JackLail.com

Every journalist needs hacking tips from the NSA

2013-05-10T01:15:57Z

And here they are in over 600 pages. The back story about the PDF from Wired, which says the e-book got released as a result of a Freedom of Information request (thanks Sunshine) filed in April.

Some of the stuff is out of date, but much of it is not and the tricks and tips are useful and insightful. (See the Google Hacks section).

Here's a site and page it references (although the URL has changed) for the math-challenged journalist (yes, all of you)

(H/T: Mike Elgan on Google+)

Mapping hot videos

2013-05-08T10:46:18Z

I like this new trends map YouTube announced yesterday. It's a great data visualization.

The Rebel Mouse look

2013-03-29T21:18:03Z

Jack Lail

Tips on comment management

2013-03-26T19:06:26Z

New post by @saduros: Tips on keeping comments constructive from @jacklail bit.ly/10ffDlw
— Knight Dig Media Ctr (@KDMC) March 26, 2013

Is 'conversation management' a core newsroom function?

2013-02-28T14:38:26Z

There a good bit of continuing discussion about comments and how to manage them (see the link list below). One camp, of which newspapers and TV stations seem to be moving toward, are trying to find pain free ways to manage comments (technology solutions) or to elminate them. The problem: They're just so darn messy. Technology solutions alone are unlikely to be successful.

The other, mostly Internet news organizations, are putting more bodies (theirs or their users or both) to managing comments as a content resource. Whether they can create conversations instead of flame wars remains to be seen.

It is possible both strategies will succeed, at least in the sense of meeting the objectives of the people putting in the policies. Those that find comments altogether too messy will find ways to minimize or hide them. Those that want to use them to feed audience interest may be successful as well.

The question is whether "conversation management" is a core function of news organizations and their newsrooms or if they are still at heart one-way communicators?

While not just about comments, this piece on "The Princess and the Trolls" is a fascinating read.

NASCAR's wrong turn on Fair Use

2013-02-24T16:29:46Z

NASCAR made perhaps one of the more novel copyright claims ever: Compassion.

Following the horrific crash during the Nationwide race Daytona on Saturday, spectator Tyler Andersen shot a video from the stands and uploaded it to YouTube.

NASCAR quickly had YouTube take down the video, later issuing a statement to The Verge:

"The fan video of the wreck on the final lap of today's NASCAR Nationwide Series race was blocked on YouTube out of respect for those injured in today's accident. Information on the status of those fans was unclear and the decision was made to err on the side of caution with this very serious incident."

Even for NASCAR, somewhat famous for the interpretations of its rules, this was a stretch. There's a lot of things that can be protected by copyrights and quite a bit of latitude in the use copyrighted material under Fair Use, but compassion is not one I've ever found.

For his part, Tyler Andersen understood:

Can fully understand why NASCAR took the video down. Meant no disrespect to any involved. Once again, keep all affected in your prayers.
-- Tyler(@TAndersen904) February 24, 2013

NASCAR's like family, right. Except, no, it didn't have that right. While it can use the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to get videos of races removed, using it in the context of what clearly is a news event (AP reports at least 33 were injured) is overstepping the bounds.

After journalists, news sites and others began questioning NASCAR's action, YouTube reversed the takedown, restoring the video.

Cory Bergman at Lost Remote:

"Second, even if NASCAR did have the right to pull the video under the DMCA, the right of the crowd to tell a tragic story should supersede it. The photographer, Tyler Andersen, was covering a news story unfolding around him, and he wanted to tell the world about it (he alerted ESPN on Twitter to his clip.)"

Some have pointed to the back of the ticket fine print, which says the ticket holder agrees NASCAR owns all images, sounds and video from the event. Whether restrictions like this are legal is a question. Media organizations have lobbied against them wherever they pop up and restrictions in sports media credentialing is a major and growing issue.

Beyond the legal issues, how practical is it? Nearly everyone has a cell phone capable of capturing images, sound and video. NASCAR owns every one of those photos and videos a fan capture while inside the track, even including that one of the drunk woman who took off her top?

