online media today

In nine years, ESPN.com has gone from a text-heavy site that featured one graphic and a fan poll, to one of the most popular and cutting-edge media sites on the web. John Marvel, former executive editor of ESPN.com and currently Editor at large at ESPN spoke to my Advanced Online Media Productions class today about ESPN.com's history and future in converged journalism.

ESPN.com made a huge step in online video transmission last year with ESPN Motion. Motion is a downloadable application that automatically downloads new video clips when they are available and the user is online. This allows the user to have "instant" access the latest video content when logging on to ESPN.com. Marvel said 75% of all ESPN.com users have downloaded the application.

Motion, which was designed by ESPN.com engineers is now being used by ESPN's parent company in the form of Disney Motion. Many other sites are looking to get a hold of the Motion technology as well.

ESPN.com is also working toward providing video content on various new media like handheld devices and cell phones. Already ESPN.com will send scores and breaking news to cell phones in a text format.

ESPN.com has always been at the forefront of technology and continues to be a leader in the industry. It was the first content site to charge users, Marvel said, and boasts 275,000 "Insiders," users who pay for premium content.

Marvel said ESPN.com is now a nearly $100-million business and was one of the first sites to make money through advertisements.

The Drudge Report worked its way back into the spotlight the last few weeks with rumors of infidelity involving Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry.

The rumors got a little out of hand when mainstream media outlets started reporting on the alleged scandal, something that has happened with Drudge's "journalism" far too many times.

Drudge first came into the spotlight by breaking the Monica Lewinski story six years ago. Since then he has reported a mix of truth, rumors and flat-out lies on his site and on his radio program.

Today's 24-hour-a-day news culture has created such competition and fear of getting scooped that rumors on sites like Drudge's find their way into mainstream media all too often. Matt Drudge has been shown time and time again to be an unreliable source at best, yet we keep hearing his name.

As Rory O'Connor writes for MediaChannel.org, Drudge's rumor mill, spread by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity on talk radio, really distorts what is news and what isn't.

Is it news that Kerry was forced to deny ridiculous rumors, or should the lack of any basis for the rumors keep that bit off the front page?

I think Matt Drudge and the likes should really be ignored by the mainstream media. If reporters were to focus more on reporting the truth then simply being scooped, the consumers would only read the truth, and not non-news stories on unfounded rumors.

Regurgitating Matt Drudge's rumors and lies makes the mainstream media no better than Drudge himself, which is a very sad thing for responsible journalists everywhere.

I wrote an editorial that was published today in the Independent Florida Alligator. The editorial focused on why students should vote for the Keg Party, a student government political party at the University of Florida. I am running for student body treasurer with the party. The article was co-authored by Travis Marsh, the presidential candidate, though I was the only author credited on the site and in the print version.

If you want more information on the keg party, please visit our site KegParty.org. The language on the site is sometimes crude, but is used only for humor's sake.

If you are a UF student, please be sure to vote Tuesday or Wednesday, whether it is for the Keg Party or anyone else running. Student Government can not represent the students if the students do not vote.

Everyone hates spam. I hate it. My mom hates it. You hate it.

And the pink meat-substitute isn't very good either.

Spam, unsolicited junk email that comprises around half of all email sent, is an enemy that plenty of individuals, companies and countries are fighting, and it looks like they're losing.

The U.S. Can-Spam act has failed. Anti-spam registries are pretty much all scams gathering email addresses to spam themselves.

So how are we going to get rid of spam?

Microsoft is developing a system that would require an e-mail sender to spend 10 seconds of computing time to send out a message, wreaking havoc on users that send out millions of spam messages. While this may eventually be the answer, I doubt this system would be easily implemented. This could also become a problem for those who send out legitimate emails to thousands of users who solicit that mail. I don't see how list-servs would play in to this plan.

PCWorld reviewed eight e-mail "options" (desktop clients and web services) and actually found one that blocked spam, Mailblocks 2. I haven't used Mail Blocks, but it also sounds like a temporary solution, requiring e-mailers to confirm that they are human and not a spam-bot before sending the mail to the user. Spammers will soon find a way to work around this small obstacle.

