NewsTechZilla » Knoxville

The Alien News Network And A Link Dump

Trace Sharp — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:09:07 +0000

Been a crazy few weeks for Scott and I here at NewsTechZilla. I have been downsized as predicted and he’s been carrying much of the load. I wish to thank him and get back to bidness.

Hopefully things will get back to normal.

Let’s scoot around these innertubes, shall we?

Reading Online Comments Shouldn’t Be Icky – Jack Lail
Billie is one of the main reasons that Scott and I bonded. Seriously. – Michael Silence
John Robinson thinks exclusives are dead – John Robinson
Spotlight on a new blog to me called Photography is not a crime- Carlos Miller
Every community needs one of these - Knoxville Social Media Association
Drivers at the Minneapolis Star are threatening a strike. Jarvis gives his take on it. – Buzz Machine
Dave Winer remembers how a newspaper treated him when he was a kid. There is a lesson here, campers – Scripting News
Morley Safer is not a fan of citizen journalism – TV Newser

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What Category Of Commenter Are You?

Trace Sharp — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:31:29 +0000

This Is How We Roll asks the question and they identify three types of commenters.

The Troll – Everyone knows this guy (and it’s usually a guy), who intentionally visits sites in order to stir things up, provoke a furious reaction from other posters and then disappear. Classic examples are the Free Republic types who visit Daily Kos and vice versa.
The Droll – The mainstay of all fun sites, this poster regularly tosses out clever comments, plays on words, one-liners or amusing pictures. There are a lot of these characters on places like Fark.com

The Relentless Pol – Posters who can’t join any discussion without immediately using it to make a political point, i.e., “The current lack of sunspots is the direct result of the Bush administration’s failed policies.”

They point to this story at ABC which tackles this question.

Commenting is something I think most journalists didn’t consider when the ‘tubes were invented.Similar Posts:

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Granju Moves On

Trace Sharp — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:57:27 +0000

Katie Allison Granju, who is a televangelist for the online movement in many ways, has a shiny new job with Ackermann PR.

Katie Allison Granju is joining us full-time as Director of Social Media, and I am convinced that we have snagged the most knowledgeable person in the region relative to this emerging area. Katie is a widely-read local and national blogger, as well as the author of a parenting book published by Simon and Schuster. Her freelance writing has been published in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and a variety of other print and online publications, and she is a frequent invited speaker on topics related to interactive journalism and social media.

She comes to us from E.W. Scripps’ Interactive Newspaper Group, where she has been Project Manager, and prior to that, she was Online Producer for WBIR-TV, winning numerous awards for her interactive work.

Granju has been very good to us here at NewsTechZilla. We wish her well in her new endeavor.Similar Posts:

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Judge In Knoxville Case Questions Media Intent

Trace Sharp — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:11:51 +0000

From today’s Knoxville News Sentinel:

(Rick) Hollow and attorney Tom McAdams, who represented WBIR-TV, Channel 10, at the hearing, argued that the judge had no legal right to deny their clients’ Internet-based readers their First Amendment right to express themselves.

McAdams deemed the space allotted on media Web sites for commentary as a “giant bulletin board,” the provision of which was a “public service.”

Hollow initially suggested the News Sentinel’s Web site didn’t even turn a buck, a claim Baumgartner immediately questioned and newspaper editor Jack McElroy quickly corrected.

“We generate revenue,” McElroy said.

“Of course you do,” the judge replied.

“I’m saying if there is a profit, there is a responsibility that goes with it. … Those are two things that bother me about your site – anonymity and no prior screening.”

At this point, I think most of us are waiting to see what Baumgartner’s ruling will be.

Background on the case can be found here.Similar Posts:

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Anonymous Commenters On Trial

Trace Sharp — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:51:27 +0000

By Trace Sharp

The issue of anonymous commenters on news web sites has hit the courtroom in Knoxville. The issue has brought up a lot of discussion on and off line about the right to remain anonymous.

Katie Allison Granju and I agree on this subject.

The online comments on media web sites – including the anonymous ones – are simply another form of public conversation. They are no different from the conversations taking place each day at the local diner, and on talk radio, and between street preachers and the passersby who engage in loud, public arguments with them. The only difference is that in this case, the defense attorneys for these notorious suspects happen to have heard the conversation taking place in two particular online spaces. However, if the attorneys don’t understand that the same sorts of public conversations regarding them and their clients are also taking place in all kinds of other physical and virtual locations – from church pulpits to Twitter to online message boards unaffiliated with a newspaper or TV station – then they are simply deluding themselves.

I have a right to express myself publicly – in writing or verbally – unless I step into one of the very narrow legal limitations on free speech (libel, slander, conspiracy to commit a crime, etc). And I have no obligation to identify myself before speaking up. Where I say what I have to say is not a factor in whether I get to say it. I can loudly bloviate about it while sitting at the bar at my favorite pub. I can publish my views on the case on my anonymous blog. I can post it under my “handle” on Twitter or a local message board. I can call Rush Limbaugh and say it over the airwaves, or I can write it on a banner and hang it on the front of my house. I can also post it in the comments on my local newspaper website. The platform is not a factor in whether what I say is constitutionally protected or not.

She’s right. Love or hate what someone is saying, they have the right to say what they want to say.

