http://www.joannageary.com Thoughts of a UK regional newspaper journalist Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:33:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Sasa Vucinic, a journalist from Belgrade, talks about his fund, which supports media by selling "free press bonds. The Media Development Loan Fund applies venture-capital principles to create a sustainable free press in developing nations and countries emerging from repressive regimes: http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/14/sasa-vucinic-why-a-free-press-is-the-best-investment/ I was impressed with Locly when shown it by a friend, but Google has really blown that out the water with this. [via Buzzmachine] I always nodded when people said to me that mobile was the next step for the web. I understood what they meant in theory, but I have now ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/14/location-aware-voice-recognition-search-thats-googlewang/ Just been reading a post by Jonathan Kay that suggests the two biggest factors in the decline of print are the death of spare time and the death of community (thanks to Markmedia for the link). The former struck a chord with me. I am a Radio 4 addict because I ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/13/quick-incoherent-thought-3-ambient-distribution/ I think, from feedback I have received beyond this blog, that there is some confusion with regards to the importance I attach to journalism. I want to clear this up now. I think a free press is massively important as a tool to help preserve democracy and to keep people informed ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/12/the-market-and-the-internet-don%e2%80%99t-care-if-you-make-money/ Really enjoyed Roy Greenslade's post on his Guardian blog yesterday. It was a message to the Society of Editors as they meet in Bristol this week. I often find Roy's blog makes depressing reading and, in the past, I have had to ban myself from reading it for a few weeks ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/10/roy-greenslade-what-editors-should-be-talking-about-today/ This is a comment I wrote for an earlier post about the role of journalists. I hope you don't mind but I've copied it into a post because it is actually longer than most things I write and  the debate is moving on. Let me know what you think! I think ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/06/what-is-journalism-and-why-is-it-so-essential/ I have just come across this presentation made by Sacha Chua for IBM called "Gen Y Guide to Web 2.0 at Work": The Gen Y Guide to Web 2.0 at Work  It was linked to from a Read Write Web article called "Why Gen Y is Going to Change the World" which ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/05/how-to-approach-social-media-like-a-grown-up/ I just wanted to quickly and shamelessly point out again that a rather fantastic debate has broken out underneath my post about how most news doesn't need journalism. It has prompted a very considered and interesting comment from Steve Dyson - editor of the Birmingham Mail and the Sunday Mercury. An extract: Local ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/05/newspaper-brands-crucial-as-records-of-facts/ On my last post a mini-debate has broken out about whether our exisiting news organisations really need journalists to investigate stories. A debate also broke out on Twitter between myself and Bobbie "I probably have one of the coolest jobs in the world and get to live in San Fransciso" Johnson ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/11/03/brand-identifiers-or-whats-important-about-how-you-get-your-news/ The world does not need journalists to communicate the vast majority of information that is defined as news. Most of the news that comes out of media organisations on a daily basis is information that others either WANT people to know or HAVE to admit to. It is just re-written ... http://www.joannageary.com/2008/10/28/quick-incoherent-thought-2-why-most-news-doesnt-need-journos/