Mediabytes

Nearly 9-in-10 smartphone owners have used their phones in the...

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:56:19 -0400

Nearly 9-in-10 smartphone owners have used their phones in the past 30 days to perform a real-time query. (via Just-In-Time Information Through Mobile Connections - Pew Research Center)

"Young reporters tend to think they need a byline from The New York Times to make a difference in the..."

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:48:20 -0400

“Young reporters tend to think they need a byline from The New York Times to make a difference in the world. If they really want to have an impact, get a job with a community paper, and start asking the tough questions that no one ever asked before.”

- Samantha Swindler, managing editor of the Corbin (Ky.) Times-Tribune, explaining how 2 twentysomething journalists brought down a corrupt Kentucky sheriff

"We’re switching to Facebook comments because building or maintaining our own system does not seem..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:50:31 -0400

“We’re switching to Facebook comments because building or maintaining our own system does not seem like a good use of our company resources and because we believe fixed identities will make the comment threads more civilized, engaging and less threatened by marauding trolls and bad (comment) actors.”

- Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo

How tech’s giants want to re-invent journalism

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:01:23 -0400

How tech’s giants want to re-invent journalism

Who or what exactly is The New York Times’ R&D Ventures?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:03:13 -0400

Who or what exactly is The New York Times’ R&D Ventures?:

By Nieman Journalism Lab

"Social media platforms are like different countries with different languages and different customs...."

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:19:45 -0400

“Social media platforms are like different countries with different languages and different customs. Certainly there are many aspects of them that overlap, but I think the key to being successful on a social platform is having a keen understanding of what makes each unique community tick. For instance, Tumblr thrives on strong visual material; Reddit is great for its crowd-sourced Q & A capabilities; Twitter is an essential platform for news and events, etc.”

- New York Times social media editor Lexi Mainland, in How The New York Times does social media

One of 12 New Yorker covers you were never meant to see....

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:09:01 -0400

One of 12 New Yorker covers you were never meant to see. “Zohar Lazar’s image of gay U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan kissing can be seen as either a celebration of tolerance in a repressive place or an example of America imposing its values where they are not welcome—or both.”

"The fact that the president is now incorporating hashtags into his speeches shows how Twitter is..."

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:47:54 -0400

“The fact that the president is now incorporating hashtags into his speeches shows how Twitter is redefining the means by which politicians shape, distribute and refine their messages.”

- Twitter becomes a key real-time tool for campaigns - The Washington Post

"The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks."

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:49:23 -0400

“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.”

- Former Facebook employee Jeff Hammerbacher, in This Tech Bubble Is Different - BusinessWeek

Gadget ownership over time among US adults. (via Pew Internet...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:46:12 -0400

Gadget ownership over time among US adults. (via Pew Internet & American Life Project)

"Big media might be cumbersome and occasionally numb-skulled when to comes to digital, but they’ve..."

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:12:12 -0400

“Big media might be cumbersome and occasionally numb-skulled when to comes to digital, but they’ve got deep pockets, and they’re not totally stupid. They hire smart young minds, who know what’s going on. They realize that digital offers a huge opportunity and a challenge. And they’re acting on it.”

- Hamish McKenzie, It’s Time to Stop Talking About the Death of Big Media | PandoDaily

Many use Read It Later to watch it later (via Read It Later...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:08:21 -0400

Many use Read It Later to watch it later (via Read It Later Blog)

"The way I do most of my posts is I think, how can I get someone to press ‘like’ on this?"

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:14:37 -0400

“The way I do most of my posts is I think, how can I get someone to press ‘like’ on this?”

- BuzzFeed writer Matt Stopera on writing for sharability, via Businessweek

"Aggregating and rehashing stories might trick Google’s algorithm, but for a story to move on..."

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:50:58 -0400

“Aggregating and rehashing stories might trick Google’s algorithm, but for a story to move on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, or Reddit, actual human beings need to think the piece is worth sharing. That is a higher bar but that is great for journalists who already hold themselves to higher standards of quality.”

- Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed founder, quoted by Forbes

Digital First Media editors’ description of the...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:42:17 -0400

Digital First Media editors’ description of the impediments to “getting the job done,” summed up in a word cloud (via A Lot Still To Do | Digital First)

"Perhaps instead of killing stories he didn’t like about the sale of the company and trying to be..."

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:45:59 -0400

“Perhaps instead of killing stories he didn’t like about the sale of the company and trying to be seen as some sort of digital visionary by holding press conferences at the Academy of Natural Sciences, giving free rent to start-up companies who play ping pong on the 5th floor at 400 N. Broad, creating a poorly-launched tablet and worrying about apps that make a few dollars, [CEO Greg] Osberg should be focused on properly staffing the newspapers in a manner that will allow more copies to be sold.”

- Philadelphia newspaper guild leaders, protesting 19 layoffs today, after 21 buyouts

Google's revenue now greater than the entire newspaper industry

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:59:46 -0400

Google's revenue now greater than the entire newspaper industry:

Google made $37.9 billion in 2011; Newspapers made $24 billion in advertising and about $34 billion overall.

HuffPost changes its Twitter avatar in honor of Pi Day (3/14)

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:12:51 -0400

HuffPost changes its Twitter avatar in honor of Pi Day (3/14)

Liberals are more likely to use social networks than...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:23:55 -0400

Liberals are more likely to use social networks than conservatives (via Pew Research Center)

"More and more newspapers are erecting paywalls, thinking they are zoos filled with scarce, exotic..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:00:05 -0500

“More and more newspapers are erecting paywalls, thinking they are zoos filled with scarce, exotic animals when in reality they’re more like puppy mills in a land of strays.”

- Wayne MacPhail, Giving up on newspapers