Feb/100
Riding the 654 | Viajar no 654
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It is what it means. Bus ride from Perry Barr, where i have classes, to Handsworth Wood, where the Halls of Residence are. Nothing much to it. If you want a map to go with it just ask.
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É o que significa. A viagem de autocarro desde Perry Barr, onde tenho aulas, até Handsworth Wood, onde fica a residência. Nada mais. Se quiserem um mapa a acompanhar é só pedir.
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Feb/103
#fonwa: first meetup and how porn and news have the same problems
Last Monday I went to the Future of News meetup, West Midlands branch, organized by Philip John. It was a fun bit, and a chance to meet new people. I’m all for discussing and debating, come up with new ideas and go a bit crazy with them, or else it will be just like homework. Fortunately we were a relaxed group, and not even the classroom environment (gently provided by BCU) got in the way. Being too serious about anything is what keeps some good ideas in the dark, especially when we all have the same basic perspective on the subject.
Philip John posted a description of the meetup, and i won’t repeat it here, so go there and read it. Except for this:
Then, without further ado, we split into three separate groups for a challenge. The brief that I gave to the groups was this; they are managing a start-up news operation with six month’s worth of funding. Their funders will not back them again after the six months is up so they need to find a viable business model within that timeframe. The funding will get them an office with all the necessities, two people (these could be journalists, or not) and kit (laptops, smartphones) for 3 people (i.e. you and your staff of two). There were no limits on what kind of news operation, what area (geographic or otherwise) to report or anything else – it was a very open brief.
(…)
The second group seemed to be obsessed with porn, interestingly, though there were some good suggestions. They came up with News Butler, a tailored news service which will take your preferences and then phone you each day to tell you the news that’s important to you. We were promised that Jon Hickman would be the guy on the other end of the phone – watch this space. There was also the news booth where you go and submit your own news. The most serious suggestion though, and one that really caught my attention was event journalism – providing reporting services for events. It was then that I filled everyone in on the last UK Future of News Group meetup where Not On The Wires launched their service after covering the G20 and Berlin Project.
I have to clarify one thing, since this was my group: we weren’t obsessed with porn, it just came up, and the group is not to blame, but me. The rest were respectable, wholesome, decent people, (well, most of them). Since I find that a bit boring I tend to stray a bit and, besides, news and porn are not that different:
The news business isn’t the only industry being upended by aggregators and amateurs online. Pornographers are suffering too — and newspapers could learn a thing or two from them. Here’s why:
Amateur content and “tube sites” (that’s industry-speak for free porn portals) have been eroding revenues in the porn industry, according to a story from Monday’s Los Angeles Times. But at least one porn company is embracing something every online news editor has grappled with quite a bit: Aggregation.
Frustratingly for porn producers and distributors in the Valley, none of these [aggregation] sites appears to be making much money. Suzann Knudsen, a marketing director for PornoTube, said the site’s parent, Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network, uses it to attract customers for paid video on demand.
“PornoTube isn’t a piggy bank,” she said. “Its true value is in traffic.”
in What Online Porn Can Teach Journalism (and Vice Versa), The Atlantic, Aug 13 2009
Yes, they both have similar problems, being the rise of the amateurs (so to speak…) the biggest one. Since news people take themselves too seriously, they usually forget to think out of the box. But that’s alright, more fun for me. Anyway, and so you know that the group had good ideas, me, Caroline Beavon and Dan Davies – who were also in the group – recorded a small podcast for the Online Journalism module about business models, that has most of the ideas we discussed in between the porn conversation.
The main idea is that there is not a single business model, but different ways to generate revenue. Small structures must find any means in their reach to add value to their content so that it can be bought by users or major news outlets, and provide services useful for their local markets. If you have a news website you have copy and design expertise, that can be financially more accessible for local businesses than the average offer available in the market. I’ve gone through this in my other blog, there are lots of things a local news website can do to make money. And the news is not the biggest part of it, and it never was, most of the time.
