NOTES FROM THE MEDIA REVOLUTION

Did this talk at TEDx a while ago, and I just realized I forgot...

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:15:36 -0400

Did this talk at TEDx a while ago, and I just realized I forgot to post it here. It is about “The Emergence of a new storytelling language” - nothing less..

How Apple is letting down storytellers

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 06:31:00 -0400

If you are a geek chances are that you can’t say iPad without saying the word Flash in the same sentence these days. While most people just see a beautiful gadget, tech developers, designers and content producers see another wasted opportunity to distribute some of their beautiful an important online storytelling projects. Why? Because Apple has decided to ban the use of the Adobe Flash technology on iPad and iPhone. This past week Apple even announced new terms that prevents people from converting things build in Flash (and other technologies) to apps that can run on the iPad/iPhone.

There are a bunch of different theories as to why Apple is opposed to Flash, and Apple themselves has had blurry and deviating explanations. I think the most plausible explanation is that they want to protect their App store eco-system (with Flash people could build cool apps that would not have to be offered through the app store).

I am actually quite ok with Apples closed-eco-system-approach that forces us all into using Apple, as long as it means that they turn out amazing products and innovative technology that makes life better for all of us. But in this case it is just the opposite. They are severely restricting creativity, and building a dam to prevent great storytelling from flowing out into the world. Apple and Steve Jobs, the company and the man that empowered generations of video and photo entusiasts on with great software and gave wings to Pixars amazing animation, are now putting business tactics before creativity and storytelling.

I don’t really care that much about technology…well, not really true, I am a total tech freak. But in principle I don’t care if it is Flash, Silverlight, Cocoa, HTML 5 or some other technology I am using, as long as it let’s me do powerful interactive documentaries that moves people. And the indisputable fact is, that Flash is just the only good alternative for this at the moment. Until Apple provides a viable alternative that let’s you create and distribute audio-visual storytelling with the ease of Flash, they are just providing an annoying barrier for the digital storytellers of the world.

Some pretty good posts about the Apple/Flash topic:

http://advice.cio.com/tom_kaneshige/10032/apple_an_evil_empire_in_the_making

http://mashable.com/2010/04/10/steve-jobs-adobe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/why_apple_changed_section_331

Studio in Your Pocket (Take 1)

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:38:41 -0400

drewvigal:

HT to @koci for the link to “New iPhone Photo App: ShowCase - Create a slideshow in the palm of your hand.” A couple of weeks ago, @zlwise told me about Monle, which, btw, is being used by American Public Media. Both apps look impressive. This is “Take 1” as it warrants a longer post in a couple of days.

Time to kill the foreign reporter

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:49:18 -0400

I woke up this morning in Copenhagen to the merry news of Obama’s health bill finally being passed. Throughout the morning I have been following how Danish media is covering this by interviewing “experts on USA” and foreign correspondents. It got me thinking how obsolete the idea of a foreign reporter seems in the age of online media.

The idea that someone is posted in a foreign country, and reporting home to the rest of us who has no access to the local events in this far away region worked great twenty years ago. But now all I need to do is to turn on my PC or iPhone, and Twitter, Facebook, Globalvoices.com, Nytimes.com and a bunch of other news sources will let me know what is going on in the streets from Kabul to Washington DC on a much more detailed and well documented level that any foreign reporter could do. I could even turn on the good old TV and get CNN and BCC from satellite most anywhere on the globe. And I am not really that interested in the national or local “angle” of things anymore. Yes, I am born in Denmark, but does it make sense for me to have a correspondent give me the danish perspective on Obamas bill? Most of the time I would much rather have the global perspective.

Granted, I might be a bit different than the average news consumer in the western world. I am a more extensive traveler, and more wired than a lot of people. But at the same time, I am probably a core user of international news, and I am a first mover (in the area of media consumption and technology) which means my behavior will be main stream in a few years.

I am not saying we should kill the idea of a correspondent or foreign reporter all together. But I think it would make sense to rethink the methods and the way we use the resources. Sending out an average reporter to tell us what we already know from online media makes little sense. But to have a real expert give us perspective and interpret local media, bloggers and all the other streams of information coming out of different regions would give me value as a news consumer. And instead of interviewing someone from the University of Copenhagen about Obama’s health plan, why not get a professor from Stanford, Columbia or some other US University on Skype in Denmark? To shoot an email, or call on skype or phone across the world is as easy as calling next door these days.

So cut off 90% of the journalists we currently send around the world, use local bloggers and other sources instead, and bring in interviews through Skype and other channels. And the money saved could be used to send out some real, top notch experts as our correspondents, and to use more time to cover things in depth.

