I made the fatal mistake of messing with the code on my live site, and have somehow broken the relevant post, Australia’s Top 100 Journalists and News Media People on Twitter.

Thinking I would make a minor change to the comments.php file last week, I have somehow managed to block out the most visited post on the site. It’s still there, you just can’t see it, and I haven’t worked out how to fix it.

I’ve already tried reposting, only to see the same effect. I’m convinced the problem is in the paged comments part of the code, but have either not restored to the original, or have but to no effect.

In the interim…
In other news, I’ve been catching up on some podcasts and just listened to a great Pods and Blogs episode from April 7. One of the things mentiond in the podcast was a live streaming news centre that was set up by some students to cover G20.

From the PodcastDirectory show description:

This week Jamillah talks to the students who created a news streaming page from the middle of the G20 protests when many reporters were unable to get in, or out, of the thick of it.

Some of what they did sounds awesome but I was put off, and disagree completely, with one of the students interviewed. They suggested what they had done could not necessarily be done by members of the public, that they were trained in the technology, and knew how to speak to the camera as a journalist.

As I said, I completely disagree. There are plenty of people all over the world who are better trained (and self-trained), who could do a better job of framing the story on video. Or with their voice, or a still image, a piece of art, a song, or a line of code that generates a visualisation.

People tell stories every day in different ways, to all sorts of other people

I rant. You can find the podcast on Pods and Blogs, BBC Radio Five Live.

I’ve also been catching up on Dave Winer and Jay Rosen‘s regular fireside chat, which they’ve named Rebooting the News. I’ve started from the beginning and only made it to about number four, but there has already been some good listening. Check it out.

PANPA - Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association

Based on a survey of six students, they listed Facebook as the media outlet most accessed.

They asked for feedback, so I provided it. Basically, the survey would be interesting if it was expanded to as many students as possible, and actually ask questions about what aspects of social networking use they consider to be news consumption, or news related.

My comment:

Not disagreeing, just interested to know if Facebook was chosen as a media outlet or just a site visited (as top five media outlets).

Saw what was written re: Facebook, so by gossip did you mean gossip/entertainment news was being seen through Facebook, or was hard(er) news also looked at?
And how are students accessing that news through Facebook (news RSS apps/widgets, media outlet fan pages, wall posts, link recommendations from friends, etc)?

In a wider survey of the 18-25 demographic that would be interesting, but also moving the question beyond just Facebook, to social networking in general and other specific sites people might use.

Whether the news was gossip and entertainment, or more serious news, is somewhat less important at this point than how it is being accessed. I’m sure a study like this has been done. If not I challenge someone in academia, whose job it is to study how people interact with and share news media online, to conduct that survey and share its results.

A practical look at how different demographics interact and share news online can, at the very least, help inform decisions about more effective news distribution online, whether for large corporations or individual journalists trying to get a story seen.

If such a survey or report has been done and is old news, apologies, and a link to the study in the comments would be much appreciated!
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Slightly unrelated:
PANPA also have a “podcast” on their site which I have yet to listen to, having seen it just a few hours ago. My only problem is, I would argue that a podcast requires the ability to automatically download new updates using something like iTunes. That would require RSS to be present.

There are quite a few very good interviewees listed, which I will download to listen to, but it’s not immediately apparent how old, or new, the interviews are.

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• Facebook usage – dominated by young audience, despite older demographics growing quickly (nickburcher.com)
• Social Networking That pays (myventurepad.com)

Now you don’t have to. With the promotion of university lecture podcasts, you can get all your learning done in your own time, and for free. Staring out the bus or train window as the city passes you by on the way to work? Why not listen to some old Harvard grads from the class of 1955 talk about the changes in journalism in the last 50 years? 50 Years in Media: Changes in Journalism

Want something a bit more contemporary? Try Utah State’s Blogs, Wikis, New Media for Learning or Flash courses.

If you’re a visual learner and have a video iPod or other portable video player, try MIT’s Media, Education, and the Marketplace video lectures.

More podcasted courses available in the OEDB podcast directory, and also in iTunesU, university podcasts available directly from iTunes.

via New Media Bytes

Also from New Media Bytes: Ultimate guide to Twitter tools and resources for journalists