We admirers of the Times are wrestling with whether to give in to Rupert Murdoch’s new pay wall that now deprives us of free web access or refuse to sign up and sign in. Do we strike a blow for Rupert’s profits and more money ploughed into field journalism or resist and try and show other newspaper proprietors that curbing free access to websites is a blunder that will take the Times and others out of the global conversation?
In principle, the AJ bequeath means that any paper or television channel or network anywhere struggling to find money to pay for Reuters or AP or AFP agency material could simply reversion AJ reports, visuals, and blogs for publication on their websites or presumably in their papers. All Khanfar asks for in this unprecedented move is attribution - identifying the material as provided by Al Jazeera.
And what a journalistic feast for papers and media. AJ and AJE boast that they have 65 bureaus around the world and reporters on the ground all through Asia, Africa, and Latin America as well as throughout its stronghold, the Middle East.
I can vouch for the astonishing global output of AJE. During my 4 months working in Washington for AJE, I can’t recall a daily editorial meeting linking Doha/KL, London, and Washington where a story of any significance around the world wasn’t going to be covered on the ground by an AJE news team. I would record the datelines and marvel at how this one news organisation had the resources to do this, especially at a time when most newspapers and television networks were closing bureaus and slashing dramatically their coverage budgets. The answer is straightforward: the Emir of Qatar bankrolls Al Jazeera. See this Economist piece http://bit.ly/bvm3JA
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Looking at British newspaper headlines courtesy of the Sky News website, you'd think that the world is in the throes of a Swine Flu epidemic as opposed to a pandemic. CNN International has become an All Swine Flu, All the Time channel judging by my periodic viewing here in Nairobi. Al Jazeera English (where in full disclosure I should say that I've consulted for recently) is also giving swine flu considerable coverage but at least is placing the story in a global perspective. It devoted its Inside Story, which you can see above, to the issue of whether the media are hyping the coverage. 150 deaths in Mexico is an alarming story. No doubt about that. But seen from here in Nairobi, there is so far a detachment that is understandable given the yearly malaria death toll. There were nearly 900,000 deaths a year worldwide caused by malaria according to the most recent figues from Global Health Reporting. And 8 of 10 of those were African children. So where's the Breaking News Coverage? Where's the constant reminder of what needs to be done? In the Nairobi press a small news item today about the Kenyan government preparing to distribute 11 million mosquito treated bed nets. The report notes that 25 million Kenyans are at risk of being attacked by malaria.
]]>It is the most talked about book in Kenya - an explosive account exposing the greed and tribalism at the heart of President Mwai Kibaki's government. it's also the least read.
It's all about self-censorship as Rice explained, and as Michela Wrong told me,
"It's not banned, but the booksellers are scared of displaying it for fear of libel suits or worse.... loads of Kenyans are taking copies in from Dar Es Salaam, Joburg, and Kampala where the bookshops are doing a roaring trade."
While Wrong is pleased her book is having a real impact, she's not happy about the pirating of it. Her publisher FOURTH ESTATE is trying to combat this by selling an e-book on the Harper Collins website for much less than the books' retail price.
As for John Githongo, no one seems to know exactly what he's up to but many here in Nairobi assume that he's travelling around Kenya laying the political groundwork for a run for office. But maybe not. One thing for certain: he still needs security as was in evidence at a recent taping of a television programme.
]]>Michael Rosenblum and his Concentra-backed DNA conference put their money where their mouths are.A hefty 10,000 Euros prize for best video journalist of the year and hardware for best breaking news vj. 4 of the 8 finalists work for newspapers and the big winner was Alexandra Garcia of the Washington Post for her feature on the "shocking quality of dental care" in a rural part of Virginia. Roads jammed with families desperate for dental care at a free clinic. A toddler with potentially fatal abcesses in his mouth. Breaking news award to filmaker Subina Shrestha for her exclusive story for Al Jazeera English on the victims of the cyclone Nargis in Myanmar - see a segment above.. Unforgettable images of forgotten bloated bloddies floating down the Irawaddy river. Rosenblum thinks that the solution to all journalism is unleashing vj's trained and given the "grammar" of good storytelling. He wants to mothball newsrooms and cull non-vj journalists. He's got no answer for how to replace traditional root and branch newsgathering. But these vj winners and finalists are impressive, and Rosenblum rightly can claim credit for championing and rewarding them.
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Ready for this? Canadian documentary maker Rob Spence who lost his eye in a shooting accident when he was 10 now waiting for his prototype eye camera to be implanted. Second day keynote conversation at the Digital News Association conference in Brussels. Pretty surrealistic discussion about ethical issues for a journalist whose eye is a working camera. Read all about it on his eyeborgproject website.
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My favorite all-time movie moment about journalism takes place at the end of the Humphrey Bogart 1952 film Deadline USA. Bogart as the grizzled editor defies a gangster's threat and order not to print a story about him. He orders the press to roll and holds the phone up so the gangster can hear it. Bogart spits out:
"Hear that sound: it's the sound of the free press."
So it's shocking stuff about the closure of the Rocky Mountain News. And in recent days the San Francisco Chronicle and Philadelphia Inquirer in deep financial trouble. Even Jeff Jarvis, who has an answer for everything but newsgathering, can't tell you who will cover city hall, the courts, and the school boards. It won't be bloggers that's for certain. Who then holds public officials accountable and tracks the spending of tax dollars? As an old journalist friend said to me," If you're bailing out banks, why not bail out newspapers?"
Video: Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.
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