The short answer is that there is no short answer. Twenty years from now, spam may be a thing I tell my kids about, but I'm pretty sure I'll still be dealing with it for the next few years. And so will my mom. And so will you.

The Web is a great medium for presenting photos, whether it be for an advertising photographer, a newspaper of magazine or just family pictures. Users can present photos in full color in various sizes to potential clients, readers or family and friends.

There are plenty of things to keep in mind when making an online photo presentation to make sure it is of high quality and user friendly. File size, navigation and layout are all considerations when creating a photo presentation. Check out these examples of quality photo presentations that utilize the potential of the Web.


Martin Sundberg Photography- This site is for a photographer specializing in shooting active lifestyle, action, and portraits, for advertising and editorial publications. The gallery contains 20 images which can be selected by clicking on each number at the bottom of the page or on the L or R on the right side of the page to go left and right. The site does a good job of presenting vibrant action pictures in a large enough size to be seen easily by prospective customers. The shots have no titles or captions, but they are not needed to accomplish Sundberg's goal of being hired as a photographer for an advertising campaign. The navigation is simple and functional, and I like that the numbers are circled when rolled over.

ESPN's daily photo gallery- ESPN presents eight sports photos every day as a Flash movie. The photos can be navigated through forward and back arrows, clicking on numbers, or through an automatic slideshow. ESPN typically selects photos that are visually appealing and cover a large number of sporting events. The photo gallery is located on the main page and can be viewed for 16 days on in the archive.

Spencer Tunick (nudity)- Spencer Tunick has been gaining fame for organizing large nude "installations" and was recently featured in the HBO documentary "Naked World." Tunick's photo gallery works in its simplicity. Clicking on the über-tiny thumbnails opens a larger picture. Clicking on that picture brings up an even larger image in a new window. Each photo has a very brief caption that gives only the location of the installation. The gallery could have easier navigation but the simplicity of this page works for Tunick's site's look and feel.

In his article published by the Online Journalism Review, Donn Friedman discusses how the Albuquerque Journal changed from a free service to a fee-based service, generating income and increasing traffic along the way.

And if you are an internet-news junkie like me, you are probably asking right now, "Fee-based? As in paying? No one will pay for news online if they can get it for free!"

Friedman, the Journal's assistant managing editor of production and technology, felt the same way for years but after reluctantly changing the site upon the demands of his publisher, his view has changed too.

I won't go into the details of his step-by-step article, but I will point out a few things that I am still unconvinced will work for many online media.

First, Friedman acknowledges that many pundits believe the fee-based system works only for local newspapers with little to no competition for local news. He then refutes that by writing, "Readers need what you have to offer. And if you stop giving it away for free, they will pay for it."

If the St. Petersburg Times started charging for their web content, readers would be quick to switch to TBO.com to get the Tampa Tribune's stories. Readers do not need one local paper has if another offers similar content.

Friedman also points to news outlets like the Wall Street Journal charges. Consumer Reports, and Encyclopaedia Britannica. These sites can charge because what they offer is either unique or far superior in quality to their competitors. There are plenty of comparison chopping and product review sites, but none come close to the prestige of Consumer Reports, which built its reputation long before the web existed.

Friedman has some great points and even better pointers. He's covered all the angles for switching to a fee-based system should a news outlet decide to do that, because he's been through it. I just think he is a little unrealistic in which media can actually make that switch.

But I could be wrong... so enjoy my blog while it's still free.

Editor's Note: 2.10.04 added link to OJR article.

NewsDirectory.com, a directory of Web sites for newspapers and magazines throughout the world, is a very useful tool for journalists. A user can search for papers by location (country and city outside of the United States, by city or area code within the U.S.) or publication title. The directory contains links to more than 17,000 sites on six continents.

The directory is a great resource for any journalist, whether looking for a specific publication, journalist or article, or to just get global news from the local sources. It's especially great for those interested in online media to look at how news is presented online throughout the country and the world.

A quick search of my own found links to all the college newspapers in Florida, my favorite papers from Spain and several local papers that could otherwise be difficult to locate.

The layout of the site is simple and easy to use, although its simplicity is hideous to any web designer.

Overall I love the directory and recommend without reservations, although it could use a little CSS.