And they say the newspaper industry is dying ;-)

It looks like it started back in August and it seems many invites were sent out recently. It’s a step in the right direction.

Good stuff Yahoo, put a pic of Obama next to a headline about terrorism. I imagine the picture was added automatically because of the related keywords - but shouldn’t they really check it before it goes live?

Update: Someone/something from Yahoo visits within 10 minutes.

25 minutes later and it still features on the main Yahoo News world page:

Well the Irish Examiner, after much pitching by me, was brave enough to implement wordle usage. I reckon it might be the first Irish paper to use it.

I think it is effective. It draws the readers eyes in, and gives a sense of what the speech itself contains. What do people think? Is it something that could be used more in other contexts?

Well, except the MacBook Pro, which has been the best laptop I have ever had, and is now over one year old. Besides it is an EeePC 901 (12Gb solid state, 8GB SD, 1.6Ghz Atom, webcam, mic, Windows XP), a Canon 20D (extra battery pack/grip, 4GB CF), and a Flip Ultra.

The Flip Ultra has been interesting. The testing has shown that the mic is incredibly receptive, and the video quality is higher than I expected. I uploaded test footage to my YouTube account and it did degrade slightly, but it was still perfectly watchable.

I am taking a leaf out of the book of Jeff Jarvis, Michael Rosenblum and Howard Owens. Is this the kit all journalists should have? Maybe, maybe not. The DSLR is clunky, a point and shoot might be better. Better yet might be a new Nikon D90, which is a DSLR and a HD video recorder.

But for now I will make do with what I have, and see how effective they are as tools of the trade. Georgia should provide an interesting test bed if nothing else.

It will be on Page 14, all in horizontal. ‘Promise’ was the most frequently used word.

Russia has issued new, reduced casualty figures for the Georgian conflict, with 133 civilians now listed as dead in the disputed region of South Ossetia. The figure is far lower than the 1,600 people Russia initially said had died.

133? That sounds closer to fact. But Russia Today has been using the 2,000 figure across its ticker for over a week. This would polarise viewers very quickly, and I imagine now many would accept that figure as fact. It was a figure largely accepted by Western media, though always with the proviso that it was based on Russian media/government reports.

And in a further chilling of Western-Russian relations, Russia has said it is to cut all military ties with NATO.

The IT has recently gone down this route of interviewing their own journalists in various locations. It certainly adds value. But could she be doing more?

I’d like her to take some photos of her own, perhaps of the people she interviewed, and put them up on Flickr, or the IT website. Afterall, there is no shortage of space there like this is in a newspaper. A point and shoot would have done, a DSLR would have been preferred.

I’d like if she had a Flip Ultra with her, filmed the Hind helicopters flying overhead and hitting pylons, and then uploaded it to her YouTube account. That could have been embedded on the IT website, or indeed anywhere. It would have gone well with her written account. As would plain raw unedited footage of what she saw, including conversations with people. A podcast would have been nice too.

For now though, it seems we will be treated to the plain old text version, with radio-style interviews.

Is it asking too much? Too much equipment to lug around? I’m not sure. Flip Ultra, a Canon 20/40/400D, an EeePC (back at base either) and perhaps a good quality dictaphone. Internet access back in Tbilisi. A few spare CF cards and batteries.

Is that I am a news junkie that I would like all the other stuff, or would the general interest reader like it also? I wonder does Marlowe know about all this stuff, but prefer to stay traditional?

The owner of the Xinjiang Kashgar Restaurant near the main Olympic venue said he shut down Tuesday [of last week] after repeated visits from officials who cited health concerns. He said several other Muslim restaurants nearby had received similar visits. The owner, a Uighur, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear that he would be further harassed by the authorities.

Anonymity? It’s the owner of the Xinjiang Kashgar Restaurant. Do you want directions too? It’s near the main Olympic venue.

Via Jim

We’ve done the search. You only have to turn the pages.

Wha? And quoting the Economist is just as strange for it was they who said: “Newspapers are an endangered species.” Yes they are. And quoting a newspaper that is actually doing particularly well is a little strange too.

And this today from 24/7

Gannett (GCI): USA’s Largest Newspaper Company Takes A Hit

Even though the market expects poor results from newpaper companies, the actual results can come as a shock. Gannett (GCI) is off over 5% to a 52-week low of $15.93 on poor numbers.

GCI preliminary 2008 second quarter earnings per diluted share from continuing operations were $1.02 compared with $1.24 per share in the second quarter of 2007. The preliminary results, however, do not include non-cash charges to be recorded in the quarter, which have not yet been finalized, for the impairment of goodwill, other intangible assets and certain other assets

Total operating revenues for the company were $1.72 billion in the second quarter compared to $1.91 billion in the second quarter of 2007.

At USA TODAY, advertising revenues declined 16.6 percent in the second quarter compared to the year ago quarter. Paid advertising pages totaled 831 compared with 1,034 in the same quarter of 2007.

Internet ad revenue was not front and center in the company’s earnings release, which probably says a mouthful.

Due to the news, shares in Gatehouse (GHS) are off almost 5% to $.99. Shares in McClatchy (MNI) are down 2% to $4.61, and shares in Lee (LEE) are selling down over 1% to $3.17.