Sure, NASCAR, MLB, the NFL, the NCAA and the roller derby league can own the media rights to their events so you can't set up your camera and live stream it. That's what ESPN pays big bucks for.

But what if the entertainment turns into news? None of those organizations can copyright news itself.

When the event turns into news, then Fair Use, the ability to use copyrighted work without permission or payment, should apply and it applies to citizens with cell phones just as much as the New York Times or CNN. The problem is Fair Use is a bit like what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said of pornography: "I know it when I see it."

Even journalists who increasingly deal with copyright and fair use daily, don't understand it. And the legal concepts haven't quite kept pace with the advancements of technology.

John McQuaid, writing at Forbes.com, said:

"There are inescapable contradictions between a asserting a legal claim over recording everything that happens in a certain place, and then filling that place with tens of thousands of people with the capacity to shoot video and instantly upload it to the Internet. Especially when something newsworthy happens. And when your organization is already managing a strong social media effort that depends on interaction with fans. This is where the privatization and monetization of everything meets the democratization of the digital age."

Robert Scoble picked up a similar theme on Google+, wondering how that will play out in a day when everyone has something like Google Glass.

For its part, YouTube told the Washington Post's Erik Wemple the video was restored because:

"Our partners and users do not have the right to take down videos from YouTube unless they contain content which is copyright infringing, which is why we have reinstated the videos."

NASCAR should protect its financial assets, which include the broadcast of its events, but should not do so at the expense of news coverage or social media use. It should take a position that favors a broad interepretation of Fair Use.

Staci D. Kramer had several additional suggestions for the racing sanctioning organization.

'Without fear or favor' could be an exception in journalism's history

2013-02-19T12:22:45Z

Some 117 years ago, Adolph Ochs, who began his career in Knoxville before buying a newspaper in Chattanooga, published a set of principles for his newest newspaper in which he said it would "to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved."

Ochs, but 38 at the time, wrote that in The New York Times. It was a winning business model. "Without fear or favor" became a journalism credo that served journalism and the business of media well for over 100 years.

But former Newsweek editor, Pulitzer Prize winner and historian Jon Meacham said the course Ochs set may turn out to be a brief exception for journalism. The media of the 1700s and 1800s was highly partisan and the media seems to be returning to those roots today. That is where revenue is flowing, Meacham said, and you go hunting "where the ducks are."

Mecham's comment was in response to a question about editor Francis Preston Blair following a speech he gave on President's Day at a packed Bijou Theatre in Knoxville.

He didn't mention them by name, but probably the biggest example of this trend are the news networks: Fox, MSNBC and CNN. CNN, which doesn't align itself with either conservative or liberal political point of view, trails in the ratings to the other two, which have adopted strategies with strong political points of view.

Some suggest transparency is the new objectivity. Where do you see the ducks?

(A rare photo of Adolph Ochs, about the time he was beginning his career as a Knoxville journalist. Photo from Metro Pulse.)

Frank Munger does 'How I Got That Story'

2013-02-17T00:59:00Z

Knoxville News Sentinel senior writer Frank Munger will be doing a "How I Got That Story" webinar on March 20.

The webinar is being held by the Scripps Howard Foundation; register here for the free one-hour session.

He'll be using his coverage of the July 28, 2012 break-in at the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. by three protesters to talk about:

Using experience to advantage.
How to create experience if you don't have it
Using blogs to break news, build audience
Sources, sources everywhere

Here's a one-sheeter on.High-Security Letdown.

Being a jackass is a NCAA sanctioned event

2013-02-15T17:48:39Z

A trio or more of media groups have been asking the NCAA to sit down and talk about changes it has ordered in the coverage of NCAA events that are detrimental to news organizations and their audiences.

So far, the NCAA just hasn't found the time for a sitdown; no doubt, busy counting the cash from some TV contract.

In an attempt to get some dialogue going, this letter was written by the American Society of News Editors' attorney, Kevin Goldberg, to outline the frustration with the NCAA's continued indifference to the requests and to put a spotlight on the changes the NCAA is putting in for the upcoming basketball tournaments.

