'New News' retrospective: Online news and its full potential

Since the concept of online news first began, the internet has grown and evolved at speeds only known to the Japanese bullet train. So it was never going to be easy to predict and make promises of what web-based news had to offer. However back in 1995 a group of tech-heads tried, and a piece written by Nora Paul represents a good analysis of how right and wrong they were. She explores how far we have come, and whether online news has truly reached its full potential.

Paul argues that most of the predictions made over a decade ago were based around the theory that the internet offers a "limitless newshole," an endless space that satisfies the 'give me more' that reporters thought news seekers were craving. Looking at online news today it is clear that this is not the case. Too often, news organisations recycle stories from other media platforms. Paul recognises that the text on screen has often already been edited for print.

This is sometimes true for newspaper websites, but visit a broadcast site such as the BBC, and its vast array of news articles are written specifically for the site. As more and more money is ploughed into online news, this could one day be common place. For now, editors of print publications are happy to get their writers to write content that is suitable for both print and online, meaning the task of getting their stories online a mere 'uploading exercise'. This also means that the promise of the 'limitless newshole' cannot be reached, as we are constantly being fed a "downstream product."

Central to this 'limitless newshole' was the trailblazer's promise that people would be hungry for context and looking to the net for deep content on the latest news issues. In reality when it comes to reading the actual text people just want the quick hit. Paul describes the web as an "alert service", where people with little time come to to get their quick bites of the latest up-to-date news. We have realised that long, time consuming articles are not suitable to be read on the computer screen, and instead the reader just wants a short, sharp fix. I agree with Paul that where news sites are taking advantage of the "give me more" factor is in the use of multimedia and hyperlinking.

We can see this evident with almost all online news from the major news sites. Take a look at the latest news developments offered by Sky News in regard to the Burmese murders protests. They have their story, as up-to-date as this morning, the internet has been blocked in Burma. On the right of the screen they have a video player, allowing you to watch the broadcast report from Burma. They also have numerous hyperlinks, linking to related stories, videos, reports and images. More strikingly they link in the main piece to a blog, written by ko htike, a Burmese citizen attempting to bypass the state controlled media. The blog adds to the news piece a frighteningly close perspective of the events in Burma, and thus succeeds in fulfilling the 'give me more' desire whilst at the same time only being a few clicks away.

The above is a prime example of online news today. From this we can see that they were right in predicting that hyperlinking would be the biggest enhancement. Links have provided the audience with a greater context, and the link to the blog is proof that slowly but surely, big news sites and others are not scared to link to another site. Paul is correct in saying that most are still 'linking away' somewhat conservatively, and instead attempting to link to related stories and multimedia that is present on their own site.

However, even in the short 2 years since Paul published her article, there has been a growing acceptance that if you offer a good, insightful link away from your site to your readers, they are more than often likely to come back to you again, as they begin to build trust and familiarity with your site. This relationship can be further enhanced online through the communication between reporter and reader. Paul argued that back in 1995 they predicted through online news there would be no longer a "us and them" relationship, and instead the news will be democratised. Paul seems a little sceptical on how far we have come in regard to this issue. It may be that she wrote the piece in 2005, but I feel the web has allowed for a much greater and effective relationship between reader and reporter than that she gives credit for.

Sure, you can e-mail the writer, and are unlikely to receive a reply. However, comment facilities are ever-present at the end of online news pieces now, where readers can quickly leave their views and opinions, and reporters may post a comment in reply back. Blogs have rightly brought a "new wave of communication linkage" between reporters and their audience. And to disagree with Paul, almost all have comment links, creating live, emotional debate. Some news sites such as the Guardian, devote whole sections to blogs, such is the desire for them, and I feel they can adequately be up their punching their weight with the various discussion forums in the "community conversation" stakes.

Paul goes on to discuss how online news was thought to be able to offer a new expressive style, allowing the story to be told in a non-linear way. This is often not the case, because as said before, much of the online news text is the same online as its offline counterparts. However, blogs are a clear example of a new expressive form, allowing a more informal, intimate writing style.

