I’ve just read this interesting item on Techcrunch about the growing number of tools which help with what is being called deep tagging. It is a way of making it easier to search for exactly the right piece of audio or video.
The author (in this case us) would run the audio through some deep tagging software and mark relevant bits with keywords. An online search will identify those bits and allow listeners to jump directly to the part which concerns them most. Read more
Time to apologise to David Cameron for querying his intentions in yesterday’s post about the use of brummie created icons on webcameron.org.uk.
The talent behind the visuals, Mark James of www.famfamfam.com has just e-mailed me to say:
Just to let you know that the webcameron designers have contacted me and I’m now happy with their usage. They had sent me a small donation towards my hosting (which I hadn’t spotted, they got lost amidst the emails), but they’re getting the credit sorted.
They made their donation late Saturday, but that didn’t excuse them from the terms of the licence. If you wish to mention that it has been sorted, that would be cool, but I don’t think a full apology is required.
Well that’s that put right, although as Mark suggests, good manners should always be timely.
David Wilcox has written about plans for the BBC in Manchester to begin extending its news gathering to include local bloggers.
So who are the contributors? They have gone into the local community (This is regional BBC) and found the best bloggers. They have met with them several times. Beer has been drunk. They have an offer for them. If they want to be picked up in this space by the host, they have access to a wide range of training – first of all about what is the BBC way for journalism ethics etc and secondly they offer all sorts of technical training. If you want to make a better video – we will help you etc.
For me a core part of the future of the BBC will revolve around encouraging others to find their voice and shape news. In some ways it is an extension of the American concept of Open Newsroom where the public is invited to join in editorial decision making.
From my experience of BBC editorial meetings this would require a culture shift. The discussion has traditionally been rather cynical – based on traditional journalistic instinct about what makes a good story. This will often require conflict, criticism and celebrity (or prominence) as a core part of the story. News is made or broken by whether those things exist or can be readily conjured up. (If you look at my post on David Cameron and Netiquette you’ll see how I still find myself exercising these muscles.)
With an open newsroom the public is potentially there to re-educate the reporter and editor about what is really interesting, rather than what hacks think the public wants.
This culture shift will also need to come as part of the BBC experiment. If the local bloggers are throwing up innovative fare while the BBC journalists who decide which story to follow and which to kill harbour traditional values, it will fail.
Of course a good story is always a good story and experienced journalists have considerable expertise in spotting and telling stories. But in essence the BBC needs to find a way to short circuit in-house editorial values whilst preserving the best of in-house editorial ethics. Perhaps they need a combination of the open newsroom, local bloggers and the way in which Digg equips real people to decide what is and isn’t interesting.
Max who works on the Podminions podcast has just alerted me to a problem with the ever-so-polite leader of the opposition, David Cameron MP. It relates to the visuals on the newly launched webcameron.org.uk.
The site uses some very funky little icons, popped in their no doubt by the designers commissioned to make it so. The trouble is those icons were made by a talented web designer based here in Brum and they’re being used in breach of his copyright.
Mark James makes them freely available on his site www.famfamfam.com under what is known as a Creative Commons license. It is a widely used and respected way to protect what is written on the web and requires generosity and integrity from all those involved.
So the deal is simple: you can use the natty icons free as long as you credit the source, and in web parlance this means linking to Mark’s website.
Anything else is simply rude.
Mark would like to see the credit – and told us “I expect people to occasionally overlook the issues of the Creative Commons, although I have to say I’m a little shocked that this escaped a political party”.
From my point of view I want to see local creativity given its due. So Mr Cameron please remember your manners, sort out the site and then pop Mark a quick apology.
You can make it a video apology if you like.