This is the archive blog of Journoz.Com, the Guide to Internet Information Sources for Ethical Australian Journalists. To view the main website, click here:

Ethical Australian Journalists Guide



Archive:

April 30, 2003

Education update

Keep up to date with news and developments in Australian higher education via the UOW Higher Education Gateway at http://www.library.uow.edu.au/about/news/gateway/index.html.
Posted by belinda at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

Knowledge work - what it took to get there

Pathways to Knowledge Work, a report created by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, is based on Census data from the latest two censuses, 1986 and 2000. It examines the changes in the occupational structure of the Australian labour market and identifies the fastest growing occupations as well as those in decline. The full report, in PDF, is at http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr0022.pdf.
Posted by journoz at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

Internet radio

There is a very comprehensive article (with links) on Radio on the Internet by Ian Winship in the always excellent FreePint (http://www.freepint.co.uk/). Read the piece at http://www.freepint.com/issues/170403.htm#tips.
Posted by journoz at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)

Business lowdown

Global Edge is a good site for international business information. The site has sections for countries (browse down by region) and global resources, such as trade law, stock exchanges, company directories, statistical data sources, governments, organisations and more. See for yourself at http://globaledge.msu.edu/.
Posted by journoz at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Annual report on UK online activity

The third in a series of annual reports on the state of the UK online nation can be found at http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/
esummit-ukoannrep/$file/indexpage.htm
. The site states: 'The report is structured around the three central pillars of our strategy: Business; Government; and People. It describes achievements over the last year, our commitments for the year to come, and our future strategy for UK online.'
Posted by journoz at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2003

News feeds - reshaping the Web for news?

Caroline White has a story, News feeds to reshape the web, at journalism.co.uk (http://www.journalism.co.uk/). She writes: "Journalists and web experts in the US are predicting that news feeds will re-shape the way online news is published, despite several European court rulings outlawing the practice of deep-linking. There are now hundreds of news feed, or RSS (Rich Site Summary) software packages available to download free. Using XML, they search for stories under a list of topics and publications chosen by the user, then feed a selection of headlines and story summaries back to them." Read the full story at http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story579.html
Posted by journoz at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

Arms trade lowdown

The Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/) has created the Arms Sales Monitoring Project to work for restraint in the global production and trade of weapons. Find out more at http://www.fas.org/asmp. The site includes an arms sales database, a newsletter, action alerts, information on arms sales and 'anti-terrorism' and more.
Posted by journoz at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

Hotline to the afterlife?

You'd probably need a LOT of faith to cough up money at Afterlife Telegrams. At this site, you can pay a terminally ill patient to memorise a message on your behalf which will then be delivered (when that patient dies) to someone you want to communicate with who's already died. No mention here of delivery problems in case that someone has been sent to the 'wrong place', and there's not much chance of getting your money back if you feel the delivery didn't take place. At $US5 a word, you wouldn't want to have a lot to say or it could get expensive. Check it out at http://www.afterlifetelegrams.com/AFTERLIFE/.
Posted by journoz at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

To new heights?

You can hear audio blogs (complete with puffing?) of Lorenzo Gariano's ascent of Mount Everest at http://sixfields.open.ac.uk/everest/. Gariano's climb is part of a team commemorating the first ascent of Everest fifty years ago by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Proof that blogs can be done from anywhere - war zones, high mountains - the first undersea blog can't be far away.
Posted by journoz at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2003

The future of journalism education?

Do journalists need to be professionals? Do they need to go to university to learn their craft? These are questions that have been re-examined in light of Columbia University's search for both a new dean of Journalism and a rethinking of the school's role. President Lee Bollinger of Columbia set up a Task Force to look at what role Columbia should play. His Statement on the Future of Journalism Education is at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/03/04/lcb_j_task_force.html. Not everyone agrees with him. The Washington Post politics columnist Robert J. Samuelson takes issue with Bollinger in his piece 'Snob journalism' takes hold at Columbia' at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18346-2003Apr22.html .
Posted by journoz at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

War dead

Associated Press has a freebie database on armed forces' war dead in the Iraq conflict. The basic search at http://fmmac2.mm.ap.org/war2/search.php is just that - basic; the Advanced Search offers a lot more options such as searching by cause of death, such as Friendly Fire, by name or by location. All casualties listed are from coalition forces - there is no information on civilian casualties. You can also use the database to search for Freed POWs or soldiers listed as missing.
Posted by journoz at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

SARS briefings from WHO

The World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/) has a page of media briefings to date on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Find it at http://www.who.int/csr/sars/press/en. Also available from WHO is a colour-coded map of countries affected by SARS at http://www.who.int/csr/sars/map2003_04_23.jpg. The US-based Center for Disease Control also has information at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/.
Posted by journoz at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2003

