Life As A Saudi Prince
In today's New York Times coverage of King Fahd's death in Saudi Arabia, I couldn't help but notice this rare insight into the hard-as-nails Saudi royal parenting method:
Still, King Saud was strict. In an interview in the early 1970's, then Prince Fahd recalled the time his father locked him in a room for over two hours because he had had a fight with a neighbor's son. The King knew the other boy had provoked the quarrel, but wanted to show impartiality, Fahd said.
OVER TWO HOURS??
journalism-ish , middle east-ish , new york times-ish by tangentialist at 10:32 AM on 01 Aug 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)
Citizen Journalism: Where I See It, My First Attempt
Citizen journalism is both better than it's ever been and far worse than it could be. Depending on where you sit in the arena, the battle between big media and blog media is, alternately: raging, tepid, tragic, heroic, and insignificant. The good news is, the once-distant dream of pervasive publishing has reached critical mass, with blogs having become not just free and easy-to-create but incredibly popular for everything from personal journals to local news filters. The bad news is, those sites that make news are routinely denied access to primary sources, and when they stumble on them, they can be made to suffer...
When bloggers-slash-citizen-journalists cannot protect their sources and popular, respected local news sites like Gothamist cannot obtain credentials, it bears remembering that while, as Jay Rosen says, "Bloggers vs. Journalists is Over", neither governments nor corporations really see it that way. Maybe it's the objectivity/fairness thing, but maybe it's also the format. I met the lead technology guy from NowPublic at last week's NYC Photobloggers meetup, and I lost his card (if you're reading this, technology guy, email me). He immediately threw down the "citizen journalism" gauntlet and mentioned a photojournalism contest; I reminded myself to look at it later.
It wasn't until this afternoon, when I saw three helicopters over my neighborhood, that I thought about the site again. Since they were news helicopters, I hopped on my bike and rode out to see what they were looking at. When I arrived, I learned that a building had collapsed, trapping several construction workers and attracting a huge crowd. I shot a few photos, came home, and posted this story on NowPublic. My verdict: It's a very interesting site, and still needs a lot of fine-tuning. But the pitch is great; finally, a citizen journalism site that allows members to assign stories, shoot footage, write and edit coverage--a miniaturized news network, with all the roles represented. I used to be all about Indymedia, and they've had a few good moments of coverage (and an inevitable run-in with the FBI), but Indy suffers from a dearth of editing and filtering that results in a surplus of stories I either don't trust or can't decipher. I hope that NowPublic doesn't suffer the same fate, but I believe they can make an impact in the journalism scene, if they get the attention.
Give the site a look over, maybe sign up for a membership (it's free, of course), and comment on the site and the stories, as I have. Projects like this need support, for the sake of everybody who wants their small voice respected by the public they love.
journalism-ish by tangentialist at 07:40 PM on 19 May 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)
New York Times Ruminates On Class, Tries Not To "Sound Too Rich"
The New York Times, for the next three weeks, is publishing a series of articles called Class Matters, the first of which appeared in today's issue. Though they point out that "the series does not purport to be all-inclusive or the last word on class", the first article drills deep into contemporary American class structures and the state of upward mobility (short version: not as common as we think). One key argument in this first article is that class is no longer (and maybe never was) as simple as Lower, Middle, and Upper--we look, by necessity, to several factors that delineate our place in society.
The best part, as always, is the How Class Works learning aid crafted by Ben Werschkul and his geek minions. (Werschkul, where's your blog? I've saved you a spot in my RSS reader!) Pick your occupation, education, income, and wealth to see where you stand in the class firmament. I always liked percentiles when they came back high, but I was shocked to find out just where my mix of smarts and dollars put me. Fortunately, this elegant tool has helped me to find the secret to true class happiness: become a surgeon, get a professional degree, make more than $100K a year, and be worth over half a million. Ah, sweet 96th percentile; I shall never fail you again.
journalism-ish , new york times-ish , social studies-ish by tangentialist at 04:18 AM on 15 May 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)
Why I, As An Editor At The Associated Press, Would Maintain A Low "Corny" Tolerance
Excerpt from a story about a wandering herd of buffalo in the town of Pikesville, Maryland, earlier today:
Police shut down several major traffic arteries, including a section of the Baltimore Beltway, while they tried to anticipate which way the buffalo would roam.
You can just imagine the writer twitching over his keyboard.
journalism-ish by tangentialist at 07:26 PM on 26 Apr 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)
New York Times' Year In Multimedia
The New York Times has posted their 2004 Year In Pictures, with Vincent LaForet, et al, killing it as usual. This is yet another classy interactive number for the Times, concluding a busy year of great multimedia pieces. I love that the paper and its reporters have been willing to invest money and time in the multimedia sidebars that have accompanied more articles in more sections this year than ever. While a few seem like mere afterthoughts to the article, many of them manage to bring a narrative light to the written pieces that really makes them compelling. It's nice to see the Times strive beyond its reputation as the Paper of Record and distinguish itself as a true observer of life in New York.
One of my favorite Times multimedia pieces this year was Invention for 900 Hands, a six-part series by James Barron that follows the construction and sale of a Steinway piano. Hearing the piano's voice develop from week to week made a cliffhanger out of a story that would otherwise have fallen through the cracks of the Metropolitan Desk.
Also, search the archives and watch any of the pieces on Africa, and catch Kristof on Darfur.
journalism-ish , new york times-ish by tangentialist at 03:36 AM on 27 Dec 04 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)