My 'interesting reads' roundup (weekly)

• Spike the gloom – journalism has a bright future

  Agreed. "First, it’s not a given that today’s big journalism “brands” will go under: they face a horribly difficult task of adapting to radically changed circumstances but institutions will not fall. That’s what happens in deep disruption: some organisations adapt and survive, some don’t. Second, the insurgents of news publishing fully intend to become the giants of the future. A few will, most won’t. In America, where newspaper income fell faster than in Europe (largely because profitability rested more heavily on small ads), there is now a solid if small group of online news businesses which cannot yet match the giants of print but have a viable business – and have done so for several years. The poster girl for this group is the Huffington Post, but there are a cluster of other sites which have been in existence for a decade or more, don’t depend on grants or philanthropy and have a base of income and users solidly built."

  tags: future+of+newspapers

  • Journalists tend to confuse journalism with major daily papers. The “golden age” of newspaper journalism in the second half of the 20th century was, in reality, a long commercial decline. British national papers reached their peak total circulation in the early 1950s; the Daily Mirror’s highest sale ever was in 1966.

• On the death of journalism - and my Indy career | Christina Patterson

  Heartfelt piece on what it's like to lose the job you love. But I don't believe in the death of journalism; I do believe journalism will change but that doesn't mean it disappears. Nevertheless, a good read. "We all know that the clock is ticking. Even Rupert Murdoch knows that the clock is ticking. During the Leveson report, he gave newspapers five to ten years. When I was asked, last autumn, to speak about Leveson at the Battle of Ideas, I tried to think about what newspapers should and shouldn’t do, and what readers should and shouldn’t want, but actually all I could think was this: we are fiddling while Rome burns."

  tags: future+of+newspapers

• Social media disaster: What I learned when EVERYTHING went wrong

  Honest and darkly funny account of what happens when the wheels fall off. IT really does not come out of this well. "I created something based on what I read on the web, not based in reality. I ticked off the list with things other people told me I would need. I did not take the company culture into account. I did not secure executive sponsorship. I did not look at realistic, measurable goals based on the capabilities of the company. I did not create a compelling story for what I was trying to accomplish and I did not use the company business plan as a guide."

  tags: social social media marketing

• Wristband Turns Your Heartbeat Into A Unique Password, Unlocks Multiple Devices

  On the one hand I think it's amazingly cool, on the other I'm pretty sure that within 24 months it will be considered old tech. The pace at which developments happen still amazes and delights me. "Developed by biometric technology company Bionym Inc., the Nymi wristband identifies its wearer by their heartbeat and uses it as a password for multiple devices, from a computer to a car. The Nymi technology is based on the fact that “like a fingerprint, your heartbeat is unique”—after putting on the Nymi wristband and activating it, you stay authenticated with your devices until you take it off. "

  tags: passwords security futureofmedia

• Pocket : Choose Your Journalists Wisely…

  Interesting read on the perceived differences between foreign correspondents, and journalists parachuted in by newsdesks to cover conflict. “Here in the journalists hostel there are lots of jackets hanging on the ends of beds with too many pockets and zips. One Japanese guy has a metal helmet with ‘PRESS’ written in large letters across the front in white Typewriter correction fluid. Some of them laugh during the night in their sleep. Is there something funny going on here, in Jerusalem, during this second Intifada? Maybe it’s just an escape. Maybe not though, perhaps they’re just insane. War clearly sucks but the core of western journalists who report on it seem to consist mainly of people who have no concept of the seriousness of the situation they’re involved in."

  tags: journalists journalism

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.