Friday squibs

Finally, a chance to get some blogging in.

• CAJ demands end to tribunals’ interference in free press. The Canadian Association of Journalists has climbed atop a very high horse and made, in my eyes, an unwarranted claim that freedom of the press trumps the rights of readers to complain to human rights tribunals. What else can I think, when the journalists’ association labels such complaints as “undemocratic.” Some folks really need to get over themselves.
• CyberJournalism. Not a post, but a whole new-to-me blog, by Javier Díaz Noci, who is currently teaching in one of my favourite cities, Barcelona. I love how the web smashes geography.
• Welcome to the Reporters’ Cookbook I discovered this through some great live-tweeting by Amy Gahran of a presentation on data-driven journalism. It’s a wiki, with a wealth a resources for journalists.
• New York Times releases its first API. While most other newspapers are still grappling with the concept of linking out, the NYT is releasing APIs that allow folks to hook into the data they’ve collected. Breakthrough.
• Media industry on ‘brink of carnage’, says Guardian digital chief. Something cheerful for your weekend reading. Not sure I buy into the apocalyptic vision, but this rings true: “We are at the meeting point now of a systematic down turn and a cyclical collapse.” Related: Triple Financial Whammy Afflicts Newspapers; Could Recession Help Big Media?, mainly be clearing those annoying little competitors out of the way; and U.S. newspaper stocks dive, analyst cuts estimates.
• What would you tell a journalism student? Pat Thornton, who admits to both fear and excitement about journalism, is collecting responses. Go add yours.
• 10 reasons why newspapers won’t reinvent news. I pointed to this earlier; since then there’s been a nice conversation developing in the comments. Related: Mindy McAdams has a great post expanding on the original.
• Mainstream News Organizations Entering the Web’s Link Economy Will Shift the Balance of Power and Wealth. Shorter Scott Karp: Now that newspapers are figuring out this link thing, they could not only move back into the online game, but come to dominate it.
• Media General profits more than double in 3Q. Hey, good news from a media company. Sort of: revenue still fell 11 per cent and the company’s publishing arm fell 53 per cent. The saving grace was political and Olympic broadcast advertising.

Striking Free Press staffers report on the web. The newspaper unions are out, but they’re still reporting, online.