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Can You Still Spot.us? Crowdfunding Pioneer Slumps Under APM
Crowdfunding has skyrocketed in the past couple of years as entrepreneurs bypass traditional keepers of the purse and instead appeal to individual donors to help get their projects off the ground -- and journalists have taken notice. Dogged by a lack of jobs and slumping wages, writers, producers, photographers and other content creators have joined the fray. As a result,... more »
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10 Things to Know Before Raising an Angel or Seed Round
Idea Lab is a group blog of Knight News Challenge grant winners.
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How 6 New Tools Change the Equation for Writing and Self-Publishing Your Book
When writers first exchanged pen and paper for word processing systems we didn't realize how firmly it put us on the path toward self-production and self-publishing. The jury's still out on whether the creative process was altered for better or worse. Marshall McLuhan, an early media pundit, recognized back in 1962 how "the divorce of poetry and music was first... more »
Must Reads
Daily Must Reads, December 19, 2012
The best stories across the web on media and technology, curated by Leandro Oliva. 1. How does Wikipedia deal with a mass shooting? (Nieman Lab) 2. Fox's bloody t-shirt: Newtown images show risks of automated ads (paidContent) 3. Facebook prepares to bring video ads to news feed, aims for TV dollars (Ad Age) 4. Am I the product? users react to Instagram's terms of service...
more »Must Reads
Journalism and Digital Education Roundup, Dec. 18, 2012
The best stories across the web on journalism and digital education. 1. College students to tweet even more in class as social media becomes a major (Fast Company) 2. New online learning tool brings 'the crowd' into homework assignments (MIT) 3. The newsonomics of college news innovation (Nieman Lab) 4. Higher education: our MP3 is the MOOC (The Guardian) 5. Google launches journalism fellowship...
more »Must Reads
Daily Must Reads, December 18, 2012
The best stories across the web on media and technology, curated by Leandro Oliva. 1. In real-time journalism, declaring what you won't report can be just as important as what you will (Poynter) 2. Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos (CNET) 3. Towards fewer apps: How Google Maps threatens Yelp, Waze, and Foursquare (PandoDaily) 4. The future of streaming video...
more »Social Networking
How The #Newtown Tragedy Unfolded on Twitter via Andy Carvin
Andy Carvin calls himself an "oral historian" and created a new genre of news coverage by blanketing Twitter during the Arab Spring and RT'ing and crowdsourcing the news as it spread on social networks. When the Newtown massacre happened last Friday, Carvin was covering it once again as the news broke, which led to mocking criticism of Carvin by media...
more »Media Usage
With Small Kids: Consider a Media Blackout During a Crisis Like Sandy Hook
Helping your children deal with the horror at Sandy Hook Elementary last Friday -- and other crises that play out over national news -- may just mean turning off, shutting down and going offline for a bit. Very little about this generation of young children's near-constant exposure to direct and passive media seems simple, but this much is clear: It...
more »Must Reads
Daily Must Reads, December 17, 2012
The best stories across the web on media and technology, curated by Leandro Oliva. 1. It's not Twitter -- this is just the way the news works now (GigaOM) 2. A local crisis meets the global social web (BuzzFeed) 3. Disruptions: Instagram testimony doesn't add up (Bits Blog) 4. Buffeted by the web, but now riding it (NYT) 5. 'Quartz' grows roots in social,...
more »BookShift
Giving the Gift of E-Reading: New Developments in E-Book Giving and E-Reader Cozies
If you thought e-books, e-readers and tablets dominated the last holiday season, you haven't seen anything yet. For one, this year it's easier than ever to give e-books as gifts, and, thanks to a recent partnership with Kobo, it's now even possible to support your local independent bookseller while giving them. And, according to the catalogs piling up in my...
more »Your Take
Poll: Which Do You Prefer: E-Books or Printed Books?
The reading public is torn now. There is the undeniable convenience of e-books, downloaded at the click of a button; and you can load dozens of them onto one small lightweight device. But who can deny the pleasure of unplugging completely from technology and enjoying a print book at a cafe, at the beach or on a comfortable sofa? You...
more »Philosophy
This Giving Season, Why You Should Donate to Non-Profit News
If you believe in non-profit journalism, it is time to support it. And if you support non-profit journalism it's time to go public with that support. The end of the year is a hugely important time for non-profit fundraising -- many organizations raise major portions of their budget between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. This year may be even more...
more »BookShift
Special Series: Beyond the Book 2012
There's nothing like giving the gift of reading. And, it used to be that there was one means to that end: Buy a book at a bookstore, perhaps inscribe it, wrap it up and give it. But today, the gift of reading can mean so much more than a wrapped-up book. Today, the literary giver is lost in a sea...
more »Multimedia
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Beyond Gingras: Tech Innovation Alone Will Not Democratize Media
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