A deeper element to this issue, of course, is now the court system is getting involved in online communities and how this will play out. The case in point is connected to a terrible murder in 2007. The defense attorney are arguing that their client won’t have a fair trial as he has already been demonized in comments.

I call foul on this one but the case is not surprising that the judicial system has been asked to get involved. This is what defense attorneys do, plain and simple.

Let’s head to the First Amendment Center to see what the Supreme Court has to say about anonymous comments.

Unmasking anonymous bloggers
The Supreme Court has made clear that anonymous speech deserves First Amendment protection. In Talley v. California, the Court wrote: “Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind.” Several Founding Fathers published historic political articles anonymously. James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton wrote the 85 essays in The Federalist Papers under the pen name “Publius.”

Individuals who post messages anonymously, criticizing companies, bosses, public officials and others, often make valid criticisms. Other times their speech could contain damaging false statements of fact that cross the line into defamation. Online libel remains a risk for those who blog, as it does for any writer or reporter in any medium.

The question becomes, how does the legal system protect the First Amendment-based right to anonymous speech while still affording a remedy to individuals whose reputations have been trashed unfairly online?

This story isn’t going to go away. Blogging and online news is still relatively new and at times misunderstood. I do believe that anonymous commenters serve a purpose in escalating the conversation.

I may not always like what they have to say, but I will defend their right to say it. If anyone is online at this period of time, they really need to be following what is going on regarding their rights in the judicial process because it just might effect all of us in the long term.

As Michael Silence noted: This is a defense attorney’s ploy. Let’s hope it doesn’t blow up in the face of free speech.Similar Posts:

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Media Attorneys Argue About Anonymous Comments

Trace Sharp — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:33:13 +0000

Here we go.

Does the First Amendment apply to anonymous posters on commercial media Web sites?

Do the journalistic principles employed by professional journalists apply to bloggers?

Does a judge have the right to dictate a news organization’s Web policies?

It doesn’t sound like fodder for courtroom debate in a capital murder case, but those arguments and more are being bandied about in Knox County Criminal Court today as attorneys for four suspects in a fatal carjacking launched an attack on anonymous commentary allowed on local media Web sites.

Frank Gibson of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and Jack McElroy, who is the editor for the Knoxville News Sentinel commented on this case.

“With comments being posted at the rate of more than one a minute, (controlling comments) can be a challenge,” McElroy said. “But we firmly believe that a vigorous Internet forum is an important component of civic dialogue in this digital age, and we strongly oppose any efforts by the government to ban this type of free expression.”

Frank Gibson, who heads the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, agreed.

“It sounds like an unconstitutional infringement on free speech and the press’s right to publish,” Gibson said. “If the purpose is to keep jurors from seeing those comments, the courts have any number of ways to prevent that without shutting down public dialogue.”

Knox News has the story regarding anonymous comments on media sites. We will watch this to see how it plays out. The case comes from the torture slaying of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom which occurred in 2007.

H/T Silence

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The Smell Of Newsprint

Trace Sharp — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:08:43 +0000

Katie Allison Granju writes about how newspapers have shaped her life. As the third generation of a family of journalists, she tells the tale.

I still believe in real journalism. The business model that built the newspapers shutting down today will no longer support that kind of journalism, and the new model isn’t completely clear yet. But despite the scary times in this industry, I remain a true believer. The great journalists of tomorrow will work online, not in newsprint, but they will be here, and they will matter just as much to our democracy as the great print bylines of yesterday mattered.

But I will always miss the smell of newsprint.

Her post is at her blog at Knox News.Similar Posts:

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Micropayments Revisted

Trace Sharp — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:47:29 +0000

Les Jones weighs in at his site and at No Silence here.

I predict that journalists who lose their newspaper jobs are likely to continue practicing journalism to the extent their personal finances allow. People go into journalism because they want their voices heard. Being paid to have their voices heard was just a bonus. Absent a paycheck they’ll be giving it away for free on a blog. Case in point. Michael Silence’s former Knoxville News Sentinel colleague Don Williams is writing opinion pieces at the Knoxviews.com blog.

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Partnering Up

Trace Sharp — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:21:36 +0000

Knoxify makes the announcement of three city blogs who are joining together in Tennessee.

We have partnered with Chattarati, a Chattanooga blog with a touch of narcissism, and the Nashvillest, a Music City blog, to bring you the latest news and opinions from Middle and Southeast Tennessee.

I have to agree with Knoxville’s Michael Silence on this one.

To the best of my knowlege, this is the first time we’ve seen “city blogs” team up.

Personally, I think it’s very, very smart.Similar Posts:

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Jack McElroy Says

Trace Sharp — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:56:05 +0000

From the head honcho at the Knoxville News Sentinel:

There are caveats. For one thing, a newsroom needs more than just payroll to function. Still, the news is a sign that a tipping point lies ahead.

The E.W. Scripps Co. has set a similar goal. We won’t hit it for a while. But projections for online advertising indicate that there’s a possibility of a paperless newspaper in the future.

Of course, we don’t particularly want that. Our old business model based on ink on newsprint delivered to customers has worked well since the 19th century, and I expect it to be viable for many more years to come.

He’s speaking of this story.Similar Posts:

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