Coming right at you

Anyone reporting AIDS or other reproductive health issues will be glad to hear about the PUSH journal (http://www.pushjournal.org/. The journal isn't really pushy - PUSH is simply an acronym for 'Periodic Updates of Sexual and Reproductive Health issues around the world'. You have to register to get it (journalists only) but it gives journalists free access to news and magazine stories on these topics from 5,000 news sources dating back to May 2002. It is good to see services designed to deliver more informed reporting.
Posted by journoz at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)

No more excuses

After the high fat scares about junk food recently, everyone needs to be better informed about food content. Get the lowdown by downloading a free database of detailed nutritional information for more than 6,000 food products (including fast food items) compiled by the US Department of Agriculture (http://www.usda.gov/). The database can be searched on a PC or PDA. Get the database and software to run it at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
Posted by journoz at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

Do Australians have a growth fetish?

The introduction and first chapter of Clive Hamilton's book, Growth Fetish, is online at the Australia Institute's home page (http://www.tai.org.au/). (Hamilton is the Director of the Institute). There is also an accompanying web site, which links to reviews and to other papers, such as Discussion Papers no. 49 (Overconsumption in Australia) and 50 (Downshifting in Australia). From the site: "Published by Allen & Unwin, Growth Fetish will be available from 7 April. The recommended retail price is $24.95 but members can buy copies from the Institute for $22 (includes postage)."
Posted by journoz at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2003

Online university for journalists from 2004

Online university for journalists from 2004
The Poynter Institute (http://www.poynter.org/), in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (http://www.knightfdn.org/), will launch NewsU (http://www.newsu.org/) in 2004, a Web-based journalism university providing reporting, editing and online journalism courses as well as handy links for journalists. More details can be found via Poynter at http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=28991&sid=41.

Survey of American journalists
The Knight Foundation also sponsored The American Journalist Today survey, carried out by researchers at the School of Journalism at Indiana University, which found that the Internet is now vital to journalists at work. Journalists are using the Net to talk to readers, download data, do background checks, get news releases and research story facts. Find the survey at http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/special_reports/americanjournalist/2003_04_10_aj.html. Poynter has information and links at http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=28844#series too.

Posted by journoz at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2003

Unlikely media star?

Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has become an Internet darling and now has a fan site at http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/. One of the quotes from the site explains his appeal: "In an age of spin, al-Sahaf offers feeling and authenticity ... His lunatic counterfactual art is more appealing than the banal awfulness of the Reliable Sources."
Posted by journoz at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

Register to get it

The New York Times has put its Iraq Navigator online for anyone, journalist or otherwise, who wants to use it. It is not just a good list of links to information on different aspects of Iraq and the war, but also a bird's eye view of how a major national newspaper newsroom organises online information for major stories. See for yourself (you'll need to register for free first) at http://www.nytimes.com/ref/international/IRAQ_NAVIGATOR.html.
Posted by journoz at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

Crime doesn't pay - it costs

The Australian Institute of Criminology has produced a paper, Counting the costs of crime in Australia, which estimates the major costs for a range of offences at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi247.html. The total is a staggering A$19 billion. They have also produced a Technical Report at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tbp/tbp004.html.
Posted by journoz at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2003

Policy sources

The Australian's Higher Education section reported on Australian Policy Online (http://www.apo.org.au/) on Wednesday and also on another source of Australian policy debate, the Australian Public Intellectual (API) Network. Use it to find policy debate, experts and new academic publishing. It's at http://www.api-network.com/.
Posted by belinda at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

Report card

The IMF has just released its World Economic Outlook, April 2003, at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2003/01/index.htm. It's had some coverage in the news so get the full story. For our region, there is a section entitled: Asia-Pacific Region: Has Growth Become Less Reliant on Global Developments? . Maybe more importantly, the site also provides access to the Global Financial Stability Report, released in March, at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/gfsr/2003/01/index.htm.
Posted by journoz at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

Research finders

The Australian's Higher Education section reported on Australian Policy Online (http://www.apo.org.au/) on Wednesday and also on another source of Australian policy debate, the Australian Public Intellectual (API) Network. Use it to find policy debate, experts and new academic publishing. It's at http://www.api-network.com/.
Posted by belinda at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2003

New Tok Pisin Web site from Radio Australia

Radio Australia has boosted its services to Tok Pisin listeners by launching a new Web site.Tok Pisin supplies regional news and information from Radio Australia, and programs from its Tok Pisin Language Service. (Tok Pisin or Pidgin is the common language of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.) See it online at http://www.abc.net.au/ra/tokpisin/.
Posted by journoz at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2003

