I know it’s been done & said before, but RTE really needs some help. Help, that is, in the Citizen Journalism department. There is nothing on the RTE News website (www.rte.ie/news) which sugggests people can contribute anything to the news -except for their ‘interactive poll’ in the right-hand corner; which at times has laughable questions. There is no way for people to contribute pictures or video to a story (i.e. if they were there as it happend), or even to comment on stories on the website. The ‘rival’ to RTE, the BBC, is a polar-opposite on this issue. They have a specific section of their website dedicated to people’s comments and video footage (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/default.stm) & likewise CNN use iReport (http://edition.cnn.com/exchange/ireports/topics/forms/2007/02/open.forum.html) for people to submit comments, video, etc. I think allowing people to express opinion on stories will help them feel more connected to the state broadcaster and, more important, that people would feel RTE value their opinions and input. I’m not expecting miracles here…but it would be nice if RTE added a feature to let people share their pictures/footage of stories (similar to that of iReport) -subject to editor approval, of course. Even BreakingNews.ie (www.breakingnews.ie) has these features & they are not state-funded or even a broadcaster! RTE seem to think they are above the rest when it comes to Citizen Journalism…but may-be they could take a few pages from someone else’s book.

For the question of whether or not Citizen Journalism is “proper” journalism, I chose iReport (http://www.ireport.com/index.jspa). This is affilliated with CNN (http://edition.cnn.com). It allows viewers to send in audio and visual material which may-be used on air (but also be stored at the iReport website). Also, an ‘iReporter’ will sometimes be interviewed live on-air to get an update on a situation. Is this ‘proper’ journalism? I’m really not sure…I don’t think so. As I was going through the website, it came across as a kind-of YouTube with news. That is to say that it is news, but can be biased since it is topics that individual contributors consider to be important. Yes, obviously there is material related to currrent news topics, but there was abit of a ‘I think this is news because….’ feel to it. To give it credit, though, it did carry a story of protests against CNN; with protests outside their Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago offices about their coverage of the Beijing Olympic Protests coverage ( http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-16082). The ‘iReporter’ makes the point that none of these were covered by CNN television (or others). But, on the other hand, there is a ’story’ about the rise in global food prices with contributions from an ‘iReporter’ in Bucharest. It is simply pictures of this person’s empty vegetable containers (http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-16074). Give me a break…if this is journalism, what have I just spent the last year doing an MA in???

The iReport tag-line is “Unedited. Unfiltered. News”. Perhaps a little too unfiltered here……..!

I saw a programme on City Channel (www.city.ie) about this new Irish-based internet company, so I thought I’d check them out. They are Vazumo (www.vazumo.com) and they’re an internet search with a difference. They are not like Google, Yahoo! or others – they are a search engine for people looking specifically for companies. I am aware that you can search for companies through the other major search engines, but since this is is taylor-made for that purpose it’s probably going to give you more specific results. I searched for “telephone equipment” (since I need to record a thesis interview over the phone in May) & I was quite happy with the results. You type in a search term, and the website creates a ‘drop down list’ of things you might need. It also allows you to search for ‘journalists’; you get some names like Dan White, Barry McCall, the Associated Press, etc. You click into, for example ‘Ireland International’ & you are taken to their contact details and a map of where they’re located.

The tagline for this website is Search and Gather. I’m impressed so far.

VS

For this exercise, I chose to compare CNN International (http://edition.cnn.com) & Al Jazeera’s English website (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm). The first thing you notice is that the Al Jazeera page is a lot more reliant on images than CNN. The feeling of space on CNN wins over Al Jazeera’s feeling of ‘getting as much onto the page as possible’.

CNN seems to have more and larger ads on its site than Al Jazeera. Having said that, however, ads on both of the websites are related to the website; there is no ‘outside’ advertising (i.e. CNN ads relate to CNN products and Al Jazeera ads relate to Al Jazeera products/services).