Here’s the audio:
Other accounts on the meetup:
The Future of News?, by Kate Hughes
My notes from last night, Paul Hadley
Feb/107
Building a hyperlocal website: final thoughts
Keywords for hyperlocal
This is the final post about hyperlocal websites, that started with my own experience with HashBrum, as described in one, two, three posts, and with the special contribution of five sapient minds that work on hyperlocal endeavors. I learned a lot from my own efforts – mine and the rest of the team’s – and also from this reflection. It was interesting to analyze the list of characteristics presented by different people for hyperlocal websites and find common terms, common ideas, a common ground, even in the choice of words. Here’s what i learned, organized around a few main concepts. To understand them better, you should have read the previous posts of this series, but i think this will be quite clear and straight to the point.
Relevance
Why are hyperlocal news websites important? Why do people feel inclined to “backyard news”? Precisely. Proximity is the keyword here, and it’s not only a geographical concept, it’s also about the relationships that a hyperlocal blogger/journalist must have with the community (s)he covers. You have to live there, be a part of it, like Will Perrin said. You’ll beat any other local newspaper because of your knowledge, you know the ground better than them, the real problems, because they are your problems too. And since you are there, you can get to the news faster, and stay on them for a longer period of time, without deadline constraints: you have availability. And will the local media send a reporter for every story you find interesting? Not really, no. Your broken streetlight is not an issue for the general audience, but it is for the people who live in that street: granularity, or , it’s the small stuff that counts.
UX
Another good thing that hyperlocal websites are good at is by providing a better user experience. Innovation and experimentation in storytelling, using maps, multimedia, different ways to look at and navigate through the news. And without the need for a huge investment, because most of the tools to create a website like this are free and open source, so only a small financial investment is required, the real expense here is time. But to be effective, the hyperlocal website’s technology must promote participation, allow people to offer their input, and the users should be able to conform their experience through customization, getting the information they want, the way they want.
Attitude
At the core of hyperlocal behavior is passion. It’s your reality, or at least a reality that is right outside your front door. The level of engagement and commitment hyperlocal news websites have are huge, compared to the average reporter, who is assigned for a story and educated to be detached. Hyperlocal reporters are involved in the story and they can afford to be critical and assertive close to the local authorities, and use their work to improve their community’s living standards and environment. It’s what matters to a few, that becomes really important.
Another relevant characteristic is adaptability. A good hyperlocal website is aware of it’s shortcomings and is constantly looking for new ways to do their work, something quite impossible to do in the bigger, slower structures of traditional media, and their sluggish procedures and bureaucracies. They can be built and developed fast, and still bring added value.
A new market is open for these projects: since it’s about and for the local community, it is also an advertising opportunity for local businesses, who can’t afford ads in the pages of a newspaper. If instructed to develop interaction and user experience like the hyperlocal website should do, there is a lot to get out of this, for local businesses.
The bottom line is, your neighborhood news matter, whether it’s a poorly made manhole, or a broken streetlight, or crime. It’s these bits of information that become important when you are living – or wanting to live – in a neighborhood. And if there’s a way to connect us back to our neighbors, whom we usually don’t know, and join efforts to improve our real, every day life experience, it was well worth it. And if you want to do it, there isn’t much stopping you. All you have to do is to talk to people who live next to you, see what is already being discussed online, and build a space to host the information that matters. All it takes is time, and quick thinking.
When we first thought about HashBrum, we believed we could create a small network of street level information, and let the different communities take part in the process. In the end we leaned towards reporting specific issues neglected by the local media, who didn’t have room in their agendas or the resources to cover them, or do comprehensive follow ups on the developments. It’s the idea that a brief article in local media can be a huge story for a community/hyperlocal website. And do you know what?, sometimes they’re huge for other communities too, that have the same problems, and what seemed to be an isolated event might be a more general issue within society.
