So Facebook will launch its latest attempt to take over the cyber world. Next week it will launch Facebook music where bands will register as ‘Facebook artists’ and other users will become ‘fans’.
The bands fans will be able to put music on their personal page as well as displaying bands latest news. Read More from Tech Digest.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Monday, 29 October 2007
Editors' Code of Practice
This is the newspaper and periodical industry’s Code of Practice. It is framed and revised by the Editors’ Code Committee made up of independent editors of national, regional and local newspapers and magazines. The Press Complaints Commission, which has a majority of lay members, is charged with enforcing the Code, using it to adjudicate complaints. It was ratified by the PCC on the 1 August 2007. Clauses marked* are covered by exceptions relating to the public interest.
The Code
All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards.
The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of selfregulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.
It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest.
It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists.
Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.
1 Accuracy
i) The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published.
iii) The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.
2 Opportunity to reply
A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.
3 * Privacy
i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications. Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent.
ii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in a private place without their consent. Note - Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
4 * Harassment
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.
5 Intrusion into grief or shock
i) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
* ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.
6 * Children
i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.
iii) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.
iv) Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interest.
v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.
7 * Children in sex cases
1. The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.
2. In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child -
i) The child must not be identified.
ii) The adult may be identified.
iii) The word "incest" must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.
8 * Hospitals
i) Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.
ii) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.
9 * Reporting of Crime
i) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.
ii) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.
10 * Clandestine devices and subterfuge
i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents, or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.
11 Victims of sexual assault
The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.
12 Discrimination
i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
ii) Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.
13 Financial journalism
i) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.
ii) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.
iii) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.
14 Confidential sources
Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.
15 Witness payments in criminal trials
i) No payment or offer of payment to a witness - or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness - should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.
* ii) Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.
* iii) Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.
16 * Payment to criminals
i) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues.
ii) Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not be published.
The Code
All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards.
The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of selfregulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.
It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest.
It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists.
Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.
1 Accuracy
i) The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published.
iii) The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.
2 Opportunity to reply
A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.
3 * Privacy
i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications. Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent.
ii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in a private place without their consent. Note - Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
4 * Harassment
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.
5 Intrusion into grief or shock
i) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
* ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.
6 * Children
i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.
iii) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.
iv) Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interest.
v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.
7 * Children in sex cases
1. The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.
2. In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child -
i) The child must not be identified.
ii) The adult may be identified.
iii) The word "incest" must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.
8 * Hospitals
i) Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.
ii) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.
9 * Reporting of Crime
i) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.
ii) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.
10 * Clandestine devices and subterfuge
i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents, or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.
11 Victims of sexual assault
The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.
12 Discrimination
i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
ii) Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.
13 Financial journalism
i) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.
ii) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.
iii) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.
14 Confidential sources
Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.
15 Witness payments in criminal trials
i) No payment or offer of payment to a witness - or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness - should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.
* ii) Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.
* iii) Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.
16 * Payment to criminals
i) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues.
ii) Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not be published.
Monday, 22 October 2007
Thursday, 18 October 2007
Perfspot…the new facebook?
Perfspot has 4.5 million members, most of which are American. However it is the fastest growing social networking site and is gaining hundreds of members’ everyday. It is mainly an American platform at the moment with all nearly all content is for American’s but why are more UK users joining up? What is its advantages over the nations favourite Facebook? If any?
The differences
Facebook started out as a rival to MySpace but was aimed more towards college and university students with its unique networking system. However Facebook has grown and has never looked back. Users have grown to office staff and now if you’re anyone you have a facebook account. There are 6.5 million users in the UK alone.
However some users of facebook have become annoyed about the constant adding of strange applications, I can become a vampire, have a food fight or play poker within the site. The rise of the American social networking Perfspot could prove a stumbling block for Facebook.
So why is Perfspot converting so many American’s. I believe that it is because of easy navigation – facebook is easy but this is even easier – the ability to retrieve news is better and you can publish articles and have your own blog. I might be biased about the articles being a student journalist but everyone seems to want their say about all subjects so setting up a blog is a great idea.