My old book still lives

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:25:00 -0400

My publisher decided not to reprint my book “Den Digitale Fortæller” (The Digital Storyteller), and so according to danish law all the rights fall back to the author. There are still a bunch of scandinavian schools that uses it, so I decided to put it online for free download under Creative Commons license. The book is about the new digital storytelling language and has a bunch of quite hands-on tips of how to best use video, photo, audio, text, interactivity and all the other digital ingredients to create strong stories. Unfortunately it is only in danish, and it is from 2001 so a lot of the cases and general thoughts have become a bit dated. You can get it here for 1.59 USD (which just covers the cost of hosting it with Lulu.com): http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/the-digital-storyteller-%28danish%29/8509209

Multimedia in Moscow

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:33:00 -0500

I just returned from Moscow where I participated in the opening of a great multimedia show called Projections of Reality http://projectionsofreality.org/en/. The show organized by Objective Reality Foundation assembles one of the largest collections of documentary based multimedia under one roof and it is the best bid for a doing an exhibition of “multimedia” that I have come across so far (it is really a mix of multi-channel video installations, web-based projects, and interactive documentary films). The organizers build closed off “booths” for each individual project with screens and speakers, and in some cases the viewers had access to keyboard and mouse to control what was on the screen in front of them. The exhibition presents 22 artists including Tim Hetherington, Brenda Ann Kenneally, Erika Larsen, Alex Majoli, Alec Soth, Ilkka Uimonen and Karen Mirzoyan, pieces produced by Magnum In Motion and the New York Times’ multimedia department, as well as a number of powerful projects by young photographers from Russia and the CIS.

Another interesting part of this show is that it has been linked together with lectures, and online workshops to help young talented photographers in the region get a voice and to link the new media world with mainstream media. I have done an online master class for 15 students the past two months, and I must say it has worked really well. At the venue in Moscow I finally got a chance to meet my students face-to-face for the first time, and it was really special to feel that you know the work and professional thoughts of someone before you actually meet them in person. I also did a talk at the venue one evening and I think about 150 people showed up. I was really impressed and amazed with the kind of interest and enthusiasm that is gathered around interactive storytelling in Russia. To me it shows that it is not longer something a few of us is doing small experiments with in our own little labs.

In addition to the lecture I also did a two day Masterclass for a group of radio journalists, organized by the Foundation for Independent Radio Broadcasting (FNR): http://www.fnr.ru/eng/index.shtml. I was equally inspired by this event, which really proved to me that we now have the tools to easily do pretty good multimedia without big resources. The second day my students did a series of small 3 minute slidecasts on the topic “Me against the city”. It was pretty impressive what they put together in a few hours having had only a few days of training. You can see the result (In Russian) here: http://www.podst.ru/blogs/1417/

Trying to look like I know what I am talking about…It was...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:32:00 -0500

Trying to look like I know what I am talking about…It was the first time I have tried talking with simultaneous translator - and taking and answering questions the same way. It actually worked pretty well. (Photo: Karen Mirzoyan)

At the opening of the show, together with (front to...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:27:00 -0500

At the opening of the show, together with (front to back) interactive storyteller Samuel Bollendorf, documentary photographer and film maker Tim Hetherington, Newsweek photo editor Jamie Wellford, NY Times photographer and creator of “One In 8 Million”. Todd Heisler and exhibition director Liza Faktor. Outside the frame Brenda Ann Henneally is hiding - I spend a couple of nights having fun with this amazing and inspiring crowd of people. What a trip. Photo: Karen Mirzoyan

Does this photo have anything to do with the media revolution?...

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:02:45 -0500

Does this photo have anything to do with the media revolution? Maybe not. Maybe everything…

Just came across this add from Canon on a Danish newspaper site....

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:16:37 -0500

Just came across this add from Canon on a Danish newspaper site. I find it funny because ever since the start of Storyplanet.com we have had a tagline saying “Stop taking pictures - start telling stories”. And one of big issues throughout my career has been to get photographers to start thinking of themselves as storytellers and not just someone who snaps photos. So Canon gets a bit of free adspace on my blog (for whatever that is worth).

Came across this on the blog of Mohamed...

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:59:00 -0500

Came across this on the blog of Mohamed Nanabhey http://mohamedn.com/. Apart from being a good joke, the interesting thing is that the folks behind Dilbert are actually doing great things themselves to distribute and monetize their content.

How Twitter reminds to be fair

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:16:45 -0500

Recently a couple of events got me thinking about how social media shapes the way we debate, review and otherwise address each other in public. One was a rather negative tweet I was about to do about a particular musician and a recording he just released, when it occurred to me that he was actually following me, and I thought twice, and decided to moderate my view a bit. Another time I was at a conference and criticized the moderator on Twitter, and a few moments later he read it out loud on stage. I have actually started bringing my iPhone with me on stage when I do talks, and I use it to check and respond to tweets - so I was prepared for the exposure. But again I came to the realization, that if I had been talking in the hallway of the conference I might have been more radical in my criticism than I was on Twitter.