On the whole, Paul offers a good insight into the growth and adaptation of online news over the last decade. However, one commenter on the piece offered a valid point. Paul had seemingly been blind to the numerous 'online-only publications', where all the news is written purely for the site, and many of the 1995 predictions have been convincingly fulfilled. Maybe at the time, sites such a CNET news were few and far between, but now there are many online-publications that clearly have one sole focus in delivering solid, interactive, online news content. In an attempt to generalise online news as a whole, she makes it feel that online news in it's entirety fails in fulfilling certain predictions, when in fact, there are probably news sites that are doing it, such is the vastness of the internet.

Possibly, online news has simply adapted to the demands of it's consumer. Many of the ideas brainstormed back at the "New News seminar" back in 1995 can be seen in online news today. Yet where certain ideas are not present, let us not see it as online news not fulfilling its true potential and instead see it as an example of how up-to-date, relevant, and ever changing online news is. Hey, that's half the appeal right?

Blogs and the news agenda

After looking at Easongate I thought it would be appropriate to think about the blogosphere and it's effect on the news agenda. Clearly in the case of Eason Jordan, bloggers played a huge role in creating the news agenda.

It was a blog post that unearthed the controversy, and it was a mass collection of non-stop hounding through blogs that forced the head of a major cable network to resign. So, is this the end for the mainstream media? Not quite yet, but blogs have earned their place alongside it, and they for sure are here to stay.

Blogging is personal. Blogging is instant. Blogging is relentless. You set the agenda. As with Abovitz, you don't have to abide to journalistic codes and conventions, covering up the truth for the sake of it being 'off-the-record'. Before, blogging was seen as a tool to criticise what people were listening to and reading in the mainstream media. Bloggers would listen to what the MSM had to say, and through their blogs agree or disagree. Blogs were and probably still are seen as heavily critical to the MSM, creating tension between professional journalists and bloggers.

However, as we have seen with Eason Jordan, one cannot always rely on the MSM to deliver the goods. Often it's duty to give us the facts is hampered by some under pining agenda. Whether it be influenced by advertisers, government, whoever, the MSM have set 'THE NEWS AGENDA' for years. However, as evident through the cases discussed in class (Jordan, Trent etc.) blogging has allowed the little guy, the people, to set their own agenda, and chase the truth.

Some think of bloggers as a regulatory body. This may in some cases be true, however they have become so much more than that. Through their quest to uncover what they feel is being wrongly kept from them, or simply missed by the MSM, bloggers are helping to shape the news. Bloggers are gaining in stature, with hundreds of readers logging on for their daily dose of comment.

The instantaneous nature of blogs allows bloggers to react to a story as it happens. Leaving the papers in their wake, readers are forced online as stories break throughout the day, and can comment there and then on what the blog has published. One links the story to another, who links to another, and so the process goes, as the story gets thrown across the blogosphere. At each turn,with each post, with each comment, the story is shaped into something the MSM could never be able to create.

And now it seems everybody is having a go... even me! Seriously though, even the MSM companies and corporations have tested the water with their own blogs now. They are slowly becoming intergrated into the media as a whole. Whether bloggers like this is another thing, however it does go some way to restoring some power back to the people.

The MSM is no longer the gate keeper. It can't restrict access to what the people want in the ways it once could. Today, the MSM may even look towards bloggers for a story. The citizen journalist has become a necessity within the media, and in a world where people want their news more personal, more conversational and ultimately more accessible. This is the agenda the majority now seek, and is a product of the ever growing influence from blogging.

Eason Jordan - The man brought down by Bloggers

Eason Jordan was the former chief executive of CNN. He was forced to resign from his role as a result of the pressure from campaigning bloggers, following a controversial blog post by Ronny Abovitz, who was covering a World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland.

Abovitz' post commented on an 'off-the-record' discussion, at the meeting, in which Jordan reportedly admitted to knowing of 12 journalists who were targeted and killed by US troops in Iraq. Abovitz asked him if he had any true evidence to back up the claims, as "if what he said was true, it would make Abu Ghraib look like a walk in the park". After, Abozitz' remark, Jordan backtracked and seemingly wriggled his way out of what was a very difficult situation.

However Abovitz, a man who had never written in the mainstream media, and who was writing his first ever blog, decided to take the 'leap of faith' and ignore the notion taken by most journalists present that the subject was 'off-the-record'. He went away and created the post, headlined: "Do US Troops target journalists in Iraq?". The rest as they say, is history.

