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Global Information Society Watch 2007 Report

The Global Information Society Watch 2007 Report (cover page for 206p PDF) is available for download. Launched at last year's SANGONeT Conference, the report looks individually and collectively at 22 countries and includes critical overviews of the roles of five major institutions affecting the digital divide. There is some great thinking in this report and I believe it, and it's successors in coming years, have the potential to bring about a coherent international strategy on these issues. Posted: 4/8/08; 11:53:50 AM #

Nonprofit Journalism on the Rise

Randy Dotinga of the Christian Science Monitor believes that Nonprofit Journalism is on the Rise. At a time when public broadcasting feels like it's being invaded by the commercial cronyism of the Bush Administration, I can only hope that he's right. It's certainly true that there are some heavy hitting funders focusing on the opportunities for nonprofit journalism presented by the ease of the Internet and increasing disgust with mainstream media. Posted: 4/8/08; 11:45:07 AM #

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How Passion, Relationships, and Expectations Affect Director Tenure

Executive director turnover is seen as a widespread problem, with 75% of those surveyed indicating that they plan to leave within five years and organizations regularly having to replace their key leaders. In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How Passion, Relationships, and Expectations Affect Director Tenure" a group of Syracuse University researchers summarize their discoveries about what contributes to this dynamic. The overall conclusion? Unmet expectations and underdeveloped relationships. Posted: 4/8/08; 11:35:04 AM #

The Contribution of Online News Attributes to its Diffusion

An Nguyen has written a dense research paper for First Monday entitled The Contribution of Online News Attributes to its Diffusion. In ordinary language, what that means is that the researcher identified nine characteristics of online news and then did an empirical analysis of which of these contributed to its success. Those nice characteristics are: no cost ("because I don't pay for it"); more news choices ("because I have more news choices on the Internet"); multitasking ("because I can combine getting news with other purposes online"); in-depth/background information ("because I can look for in-depth and background information whenever I want"); 24/7 updates ("because I can check for updated news whenever I want"); customised news ("because I can get news tailored to my interest only"); have my say ("because I can have my say to the news media"); discussing news with peers ("because I can discuss news and current affairs with my peers"); and different viewpoints ("because I can find different viewpoints on the Internet"). Posted: 4/8/08; 11:29:51 AM #