Dispatches from the living amongst journalism's walking dead

Tag: mobile

Mobile Journalism in the Arab World

I gave the following presentation on mobile journalism at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) bootcamp in Cairo, Egypt. Following is a link to a document detailing the specific apps discussed in class, plus others to try out.

[HTML1]

Link to the full slideshow with links.

Link to the mobile journalism apps list.

 

Link roundup: How we’re getting paid this week

Monetizing location at the local level

My former employer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, has launched a long-simmering idea for a locally-based Foursquare-esque app. The location-based app, called Porkappolis, is available for use worldwide, but has a local focus. It’s similar to a lot of other location-based services, but the potential for local deals and gameplay could make it a real player.  We’ll see how it plays out – perhaps it can be an early example for other media venturing into the app space.

Newsflash: iPad hasn’t saved print yet

WWD reports that iPad magazine sales have gone down in the fall after the device’s summer debut. While this isn’t some larger sign that the iPad and other e-readers won’t help to fund news organizations in the long-term, it is a sign that the pricing structure may be all wrong right out of the gate.

As the commenters at WWD point out, the price structure for iPad magazines isn’t affordable or at all comparable to their print counterparts. Sure, some new iPad owners will buy that first issue to try it out on the new device, but they won’t continue if the price is continually as much or more than that of  print edition. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

More Facebook = More Web Traffic

Int he provided examples, at least, Facebook widgets, Connect and Open Graph integrations have led to a boost in referrals to those sites due to increased link-sharing, recommendations and comments from Facebook users. It’s hardly surprising, but it is a further indication that news sites that are closed off to including Facebook widgets and integrations are missing the boat on the web traffic they can provide.  Maybe it’s time to shake that corporate template, eh?

A bit more explanation of what’s going down in DC

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). He also talked a bit about what we on the community engagement team will be doing in terms of aggregation, curation and reaching out.

You can guess that I think the plans sound awesome since I accepted a job there and all, but I’m curious to see what you think. Does this sound like a site you’d want to read?

Recommended reading for April 24th through May 5th

These are my recommended links for April 24th through May 5th:

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén & Hosted by Pressable