There is something extraordinarily rich in the intersection of computer science and journalism. It feels like there’s a nascent field in the making, tied to the rise of the internet. The last few years have seen calls for a new class of  “programmer journalist” and the birth of a community of hacks and hackers. Meanwhile, several schools are now offering joint degrees. But we’ll need more than competent programmers in newsrooms. What are the key problems of computational journalism? What other fields can we draw upon for ideas and theory? For that matter, what is it?

"I know it’s an oldie, but it’s a goodie, and many of you may not have seen it, so it will be new to you."

The secret to referrals is to ensure that each referral benefits the member.

What would otherwise be a footnote for CMS geeks now brings the mistake into focus. And that brings us to the takeaway: It only takes one click to embarrass yourself and your company. We've seen it before. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. It's easy to click quickly, especially if you're in a hurry. It's not obsessive-compulsive or paranoid to slow down to double-check; it's part of being responsible.

The point is not blocking sites, but the ease with which it might be done. If distribution van drivers ‘self-regulated’ to stop delivering newspapers whenever anyone complained, publishers and journalists would have a problem. An avenue to appeal doesn’t solve it, because by then the editorial moment will likely have passed – not to mention the extra costs it incurs for content producers.

One such initiative is “Open Story” that pulls together traditional reporting, user-generated content and data. Open Story is a collaborative story-telling interface, such as this one on Japan.

There is a fantastic design lesson for news organisations there. As an industry we are all very excited about our news apps and tablet devices and the wild promise of 4G networks and ubiquitous connections. However, a truly global audience now follows every development in the stories that affect them across a worldwide range of news sources. If you don’t ensure that your news articles can be read quickly and easily on a low-grade “feature phone” device in the streets of every continent, you are doing your journalism a disservice.