Talk about March Madness.

Are comments just so 2009?

2013-01-16T01:30:00Z

Some recent links about comments on websites.

A resolution for 2013: Critically rethink news beats

2012-12-31T13:13:57Z

A good 2013 resolution for editors in newspaper newsrooms is: Critically rethink beats.

There is a great discussion of why beats need rethinking that began over the weekend.

Former Greensboro News & Record editor John Robinson sparked it in a blog post titled "Fix Local News Or Die*." He writes:

Here's the problem: Either local news isn't that interesting or newspapers are writing about it the way they always have and THAT'S not all that interesting. Or both.

Robinson says how newspapers cover local news is often boring. designed to fill a hole, not a need.

"Our niche is local news," newspaper editors have said. No, your niche is boring, says @johnrobinson, a former editor. bit.ly/TTgaLx
-- Jay Rosen(@jayrosen_nyu) December 30, 2012

Steve Buttry, Digital First Media's Digital Transformation Editor, started discussing the post on Twitter and later combined some of that conversation with some thoughts of his own on how news beats might be changed.

A couple of his suggestions:

Maybe you shift the attention of an education beat away from what school boards and superintendents do and more toward what teachers and students do in the classrooms. Maybe you shift the attention of a health-care beat away from hospitals and health-care organizations and more toward doctors and patients and families.

He also brought up a pet beat, a life struggles beat, a finding work beat.

There's even a poll.

Josh Stearns pointed to an Oct. 4 post he did on the PBS MediaShift site called "Should We Blow Up Reporters' Beats in the Digital Age?"

Rethinking beats in 3 acts: @johnrobinson: johnlrobinson.com/2012/12/fix-lo... @stevebuttry: stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/wha... @jcstearns: pbs.org/mediashift/201...
-- Josh Stearns (@jcstearns) December 30, 2012

One idea Stearns brings up is "what if beats had time limits or an expiration date?"

Guy Lucas at his Newsroom with a View blog resurfaced this idea:

The success of any attempt to change or "fix" local news is ultimately dependent on publishers and the executives who supervise them agreeing with the need to restructure the newsroom pay scale and to end, where they exist, any mandates that the front page absolutely has to be all-local. Yes, I mean better pay, but I also mean fewer people in the newsroom because the revenue isn't there to raise pay and keep the staff the same size, which is the reason publishers who want all-local front pages have to give that up in the name of getting better reporting. That also means more pressure on editors to ensure their staff follows through - more-engaged editors, more-engaged reporters.

Robinson tweeted that he planned a follow up that offered some ways to address local news.

Mads-Jakob Vad Kristensen, digital director of Berlingske Media in Denmark, observes: "With paywalls being erected around local content, 2013 will be the true test of whether the local audience puts the same value against the local content as the producers of same do."

That observation is spot on because local news coverage as it is now practiced won't be greatly missed despite the hand-wringing to the contrary. "Lively," "readable," "engaging," "insightful" are not words you will hear describing most newspapers, much less "must read."

If newspapers are not creating "must read" content, all the tablets in China and all the publishers great paywalls will not reverse their fortunes.

Skimmed over in the debate is what is "local news?" Is it merely geography?

Happy 2013. It's off to a good start on its eve.

More mobile friendly design

2012-12-12T00:24:22Z

I've switched this website to a more mobile friendly design. It's the new "Rainier" template that ships with Movable Type 5.2.2.

Still doing a lot of finish work, but I like it so far.

'I live in a game perserve of corruption'

2012-12-08T18:27:59Z

"Black & White and Dead All Over" sounds like an interesting documentary, if a bit mysterious at this point. Here's the trailer.

I love the David Carr quote: "I live in a game preserve of corruption."

Doing better storytelling with opinion polling

2012-11-22T18:15:34Z

One of the more intriguing demos I saw at Georgia Tech's People and Technology Forum 2012 a week ago is one with the seemingly obtuse name of "Tangible Anchoring."

I'd taken a look at this project at an earlier technology demo at Georgia Tech and it continues to be refined and enhanced.