The post caused a huge stir in the blogosphere, with right wing activist bloggers swarming all over the story, keen to present Jordan's comments as evidence of a self-hating head of a liberal network. In a later post, Abovitz offers Jordan solutions, and casts slight doubts over the ethics of the bloggers who were seemingly hunting him down. He talks of the power of the 'new order' and calls for the truth from all mainstream media, or risk the wrath of the blogosphere. With no substantiation to back up his claims, Jordan was eventually forced to resign.

The whole episode is seen as a classic David vs Goliath triumph. Some would argue that the bloggers hounded out Jordan, collectively ganging together to force their predominantly right-wing agenda. Others see the essence of the story, of how a blogger went against the 'cover-up' of the mass media and simply published the truth - what was said. When Jordan's comments didn't make the news, one blogger took it upon himself to force the issue.

Abovitz subsequently wrote; "This is not a left- or right wing phenomenon." "The story is much, much bigger than Eason Jordan. This is John Lennon's Power to the People, but turbo-charged and amplified. The people want a voice, and now they really have it. Their own voice, unedited, and unfiltered. It is not pretty. The people are quite irritated, mad, and upset."

Workplace Blog - Pizza Hut Team Member

When looking at Personal Journalism we were taken to a blog written by James Richards. He looks at Workplace blogs, and has collected a mass of different blogs at which to look at. Some may argue that due to their diary-like nature, they cannot be read as true journalism.

However, some of the personal experiences written in these blogs often have larger social references, and discuss matters that effect our lives on a day-to-day basis. Within a larger context, workplace blogs can take us to a world we don't know, whether it be the life as a paramedic, or what it's like to work in a restaurant. Either can tellus something new about the world in which we live, and in events that we actively participate in. With this in mind, I feel that workplace blogs have to be considered as a form of Journalism.


When browsing through the list, I happened to stumble upon an amusing yet intriguing blog that offered an insight into the world of restaurants, and more specifically Pizza Hut. 'Pizza Hut Team Member' is a blog written by an anonymous male who works in a Pizza Hut Express restaurant in a shopping centre somewhere in the UK. The blog seems to be well read, with the writer having 294 profile views, and each post averaging 4 comments. There is an obvious 'select' of hardcore readers, who read and comment on the blog almost daily.

The blog takes on a similar format to other retail/restaurant workplace blogs. The writer describes his day to day tasks, the various troubles he has with annoying customers and their range of requests. His writing style is short, sharp and conversational, and through humorous anecdotes he takes the reader through the 'daily-grind' and all the stupid and funny things he hears and sees whilst working.

He in parts also takes the form as a 'whistle blower' (although of course reveals nothing of any major importance), revealing newsletter comments, statements from head office regarding their situation on bird flu, and any new menu changes. He also gives us a look into some of the things that actually go on within his restaurant, whether it be the manager out back having a Red Bull and a fag, or the till being £10 down.

Some of his posts have larger social references. He speaks about Bird Flu (see link above) and the impact upon his restaurant, and Heelys and their various annoyances, both of which have been big news even in the mainstream media.

Overall, Pizza Hut Team Member is a very enjoyable blog to read, and anonymity permitting, I think the writer will be delighting us refill mishaps and ice-cream machine mayhem for some time to come.

Commenting on a Blog - Who Ate All The Pies

I read so much Online, yet as of yet have rarely crossed the final-frontier that is the comment box. This of course has to change, and so I went back to my favourite blog, Who Ate All The Pies. I done a short review of this blog right at the beginning of the course, and have been reading it ever since. However, I have never felt the urge to comment. This was until last night, when I was greeted with one of the funniest posts I have seen on the blog (and there have been a few of them).

The post was simple, but effective. A picture and matching humorous caption. Like the competitions you see in magazines and phone-ins on TV. You know, the 'insert a funny, ridiculous but perfectly suited caption here' competition. I saw it before the game and laughed. After the game,I felt compelled to comment. With Lampard gone, Gerrard put on a one man show that ultimately saved Macca's job.

My comment prompted other comments, especially from a suspected Chelsea fan who was keen to get behind Frank Lampard, and point out that in his opinion the win was meaningless and other still weren't performing. The Editor, Ollie also added a few immediate comments, which I generally agreed with. It was good as it added to the interactivity of the blog, as the commenting tool was acting like a forum. The comments went on to discuss the best team for the next match against Estonia. Team selection is always a hot topic, and didn't fail to provoke the pub-like banter you get with your mates on a night out.