With the fragmentation brought by the internet, the rule is no longer defined by the majority. It”s the individual’s rules and needs that matter, and we can customize them in size, subject and location. With all this power, citizens can start improving the world, starting at their doorsteps. Or just have their garbage collected more often. If you have your own ideas on this, please, do share them in the comment box below. If you aren’t already starting to build your own hyperlocal news thing…
Jan/101
Building a hyperlocal news website: a short story on #Brum – Part 1
Birmingham's experimental hyperlocal news website
One of the major efforts i developed in the last three months of 2009 was the construction and development of Hashbrum, a group project created by me some of my colleagues of the MA Online Journalism at Birmingham City University. I have meant to discuss here the different aspects of planning and developing a hyperlocal news website, not only adressing the technical issues, but also conceptual matters. We never stayed on the same ground for too long, and we weren’t 100% focused on the project, and this was one of the main reasons we didn’t take the extra step to make HashBrum a more cohesive and truly original. Besides, the main purpose was to build a platform for experimentation for our own works for the MA. But it all went as follows.
What is HashBrum?
HashBrum[i] is a hyperlocal news experimental project, that covers the main Birmingham area. The team was composed by part of the students enrolled in the MA Online Journalism of Birmingham City University. When we started discussing the project, there were many ideas about how to present the news, but the main goal was to create as much interactive and multimedia content as possible.
We were inspired by hyperlocal projects like EveryBlock [ii], Patch.com[iii] or VillageSoup[iv], that used maps as main interfaces, and/or covered specific geographic areas and small communities, on a neighborhood level.
When considering how the layout of the website should lead the users into that type of content, we too thought about using a map that would take most of the immediately visible space. The stories would be embedded in the map, and the users could navigate from story to story using the placemarks.
The agenda would be based in long feature, investigative reporting, using different types of media to create truly multimedia stories. There is audio available of our first three meetings as a team[v], where we discuss a embrionary version of HashBrum and its basic principles and goals, in which we debate some of the ideas I presented before. We wanted to reach out to the community even before we had something to show, and carry that spirit into the content creation phase. Or that was my perspective on what the project was meant to be.
The importance of being Hyperlocal – concepts and business model
What is going on with this hyperlocal thing? We keep hearing about this over and over, like if it was the Great Online Hope. It is in some ways. It is based in a long-tailed, low resourced, small-scale, community based, social networked, geotagged, backyard stories-type of approach. This means more valuable information for specific groups of people, that connect more closely to it. This is also an upgraded echo of the work developed by the lone bloggers that typed away the problems that affect them and their neighbors. Some of that upgrade was provoked by some bloggers themselves, that found a market an audience at their doorstep (or backyard, whatever you prefer).
Reading the (magnificent) lecture by Alan Rusbridge, we come across the case of Will Perrin – who seems to have taken a personal interest in Hashbrum – author and owner of a hyperlocal news website (though he doesn’t call it journalism) covering the King’s Cross area in London, we understand another important factor regarding hyperlocal projects: engagement. Most hyperlocal websites are truly concerned about the quality of life on the places they cover, and are willing to expose, question and fight whoever and whatever stands in the way of that quality of life. It’s journalism not for the common good, beyond that, for the LOCAL good, if you get my drift.
This opens a whole new advertising market. If you check the VillageSoup model, you see that they have room for personalized daily adverts, for a low price, but from dozens of advertisers. Their profit margin is safer and more steady than if they relied solely in two or three big advertisers. Besides, there’s the direct contact, the element of trust, and an organic relationship, established with the local businesses and costumers, the real people, and not a faceless brand. And this is all what being hyperlocal encompasses.
Now, the concept still has somewhat of rogue, and independent, since these projects work better, or at least are more honest, when they come from the users to the media, and not from the media to the users. Even though there are experiments promoted by large media groups in the hyperlocal business, what separates these projects are three specific characteristics:
-proximity to a real, live, community;
-concern for that community;
-a specific agenda adressing the habits, problems and issues of the community;
And this last point is of huge importance: no longer the stories of the community are forgotten, or swept under the rug by the limited space and resources of general news outlets. So when in the description of the website it was written Hashbrum was all about the neglected stories of Birmingham, it felt like we struck gold.
But we needed a place to tell those stories. How it was done stays for the second post of this series.
