Global Media News

Google Nigeria advises media on modern data tools

Major Conglomerate Google headquarters in Nigeria encouraged media experts on the use of modern data tools for effective reportage. 

Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone, West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade,  made the appeal at the Google Data Tools for Elections Reporting Workshop held in Lagos.

    Ogunlade , noted that there were various useful tools such as Google Advance Search, Google Trends, Social Media Streams, Google Alert and Tabula which could be used in sourcing data.

 

     Mr. Ogunlade has said that the data tools would get pictures of what is happening at particular time and places and get it to the public's attention. Nigeria is a incredible country and just like many other countries it has a high censorship but that shouldn't stop the public of Nigeria from receiving news that could help the country.

    To give a little background of Mr. Ogunlade, he is a communications & public affairs manager at Google and got his degree in Public Relations and Communications from Lagos State University in Lagos, Nigeria.

    

 

Is Vine good for journalists?

     Vine is a mobile video sharing app. It allows its users to create and share six second videos. The videos loop continuously and are posted online. Vine is owned by Twitter. It can be used to show action and explain stories. Journalists use Vine to share videos of breaking news as it is happening. 

Upshot Journalism

     Upshot was created because of new opportunities being created for journalists due to the spread of digital data and the Internet. 

  

5 Ways Journalists Use Pinterest

    Journalists and news organizations are looking for different ways to connect with their readers. They are seeking to be involved in a more visual social media content.

Global Media News Webcast #1: September 19, 2013

Our New Media Newsroom Premiere!

Global Media News Webcast for September 19, 2013

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering new media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury. 

This week on Global Media News: 

• Will Papers Fold? Print in the Age of the Internet
•  Social Media & the Press:  Death Match or Love Story?
• Fired for Tweeting?  Journalists & Social Media
• TV News Goes Social
• Egyptian Crackdown on Journalists
• Journalist Jailed for Links to Anonymous: Barrett Brown and Press Freedom
• FaceBook Tools for Journalists
• Social Media & Sports: What Happens When Athletes Tweet?

This is our first webcast of the season!   See you next week!

Listen to our next webcast from the New Media Newsroom  streaming live on Thursday, September 26 @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast of the season will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, September 26, 2013.

Subscribe Now!

Journalist threatened by government officials in Veracruz, Mexico

After "journalist Jorge Carrasco was in Veracruz this week reporting on the killing of another Proceso". The Proceso magazine has release a statement; that because of Carrasco investigation in another  Proceso's journalist death, that they have found "reports about a meeting between former officials and government officials, public safety and the Attorney Veracruz whose purpose was to agree hostile actions against the reporter in response to more recent publication Regina around for Martinez, who began circulating across the country on the same Sunday 14." and the intention of the officials might be to "kidnapping and [cause]possible death" to journalist Jorge Carraso. 

The most likely explanation for  the government officials to send threats towards Jorge Carrasco is in  the article he did on which"was critical of Veracruz authorities’ handling of the case of Regina Martinez, the weekly’s correspondent in that state, who was strangled and beaten to death a year ago this month." and how they ended up convicting a junkie for the crime who has "denied guilt, saying he was tortured by Veracruz authorities into making a confession " 

Carrasco's article in detail also "exposed numerous holes in the state’s investigation, including questionable evidence and the failure of Veracruz prosecutors to take into account journalistic work by Martinez that angered many of the state’s powerful. The magazine accused state prosecutors of ignoring justice to instead protect the image of Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte, under whose administration more journalists have been killed or gone missing than anywhere else in Mexico."

Journalists in Mexico are already in danger from kidnapping and death threats from the drug cartels but now to have government officials doing same thing that drugs cartels are doing becomes more problematic. This is a problem when people are in power and they are corrupt, they will do anything to keep their power. Even threatening a journalist that has already exposed their corrupt dealings. While this is good thing that corrupted government  officials find journalists to be threatening to their power, meaning that what journalist's report on  has the power on taking out these corrupt officials. In reality it should be the corrupt officials running for the hills and not the other way around where it the journalists that are doing this.

European Union regulation of the press and Britain backlash

European Commission wants to set up a  "proposals for EU-wide regulation of the press".  Lord Justice Leveson is the one who set up proposals to have  wide spread media regulation in the  European Union. It has been reported that in a proposal , the European Union would set up media councils giving them the powers "such as the imposition of fines, orders for printed or broadcast apologies, or removal of journalistic status." Some have argue that this seems somewhat fascist; that the idea that the Europe's set of standards for their media would be control by one governing body of the  European Union instead of having individual countries running and regulating their own media.

 While the European Commission has said that the proposal would up hold the  "European values", there are some countries that are already  opposed to this proposal. One country  that is particularly against this proposal is Great Britain. 