Their privacy settings are so easy to uses as well with people becoming increasingly aware of potential employers looking in the internet. What if they find you’re status as at the pub? Great first impressions eh. I know you can change your settings on facebook to hide you’re profile but it is so much easier on Perfspot, were all up for something that makes things a little easier.
Verdict
So does easy – Perfspot - beat the massively popular - facebook? Yes but no. Perfspot is great if you’re American but for anyone else then it becomes difficult. The easy user interface and security settings are a real plus for Perfspot. It is growing rapidly and is not cluttered with food fights or become my animal invitations.
But if Perfspot was British then would I use it ahead of my facebook account? Yes. Perfspot is not suitable for the British user yet so I will keep with Facebook.
The differences
Facebook started out as a rival to MySpace but was aimed more towards college and university students with its unique networking system. However Facebook has grown and has never looked back. Users have grown to office staff and now if you’re anyone you have a facebook account. There are 6.5 million users in the UK alone.
However some users of facebook have become annoyed about the constant adding of strange applications, I can become a vampire, have a food fight or play poker within the site. The rise of the American social networking Perfspot could prove a stumbling block for Facebook.
So why is Perfspot converting so many American’s. I believe that it is because of easy navigation – facebook is easy but this is even easier – the ability to retrieve news is better and you can publish articles and have your own blog. I might be biased about the articles being a student journalist but everyone seems to want their say about all subjects so setting up a blog is a great idea.
Their privacy settings are so easy to uses as well with people becoming increasingly aware of potential employers looking in the internet. What if they find you’re status as at the pub? Great first impressions eh. I know you can change your settings on facebook to hide you’re profile but it is so much easier on Perfspot, were all up for something that makes things a little easier.
Verdict
So does easy – Perfspot - beat the massively popular - facebook? Yes but no. Perfspot is great if you’re American but for anyone else then it becomes difficult. The easy user interface and security settings are a real plus for Perfspot. It is growing rapidly and is not cluttered with food fights or become my animal invitations.
But if Perfspot was British then would I use it ahead of my facebook account? Yes. Perfspot is not suitable for the British user yet so I will keep with Facebook.
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
I'll facebook my news today
I’ll facebook my news today
Google is not my homepage any more – Facebook is. In fact if you’re reading this you’re likely to have gone through Facebook. I woke up and looked at my Facebook account as usual and was about to make my first trip of the day to the BBC website when I realised something had changed this morning. There was no need for my visit to the BBC.
The challengers
The news - or at least the top five stories are available in an online quiz, provided by the New York Times, in Facebook. Granted this is not total in depth news that I need to fulfil my appetite but it is the beginning of something new. The fact is I don’t need to leave Facebook to get the main news headlines.
New research shows Facebook is now bigger than MySpace. However the fastest growing social networking site is Perfspot - soon to become a banned word on Facebook. In fact I have just opened an account I can read blogs, write and publish my own articles and read news from around the world. In fact their news service is great.
For example I can get news in 31 languages on Perfspot. It is ridiculous. The site is one of easiest to navigate around and I can save an article within my account if I ever need to refer back to it that’s something the major newspapers are not offering. As social networking plays a bigger part in news provision then newspapers are likely to play a lesser role.
Should journalists be quaking in their boots?
A professional’s nightmare or opportunity?
A professional journalist should not be worried. The owner of news publishers world wide such as Rupert Murdoch’s - the news international boss – must be annoyed at the pace new media forms are taking way from the old and traditional forms of journalism. Newspaper publishers now rely on their websites to create new readers and advertising revenue as much as the newspaper creates itself.
Perfspot only had about 300,000 members in August – it has grown 756% in the last four months – but is attracting advertising from major companies. By Kodak and Yhaoo directing advertising to Perfspot it detracts from potential revenue that newspapers receive so it becomes key for a newspaper to have a contract – like the New York Times does with facebook – to generate hits from users of social networking sites.