[ii] http://www.everyblock.com/
[v] Audio from the meetings
1st Meeting – http://tinyurl.com/yd9doq8
2nd Meeting – http://tinyurl.com/ydbx5wx
3rd meeting – http://tinyurl.com/yczmvhp
Nov/091
#brum: website & videos
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These last few days have been dedicated to the development of my MA project, that i’m doing with some other colleagues. The idea has evolved quite fast and it has room for changes. The goal is to have a hyperlocal website dedicated to feature stories that relate closely to Birmingham communities. The name is #Brum. I’ve built the website, and i’ve been experimenting with video. These are the first examples of the work i’ve started last Wednesday. The video above is more recent, and it was shot with a DV cam, and it’s a investigative report headed by Andrew Brightwell about the swimming pools in the city. He is, in fact, going to swim in all of them and we’ll try to put together a multimedia package. More video will come out of this, and you can see more here. The second video is too long and shaky, but it’s an interesting guided tour of the “Bodies Revealed” exhibition. I went with Caroline Beavon, and we had this great conversation with the curator of the show. It was shot with a Flip camera, that is really great to use, but technically limited. I’d like to hear your opinion not only about the videos but also about the project. Bear in mind that this is still at the beginning and is going through major changes and corrections. |
Estes últimos dias foram dedicados ao desenvolvimento do meu projecto de mestrado, que estou a fazer com alguns colegas. A ideia evoluiu bastante depressa e ainda pode mudar. O objectivo é criar um site hiperlocal dedicado a reportagens que se relacionem de perto com as comunidades de Birmingham. O nome é #Brum. Construí o website, e tenho andado a fazer experiências com video. Estes são os primeiros exemplos do trabalho que comecei na última quarta feira. O video acima é o mais recente, e foi filmado com uma câmara DV, e é uma investigação feita pelo Andrew Brightwell sobre as piscinas da cidade. Aliás, ele vai mesmo nadar em todas elas, e vamos tentar criar um pacote multimédia para esta história. Vão haver mais vídeos deste trabalho, e podem ver outros aqui. O segundo vídeo é muito longo e tremido, mas é uma visita guiada muito interessante à exposição “Bodies Revealed” Fui com a Caroline Beavon, e tivemos esta excelente conversa com o responsável da exposição. Foi filmado com uma Flip, que é muito agradável de se usar, mas limitada tecnicamente. Gostava de ter a vossa opinião não só sobre os videos mas também sobre o projecto. Tenham em conta que ainda está mesmo no princípio, e que ainda serão feitas alterações e correcções.
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Oct/090
Week Digest | Resumo da semana
Multimedia at work
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This week has been really busy, as you might have noticed from the absence of posts. There’s lots of stuff going on around here, and i’ll try to sum up what happened in these last few days. Last week i went to Hello Digital, a huge festival dedicated to digital media, social media, what media is turning into. I can’t give you an extensive account about what happened that day, but i must say that for me it was rewarding and reassuring: i’m in the right direction and in the right place. Birmingham is the most exciting place to be in Britain (and probably in Europe) for digital media development. You can find more information about what went on at Hello Digital here (look for the older entries). |
Esta semana foi mesmo agitada, como podem ter percebido da ausência de post. Anda muita coisa a acontecer por aqui, e vou tentar resumir o que aconteceu nos últimos dias. A semana passada fui ao Hello Digital, um enorme festival dedicado aos media digitais, sociais, ao que os media se estão a tornar. Eu nºao vos posso fazer um relato extenso sobre o que aconteceu nesse dia, mas posso dizer que para mim foi compensador e deu-me confiança: estou no caminho e no local certos. Birmingham é o sítio mais excitante para se estar no Reino Unido (e provavelmente na Europa) para o desenvolvimento de media digitais. Podem encontrar mais informação sobre o que se passou no Hello Digital a aqui (vejam as entradas mais antigas.