In the video above, Susan Robinson a PhD student in the Synaesthetic Media Lab at Georgia Tech talks about how it works.

It's an effort to come up with something better than the "Magic Wall" type of displays you see on shows such as CNN's "The Situation Room."

The hub of the project is a tabletop data display. You can use objects (in the demo, lighted blocks) on the tabletop to query and filter databases displayed in a map view of United States or in other ways.

MultiMedia content, such as videos can also be launched from the tabletop. the tabletop view is also displayed on one of three screens above the table. The left and right screens could be used for to play those videos or switch to other video sources.

One of the sources that can feed the databases being manipulated on the tabletop is an Android issue-based polling app called iOpinion, developed as part of the project.

One model for using iOpinion is for reporters in the field to use the app to do "man in the street' poll questions, including shooting video of the poll subjects and capturing capture geo-location information from the phone. It could also be used as a downloadable app with the ability to take an individual poll only once. Either way, it's part of the data layers on the desktop that can be quickly and visually analyzed.

The students working on the project are Susan Robinson, John Chandler, Paul O'Neill, Basheer Tome, Jinhyun Kim, and Aman Parnami. Associate Professor Ali Mazelek of the Synlab oversees the research.

They see the project as a convergence of tabletop computing, mobile user-generated content, the Web and broadcast channels.

A paper published by the team says their research "explores how computational media might be used either to represent multiple viewpoints or enable viewers to examine bias, analyze opinions, and develop a balanced perspective."

Work on this idea has been going on for a few years and it'll be interesting to see where it goes. It's a research project, not a polished project, but you can see how it could be powerful data storytelling tool for a variety of uses.

(Photo from Georgia Tech's Synlab)

If you're after culture change, it helps to be an emotional psycho

2012-11-20T02:53:39Z

Anybody that has ever been involved in a culture change or newsroom transformation effort has got to appreciate what Vanderbilt University football coach James Franklin has accomplished.

He has more wins in his two years at the prestigious private university in Nashville than any Vanderbilt coach since 1904-05.

The team is bowl-bound for the second year in a row, a first.

It was evident in the historic win Saturday night over Tennessee, that the team believed it could beat its in-state conference rival, something not seen in Vanderbilt teams or its fan base in many a year.

The 41-18 beat down of the Volunteers was the Vanderbilt's biggest win over the Tennessee since 1923, when Minnie Pearl was just 11.

This from the school that had been marked a "W" for most Southeastern Conference schools as soon as conference schedules were released. Vanderbilt's football peer group is Northwestern and Duke; it has to play Alabama and LSU.

I got to hear Franklin this summer at the 247Sports Publishers' Conference.

He described himself as "a very passionate emotional psycho." I'd agree. And if you watch him in the sideline, you'd believe him, too. But his passion is winning over doubters.

Franklin talked about how he is trying to change the mind set and culture of not only Vanderbilt's players, but also it's students and fans, the Nashville community, fathers and mothers of high school football players and just about anyone else that will listen to him for at least 30 seconds.

He is a loud, tough, blue-collar Philly guy who excelled as a quarterback at a small college.

His method for changing culture is uncomplicated and managable: "You just take it one bite at a time."

It's gritty and old school. He believes success comes from optimism ("we will nearly always get what we expect"), hard work (just out work 'em), attention to detail (pay attention to process) and a collective commitment to excellence.

It's simple and a bit crazy: "I'm asking you to invest more than it might make sense."

Whatever, it's working. He's changed perceptions. He's changed a culture. He's changed hearts.

Yet, a newsroom of cynical journalists isn't quite the same as a locker room of impressionable young college football players when it comes to changing what people believe or how they act.

I wouldn't tell Franklin that. He's coaching in the toughest college football conference in the country, where losses mean firings (two coaches have been fired this after their games with Vanderbilt).

"A leader's job is to set the standards and set the expectations. I believe the sky is the limit," he said.

We could use a few more "sky-is-the-limit" emotional psychos like James Franklin in our newsrooms, don't you think?

(Vanderbilt University photo of James Franklin.)