 The distinction between advertising and editorial content on the websites is that bit clearer on CNN than Al Jazeera. This is simply because under the ad ‘boxes’ on CNN, there are the words (all be they quite small) “Advertisement“. In the same token though, CNN has more ads than Al Jazeera; CNN (generally) has three ads located at the side, middle and bottom of the webpage. Whereas Al Jazeera just has one ad located at the very top of the page.   

Overall, I would say that Al Jazeera wins out as the website with fewer ads, but CNN takes the prize for clearer distinction between ads and editorial.

OK, it’s here. BreakingNews.ie (http://www.breakingnews.ie) has got an upgrade on it’s website and now offers SMS alerts, audio & vido pieces & allows readers to submit video & pictures of news events. Are we impressed? I’m not too sure yet. I like the new, colourful look of the website; not too sure about the new layout. But. to be fair, I think it is just becasue I am so used to the old style. I’ll get used to this new one. The website has tried to make itself look like  a ‘proper’ news website like RTE or Ireland.com. One thing I did like about the old version of the website was it’s simplicity. Now, it seems to have lost some of that. Well, give me (& other users) time…….only journalists could get excited about something like this! 

• Story Highlights
• IBTS refuses blood from homosexuals
• Universities slam move
• IBTS defends decision, calling homosexuals “risk groups”

Ban on gay blood results in college outcry

IBTS puts ban on gay blood.

DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland — It has been revealed that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is refusing to take any blood donations from homosexual males. According to Miss Miranda O’Donovan of the IBTS, they have “always had a ban” on blood products form this particular group in society. However, University College Cork (UCC) is lodging a formal complaint against the IBTS, which is being spearheaded by the UCC Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Society (LGB).

The Students’ Union (SU) Welfare Officer for UCC, Mr. Jack Mulcahy, informed The University Observer  “This is discrimination…The latest figures from the ‘Department of Health and Children’ show that heterosexual females and intravenous drug users are the highest risk.” Mr. Mulcahy went on to say “Last year 11% of those responsible for the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) were homosexuals, whereas 41% were heterosexual females”.

Mr. Mulcahy also told The University Observer “We cannot support an initiative that bans students giving blood” and suggested heightened blood screening as a possible resolve to this situation. Mr. Mulcahy also pointed out that “Organ donors take organs from homosexual males, why does just the IBTS have this policy?”  Mr. Mulcahy also stated “UCC did not stop the IBTS from coming on campus, although many campuses have banned them”.

Don’t Miss

http://www.ibts.ie/ Irish Blood Transfusion Service

http://www.glen.ie/ Gay Lesbian Equality Network

Mr. Mulcahy also informed The University Observer “We have got about 5,000 signatures and we are going to send them to the Minister for Health and Children and the head of the IBTS”. Mr. Mulcahy concluded “I believe we have broken down a sense of homophobia as well…we had the choice to ban the IBTS, but we didn’t”.

In response, Mr. William Murphy of the IBTS, told The University Observer  “There are a number of viruses we cannot test for…some viruses are not continually in the blood stream and just cannot be detected”. Mr. Murphy also said that this ban was not just against homosexuals, stating that “Other identifiable risk groups are also banned…people who work in the sex trade are banned for life, prisoners and people who have just received piercing are banned for one year. As it stands now, people who have lived in the UK for five years or more are banned for life to prevent the spread of variant CJD”.

Although Mr. Murphy admitted that “the risk of contracting HIV from blood products is 1 in 5 million” he added “Homosexuals are recognized as one avenue where an infection can get into the blood…gay men still represent an increased risk”. Mr. Murphy also told The University Observer that this ban on homosexuals is practised by “everyone in the developed world”, not just the Irish. Mr. Murphy concluded by saying “Chemical treatments are now being studied to remove viruses from the blood” and added that the ban is “defensive, discriminatory and regrettable”.

Copyright 2008 The University Observer. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

All About IBTS • Ireland • UCD • UCC

 This story was taken from an article I wrote for UCD’s “University Observer” in 2003. The website I used to model this piece on was CNN (http://edition.cnn.com). I like CNN’s appraoch to giving plenty of white space in the article, and also their offering of websites one can look to for more information in the “Don’t Miss” section. The “All ABout” section at the end of the article, takes you to a list of all the news stories containing those issues (or places) as far back as the early 1990’s.