After losing my commenting-virginity, I now crave more. Everyone has an opinion on everything right? It's time for us all to let it be known. I'm off to my beloved 'pies' to checkout some more of the post-match reaction.

Critical Evaluation - ReviewTube

After looking at blogging, different people's blogs and starting our own, the time came for us to work in groups to produce a couple of blogzines. After a short session of pitching ideas, we shortlisted the best and chose what we thought would 'work' online. After a bit of housekeeping, we got into groups, my group consisting of myself, Michelle, Fogg and Hayley. Michelle took the role as editor, as we embarked on her own personal idea, a 'YouTube blog'.

The idea was simple. Or at least it seemed this way. A blog containing all the best videos from YouTube, categorised within Music, Sport, Humour, Film & TV or whatever. After a couple of weeks preparation, we set off in an attempt to post daily in our chosen fields on the wonders of Online Video. We brainstormed a title, and ReviewTube was born (thanks Jim). After a pretty successful effort, the time has come to look back at the week that was, in the good old Critical Evaluation...

Critical Evaluation


Within the evaluation, I will endeavour to look at what I thought went well with the blog, and what may have not gone so well. Taking a look at the group has a whole, I will analyse the planning and production of the blog, whilst also taking a closer look at my individual contribution. One particular angle to evaluate is the strength of our work in comparison to other blogs or online journalism, and whether we made full use of the potential weblogs hold. I will also take a small look at possible ways we could market the blog, if we were to take the blog to the next level and aim to increase visitor/reader numbers.

One of the main strengths of our blog was the in the name 'ReviewTube', the logo, and the brand identity that came with it. The photoshoped logo worked really well, and the title summed up everything the blog was about in a succinct name that readers could remember and easily relate to. I guess you could say it was 'google friendly'. The name of the blog formed the focal-point within the header of the page, and set the tone for a layout which I thought worked really well.

In general we tried to keep the colours of the text red and black, upon the main white background which corresponded with our logo, again adding to our brand image and style. Typical to the standard layout of blogs, we formed our navigation bar on the right hand side, which comprised of a blog roll, a list of site links, a link list of our team members, and short introduction to the blog. I thought the introduction worked well, and allowed new visitors to immediately get an understanding of what the blog entailed. I also thought the blog roll, and list of links was of appropriate length, and offered a good variety of complimenting sites that readers may want to visit.

I also thought it would be good to add a 'featured' section, in which we would highlight particular running series or videos we liked. I also added a small picture of lots of 'video clip' stills put together, and added the caption "You watch it, We blog it" which would form our slogan. All these added features not only added to the accessibility and interactivity of the blog, but also contributed greatly to the success of the design layout, and filled a vast amount of white space that would have otherwise looked very dull and unprofessional.

I thought the overall planning of the production of the blog worked really well, with the final product finishing very close to what we all had both wanted and expected. Our target market of 'students' was spot on, and the simple, effective layout of the blog was beneficial to the target audience. The posts in general were all very effective, and overall we managed to keep a strong house style in regard to length, tone and structure. The planning of who was to post when, was kept to the very simple rule of somewhere between lunchtime and midnight, but don't post too near to somebody else, and this proved really effective. Everybody on the whole posted when they were meant to, without posting lots of content all at the same time. The 'Tube of the Day' idea was a particular favourite of mine, and planning of who was to write thison which day and when was near on seamless, which was both shocking and satisfying. Of course there was the odd occasion when people couldn't post for whatever reason, and although possibly it could have been detrimental to the blog, there was often enough content on there to be done with.

The decision to post the videos at the top of each post was in my opinion justified, as it made sense for the reader to watch the video, then read the review/response. The use of humour was prolific throughout all the posts, and again was a strength of the blog in that this style would be more suitable for our target market.

The posts were arranged in categories, which could then be accessed via the navigation area on the right hand side. Although we all had our separate categories within which to write, there were some issues in 'tagging' the posts into each individual category, particularly when trying to define 'humour', and for a while the system of organising the posts was struggling to work. However, with a little regular housekeeping, this problem was eventually overcome.

