MGP2006: Democracy & Independence -- Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World

Overholser notes "Mizzou" faculty book celebrating thriving journalism

JTM2007 and MGP2006 participant Geneva Overholser notes a new collection by the faculty at the University of Missouri School of Journalism which, as Overholser writes in an Aug. 28 email: "celebrate(s) what's going well with stories about thriving newspapers, hard-working broadcasters and individuals making a difference." The book, entitled, "What Good is Journalism?" is a set of case studies on "how reporters and editors are saving America's way of life. Edited by George kennedy and Daryl Moen, the book includes pieces by Overholser on NPR, Brant Houston (also MGP2006) on investigative reporting, Stuart Loory on the "journalism you deserve" and six other chapters. It's available from the University of Missour Press directly, or from Amazon.com.

MORE BACKGROUND: http://journalism.missouri.edu/news/2007/07-13-what-good-journalism.html

ORDERING LINK: http://press.umsystem.edu/spring2007/kennedy.moen.htm

PDF PROMOTIONAL FLYER: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/pdf/missouri-good-journalism.pdf

New York Times piece revives thinking about "micropayments"

Dan Mitchell, writing Aug. 27, 2007 in The New York Times, has revived the conversation about so-called "micropayments," noting that iTunes is working and suggesting larger small-payment aggregation networks which facilitate advertising and user exchange might be feasible. The piece ends with a quote from Bill Densmore.

ORIGINAL URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/technology/27micro.html

ALTERNATE LINK: http://newshare.blogspot.com/2007/08/nytimes-in-online-world-pocket-change.html

He writes:

"Bill Densmore, a founder of the payments firm Clickshare, a former newspaper publisher and now a consultant and a director of a citizens' media project at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has been promoting micropayments from the beginning. He envisions Web publishers joining with one another and with producers of other content to create huge networks, sharing users and, in effect, revenue.

"For example, he said, a large newspaper could sell subscriptions that would allow its readers to download music from iTunes or Rhapsody, read articles from regional papers, and watch movies and TV shows from YouTube or Comedy Central. Some material would be sold for a fee -- with the payments managed internally by the network. Mr. Densmore acknowledged that this is all pie-in-the-sky at this point. But, he said, for newspapers in particular, the status quo is not good enough. In that business, he said, there are "enough people feeling enough pain that they need to be open to asking what models might work."

Also see: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Mit-gathering

Steve Perry launching new website in MP/SP

Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:26:43 -0500
From: Steve Perry
Subject: first announcement of new website

hi everybody--

sorry for the group email. most of you know something about this already. for those who don't, i'm launching a news/community website in mpls/st paul this fall. this post was the first public word of it.

http://minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2254