NowPublic Blog

Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Parts of Vancouver still without power

July 15th, 2008 Comments(0)

It is still unclear whether the office at Dunsmuir and Seymour currently has power. Officially the area is still apparently blacked out but the coffee shops in the area are telling us they are back online. We have sent someone down down to the office and see for ourselves and we should have a clear answer by about 7:30 PST. We will keep you posted

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What’s with the NowPublic tab on Truemors?

July 09th, 2008 Comments(0)

What’s with that?

NowPublic

The End of the Internet?

June 09th, 2008 Comments(0)

Rumors are that TIME magazine is going to drop a bombshell about Net Neutrality. See more here.

NowPublic

Leonard Brody heading East

June 06th, 2008 Comments(0)

NowPublic’s own Len Brody is heading to Halifax.

Leonard Brody is Co-Founder and CEO of NowPublic. NowPublic is one of the pioneers in citizen-generated news and is quickly becoming one of the largest news agencies in the world, with more than 130,000 contributing reporters in140 countries and 4,500 cities. In the last year, The Guardian in London ranked NowPublic as one of the top five news sites in the world and Time Magazine named it as one of the top 50 websites of the year. At Onvia (where he was part of the initial executive) the company was voted Canada’s number one start-up in 2000 and subsequently closed a$240 million IPO (A company’s first sale of stock to the public) on NASDAQ. He is also an advisor to several companies including, the Associated Press, RedHerring and Sonic Foundry. Leonard is currently a Senior Advisor to the Canadian Minister of International Trade and a Director of Canada’s largest technology association, CATA. The Diana and Charles Tisdall Lecture in Communications aim to demonstrate the societal power and value of public relations/communications thinking.

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Net Neutrality Rally on Parliament Hill

May 22nd, 2008 Comments(0)

I have spoken to countless people recently who are deeply concerned about this issue. If you are in Ottawa this is something you should attend. The viability of a robust media and vibrant internet are at stake. Please spread the word and if you’re in the area go and make your disapproval known.

Plans are emerging for a net neutrality rally on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, April 29th. Rocky Gaudrault, the CEO of TekSavvy, is the driving force behind the rally. It comes as the CRTC considers the CAIP complaint on Bell’s throttling actions.

Source: michaelgeist.ca via mtippett

NowPublic

YouTube: 10 Hours of Content Every Minute

March 13th, 2008 Comments(0)

Frank Smith looks at the implications of Youtube’s volume of content. Some interesting questions arise.

NEW YORK — Media Summit — During a panel here at the Media Summit yesterday, YouTube Inc. ’s Philip Inghelbrecht, strategic partner development manager, dropped this nugget of information: Ten hours of fresh content is uploaded to YouTube every minute.

“If you can’t solve the search question quickly enough that’s a problem,” said Inghelbrecht.

But this explosion of digital content could come at a cost. A study
released by IDC sponsored by information management firm EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) found that
the total volume of digital content being produced today has exceeded
existing storage capabilities. IDC estimates that 281 billion Gbytes
were uploaded in 2007, which amounts to about 45 Gbytes of content per
each human on earth.

Source: contentinople.com

NowPublic

Number of U.S. Computers Accessing the Internet Via Mobile Broadband Soars 154 Percent in 2007

March 04th, 2008 Comments(0)

The study examined the usage and characteristics of mobile broadband
users through data collected from computers where Internet access via mobile
broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) occurred. Mobile broadband employs
cellular networks, where users pay subscriptions for access and the connection
is made with a PC card, built-in adapter, or connections can be tethered via a
cell-phone or PDA, and is different than Wi-Fi access, which is predicated on
the availability of short range “hot spots” where access fees often apply
incrementally for each connection. In 2007, Verizon and Sprint accounted
for the majority of the mobile broadband market. AT&T has announced it will increase its coverage in
2008.

The number
of computers using mobile broadband technology to access the Internet grew by
154 percent in Q4 2007 versus the same period in 2006.

Source: comscore.com via mtippett

NowPublic

Sam Zell’s Gawkerization of Tribune

February 29th, 2008 Comments(0)

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Samuel “Sam” Zell (born September 1941) is a U.S.-born billionaire and real estate entrepreneur. He is co-founder and Chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm. With an estimated net worth of US$6 billion, he is ranked as the 52nd richest American by Forbes.[1] On April 2, 2007, Zell bought Tribune Company, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, New York Newsday and owner of the Chicago Cubs. The deal closed December 21, 2007, with Zell becoming Tribune Co. chairman and chief executive.

