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NewAssignment.Net - an experiment in open-source reporting

Live Broadcasts: Prevent FCC Fines By Using Firefox w/ GreasemonkeyNovember 8

If you understood the title written above, skip down to the link, install the script and enjoy your FCC violation-free twitter feed that is safe to broadcast over live television. However, if the headline made no sense to you what-so-ever, then don’t worry. It’s still not that difficult. I can explain how to do it pretty quickly actually:

Rather than explain what each part is, I’ll just cut to the chase. First you should be using the Firefox browser (it won’t work unless you use Firefox). The next thing you need to do is download a Firefox add-on called “Greasemonkey,” [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748]. After that you need to download/install (meaning click a button) a greasemonkey script that adds two new fields under the menu sidebar. These are filters for you to Black-list and white-list certain words or users…all you do is type the word in, then hit enter and that word disappears from your feed temporarily.

Want to remove the filter? Just delete the text in the field and hit enter again or reload the page. It’s great for broadcasting a visual of the feed without the fear of cursewords popping up.

It’s seriously that simple. I just tried it out and it works flawlessly. Here’s the link to t

Better Journalism Requires More Applied Ideas, Not More PeopleNovember 8

Arguably the country’s most respected newspaper, the New York Times, along with non-profit site Propublica, have applied for a joint $1 mil grant for their “Document Cloud” entry in in the 2008 Knight News Challenge, according to a Nieman Journalism Lab article. For those not familiar with the aforementioned contest, it has three
core requirements, which you can read about on the official site.

My immediate reaction to the entry was of confusion. Why would a well-known media organization need to apply for a grant that funds good ideas? If you have resources, influence and reach then wouldn’t you already be paid to produce good ideas that would have a positive impact on journalism? NewAssignment.net founder/director Jay Rosen, who shared the article on his twitter feed wondered why the Times was asking for donating a million dollars instead of donating it.

Derek Willis, who works for the NYT, pointed out (

A Note to OffTheBus ContributorsNovember 6

Dear OffTheBus members,

Back in July 2007 I showed up at HuffPost’s Manhattan office with a suitcase packed with enough clothes to get me through the month while I looked for an apartment and started OffTheBus. Even before our official launch many of you were peppering my inbox with emails, wanting to know what you could do to help. Among that initial circle of my newfound friends and acquaintances were Mayhill Fowler — who later rocked the campaigns and campaign journalism with what we now know as “Bittergate”; Beverly Davis — a veteran reporter who provided invaluable insight into the role that citizen journalists could play on the trail; Richard Riehl — the editor of the much loved Roadkill, that tasty, daily collection of candidate gaffes; and Ethan Hova — a Shakespearean actor from Los Angeles who co-wrote our first big story, “Romney Buys Conservatives.”

Sixteen months later and our network has grown by the thousands. The staff also grew, as I was joined by Marc Cooper, Neil Nagraj, John Tomasic, and Hanna Ingber Win and intern Gabriel Beltrone. Mayhill, Beverly, Richard, and Ethan have been joined by a remarkable cast of home-makers, retired journalists, aspiring journalists, lawyers and doctors, actors and actresses, some curmudgeons and, yes, a few professional journalists. New friends are now old friends, and old friends are friends forever.

Together we have been credited with creating the genre of citizen journalism (New Yo

Laid-off Kenosha, Wis., reporter seeks advice on starting non-profit online news communityNovember 2

Denise Lockwood is like thousands of U.S. daily newspaper reporters — she fell victim to staff reductions. But she’s not giving up reporting — she’s pursuing her passion onlline.

Lockwood, an award-winning education and general-assignment reporter, is looking for advice on how to start a non-profit online news and community site for southeastern Wisconsin. She wants to focus on providing the context and background that dailies are being forced by economics to abandon.

One idea Lockwood is pursuing — what do we mean by “participatory democracy?” She worries that it isn’t enough to just vote anymore, that citizens “need to show up” at public meetings.

To learn more about her plans, listen to a 16-minute interview with Bill Densmore of the Media Giraffe Project and Matt Thompson, a 2008-2009 Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow.

How should Newspapers use Twitter?October 25

Rules, standard practices and policies are all null and void when confronted with communicating the news on a new medium. Such is the case with twitter, the web application that allows users to send 140-character messages from virtually any location with at least a cell phone signal.

News organizations usually try one method for using twitter and it then becomes the standard. While some blast the news just like an RSS feed, others are talking back to their followers/readers.

“I really like the ones on twitter that participate in discussion,” says Gerard Barberi a social researcher who is active in many online communities. “Right now, only Chicago papers seem to be doing that.”

Barberi suggested RedeyeChicago and Coloneltribune were among the better news organization affiliated users that knew how to leverage the benefit of discussion in between posting news. The New York Times, which adhered to the RSS feed-like method, was among the worst.

“NYTimes.com used to get on my nerves with their twitter account — 15-20 links dumped at 4 a.m. into the twitterverse,” he says.  “They finally stopped. It was pointless following them.

The Times has multiple account that each feat