I guess there is nothing new in that - most people have always moderated statements in public or face to face with the person in question. What is new is the fact that communication is instant and everything can be broadcast to the world seconds after it leaves your brain (guess we all know that by know). In the past journalists would write their reviews, their op-ed’s and most likely be able to avoid direct confrontation with their “victim”. People would debate and write columns without ever standing face to face with each other.

Now it is different. Everyone can follow what others write about them, and reply instantly. I think this means two things: A. Most people will think twice and weigh if what they put out there is fair. B. The ones who don’t will be challenged.

It reminds me of my first job as a journalist. I worked at a tiny local newspaper north of Copenhagen. If I wrote something critical about the Major, I could be sure to have him on the phone first thing after the paper hit the streets - and I had better be prepared to argue my case. Others would simply turn up at my desk and start shouting. This taught me respect for people and facts, and to strive to be as fair and balanced as possible. The emergence of social media, and Twitter in particular, has dusted off that old basic rule of public rambling.

Here is a business model for Newspapers

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:30:00 -0400

One of the main things bugging traditional media folks at the moment is how to find a new business model, now that it has become apparent that the old business of collecting news and selling them does not really work anymore. Everyone can twit and blog about what they see, photograph and record out there in the world, and it is faster and more reliable than the old press.

I just gave a talk at the DONA (Danish Online News Association) 10 years anniversary conference last week on the future of journalism, and that forced me to actually structure my thoughts, and try to make a real analyses. One of the things I am certain of, is that the media corporations that survive in the future, are the ones who understand that you have to be a hub that makes it easy for people to find and manage all the vasts amounts of user generated journalism - instead of trying to position yourself as the proprietary producer of stories that can only be bought exclusively form you (there might be a business model for this but it is very niche).

Once again Google leads the way. In this interview Googles Eric Schmidt calls figuring out how to rank real-time social content is “the great challenge of the age”: http://bit.ly/2u0Jlm. Part of what he calls “real-time social content” is what old media is calling “breaking news”. In other words Google is working hard at becoming the best at collecting and organizing breaking news produced by all of us.

While most of us had no idea what Google was about to do first time around (I remember thinking it was a great service but too bad they would never make money), this time around the Newspapers and the rest of the media industry actually have a chance to compete. Why should the best brands in old media not be able to create a great search technology and future business model for breaking news?

Will they do it? I doubted very much. Right now most old media organisations and the people working there are extremely far from the innovative culture of silicon valley and web startups. But my point is that it is a matter of mindset. If they actually started to think the right way, and support the right strategies, they would have the brands and the muscle to compete with Google (and others) in the future.

Pretty amazing new technology from Adobe that recongnizes faces,...

Fri, 01 May 2009 13:53:06 -0400

Pretty amazing new technology from Adobe that recongnizes faces, colors, speech etc. in video. There are a few otther very interesting ventures in this area, like Polarrose. This technology is still early stage, but it will make the media business totally different in a few years.

"It’s important that you’re as passionate about your users as you are about your product, and anyone..."

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:12:39 -0400

“It’s important that you’re as passionate about your users as you are about your product, and anyone running on 3 hours of sleep isn’t going to have to energy to give their users the attention they deserve. Yes, put in the extra hours, but don’t let it suck you into a being a product zombie”

- Justin Day

===

Time for sleep is now. Thanks for the reminder Justin

(via msg)

Video

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:12:00 -0400

"In the 20th century, design was about beautiful objects. In the 21st century, design is about..."

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:50:34 -0400

“In the 20th century, design was about beautiful objects. In the 21st century, design is about beautiful change. Seek significant and meaningful change in something today, and make the world more beautiful in the deepest way possible”

- John Maeda (via msg)

This is a video where Joi talks about entrepreneurship during...

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:53:00 -0400

This is a video where Joi talks about entrepreneurship during recession. This is why he is the ideal angel investor ..

The story of the internet Part 2: This is a pretty good summary...

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:33:01 -0400

The story of the internet Part 2: This is a pretty good summary of the history of the Internet and the web made by AlJazeera. Joi Ito who is angel investor in Storyplanet is taking part.

The story of the internet Part 1: This is a pretty good summary...

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:31:00 -0400

The story of the internet Part 1: This is a pretty good summary of the history of the Internet and the web made by AlJazeera. Joi Ito who is angel investor in Storyplanet is taking part.