Breaking new ground in media training

For those interested in the converged newsroom, Ifra Newsplex's seminar program should make interesting reading. While US-based, and thus out of the reach of most, the program is a guide to where converged newsrooms are going and what the changed staff roles encompass. For example, Martha Stone, Director of Training, IFRA Newsplex has this to say: 'Among the new roles in this newsroom, we believe, is the News Resourcer, or the informatic journalist, who wields all of the tools on the information landscape by accessing information through databases, computer-assisted reporting, story contextualization and deep researching, and functions as the newsroom chief information officer." I couldn't agree more - newsrooms need such people. Details are at http://www.newsplex.org/program/training.shtml.
Posted by journoz at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

And the winner is ...

Information on the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winners can be found at http://www.pulitzer.org/2003/2003.html. More information can also be found at http://www.freepint.com/gary/pulitzerwinners.htm, which links to the actual stories.
Posted by journoz at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)

Alternative views

A Canadian librarian has created Iraq 2003: Sources of News to link people to alternative sources of news on the Iraq war. These include weblogs, alternative newspapers and online sources, anti-war organisations and campaigns. There are also links to mainstream media, weblogs and diaries from embedded journalists, think tanks and research groups. Find the page at http://cronus.uwindsor.ca/units/leddy/2002.nsf/HelpSubjectGuidesIraq2003.
Posted by journoz at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2003

Net awards for online media

The EPpys mightn't have the same glitz as the Oscars, but online news outlets are probably darn glad to get them. The awards are presented by Editor & Publisher (http://www.editorandpublisher.com/) and MediaWeek magazines (http://www.mediaweek.com/) and the full list of finalists is at http://www.imakenews.com/imediainc/e_article000140122.cfm. Washingtonpost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/ is the frontrunner.
Posted by journoz at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2003

War stuff

The Institute of War and Peace Reporting at http://www.iwpr.net/ has news and a special subscription report on Iraq. Go to the Iraq Programme link to subscribe to the emailed Iraqi Crisis Report. The US's Central Command site has constant updates on what's happening militarily. See for yourself at http://www.centcom.mil/.
Posted by journoz at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2003

The Best of Photojournalism 2003

The Poynter Institute has published the US 2003 National Press Photographer's Association's Best of Photojournalism and Best of Photojournalism on the Web winners for 2003 at http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=27140. Lots to see there in a range of different categories, though it seems a tad early in the year to be judging a whole year, especially with the Iraq war on.
Posted by journoz at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

Media on media

How is the media doing in reporting the Iraq war? Read the Media on Media blog at Online Journalism Review for some US media criticism and analysis. It's at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/media_on_media/blog.php. The controversy over Kevin Sites, the CNN cameraman who was instructed by his employers to stop writing his war blog, is also dealt with at OJR, at this URL http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1049381758.php. A good contribution to the question of whether blogging is journalism or not.
Posted by journoz at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

Australian research

Just remember to check back with Australian Policy Online (http://www.apo.org.au/) regularly for news updates and announcements of recently released research. It's a goldmine of story ideas for journalists.
Posted by journoz at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

Creative Brisbane?

Commissioned by the Brisbane City Council, the Brisbane's Creative Industries 2003 Report defines the city's creative industries, looks at employment in the sector, identifies strengths and weaknesses and examines financial dimensions such as government funding. The full text report is at http://www.creativeindustries.qut.com/research/cirac/documents/bccreportonly.pdf.
Posted by journoz at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2003

SARS

The World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/) has reliable information on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) at http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/, including a FAQ at http://www.who.int/csr/sars/sarsfaq/en. The US Center for Disease Control also has information at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/.
Posted by journoz at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

How would the US rate?

The US State Department has released the 2002 Country Reports on human rights practices. See them at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/. Areas covered include Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, the Near East and North Africa, South Asia and Western Hemisphere. The US is not covered. However, Human Rights Watch's 2003 World Report is at http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/.
Posted by journoz at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

The Internet and the Iraq War

TV still rules for war news, according to a newly released Pew Internet & American Life report, The Internet and the Iraq War: How online Americans have used the Internet to learn war news, understand events, and promote their views, (http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Iraq_War_Report.pdf. Still, 77% of online Americans have used the Internet in connection with the war and the under-30s are increasingly visiting blogs for war news. The figures for news media use are as follows:
TV - 89% (all Americans) (87% for Internet users)
Newspapers - 24% (all Americans) (21% for Internet users)
Radio - 19% (all Americans) (22% for Internet users)
Internet - 17% (internet users only).
Posted by journoz at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)