Broadband market gets hotter

Digiweb, one of Ireland’s leading providers of broadband, web hosting and telecoms, today announced the acquisition of established webhosting veteran Novara. It is estimated this will create 20 new jobs. While the company would not disclose the price it paid for eight-year-old hosting firm Novara, a spokesman confirmed the deal was for a “seven figure sum”. Dan King, manager with Digiweb, said the purchase of Novara will not lead to any redundancies but instead will lead to job creation. 

This takeover comes as internet usage in the Republic stood at 49% in 2006 (the latest statistics available from the CSO), with 13% of those households (or one in eight) using broadband. The Irish broadband market has got extremely competitive over the last number of years. Beginning with just the state provider, Eircom, many other Irish (and international providers) have entered the Irish broadband race. BT Ireland, Perlico, Irish Broadband, Clear Wire, NTL….the list goes on.

Although this recent acquisition of Novara by Digiweb is good news for the industry and the workforce, it remains to be seen if they can go up against big companies offering ever-increasing price cuts to consumers. Perlico, BT Ireland and NTL all have massive multi-national corporations behind them, meaning they can probably put up more of a fight than their smaller counterparts. BT is listed on both the London and New York stock exchanges; Perlico is part of the Vodafone Group, which is one of the top 25 companies in the world with over 31 million cellular customers worldwide, and interests in 24 countries across five continents. Meanwhile, NTL has teamed up with the UPC Group and offers broadband, television and phone packages. Competition is good news for consumers, may-be not so for small Irish companies.

ENDS

The original press release for this story was taken from Press Release Ireland (http://www.pressreleaseireland.com/2008/04/07/digiweb-acquires-novara/)

The Irish website www.breakingnews.ie, which is owned by Cork-based Thomas Crosbie Media, is getting a facelift. When you log onto the homepage the first thing you see is a message telling you “we will be launching our re-design of BreakingNews.ie within the next few days & hope you’ll like the changes!” So do I. According to the website, there will be facilities for pictures, videos and comments with an emphesis on (what they call) ‘rich media’; this means video & audio clips. This is good news for us all….yet another alternative to the all dominating (& not so frequently up-dated) RTE News (www.rte.ie/news) & may-be even a half-decent contender against international websites like CNN (http://edition.cnn.com) etc. Only time…a very short time…will tell. 

**BAM!** That’s the bombshell that went off for Ireland to-day when Bertie Ahern announced his resignation. I don’t think it’s the fact that it happend that was so surprsing, just that it happend so fast. Good ‘ol CNN is on the ball with coverage & analysis of the story & has a nice blog to go with it. The blog (http://inthefield.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/02/bertie-ahern-a-peoples-politician/#comment-1552) paints a very favourable & lovable picture of Ahern. To be fair, that is how most of the world sees him, they don’t hear all the Mahon crap (& that’s what I think it is!) that we do. I do like this blog; that may have something to do with the fact that I do like Bertie! Yes it is a blog by a journalist & journalists are supposed to be unbiased. But it is not a blog about news per-say; it is about the journalists opinion of Bertie & the situation he is in & the situation Ireland is in right now. You’ll be missed, Bertie…but will live on in blog form.

OK, hats off INTRA (http://www.dcu.ie/intra) is an incredably simple & easy system to use & understand. But why is it so rigid & annoying? It is infuriating (& some may say ‘unfair’) that one is unable to choose the placement they want…you have to take the first thing you are given. OK, I can sort of understand the reasoning behind that one-don’t want to be left with nothing! But the other problem is the fact that the placements are put up on the INTRA system in dribs & drabs. I think it would be much fairer and better if all placements went up together; people would be able to gauge all their options & would be on an even playing field. The system seems unbalanced in that people who take risks & wait for their ‘ideal’ placement may get exactly what they want (or nothing!). Wheras the ones who sign up first loose out on placements that go up last. Don’t get me wrong now…I think the INTRA system is very user-friendly in that you just have to click a button to apply for an internship. But there are some kinks to be ironed out, seriously.