eLife Articulates Its Media Policy, and Risks Some of Its Editorial Power
eLife clarifies its media policies, adopting the mask of an enlightened approach that actually makes it harder for everyone to generate much attention.
Responsive Web Design Comes to Scholarly Publishing
JSTOR recently announced that it has reconfigured its user interface using responsive design techniques. While nascent in STM and scholarly publishing, the user interface design world has been abuzz with the potential of responsive web design for some time and a number of sites using responsive web design techniques are now appearing.
Data Integrity and Presentation — Journalism, Verification, Skepticism, and the Age of Haste
Representing data graphically is always tricky. It doesn’t help when a journalist misses many opportunities to verify the data, provide context, and ask some probing questions.
Skeuomorphic Publishing: How to Fit a Square Peg Into a Round Hole
Digital publishing continues to borrow its shape from its predecessors in print. Truly creative individuals are necessary to work with new media on their own terms.
Open Journalism and the Three Little Pigs
In the world of social media, when you huff, and you puff, and you blow a house down, there are new consequences.
Branding, Plausible Deniability, and the New York Times
Publishing materials under a trusted brand, then attempting to disavow that content when complaints arise about bias and professionalism doesn’t reflect well on the New York Times, paper or corporation. Having a portfolio of products requires responsible management of the brand constellation. Hiding out in the thicket of brands is craven.
Wile E. Coyote and Print Publishing — The Tragicomedy of Desperate Measures
Print aficionados and newspaper companies are rushing to bridge a chasm, but even their ACME product may not be enough.
Sometimes We Post Pictures of Cats, and Sometimes We Speak Truth to Power
The network effect is a peculiar thing. It can be about lolcats or insurrection. Either way, it’s a new and different power.
The High Cost of Low Prices — Why Incrementalism Online Could Be Fatal
Incrementalism is a tempting path forward, both familiar and seemingly safe. But the squeeze is on.
A New Form of Filter Failure — The Invisible Dangers of the Online "Filter Bubble"
The downside of silent filters becomes crystal clear in this important talk.
The Power of Curation — "The Drudge Report," Connectedness, Serendipity, and Simplicity
The Drudge Report provides a useful service and drives a disproportionate amount of news traffic. Could academics be disciplined enough to emulate it?
Fear-Mongering, Confusion, and Paranoia About Privacy — Are We Sweating the Small Stuff?
Privacy concerns seem aimed at the small stuff, but could expand into a system of censorship.
"Beyond Bin Laden" — A Hint at a New Way Forward for Long-form Journalism
A new “instabook” about Bin Laden hit the Kindle store about a week after the events. What might this mean for that space between books and magazines?
"Page One" — The New York Times Documentary Is Coming
They’ve made a movie about a newspaper’s travails in the Internet age.
Positively Predictable — The Multiple Costs of Mindless Studies
The media’s flip coverage of science is certainly a problem — but atheoretical studies are a waste of everyone’s time.