Around this time, I look to cooking magazines for inspiration and new recipes. This year, my attention and what seemed like the entire Internet’s attention was drawn to the small publication Cooks Source and an out-of-control PR nightmare that eventually lead to its demise. The complete chain of events can be found many places, including Kathy Gill’s Storify page and Wikipedia.

The magazine had reprinted an article by author Monica Gaudio without her permission. That’s right, instead of contacting Gaudio and asking for her permission to print the article, they just ran it. When Gaudio discovered this, she asked them to make a donation to a local college in lieu of compensation. The magazine responded,

But honestly Monica, the web is considered ‘public domain’ and you should be happy we just didn’t ‘lift’ your whole article and put someone else’s name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace….

The magazine’s director, Judith Griggs, continued, stating that the piece was so poorly written that the author should compensate her.

There are a couple things to learn from Griggs and her major missteps, including copyright and how to effectively respond to PR emergencies. For now, let’s talk about copyright.
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Have you seen the television ads or yard signs asking you to vote yes or no on the ballot for Initiative 985, 1000, and 1029? Its hard to know who is telling the whole story when claims are made in 30 second ad spots and yard signs only ask you to vote for or against an initiative.

Fact Check WA, developed by MCDM’ers in the Digital Democracy seminar, will compare the claims made in campaign ads with the facts–as we know them.

New ads will be analyzed weekly until Election Day. Be informed when you head to the polls on November 4th!

posted by Rebekah

UW researchers are getting on the collaboration bandwagon. This week they are unveiling Foldit, a computer game puzzle that, according to the UW, may help medical scientists end HIV or malaria. Players attempt to fold protiens in new and innovative ways that may help scientists discover the protein structure that could, for example, break up toxic waste. If a player discovers the fold that can solve some of our medical mysteries, they may be next in line to win the Nobel Prize.

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posted by rebekah

LiveNewsCameras.com, a Fox news experiment in new media, hosts live news feeds from broadcast news stations around the world. Users can sign in and participate in a live chat (responding to a news event, asking questions, etc). A moderator (seen via webcam) keeps an eye on the news feeds as well as the chat room. As events happen, she mentions the event and the associated news feed verbally, on chat, and on twitter.

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Posted by Rebekah Peterson

I just ran across the poll Do Web 2.0 solutions solve problems only the tech elite have? on Lifehacker.com asking readers if Web 2.0 serves only to solve the problems of the tech elite. The current results are: 31.7% say “yes,” 35.9% say “sometimes,” and 21.1% say “no.” I was surprised that 31.7% said “yes,” especially since Lifehacker’s core audience seems to be tech literate. It seems as if they would be more interested in participating in social media and would have an easier time citing the value of these platforms for their non-techy friends.

The comments from readers are also interesting, some voice similar points to what we have discussed in class and represent a spectrum of opinions, but most voice a philosophy of trickle-down technology: the “tech elite” test out the technology and then the general public adapts the social media that is successful and useful.

posted by Rebekak

brijit–the website that is part platform part filter.

What’s the scoop?

The filter: brijit provides 100 word summaries and reviews of news stories from “100+ sources” on “20,000+ subjects.” Readers get the subjects by logging into their account on the brijit website or signing up for email notifications or the RSS feed.

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