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Thompson-Reuters debate
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The very next day after Hello Digital i went down to London to attend a debate about ethics, “What Price the News?” at Thompson Reuters . What struck me the most was the lively pace of the debate, the relaxed and witty attitude of the participants, the lack of reverence towards the panel (we had a Pulitzer prize there) like i get to see a lot in Portugal, but always being respectful (i’m more used to see one without the other). Anyway, though the questions raised were interesting, i felt uncomfortable realizing that most people are still outdated and take conservative stands about digital media and social networks. The idea of information bypassing the traditional channels scares them to death. Welcome to the brave networked world. Ethics in journalism, like i said so many times, is not something you can teach. It’s a personal feature, it comes with the package. Of course it implies a set of procedures we must always keep in my when in doubt. But common sense and respect for the ones involved and the audience (and self-respect too) are always a good start. You can read about the debate here, and here, and follow the chain of events through the magnificent liveblogging effort by my colleague Caroline Beavon (she’s really good at it). Afterwards i stayed in London for the weekend, done some sightseeing and hung out with my friends that live there. No work at all for 4 days. |
Logo no dia a seguir ao Hello digital fui até Londres assistir a um debate sobre ética, “What Price the News?” na Thompson Reuters. O que mais me impressionou foi o ritmo vivo do debate, a atitude descontraída e espirituosa dos participantes, a inexistência de reverência pelo painel (tínhamos um Pulitzer entre nós) como costumo ver em Portugal, mas sempre com respeito (estou habituado a ver um sem o outro). De qualquer forma, apesar das questões levantadas serem interessantes, senti-me desconfortável por perceber que a maioria das pessoas estão desactualizadas e assumem posições conservadoras em relação aos media digitais e redes sociais. A ideia de que a informação passa fora dos canais tradicionais assusta-os de morte. Bem vindos ao admirável mundo em rede. A ética no jornalismo, como já disse tantas vezes, não é algo que se ensine. É uma característica pessoal, vem no conjunto. É claro que implica uma série de procedimentos que devemos ter sempre presentes em caso de dúvida. Mas senso comum, e respeito pelos envolvidos e pelo público (e respeito próprio) são sempre um bom ponto de partida. Podem ler sobre o debate aqui, e aqui, e seguir o encademaneto de ideias através do trabalho fantástico de liveblogging da minha colega Caroline Beavon (ela é mesmo boa nisto). Depois fiquei por Londres para o fim de semana, para ver as vistas e estar com os meus amigos que vivem lá. Nada de trabalho durante 4 dias.
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News frozen in time | As notícias congeladas no tempo
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Another event that marked this week was the end of Semanário, a portuguese weekly newspaper. The staff were mainly freelancers, and the newspapers had a circulation of 20.000 copies, but only two thousand were sold. The problem for me is that there was no investment in the newspaper, as you can see from their website and their print version. And it had almost no relevance in the portuguese news panorama. What worries me is not the end of a newspaper that failed to keep up with times, but the outcome: good journalists without a job. More news about it here. I wish the best to all of those who enrolled the crowd of unemployed journalists. |
Outro acontecimento que marcou esta semana foi o encerramento do jornal Semanário. Composto principalmente por freelancers e jornalistas a recibos verdes, o jornal tinha uma circulação de 20 mil cópias mas das quais vendia apenas duas mil. O problema para mim é que não houve investimento no jornal, como podem ver pelo website e pela versão impressa. E não tinha grande relevãncia no panorama jornalístico nacional. O que me preocupa não é o encerramento de um jornal que não conseguiu acompanhar os tempos, mas o resultado disso: bons jornalistas sem emprego. Mais informação aqui. Desejo a melhor das sortes a todos aqueles que se juntaram ao rol de jornalistas desempregados.
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Oct/090
4iP : “We are not charity”
Tom Loosemore shows the map to 4iP strategy
Channel 4 has been investing in digital platforms and products, not to transfer television onto the web, but to create new products that engage audiences online, through the 4iP program. Their new media Commissioners came to Birmingham to share what they’re doing and what are their plans for the future. And that involves other people’s ideas. Your ideas.
Mobile apps, gaming, native online content, social media, networks, collaboration: these are not the thoughts you’d expect from a TV channel. But Channel 4 has a different approach. They created the 4 Innovation for Public (4iP) fund, to deliver publicly valuable content and services on digital media platforms with significant impact and in sustainable ways. And sustainability is a huge issue for them. “We are not charity”, said Tom Loosemore, head of 4iP, but they are willing to invest part of their 20 million pounds budget to “support bigger, bolder projects”.