A Murdoch newspaper, The Times, recently spent £10 million on developing its new website. Who spends that much when you don’t think internet journalism is not to be taken seriously. News international and other proprietors must take the publics demands in their stride according to Murdoch speaking to Owen Gibson form the Guardian: “It is difficult, indeed dangerous, to underestimate the huge changes this revolution will bring or the power of developing technologies to build and destroy - not just companies but whole countries.”
Embracing the new technology
Over 6,000 users have installed the news quiz and it generates about 17,000 unique page views a week for the New York Times. However The Washington Post was the first print newspaper to join facebook. They developed an application named political compass - over 350,000 users have installed it. The application does not have links to the Washington Post website so does not generate hits but it was the beginning of a new phase in how print papers need to operate in the age of the internet.
Newspapers and their proprietors will have to accept changes in the way news is presented to us. Websites are key in bringing us news, but what if social networking sites start writing their own news? How will this affect a newspapers website? Or will it effect at all?
We can only wait and see but news on social networking sites is only just beginning and it has a long way to go before it full rivals the established news agencies.
Google is not my homepage any more – Facebook is. In fact if you’re reading this you’re likely to have gone through Facebook. I woke up and looked at my Facebook account as usual and was about to make my first trip of the day to the BBC website when I realised something had changed this morning. There was no need for my visit to the BBC.
The challengers
The news - or at least the top five stories are available in an online quiz, provided by the New York Times, in Facebook. Granted this is not total in depth news that I need to fulfil my appetite but it is the beginning of something new. The fact is I don’t need to leave Facebook to get the main news headlines.
New research shows Facebook is now bigger than MySpace. However the fastest growing social networking site is Perfspot - soon to become a banned word on Facebook. In fact I have just opened an account I can read blogs, write and publish my own articles and read news from around the world. In fact their news service is great.
For example I can get news in 31 languages on Perfspot. It is ridiculous. The site is one of easiest to navigate around and I can save an article within my account if I ever need to refer back to it that’s something the major newspapers are not offering. As social networking plays a bigger part in news provision then newspapers are likely to play a lesser role.
Should journalists be quaking in their boots?
A professional’s nightmare or opportunity?
A professional journalist should not be worried. The owner of news publishers world wide such as Rupert Murdoch’s - the news international boss – must be annoyed at the pace new media forms are taking way from the old and traditional forms of journalism. Newspaper publishers now rely on their websites to create new readers and advertising revenue as much as the newspaper creates itself.
Perfspot only had about 300,000 members in August – it has grown 756% in the last four months – but is attracting advertising from major companies. By Kodak and Yhaoo directing advertising to Perfspot it detracts from potential revenue that newspapers receive so it becomes key for a newspaper to have a contract – like the New York Times does with facebook – to generate hits from users of social networking sites.
A Murdoch newspaper, The Times, recently spent £10 million on developing its new website. Who spends that much when you don’t think internet journalism is not to be taken seriously. News international and other proprietors must take the publics demands in their stride according to Murdoch speaking to Owen Gibson form the Guardian: “It is difficult, indeed dangerous, to underestimate the huge changes this revolution will bring or the power of developing technologies to build and destroy - not just companies but whole countries.”
Embracing the new technology
Over 6,000 users have installed the news quiz and it generates about 17,000 unique page views a week for the New York Times. However The Washington Post was the first print newspaper to join facebook. They developed an application named political compass - over 350,000 users have installed it. The application does not have links to the Washington Post website so does not generate hits but it was the beginning of a new phase in how print papers need to operate in the age of the internet.
Newspapers and their proprietors will have to accept changes in the way news is presented to us. Websites are key in bringing us news, but what if social networking sites start writing their own news? How will this affect a newspapers website? Or will it effect at all?
We can only wait and see but news on social networking sites is only just beginning and it has a long way to go before it full rivals the established news agencies.
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