When looking in-depth at my own posts I was generally very pleased. Within my category of sport, I tried to encounter a number of different sporting videos from a variety of sports, and offered a range of choices from serious disciplinary issues in football, to funny and amazing moments in basketball and diving. I like Fogg, tried to post within another category, however due to time constraints only managed one post concerning Gadgets and Games (see 'Video Review' below on this blog). My favourite post was my Tube of the Day concerning the Dove campaign for real beauty. I thought my writing style was fluent and conversational, whilst at the same time I tried to be humorous, which was the general style we were going for with the blog to reach our target market.

When linking, I predominantly tried to link to other videos on YouTube, as I was writing for an 'online video' site. In some posts I thought this worked well, especially when I linked to a reaction to a video I was commenting on, or when I was showing somebody who was trying to copy the video. However, I may have focused on this too much, and on some occasions a link to a particular website or another blog post may have been more appropriate.

Another weakness for myself and a group as a whole was the tendency to make punctuation and grammar mistakes, as we rattled out the copy a little too quick. In future we would all do well to remember to do a few more proof reads before finally submitting our posts. However, on the whole I thought ReviewTube was a great success, and something that all the team can be very proud of. Even when at times it seemed that we would never be able to source material from the endless pool of video talent that YouTube has to offer, we all pulled through and produced an entire package that was both interesting, exciting, accessible and attractive.

If we were to continue to up-date ReviewTube with content, it would be essential to begin marketing our blog to pull in more readers, so we could eventually sell advertising on our blog and make millions (MWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH). No really, evil world domination aside, a few more readers would really be the next step, so that we could actually start writing for a real readership. I began to put in a few minor measure to increase our readers, by creating a Technorati account, and offering a feed subscription service with Feedburner so that readers could stay up-to-date with the blog, and could find us and link to us via Technorati. However, a real marketing strategy would be needed to fully launch ReviewTube and as a group we thought of a variety of methods.

The prospect of releasing a promotional video on YouTube was regarded one of the most suitable and effective ways of getting the blog noticed, as after all it would be advertising a YouTube blog, on YouTube. We also thought that it would make sense to lurch on other blogs and related forums, and from time to time, when relevant comment on posts and link back to our blog. Finally, we decided we could resort to 'spam-post' flyers across the entire University with showing the ReviewTube logo, and the address. This inturn would create mass curiosity and hysteria over what ReviewTube is, so that our target student market would then get online and find out for themselves. Genious! No? Well, just a thought.

Video Review

Robotic Beer Launching Refrigerator - Click here for more free videos

Here we have possibly one of the greatest inventions known to man. Take a standard fridge. Add a man with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering/Computer Science. Get him to install a few motors, wiring, controllers, triggers, and a whole lot more technical stuff I have no idea about. Add beer. What do you get? Well it's a beer launching fridge of course!

Lets take a moment to thank Mr John W. Cornwell. Take a look at his site and we see that the Beer Launcher is one of many weird and wacky contraptions, however it is of course by far the best. How someone has never thought of this before I do not know. With the influx of mini-fridges, a fridge in the living room for most students is now par for the course. And how often is it that your watching TV, a film, or playing the computer when you think, "I really need a drink, but I just can't get up and miss this bit." Well with this ladies and gentlemen, your troubles are over.

The fridge holds cans of beer (or whatever you like), in a 'magazine', which self loads the cans into a catapult system on top of the fridge. The catapult can then rotate so as to point in the desired direction, at which when commanded it flings the beer in the air, to it's required destination.

As you can see, the beer launcher is extremely successful, offering precision accuracy to the extent of launching the beer into the man's hand who is sitting on the sofa. However, one possible gripe is the sheer noise of the machine, and it would almost certainly be an annoying put-off whilst watching the TV, even with a crowded room of mates. Keeping on the crowded room theme, surely a misplaced launch towards an unaware friend could also result in some hefty blows to the head, despite offering a chilled, refreshing pain relief for when trying to recover.

Overall, as homemade gadgets go, the Beer Launching Fridge must be up there with some of the best. If you took time to look at the inventor's website, you would have also seen that he is considering manufacturing a few of these things to actually sell, such is the interest in his machine. At a hefty $1500, you better get saving now. Maybe if you and your mates all chip in, the investment would be well worth it. Even I'm cautiously thinking of putting in an order!