Feb. 11 Reading

The author of "multitasking in the news," brings up some interesting points about how audience members consume the news. With short attention spans most readers don't get past a story's headline and lede. I must admit that I find myself most morning quickly reading the headlines on the New York Time's Web site, or scanning over the headlines on Twitter. Rarely, maybe twice a day, do I actually click on a story to read. I think this comes from being bombarded by information, after awhile I become immune to news. In our news organization we've talked about how to cater to our readers who can only consume short bits of information but also how to stop this culture of distraction. We've discussed keeping the daily reporting short and sweet, while having a few reporters focus on longer pieces for weeky investigative reporting.
In "Tracking behavioral changes on the Web," I think the idea of calling readers promisciuos is funny and true. I've never thought of myself in that way. I like to think I'm a regular reader of certain publications Web sites, but on the whole I am willing to check out other sites because there is so much information out there. The whole idea of "bouncing" is true to. That is the beauty of the Web, you don't have to commit to anything for a set period of time. I suggest that our online site take advantage of this need to bounce from one site to another and allow users to access other sites of interest as a sidebar, not like advertisements but more like additional places to get information. Or making sure there are tons of hyperlinks.
In "Mapping out the Blogosphere," creating a "flow map" is an appropriate way to not only generate a certain type of user and guide them to other sites similar to your own, but also could be a useful tool in advertising. Using both static and dynamic links is one way to make sure you build a steady readership. Keeping things that are static, or look similar can make a reader feel comfortable. While using dynamic capabilities can keep a site new and exciting.
Miel's article I thought the idea of losing faith and conversion was a funny, yet well articulated label to the whole new media crisis journalism students are going through right now. I also much prefer the term "participatory media," to "citizen journalist," it just sounds friendlier to me...it also sounds like I haven't wasted four years in journalism school. To be honest I wasn't really sure where he was going with this article but I do like the idea that when we're building our online media outlets we should bring the community together, not try to build a whole new one. I think this mantra would be a good one for the Final Draft group.
In his conclusions I really found this to be interesting: In the changing media environment, news consumers risk relying on news sources that are neither credible nor comprehensive.
This is really important and crucial, new media is not picking up after mainstream media like its suppose to apparently. Something we should all think about.