The Editors: How has social media changed the way newsrooms work?

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Codecademy Makes Learning To Code Fun And Social

For web journalists, learning to code — even if it’s just picking up the basics of HTML or CSS — can be just as important as memorizing the AP Stylebook. In the past, ambitious wannabe coders had to stick with how-to guides and computer science classes and frantic e-mails to their programmer friends, but a new interactive website is changing the way we think about learning to code. Codecademy, the brainchild of two Columbia grads, incentivizes developing programming skills with fun interactive lessons, Facebook integration and the chance to score virtual badges.

When you sign up for Codeacademy, you’re taken to a list of lessons that you can complete to earn coding chops and virtual badges. The first lesson, for example, teaches you what exactly you can and can’t do with the command line. It’s great for web journalists looking for a fun way to develop some coding skills in their downtime. Seasoned coders can also help create new tutorials by signing up to be a Codecademy teacher. And the best part about this tool? It’s free.

What do you think of Codecademy?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Dennis Publishing Recasts Magazine Editorial In 20 "One Shot Content" Apps

Dennis Publishing, publishers of 70 print and online titles including Maxim, Men’s Fitness and the adult comic Viz, has not been shy to dip its toes into the world of apps, with six dedicated tablet and smartphone products representing its mass market magazines. This week, it announced a deal that will see that number rise significantly: it’s signed an agreement with the app platform company Toura to develop 20 further apps for tablets and smartphones, based around content from its stable of publications.

First up will be a smartphone app, How To Add Value To Your Car, available for both the iOS and Android platforms, selling for $0.99 (£0.69) (link to both here).

The app, which draws on content from the magazine Auto Express, is a kind of how-to guide for being one’s own modern-day car valet, offering a “full range of methods for improving and enhancing their car to make it a better drive, and to improve its resale value… [including] sections on exterior and interior care and general vehicle maintenance [and] products to help you achieve a better sale price on your car, such as the best bumper shine, scratch remover, and roof bars.”

It’s these kinds of apps—“one-shot content”, in the words of Alex Watson, Dennis’ head of app development—that Dennis hopes to publish via Toura.

In contrast, the publisher’s in-house app team, Dennis Media Factory, will continue to develop more tablet and smartphone over time, but these will be specifically looking at “flagship” apps for Dennis magazines.

The Toura apps are part of Dennis’ strategy to get more mileage out of that magazine content, by repackaging that content in a way that might be more usable for specific purposes—such as fixing up your car.

“At the start of the year I built a mobile team from scratch,” says Watson, who adds that while his team uses platforms like Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite to develop apps for the bigger brands, at the moment that kind of resource cannot be extended to the whole of Dennis’ publication stable. “The problem is that it is time intensive and costs a lot [to make an app]. It’s very difficult to get to...

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"The Guardian Facebook app is a way of reading and sharing Guardian content from within Facebook. If you choose to use the app, then when you follow links to the Guardian's website, you will be shown the content on a Facebook page. This enables you to see what your friends are also reading from the Guardian, and what is proving popular from the site amongst Facebook users. You will also be able to comment and discuss articles within Facebook."

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"This week, according to numerous media and technology executives, Facebook will unveil a media platform that will allow people to easily share their favorite music, television shows and movies, effectively making the basic profile page a primary entertainment hub. ... Facebook has made agreements with a number of media companies to develop a way for a user’s profile page to display whatever entertainment he is consuming on those outside services."

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Speaking at the ‘Future of Journalism Conference’ in Cardiff they questioned the Government’s commercial, TV-focussed local media strategy, saying that it fails to take into account the qualities of successful independent hyperlocal media outlets.

Thurman and Bradshaw, with co-author Jean-Christophe Pascal, looked at the Local People hyperlocal publishing initiative by Northcliffe, part of the Daily Mail & General Trust.

They claim that Local People has some major flaws and the sites are well behind independent equivalents in terms of engagement with users.

In particular:

• The four ‘Local People’ sites they studied fell a long way short of meeting Northcliffe’s target of getting 75% of the local online population using their sites. An average of just 8% registered on the site

• Although Northcliffe intended the network to be ‘for local people, by local people’ about three-quarters of the stories were actually written by the community publisher employed on each site.

• Comments on stories and follow-ups to discussion posts were also infrequent, with a large majority not generating a single comment or reply.

• Only a small number of stories or discussions concerned local politics, for example just 7% on ‘Dorchester People’. In contrast ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Sport’ accounted for 53% of all stories.

• Practical information on topics such as ‘Amenities’, ‘Social Services’, and ‘Security and Safety’ were popular but not well-catered for by the sites’ structure.

• The sites had failed in their initial aim to be “local version of Facebook”. The researchers found the average registered user had less than one ‘Friend’, with over 90% of registered users having no ‘Friends’ at all.

"This explicit commercialisation of content formalises the cliché that journalism is intended to fill the “space between advertising”, and while some may argue that this commercialisation is needed to ensure a sustai...

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Lawyers for Gordon Taylor said he wanted to be “vindicated or made rich” in negotiations over his controversial £700,000 ($1,121,341.40) phone-hacking settlement, according to the News of the World‘s lawyers. Taylor, the head of the Professional Footballers’ Association, had got hold of a highly damaging internal e-mail that proved phone hacking at the tabloid was not confined to “one rogue reporter”. The remarks were allegedly made after three previous offers for damages were made by the tabloid – the first for £50,000, ($80,095.81) the second for £150,000 ($240,287.45) and the third for £350,000. ($560,670.69)

The new detail on Taylor’s confidential negotiations has emerged in a letter from News of the World‘s legal advisers to the Commons culture, media and sport select committee.

“We suggested making an initial offer of £50,000, ($80,095.81)” said Farrer & Co, which advised News International over the level of payouts. “However we advised that it was inevitable that Mr Taylor would want more in view of the fact that his initial demand for £250,000 ($400,479.07) had been increased by £750,000 ($1,201,437.21) to £1 ($1.6) million.”

When the first two offers were refused, News of the World told Farrer to increase the offer again.

“The firm was instructed to increase the Part 36 offer to £350,000. ($560,670.69) This offer was also rejected. Mr Lewis [Mark, Taylor’s solicitor] informed Mr Pike [Julian, a partner at Farrer] that Mr Taylor ‘wanted to be vindicated or made rich’.”

At that point Taylor was demanding £1 ($1.6) million in settlement as by now the significance of the so-called “for Neville” e-mail was understood.

“Following the disclosure of documents by the Metropolitan police and others to Mr Taylor, which were then disclosed by Mr Taylor to NGN [News Group Newspapers], Mr Taylor demanded £1 ($1.6) million in way of settlement, plus costs,” Farrer confirms in its letter to the select committee.

In the end Taylor managed to get £425,000 ($680,814.41) in damages from the News of the World plus costs. James Murdoch confirmed at the select committee hearing in July that Taylor’s overall payout was between £600,000 ($961,149.76) and £700,000 ($1,121,341.4) including costs.

Other letters just published by the select committee reveal:

—Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of News of the World, ...

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