Source: en.wikipedia.org via mtippett

Zell apparently paid the Tribune headquarters a visit and espoused a particularly Dentonic view of journalism:
[q url=”http://seekingalpha.com/article/66678-sam-zell-s-gawkerization-of-tribune?source=feed”]

He’s said publicly that saving the company is more important than
listening to journalist’s gripes about how they provide a public
service to the reader. He assumes a decidedly anti-elitist stance when
answering questions. Yesterday he provided an 11th commandment: “Thou
shalt not take one’s self seriously. ”

Another staffer was put off by Zell’s criticism yesterday of reader
surveys, where important stories—like the Iraq War—often rank at the
top of the list. Instead, Zell mentioned how a recent story about a man
having sex with a farm animal brought in far more traffic for one
Tribune paper (Zell was more explicit in his description).

NowPublic

Internships Available

February 26th, 2008 Comments(0)

Internship in Community Relations and Content Support

We are looking for talented individuals with interest in news media, marketing and business communications to engage with NowPublic contributors and locate newsworthy multimedia content for the site.

Key responsibilities:

- Participate in weekly content team meetings, contributing ideas on recruitment strategy and retention of contributors

- Recruit citizen and mobile journalists on the web for NowPublic.com
- Source multimedia footage for use on NowPublic.com
- Work on breaking and continuing news stories
- Build a network of contributors to provide first-rate news coverage

The ideal candidate will have:
- Good written and oral communication skills
- An eye for newsworthy photos and video
- An understanding of online technologies
- Marketing or business communications background
- A pro-active and flexible approach

*Internship Participants are eligible for hire based on performance and interest.

*Internships are eligible for performance based compensation.

For dates and schedules or for more information, please contact jobs*at*nowpublic.com with your internship goals, educational background and any history you have with news, social media, web 2.0 or internet start-up.

This is an ongoing opportunity.

12 changes in Media

February 20th, 2008 Comments(0)

We Media will kick off next week in Miami. I will be on a panel with the AP folks and others talking about the new relationship between traditional journalists and emerging non-professionals. I will also be talking about our product plans for the next 6 months and how I think they will change the business. In the meantime the good people at IFOCOS have put together a paper that, among other things, outlines 12 things that are changing the media landscape.

MEDIA CATHARSIS. Through personal media, people express sorrow and grief, connect
with one another, schedule services and vigils, form support groups.

SOCIAL NETWORKS: THE NEW LOCAL. Community redefined. Shared interests extend beyond physical borders. Geography is no longer a barrier to participation. Content is created and shared as part of a community’s social currency.

CONTRIBUTION CULTURE. Anyone can contribute to the news/information agenda or participate in the conversation. We share facts, comment, analysis, images, music.

REAL-TIME SOCIOLOGY. The science of observing societal habits and behaviors is expressed and recorded as we use pervasive media.

DERIVATIVE MYTH DEBUNKED. Everyone creates the news. Much of what is created is used and recast by traditional news outlets. Only a small percentage — less than one percent — of all news on the Internet derives from newspapers.

THE NEWS SPIRAL & THE ORGANIC STORY ARC. News tumbles through a connected society, spiraling through media, changing as it goes, an organic story with no beginning, middle or end. What seems chaotic is actually a story arc that assumes clarity, context and meaning as it unfolds through a proliferation of sources, many accessible to anyone. The days of once-a-day publishing cycles and scheduled news broadcasts are mere supplements to a continuous stream of news and information available any time through a variety of sources and ubiquitous devices. No one owns a story.

THE MANIC MAINSTREAM. After a decade of denial, suddenly the web looks less like a threat to old media and more like a resource it can easily exploit. News outlets plunder material posted on the web as they pump their own content into the online ether.

RESPONSIBLE DISCLOSURE. A fine line emerges between full disclosure and exploitation. Television networks cross the line by showing too much of a killer’s multi-media rants too often. Good will is lost as backlash ensues.

A PLACE FOR NEWS TO HAPPEN. The Internet becomes more than merely a first draft of history. It becomes a place were news happens in real time.

SNOOZEPAPERS. A day late and many developments short, the dead-tree medium is relegated to yesterday’s news tomorrow. News organizations publish to their websites first.

DEMOCRATIZATION OF MEDIA. A vision achieved: A free press belongs to everyone, not just those who own one.

PROLIFERATION OF SOURCES. The privileged source, so coveted and protected by professional journalists, can either publish directly now or choose from a variety of outlets to get a story out.