Department for Culture, Media and Sport(UK) have been quoted to have said "We have no intention of allowing Europe to regulate the British press. We have been clear that, as set out in the Leveson report, we expect the British press industry to implement tough, independent, self-regulation, in adherence with the Leveson principles.” The Britians have so much pride in their British run media regulations; that they  refuse to let any other country or specifically the European Union to control and regulate their media. Who can blame them really.

 This proposal looks good on paper but in reality as it stand s as of right now it is a mess to even try to get the proposal approved. One major problem that this proposal has  is that European Union has no "legal competence under the treaties to harmonise substantive media laws such as defamation. Any notion of harmonised rules of the game, monitored by the EU, is anathema to press freedom..." Meaning that  the European Union could only limit and regulate the press freedom doctrines already set in place by most of the world media. So if this proposal was approved as of right now it would be completely useless since they have no  legal right  to regulate the media.I personally  believe that media should regulate media, that it is a lot more truthfully run although sometimes bias, but at least it is not control by the government or some politician's agenda.  

The Social Media War: Brazilian Newspapers vs Google

Back in October of 2012 Brazil's Newspapers decided to ban their information from google. The reason behind this decision was simply  because Brazil newspapers felt that they were getting the wrong end of the deal. Brazil's newspapers feels as if the Google is not doing their job to benefit both sides. 

 The BBC News reports: 

"Brazil's National Association of Newspapers says all 154 members had followed its recommendation to ban the search engine aggregator from using their content.

The papers say Google News refused to pay for content and was driving traffic away from their websites."

To hear Google that are not doing the simplest of tasks which they are know for is very unheard of. Google is known for providing information over the world to any who uses the search engine. Lately there seems to be a lot of countries pulling out of Google's search engine. 

The Guardian: quoted: National Association of Newspapers for Brazil, Carlos Fernando Lindenberg Neto

"Staying with Google News was not helping us grow our digital audiences, By providing the first few lines of our stories to internet users, the service reduces the chances that they will look at the entire story in our websites."

Brazil newspapers seems to be very upset and dissatisfied with the job Google has done and feels that a split is the best thing for all newspapers in the country. Google has been going though some problems with Brazil first the arrest of a Google senior executive for refusing to take down a video from YouTube and another similar event when a french newspaper company decided to pull its stories form Google. 

 

Brazilian Google Senior Executive Arrested Over a Video?

In late September 2012 one of Google's Senior Executive board members Fabio Jose Silva Coelho was arrested for failing to take down a YouTube video that puts a negative image on a local mayoral candidate. YouTube has agreements with the different countries they operate in because laws was broken justice had to be served. 

The Rio Times reports:

"Police in Brazil have released the country’s top Google executive following his detention for not taking down Youtube clips that violated Brazilian law. Brazil has strict electoral laws that prevent much public criticism of political candidates, a system that some commentators say are out-dated."

Freedom of information took a turn of the worst in Brazil when a Google's senior executive Mr. Coelho is arrested for refusing to take down the video of a political candidate. To make things worst Google owns YouTube so to see a Google employee arrested for  expressing himself and Google not supporting them is really a sad sight.

The New York Times reports:

"An elections court in Brazil has ordered the arrest of Google’s most senior executive in the country after the company failed to take downYouTube videos attacking a local mayoral candidate. Google is appealing the order, which comes after a similar decision by another Brazilian elections judge. In that case, a judge found a different senior executive responsible for violating local election law.An elections court in Brazil has ordered the arrest of Google’s most senior executive in the country after the company failed to take downYouTube videos attacking a local mayoral candidate. "

This is understandable because it puts a negative view on the candidate and could possible change undecided voters minds. Freedom of information has a bigger restriction. Social media is a big part of society and thanks to this people are able to share their feelings about the world around them including politics.

 

Online journalist killed in Mexico

Being a journalist in Mexico can be a death sentcnce for many. Especially because most of the news they write, are about corruption and drug trafficking. Jaime Gonzalez Dominguez, an online 
journalist reporter and founder of Ojinaga Noticias was killed on March 3rd, 2013.

Mr. Dominquez was a reporter with Contacto for many years. In 2011 he left Contacto, because of the huge backlash and death threats the press was getting. Mr. Dominguez decided to start an online news portal called, Ojinaga Noticias, by 2012 it was also available in print.  According to guardian.co.uk, Ojinaga Noticias covered many topics in the town of Ojinaga,  Chihuahua such as local politics, sports, education, and also crime.

According to Amnesty.org, journalist in Mexico are being killed left and right, because the charges and conviction against the killer is non-existant if any.

On March 3, 2013 Univision News, reported that the El Siglo de Terreon receieved  three attacks the week before.  Javier Garza Ramos, an editor at the newspaper believes the attack was towards the police officers guarding the newspaper building.

Mexico is known as one of the most dangerous countries for journalist. So when are we going to instill a since of comfort for the news to be published in Mexico. When journalist can feel free to write or say what is going on without fearing for their lives.