Like food clothing and Sydney address, blogosphere has its fashion and 2005 sees a crop of new Asian blogging stars. Asia Blog Awards 2004: Full Official Results
The Blog, The Press, The Media: Superhuman Stamina of Scoop: The Year in Investigative Reporting
Scoop lives up to its name and even reaches beyond the definition of scoops and off the record stories ...
Last year was a good one for investigative reporting and computer-assisted reporting, with solid stories and projects throughout. Although this site is highly subjective (and usually doesn’t cite stories that aren’t publicly available on the Web), it did reference some great work. The highlights include the Miami Herald’s series on the practice of setting aside convictions, the AP’s work on farmland tax breaks, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s examination of the marine park industry and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s investigation of Washington’s crime lab, plus many others. Lots of good sports CAR work too, particularly by USA Today and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
For those folks interested, I’ve put together a page of The Scoop’s 50 most-cited news organizations in 2004.
• Links to the investigative stories ; [When Deputy Health and Human Services Commissioner Gregg Phillips and private consultant Chris Britton helped write the $1 billion legislation to privatize Texas' human services system, they apparently did so partly with an eye on profit Their own: Self Interest Prevails ; Laboratory of Scoops]
• · via David Tiley: To outsiders, the destruction of Dan Rather as CBS anchor is grotesque. We see a raddled, addled sycophantic, ranting mediascape in which Right wing zombies promote a war of aggression and demonise dissent. Pinning down hypocrisy;
• · · I started first by asking Robert, generally speaking, what business blogs are about. If you're to remember anything, its this: they're about relationships. He cites his own blog and talks about how readers have become pretty intimate in Robert's life. We've been there as he's been hired, fired, married and so on. The same needs to be done with business blogs: one must build a relationship with the community. He said when you create a blog, you create a transparency. Interview: Robert Scoble on Blogs, GM; [More Scobleizer Blogosphere: please write better RSS headlines ]
• · · · Does George Bush sometimes wear a portable defibrillator? Is Dick Cheney suffering from congestive heart failure? You won’t find out by reading this, but both stories have been making the rounds on the Internet. Is there value to certain types of non-nutty Internet speculation that the mainstream media, for the most part, refuse to touch? ; Barista served an entre concerning cowards in the blogosphere Healthy speculation: Dual Identities ; Last year, Tim Blair also stirred the possums and other billabong beasts by posting a one-liner saying, IMRE, er, I mean Professor Bunyip - is back! ; Sooner or later, the Professor Bunyip hunt was going to be off Exclusive snap above the puppet table :-) The great Australian scholar has been an adjective for four years, but this year he has metamorphosed into a blogger who is scared to reveal his identity in case the totalitarian government arrests him or the Uni's financial controller will not provide bread on the table ... - In this context, Levy writes - He is the prime embodiment of the deep crisis in our society where proven lies have the same value as truth, where simplistic ideas prevail over real intelligence, and where connnivance and network of friendship count for more than genuine scholarship -. As they say, a devil's bargain is always a fool's bargain ... (IP: Thanks IP address and Bernard-Henru Levy)
• · · · · Never stop swimming til you reach the ocean of cash for comments. The wisdom of his words must surely spread beyond this little watering media dragon hole in cyber space. By not disclosing the $240,000 he received from the U.S. Department of Education to promote No Child Left Behind, Armstrong Williams violated a provision in his syndication deal with Tribune Media Services (TMS) that says TMS must be notified when "a possible or potential conflict of interest arises due to the subject matter of (his columns) and the social, professional, financial, or business relations of (Mr. Williams)," says a TMS statement. "Tribune Media Services today informed Armstrong Williams that it is terminating its business relationship with him effective immediately. "I'm part of this media elite club and have to be more responsible" (NYT); Critic: How many other pundits are on the Bush admin payroll? (Letters); NABJ blasts Williams' $240K deal with U.S. Education Dept. (NABJ); via Romenesko Poynter
• · · · · · Tom Jackson writes in his piece on Dave Barry and deadlines that sports columnist Jim Murray once likened column writing to being married to a nymphomaniac: The moment you finish, you have to start all over again. "What he left out was the element of time. The deadline muse is a relentless mistress, but having seen the unmotivated results of having lived apart from her for nearly two weeks [during the holidays], I am reminded that she exists for my benefit. Chatological Humor ; Nymphomaniac Offering readers broccoli and dessert