Ira Glass,  a broadcaster on th NPR show  ’This American Life’ said in an interview that; podcasting is responsible for bringing  an extra half a million listeners to his talk show and decreasing  the average age of his listenership. This American Life – Ira Glass

National Public Radio offers a step by step guide on how to listen to podcasts and how to counteract any  problems that may occur.  NPR has created a feedback system where listeners can comment, suggest or seek  help.

According to Podcasting News traffic on NPR’s website grew 78% from 2007 to 2008. The success of this service displays that there is  a wide market for podcasts and people who wish to ingest media  in their own time.

SKY News has included three features in its online service which support the development of citizen journalism. SKY News encourages its followers to upload their videos, photographs and to set up their own blog.  Each respective aspect has its own page on SKY’s news site.  SKY News broadcast  many viewers videos on their website. If content is news worthy it may be covered in their television news service.  Videos from citizens  from events such as the London train bombings were shown on SKY News television bulletin.

SKY News photograph feature  enables viewers to upload their photographs from any events, the London Marathon being the latest trend.  The content on this feature is more light hearted that the other feature which the corporation uses to encourage citizen journalism.

The blog feature allows the average blogger to have their content viewed on a SKY webpage dedicated to ‘your blog’. The standard of English in some the posts are not of an exemplary standard as some of the spelling leaves room for thought. However, some of the posts are quite interesting and entertaining despite  a lack of attractiveness in some of the layout.

Viewers are given a chance to report any content that they find offensive in any manner. Credit is due to SKY for encouraging citizen journalism among its audience. It places a strong emphasis on interactivity which sometimes can become a little too interactive especially on its discussion board, with content ranging from pornography to the London Marathon!

    Spot the difference!

‘Steph’ has published CSS files from both websites on her blog, and the similarites are remarkable. Fine Gael renamed some of the CSS files in teh imediate after math of the artlice by the Sunday Tribune, however their homepage is still the same. It is interesting that a reputable newspaper went to a blog for a  news stories. This may be an emerging trend in print media where journalists will run stories from bloggers.

An interesting comment on Steph’s blog highlights a fellow bloggers fears, that bloggers do not recieve proper recognition in Irish Media;

Many people do not understand the social nature of the Internet and that social norms, values and relations are reproduced throughout the Internet;  the same logic as  in so-called ‘real life’. This essential understanding has been violated, as far as I am concerned you are a source of information and a political commentator on this affair. Again in ‘real life’ if you were to call media attention to some mishandling of FG affairs, you would be a whistleblower, a political commentator, a credible source but because you are a blogger, you are a troublemaker creating a moral panic.

There are similarities between the online service of SKY News, CNN and the BBC.  SKY News and CNN also offer a personalised service, however the news focus between the three services are very different. The service offered by the BBC does not emphasise sensationalism in any ways in contrast to the other two. The lack of advertising on the news site also gives to the personalised service which the BBC has created, their only form of advertisment being a link to the Lonely Planet Travel Guide!

This is a very open service in comparison to RTÉ, which offers little in the line of a personalised service.  The BBC homepage is entirely dedicated to providing News on as many fronts as possible, with links to its TV Channels and Radio Stations.  The lack of competition facing RTÉ in Ireland may be a factor in their straight cut service.   The question must be raised, does this display that some of the Irish audience are viewed as technophobes, or are we just behind the times!

An online crossword is about as interactive as the online edition of The Irish Independent gets! The Irish Times uses their daily poll as their main form of interactivity with their Readers. The poll usually concerns the main daily story, readers are given a chance to express their opinion on the subject in question.

The Sunday World’s online edition is more focused on entertainment rather than breaking news. However, it does give the reader an opportunity to email major columnists at the paper such as Paul Williams

The Guardian online gives readers the chance to comment on certain stories, registration is required to view and post comments.

The Times Online offers a more personalised service where reader can manage their news bulletin subscriptions. The Times offers a similar service to The Guardian where one can comment on certain stories. No registration is required to view or post material, an email address is required.

The Times Online - Interactivity

British mainstay news papers are making more of an effort and it has paid off, some stories on The Guardian online received over 600 comments.  The reasons for the lack of interactivity in online Irish journalism are unclear, however the author feels we are simply in a time of transition.

On the 16 March several reporters from the Newspaper decided to create an online local Newspaper. It needed 50,000 subscriptions before April 23 in order to begin, the Reporters achieved their goal the website reached 50,000 subscribers. The former journalists of the Rocky Mountain News used all possible forms of digital media to fight for their cause from youtube videos to the website iwantmyrocky.com.

Local News in an online world driven by trusted journalists was the focus on this campaign. This is a example of the changing times and the transition to online journalism from print media. This may not be the only example of a Local Newspaper going online in the next few years.

The Guardian has also made great strides in this respect in employing a readers editor Siobhain Butterworth. She is responsible for answering readers queries. Butterworth publishes a daily colum on corrections and clarifications. She also publishes a weekly colum on reader questions and views.  The reader editor’s homepage also contains links to the Guardian’s style guide and editorial code.

Very few mainstream newspaper organisations have gone to the same length as The New York Times and The Guardian to ensure transparency. Transparency has been labelled the golden rule of the blogosphere, it is interesting that this value had handed high recognition to News websites that recognise it. The efforts of the repective papers have not gone unnoticed as The Guardian has been voted the best website at the British Press Awards in 2008 and 2009.

Journalists such George Hook do not have their own domain but use common blog sites such as WordPress. Hook has a blog entitled ‘the right hook‘. He has blogged on many reviews of new technology such as the rechargeable car and the new Samsung phone. He has been fairly generous in his assessments, one must ask are there ulterior motive behind some of Hooks blogging.

Contrary to this a blogger called ‘Steph’ who is an Interactive Designe’ has purchased her own domain, she blogs on just about anything. She has raised a Fine Gael  – BBC plagiarism scandal on her blog, raising the similarities between their respective web page layouts.

Bloggers, Journalists, Economists alike all use a personalised domain for different purposes. More often than not a personalised domain displays a bloggers who is receiving financial gain for their efforts.  The double edge sword of the blogosphere is being used by many for the quick buck.

www.sponsoredreviews.com offers a service where business can purchase contextual links from bloggers. Bloggers are encouraged to create a profile to attract advertisers, reviews must be written in terms set forth by the advertiser. The website boasts that bloggers can earn from hundreds to a thousand dollars per month blogging.

Payperpost.com offers its own code of conduct which states that bloggers must disclose that they are getting paid for their content. The blog must link back to the website of the advertiser. Contrary to this some what ethical behaviour www.smorty.com offers another pay to blog service, it states that each post must not state that it is being sponsored or that it is affiliated with smorty.com.

Some of these services are making the effort to state their allegiances, however it is clear that some are taking advantage of the uncontrolable voice of blogging. It is still quite early to question what effect will pay per blog have on objective blogging.

Breaking news offers a service where one can link RSS feeds from their own website to Twitter, Facebook and Bebo. It also displays the RSS link on their main webpage. RTÉ also offers an RSS service which is advertised in a less sensational manner than that of breakingnews. SKY news offers a detailed instruction on how to insert RSS feeds as well as its more specialised feeds.

Terry Heaton has penned an interesting article entitled; Local Media in a Postmodern World Protecting the Stage. Heaton states; Life in a band is life on a stage, and the stage is always more important than the band.