They are already supporting a few in the West Midlands, like Help me Investigate, Yoosk, Talk About Local, the place they described as the “hottest spot to be in the country” regarding new media. If you want to know how to propose a project to 4iP, just keep on reading. Many of the minds that got together this Tuesday at the Austin Court, left feverishly plotting their proposals.
Embarrassing Bodies and the Battlefront
First let’s take a look at they’ve been doing so far. Louise Brown, head of Cross Platform commissioning, explained that digital platforms “allow to increase the depth of impact with audiences”. Their TV show Embarrassing Bodies was divided into clips for screening on the computer or cell phones, to make all of the medical information more useful and accessible. Interaction is also a big deal for them. In their online drama “Hollyoaks”, the mainly teen audience had a chance to interact with the actors. Brown said that younger audiences “tend to expect and demand more”, and creating engagement is a huge part of that relationship.
“We want to focus on what the audience needs” and their needs for 2010 revolve around health, comedy and news, the three top goals they want to tackle next year. “We’re looking to hear from designers, production companies”, anyone who can provide “more innovation”, and that is what Louise Brown expects to be funded by the 3 million budget of the Cross Platform.
Innovation is also a keyword for Matt Locke, who’s in charge of the Education projects at 4iP. He defined his work in three simple steps: get attention, keep attention and add value. “We try to reach teens in their streams” and they navigate on social networks like Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube. These networks filter the content for them, so Matt Locke defended that they have to “go out where the teens are”, to get their attention. After that, they must build a relationship, allowing them to express their views in comments, polls or other forms of participation. It’s that kind of engagement that adds value to the contents produced by them. He gave the example of “Battlefront”, a show about 20 young campaigners defending their cause with the help of online users. “Some of the campaigners had phenomenal responses”, and it showed that a lot has to be learned about how to combine video with online networks.
Networks are important, but gaming is one of the top priorities at the Education department. They even have a game about networking called “Smokescreen”, but their biggest success is the “1066” flash game (related to the historical drama series with the same name) that averaged 250.000 plays per week, with users playing it for more than 20 minutes, in a total of 7 million players, most of them outside UK. According to Locke, they have been two years into this strategy, and the next item in their list is widgets, apps that sit within social networks, and more games. It’s all about the interaction, the relationships and debate.
Make some trouble
Tom Loosemore, head of 4iP, laid down the values of the company for us: “Doing it first; inspire changes in people’s lives; making trouble in public interest”. But if you want to approach them with an idea, your product must be sustainable. And that is not all, it has to be innovative, and since one of their key objectives is “to explore new business models”, all of the advertising supported projects are promptly sent to the bin. What you must consider is if your idea has “a center of gravity around participation and collaboration?”
He showed us some of the projects that stand for the company’s values: Mapumental, a project about commuting; AudioBoo, that was effectively used during the G20 protests in London, with people reporting from the frontlines using their iPhones; and MyBuilder, something he called as “consumer protection for the 21st century”. Tom Loosemore also enhanced another aspect to take into account: “People’s media habits are fragmenting” and it’s harder to introduce people to great contents they don’t know about. “Discoverability” is the word, which is translated by helping users “bump into stuff they like” integrating Facebook and Twitter into the aggregated content of 4OD. “You can see what your friends are watching and talking about.”
For Tom Loosemore there’s an effective way to get a project running: build them quick and dirty and get them on the internet. If you want to submit your project you must remember that it has to be sustainable. “We are a business”, he emphasizes, but he is also looking forward for people willing to take risks. “It’s not about funding, but stimulating products” and if they can cause a stir, even better. They are looking for projects that fall under value number 3 (make some trouble) holding power to account, but they are also interested on Health and Wellbeing, Comedy and Arts.
But he warns that at the 4iP proposals website “people fail in the very first box: what do users need?”
Do you have the answer?
