition anymore.

Would newspaper editors be likely to eliminate anonymous commenting from their websites if they knew how much it would bring down page views?