Blathnaid Healy’s Blog

I have just returned from an European Commission trip to Brussels so this post is very Euro-focused. But with the elections in June and Lisbon II before October we’ll need all the resources available to us.

The European Journalism Centre’s newsroom aggregates news about the industry here. It’s clearly laid out and takes in most of the big hitters.

For journalists covering Europe and the elections later in the year eu4journalists has some good policy info. Not a great name for a website though and bear in mind that it is a website created for the European Commission. However it might be easier than dealing with Europa.eu. But if you must deal with Europa.eu the good folks at the European Journalism Centre have a search engine to tackle that behemoth.

Away from Europe Al’s Morning Meeting over at Poynter takes a look at audio slideshows and asks Boston.com’s (website of the Boston Globe) web editor David Beard perhaps the most pertinent question about this medium. (Thanks to Peter Sachs‘ gmail status for the heads up)

Why would somebody watch a slideshow when the world has “gone video?”

Beard: They watch both. … I think you have to take people to a different place with both. I love the way Brian Storm’s crew mixes and matches video and audio slideshows, too, so that the art of the still photograph is not sacrificed. If your question is why the seemingly Web 1.0 still slideshow, or gallery, still draws so many fans, it may be that it’s seen as less of an investment.

If I as a reader want to check out thumbnails and get to the photo I want, I can do that. If I want to stop, or to linger, I can go as fast or as slow as I want. If I just want to see the photos of the US Airways crash on the Hudson River to get my understanding in 30 seconds, or catch the best editorial cartoons of the week, I can do that, too.

I like audio slideshows, but recently I have noticed some which seemed to be done just for the sake of it. When done well like the Washington Post’s Exploring Antarctica it’s storytelling at its best.

The broadcaster has announced it is to cut some 1,000 jobs, 40% of its regional staff will be let go in the move.

Read about the fallout, which followed the announcement here

According to paidContent.org Foreign Policy magazine, which comes out every two months and its website have been bought by the Washington Post Company

Read more about the acquisition here

From paidContent.org

Thomson Reuters is planning on gaining market share away from Bloomberg. Their plan is to beat them on price…good plan. Considering how expensive a Bloomberg terminal is, this seems pretty sensible and with an economic downturn on our hands a pretty good time to go for it!

This is the first newspaper that the Tribune Co, with Sam Zell at the helm, has overhauled. Read the WSJ’s review of it here

I have only had a look at the front page of today’s paper on the website (because that’s all it provides), can’t say I am blown away by it though.

Initial thoughts:

-The masthead is way too small
-It seems too graphic-heavy (certainly for a front page)
-Too busy, and over complicated (hoping it settles down)
-Immediately looks like it’s all style and no substance

I can’t really say much else because I haven’t seen the whole edition.

One small thing though, I can’t quite understand why the paper’s designer has chosen to make the lead story on mortgage misery jump mid sentence after a mere 3.5 paragraphs! Readers hate jumps and rarely go on to read the rest of the story, so maybe they should focus on getting more of the main story on the page and less shiny info graphics, or perhaps provide a story summery, with the full version inside.

Will check out the full edition when I get my hands on it, but it does give us an idea where the Tribune Co’s newspapers are heading.

Snapped outside the catholic church in Arklow Co Wicklow (while driving) the Sunday before voting day

Just one of the posters from the colourful and varied Lisbon Treaty campaign run by the ‘No’ side, who won today’s referendum.

Despite the vast number of posters like the one above, which seemed quite irrational, the seemingly fragmented ‘No’ side won by a margin of 53.4% to 46.6%

Complete multimedia coverage over on rte.ie/lisbon with articles, audio, video, stats, maps and interactive features.

RTE.ie has also got some good comments from members of the public here, which give some insight into the ‘No’ side’s win

Outside of Ireland, the Lisbon Treaty has hit the headlines throughout the world just a couple of examples what they are saying here and here.

Pancakes might be a little off topic for this blog, but with the day that’s in it I’m posting a couple videos.

This is something I helped the folks over at Our Grannies’ Recipes with over the weekend. Not a bad gig considering I got to eat the final product!

Happy Super Pancake Tuesday and don’t forget to keep up-to-date with the US election here.

The Batter

The Cooking

Apologies for the dodgy headline, but I couldn’t resist!

Interesting article over on Guardian.co.uk today about new figures released on Internet radio listenership.

It reveals the following:

“More than 8 million people in the UK listen to web-based radio services every week and nearly 2 million download podcasts on a weekly basis, according to a survey that suggests internet radio has hit the mainstream.”

The results of the survey also showed that some 75% of listeners did not listen to less live radio (good news) and some 50% turned on a new show (even better news).

This survey surely comes as positive news for broadcasters especially those with good websites offering podcast and listen-back services.

I think it further demonstrates how mutually beneficial it can be to all work together.

Now all we need is more broadband Internet access across the country…

With Democratic and Republican candidates battling it out stateside, we launched a US election micro site this week. Check it out here

Looking forward to the madness of Super Tuesday and the next few states before we reach that point.

Check out my old newspaper in Spartanburg, South Carolina for some good local coverage of the primary this weekend. I really like their redesigned website!

Here are a couple of the other things I’ve worked on over the last week or so:

Donegal newspaper endorses McCain

and

Dublin Stakes out Monopoly board claim

I have just joined Ryan Sholin’s new social networking site Wired Journalists.

I think it is a really great idea and I am eager to learn from it. Having made the switch to online last year I still have a lot to learn and hopefully a few things to offer.