Oct/090
#HD09 – Hello Digital
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Today will be busy, i’ll be attending Hello Digital, the West Midlands media festival, here in Birmingham. Innovation is the keyword, but also creativity and commercial success. Yesterday i heard the 4iP head manager say the West Midlands are “the hottest spot to be in the country”, when it comes to digital media. I believe he’s right. I expect to write about this later, but you can follow the conference at Millenium Point via livestream. Check the official website or follow the #hd09 tag on Twitter. |
Hoje vai ser um dia em cheio, vou assistir ao Hello Digital, o festival de media das West Midlands aqui em Birmingham. A palavra chave é inovação, mas também criatividade e sucesso comercial. Ontem ouvi o director do 4iP dizer que as West Midlands são “o local mais excitante do país” no que diz respeito aos media digitais. Eu acho que ele tem razão. Espero escrever sobre isto mais tarde, mas podem seguir a conferência no Millenium Point via livestream. Vejam também o site oficial ou seguir a tag #hd09 no Twitter.
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Oct/090
#Brum – First Meeting | Primeira Reunião
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[Play] [Play] listen to the meeting | ouçam a reunião
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One of the things we have to do at the MA is to create a news project. Some of us got together and we’re trying to develop a hyperlocal news website. We’re still at the very beginning so we are open to ideas. I’m not sure if this will be my main project but i can tell you i’m pretty excited about it. This (somewhat complicated) meeting was held yesterday, in a sunny but cold afternoon outside Baker Building at BCU City North Campus, and the participants were Ioana Epure, Dan Davies, Mikel Plana, Caroline Beavon, Andrew Brightwell, Ruihua Yao, and i’m the dissonant voice in the back. We discussed our objectives, structure, target audience, coverage areas, and goals to achieve by next week. Since we are keen to keep this a transparent process, we’ll post more info soon about how it’s going. By the way, that’s a temporary logo that i did.
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Uma das coisas que temos que fazer no mestrado é um projecto. Alguns de nós juntaram-se e estamos a tentar desenvolver um site informativo hiperlocal. Ainda estamos no princípio, por isso estamos abertos a sugestões. Não sei se será o meu projecto principal mas estou entusiasmado. Esta reunião (assim para o complicada) foi realizada ontem, numa tarde de sol mas fria, numa esplanada ao lado do Baker Building na Universidade de Birmingham, com a participação de Ioana Epure, Dan Davies, Mikel Plana, Caroline Beavon, Andrew Brightwell, Ruihua Yao, eu sou a voz dissonante em fundo. Falámos de objectivos, estrutura, público alvo, áreas a cobrir, e metas para a próxima semana. Como estamos interessados em ser transparentes neste processo, publicaremos mais informações em breve sobre como está a correr. Já agora, fiz esse logotipo, mas é temporário.
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Oct/090
MA Online Journalism: the videos | os videos
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Just one year ago there was this huge debate over a student that was banned from blogging his classes at New York University. Here at the MA Online Journalism Paul Bradshaw is such a forward thinker we are recording the lectures on video. And this is not a regular classroom, it is a cafe Birmingham’s city centre. Pretty cool huh? In this video the class was invited to share work experiences, and around 3’40” i get to say some rubbish. Two things: it’s a diverse bunch indeed, and i have to do something about my haircut and/or beard. In order of appearance: Dan Davies, Caroline Beavon, me, Ioana Epure, Andrew Brightwell. Watch the related videos for more bits of our first lecture. |
Há apenas um ano atrás houve uma discussão enorme por causa de uma estudante da New York University que foi proibida de blogar as aulas. Aqui no Mestrado, o Paul Bradshaw é tão à frente que estamos a gravar as aulas em video. E não numa sala de aula qualquer, mas num café no centro de Birmingham. Porreiro, não? Neste video a turma partilhou algumas experiências de trabalho, e por volta dos 3’40” tenho espaço para dizer algumas asneiras. Duas coisas: é realmente um grupo heterogéneo, e tenho que fazer alguma coisa ao meu cabelo e/ou barba. Por ordem de entrada: Dan Davies, Caroline Beavon, eu, Ioana Epure, Andrew Brightwell. Vejam nos videos relacionados outras partes da nossa primeira aula. |
