Hi Fabrice,
I forwarded your 'challenge' on to a number of the Wikinews
contributors. As I'm sure you'll understand, being a community-run
project some people are prolific, but don't do heavyweight. Personally,
I'd class a lot of sports or 'trivia' stuff as "filler". Given my
own
view of the project as, for a first major goal, aiming to do as well as
the BBC on serious stuff, that irritates me.
What I now think would be the best approach at the end of the Wikinews
writing contest is to see if we can get a few of your regularly
published participants to critique the competition, perhaps praise one
or two stories, and their ideas on how to make a more successful
competition in future. A few years back I was able to personally put up
about €250 in cash prize money - the project also had about a dozen
students at a slack point in their education (mainly Auzzies and Kiwis)
who pushed out a noticeable number of quite lengthy articles.
I have no idea if any of these lapsed contributors are studying
writing-related subjects, but private discussion with several indicates
the experience has matured them. They're unafraid when it comes to
sitting down opposite local political candidates who may be more than
twice their seventeen or eighteen years. They've experienced blunt
feedback on what makes good reading, they've been pointed at Strunk's,
like myself repeatedly chastised for use of passive voice, and really
asked to step up to the plate and say, "I think this is good; what's
wrong with it, and how can I be better next time?"
It was at short notice we were seeking competition sponsorship - with
the hope this would bring in a lot of competitors. It did not go as well
as I would have liked, and several reasonably established contributors
somewhat gamed the system by writing just-qualifying articles in
preference to the in-depth work I hoped to solicit.
I do not see any reason why, next time round, the competition could not
be attractive enough to produce significantly more high-quality in-depth
journalistic work. In fact, I don't see why the project could not be,
er, ... "adopted" by those teaching journalism. I believe I mentioned
the interview with John Beasley-Murray who got his students to write a
featured article on Wikipedia. Why not featured journalism on Wikinews
for students of journalism, or even English students studying that
particular form of writing?
Right now, Wikinews has a review process, stylebook, and most of the
elements any journalism student is going to hit in the real world. I
don't think their lecturers and professors should be telling them to
"study new media"; I think those givers of knowledge should be rolling
up their sleeves, getting into the processes we use on Wikinews,
building a rapport with the community, and using an existing wiki
platform to expose their students' work to a wide audience.
So, to return to the writing competition, I think it has - to some
extent - be written off as a failure; but one, Wikinews can learn from,
and could be done better in the future. Previously Wikinews contributors
have investigated Knight Foundation funding - but not quite made the
bar. There's a need to reach to a wider community who might can focus on
content production in such a way that funding was forthcoming. I'd like
to see that from an educational interest, so please forward my contact
details as you see fit Fabrice. I really think if you'd a couple of
lecturers and handful of post-grads worked through getting trusted by
the Wikinews community they could manage a class of about 50 using
Wikinews to polish their journalistic skills. I'd hope the "published in
Google News and forever archived" would also be an incentivising stick
they could beat their students with.
In the US, if something like that spread to several states, it would
improve Wikinews as a free news source and give those studying the craft
a very early opportunity to start building a reputation.
On Mon, 2010-03-08 at 11:39 -0800, Fabrice Florin wrote:
Dear Brian,
Thanks so much for getting back to me about the Wiki News writing
contest -- and congrats on your new job!
Based on your recommendation, we will hold off on the proposed judging
of contest entries, but wanted to let you know about a new project we
are developing this spring, with support from Omidyar Network and the
MacArthur Foundation.
We have an interesting opportunity for collaboration with Wiki News
coming up next month, when we will be organizing a special Global
Economy News Hunt. We would love to extend an invitation to some of
your best writers to create a few good synthesis articles on this
theme, for review on NewsTrust.
The week of April 12th, 2010, NewsTrust will join forces with a select
group of partners to find good and bad journalism about the global
economy. During that week, we will look for some of the best and worst
news coverage on how the economic crisis is affecting people around
the world. Our communities will review news and opinions on that issue
from a wide range of international and U.S. news sources. (read more
below)
Do you think this would interest some of your writers? If so, would
you be willing to forward this message to the appropriate members of
the Wiki News community?
Thanks again for keeping this relation going. There may be more
opportunities for us to collaborate later in the year.
