Director’s Blog

“My son was nearly nineteen years old,” Mohammed said. “He wanted to be a doctor. There’s a photograph of him”-he waved his hand vaguely-“somewhere, wearing a stethoscope.” He made no move to get it, as though already discouraged by the effort. His wife begun to cry again.

“Mysterious are the ways of God,” he said. There had been no warning that his son would join the militants. “He willed it. He did it. That is all. He was a good, silent, obedient boy. He was my son, but, more than that, he was my friend. He was here, dawn to dusk, every day, day and night.”

(The New Yorker, Letter from Kashmir: Between the Mountains, March 11 2002)

This sort of story is sadly not a novel one in journalistic discourse. It is the sort of vivid and humanising picture that the best journalists strive to create. Yet, in all its familiarity, if we are honest with ourselves it can be hard to truly recognise that this prose was written about someone. Nor do most genuinely connect with the idea that it was written by a reporter who sat looking into the eyes of grieving parents in a way none of the consumers ever do. (more…)

This guest blog by Summer School student Martin Bader looks at some examples of using new communications platforms to deliver humanitarian news in a more engaging and thoughtful way.

Sensation or Mediation

By Martin Bader

Today’s lecture by the LSE’s Dr Shani Orgad raised many key questions of how distant suffrering can and should be reported and one answer by the guest lecturer from The Guardian, Liz Ford.

I Can Help

First of all one can separate facts (like the sheer amount of atrocities-reports competing for a place in the media and the heads of its audiences and the difficulties of acting in this distance), from questionably sustained routines. Examples for the latter seem the need for sensational pictures and a mediator, who “should” be as prominent as possible to raise attention to a cause. (more…)

Global Newsmakers

Here are some draft notes for a paper I am writing on how people in the UK use the news media in an age of globalised communication. It’s taken out of context from the rest of the paper, but if it sparks any thoughts, or if you have any comments or ideas to suggest then please get in touch. Some of these ideas were discussed at an IDS panel I chaired at the Royal Society.

The UK Public And International News

The idea that masses of people would ever consume substantial amounts of international news was always fanciful. There is no Golden Age when Britons sat down in their millions to watch challenging documentaries about climate change.  So even before the Internet, mainstream media was seeking more subtle ways to bring the world to audiences by bringing international issues into non-news programming or coverage. (more…)

Networked Presenter

Jon Snow (C4), Peter Horrocks (BBC), Douglas Alexander MP, Danny Finkelstein (Times), and Janine Gibson (Guardian) are all Networked Journalists. They were all among the dozens of great speakers at the free Polis/BBC Value of Networked Journalism conference on Friday June 11th at the LSE. I launched my report on on the state of Networked Journalism there – it includes case studies at the BBC, Guardian, Sky, Times, Telegraph, Trinity Mirror, hyperlocal and Mumsnet.

You can get the full report on paper by emailing polis@lse.ac.uk and online here but this is an extract from the Introduction. (more…)

On June 11th we host a major conference on the Value of Networked Journalism here at the LSE with some top media names who are revitalising journalism with new media technologies and innovative participatory, interactive production processes. You are welcome to attend. We will also be publishing a new report on Networked Journalism at that conference.

In the run up to to the conference a book is being published in Sweden that looks at the idea of Quality in contemporary news media. For me, Quality is one way of expressing value so I was delighted to be able to contribute to that volume. You can see other extracts from my chapter on Quality in Networked Journalism here and you can buy the book itself here.

This is one section that looks at the idea of Relevance and tries to sum up what I mean by Quality. (more…)

Watching History

Congratulations to CNN on their 30th anniversary, they are now a venerable and profitable part of the global media eco-system. In many ways, the debate around their rise and rise parallels that around the Internet.

When CNN started few thought it could make money. The business model of a global network running 24/7 seemed impossible. It was accused of filling the airwaves with low-grade journalism and bias.

Now every self-respecting state hosts a rolling news channel in the same way every tin-pot dictator and banana republic used to covet its own airline. (more…)

On June 11th Polis is holding a major conference on The Value of Networked journalism at which we will publish a new research report on the state of networked journalism in the UK.

Peter Horrocks, Arianna Huffington, Jon Snow and many others will discuss how new technologies and editorial processes are transforming news-making in practice – especially how it changes political reporting in the light of this year’s election. You can get details of the conference and sign up for (free) tickets here.

The report I have written looks at a series of case studies: The Guardian, BBC, Sky News, Telegraph, Trinity Mirror, Times as well as hyper-local and Mumsnet. It also discusses the ethical, business and editorial challenges and opportunities that networked journalism presents. The full final report will be out on June 11th, but here’s an extract in which I look at the work of The Times’ Religion Correspondent, Ruth Gledhill.

It examines how connectivity – especially through social media – can enhance the work of the individual specialist journalist.

The Value of Connectivity For The networked journalist: Ruth Gledhill (more…)

Jon Snow

Peter Horrock

Come spend a day at the LSE celebrating the opportunities and challenges of networked journalism. Polis has teamed up with the BBC College of Journalism and others to bring speakers like Jon Snow (Channel 4), Janine Gibson, Peter Horrocks (BBC),  together with hundreds of media practitioners, analysts and educators. And it’s free and live on June 11th.

You are probably a little tired of conferences about the crisis or future of journalism. This gathering is an attempt to move beyond the anxious navel-gazing and ask, “What can the new forms of journalism offer the digital society?” We think that there is lots that networked journalism can do for the citizen as well as for the news media itself.

Of course, there are threats to journalism and many who doubt the usefulness or sustainability of the new media production processes. This conference will put the ideas to the test.

Is blogging, social media, mobile, and the rest able to deliver quality, accuracy, and universal access? How will it report politics? Coming just after the UK election, this conference will provide a perfect opportunity to put the role of networked journalism in democracy under review.

There will be a series of big debates with big names in the main hall. At the same time there will be parallel panel sessions with media practitioners and experts in an adjacent venue.

You can apply for a ticket here.

The hashtag for the conference is #VOJ10

Meanwhile, if you want to become a sponsor or partner then email us at polis@lse.ac.uk

Other supporters of the Value of Journalism Conference include Channel 4; The World Economic Forum; The European Journalism Centre; the Media Society; Frontline Club; Journalism.co.uk

Polis in the pub

It’s because there are a lot of people out there who think that the new communications tools are revolutionising our lives in wonderful ways. There are also a lot of people who feel disturbed, excluded, threatened and even abused by the process. This is not the old Geek versus Dinosaur argument. This is a much more interesting debate about how human beings fit into media change.

Ben Hammersley from Wired UK fired everyone up by scorning the moaning minnies who complain about ‘information overload’. “Stop reading stuff!” said Ben. You don’t ban alcohol because of alcoholics, so learn to use media in moderation.

But David ‘Information Is Beautiful’ McCandless was much less sanguine. When he asked the audience on a show of hands, about half felt they were drowing in data, despite being a generally media-savvy, intelligent bunch of people. (more…)