All the best,
Fabrice
_________________________
Fabrice Florin
Executive Director, NewsTrust
+1 (415) 388-6688
fab(a)newstrust.net
http://newstrust.net
@fabriceflorin
______________________________________________________
GLOBAL ECONOMY NEWS HUNT PLAN
Overview
The week of April 12, 2010, NewsTrust will join forces with a select
group of media and educational partners to find good (and bad)
journalism about the global economy for a week -- with a focus on how
the recession is affecting people around the world. During this
one-week Global Economy News Hunt, we will jointly invite our members
to post and review stories on that issue from a wide range of
international and U.S. news sources. As a community, we will look for
stories on economic issues ranging from unemployment to government
cutbacks in different parts of the world. The following week, we'll
feature some of the best and worst coverage we found together, to help
readers become more discerning about the quality of the international
news they consume. This project is made possible by generous grants
from Omidyar Network and the MacArthur Foundation.
Time Line (April 12 - April 18)
* Monday, April 12 - News Hunt starts
* Sunday, April 18 - News Hunt ends
* Wednesday, April 21 - Post News Hunt Results
Partner Responsibilities
Here are our proposed tasks and responsibilities for each partner.
Your Organization
* Announce collaboration on your site (as well as in print or on-air,
if appropriate)
* Send special email to members who might be interested in this
project (or include us in your weekly newsletter)
* Promote news hunt on your home page and relevant section pages (news
hunt write up and badge)
* Link all promotions to special Welcome page for your members
on NewsTrust (to be created)
* Add NewsTrust widget on your site, either on a special page or in
appropriate section (or on blog post announcement)
* Promote the News Hunt on your social media channels on Facebook and
Twitter
* Post News Hunt results on your blog or special page for this
project
NewsTrust
* Create special sign up page for your members on NewsTrust site
(with News Hunt instructions)
* Promote News Hunt and link to your site on our home
page, World and Global Economy pages
* Promote News Hunt and link to your site in NewsTrust daily and
weekly email newsletters (35k impressions)
* Promote News Hunt and link to your site in "From the Editors" box on
NT homepage
* Promote the News Hunt on your social media channels, from Facebook
to Twitter
* Promote the News Hunt on our social media channels on Facebook and
Twitter
* Post and review related stories on the Global Economy all week, from
a variety of sources
* Feature your best stories and reviewers on our home page, as well as
in our blog post
* Post News Hunt results at the end of the collaboration on the
NewsTrust blog
______________________________________________________
NEWS HUNT INVITATION COPY
This preliminary copy could be used to prepare your email (and/or blog
post) to your community. More promotional materials will be provided
in coming weeks.
Join the Global Economy News Hunt
How is the recession affecting people around the world? How are the
international news media covering this topic? To find out, join
our Global Economy News Hunt this April.
The week of April 12, 2010, we will join forces with social news
site
NewsTrust.net to find good (and bad) journalism about the global
economy. During that week, we will look for the best and worst news
coverage on how the recession is affecting people around the world --
and review news and opinions on global economic issues ranging from
unemployment to government cutbacks.
NewsTrust is a community of citizens and journalists who rate the news
based on quality, not just popularity ââ¬â by reviewing articles
for accuracy, fairness, context and other journalistic qualities.
Joining the News Hunt is easy and fun -- and you can contribute your
expertise in just minutes. You can simply review stories listed in
our Global Economy topic page -- or post other interesting articles
you have come across on this topic. As you review these stories, you
will learn more about important global issues, and you will become
more aware about the quality of the news you consume.
To get started, sign up on NewsTrust's special welcome page for
members of our community. This will let you review stories on
NewsTrust and get the full benefit of their free service. Join the
News Hunt - and get more informed!
On Mar 3, 2010, at 10:09 AM, Brian McNeil wrote:
Hi Fabrice,
Sorry to take a while to get back to you; I've just started a new
job
and, for data-protection reasons, have extremely limited net access
at
work.
I don't think there's been a lot of good in-depth stuff on Wikinews
so
far during the writing competition. I'm glad to be back in work, but
sad
I can't devote the time to Wikinews.
Brian.
On Sun, 2010-02-21 at 17:48 -0800, Fabrice Florin wrote:
Hello Brian,
I hope you're well. Sorry for being out of touch so long, but
we've been immersed in a big new project which is now approaching
launch.
I wanted to follow up with you about our discussion of a possible
collaboration surrounding the Wikinews Writing Competition this
spring.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Writing_contest_2010
As discussed, we would be interested in reviewing some of your
final articles after your competition ends on April 18th, and
perhaps help determine the final winners -- or which articles to
feature.
Are you still interested in this idea? If so, we'd love to discuss
specific goals for this collaboration, and schedule a News Hunt
the week of April 20th or 27th, if these dates make sense for you.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Fabrice
P.S.: Our big project is MyNews, a personalized news service due
to launch in early March. If you'd like a sneak preview, I'd be
happy to put you on the beta list.
--
Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org>
Wikinewsie.org
--
Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org>
Wikinewsie.org