Archive of thenextweb.com
Written on 10th March 2009
3 COMMENTS 
Paul Vereijken, Next Web Journalism & Media editor
I just couldn’t believe my own eyes. The Guardian launches “Open Platform, a service that will allow partners to reuse guardian.co.uk content and data for free”. That sounds like an API! An API? Launched by another big news corporation? Are they finally getting that they at least should try to share their valuable data? Revolution!?
Well, here’s what The Guardian itself has to say about Open Platform:
The Open Platform is the suite of services that make it possible for our partners to build applications with the Guardian. We’ve opened up our platform so that everyone can benefit from our journalism, our brand, and the technologies that power guardian.co.uk.
As a start Open Platform offers two services:
1. The Content API is a mechanism for getting Guardian content. You can query our content database for articles and get them back in formats that are geared toward integration with other internet applications.
2. The Data Store is a collection of important and high quality data sets curated by Guardian journalists. You can find useful data here, download it, and integrate it with other internet applications.
I didn’t have much time to check it out yet. But apart from some serious buts the fact that an old media corporation launches an API makes me smile. Check the Open Platform out for yourself.
Written on 26th November 2008
7 COMMENTS
Paul Vereijken, Next Web Journalism & Media editor
It’s always painful to read about job cuts at U.S. newspapers. But the news became even more painful when I spotted mashup Paper Cuts. This mashup shows how many layoffs and buyouts U.S. newspapers have to suffer from. According to Paper Cuts more than 13.748 people in the newspaper industry lost their job in 2008. And new layoffs and buyouts are reported almost every week…
Written on 18th November 2008
1 COMMENT
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
During this economic climate Journalists, as with many other professions, have taken a hit. Six Apart, the blog publishing company, has come up with an interesting way to help those poor journalists get back on the grind – they’ve called it TypePad Journalist Bailout Programme .
How it Works
To Get Involved
Just send them them a link to your last piece for a newspaper, magazine or broadcast journalism venue to
bailout@sixapart.com.Sixapart have been quoted as saying
“While we’re obviously having a bit of fun with the “bailout” name, this program is something we’re serious about. The dollar value for you for the TypePad subscription alone works out to over $150 a year, but we know that for a lot of working journalists, one of the biggest obstacles towards independence can be just trying to figure out where to start. Now you’ve got an answer.
You’ve got to hand it to them, it’s definitely a novel idea and apparently there has been great interest so get on the bandwagon while you still can journos!
via Guardian
Written on 30th July 2008
5 COMMENTS
Joop Dorresteijn, East Asia correspondent
Contrary to earlier promises to foreign journalists, China will offer limited access to the Internet during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Chinese authorities block information on the Internet that the Communist party views as improper, unhealthy or as a threat to its rule — essentially, all Internet information goes through
gateways in Beijing. The blocking is sometimes referred to as the “Great Firewall of China“.
Last year China introduced new regulations relaxing general media curbs for foreign journalists in the run-up to the Games. “For the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China, There will be no censorship on the Internet” said a spokesman to AFP.
A spokesman for the Olympics replied that there will be sufficient access to the Internet for reporters. However, “sufficient” is not what was promised by China’s communist authorities in the run up to the Olympics. Blocked websites include Amnesty International, Religious websites, Tibet government-in-exile, dissidents and websites that give information about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. These sites would remain blocked for thousands of foreign reporters covering the Olympics. Amnesty describes China as one of the world’s “enemies of the Internet”.
Written on 6th March 2008
3 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
As you might know, Meghan McCain – the daughter of the Republican presidential candidate – has a blog. So what, you probably think, it’s just a random PR thing. And you’re totally right. She even hired a photographer and an independent producer to give the blog a hip and professional look and feel. Together they form the blogettes.
Meghan loves the campaign of her father as well as music. Therefore she picks a ’song of the day’ and regularly posts playlists. You know you won’t find anything more shocking than that the daughter of a politician listens to a song called ‘the Angry Mob’. Though despite the boring an marketing minded content, the blog does reveal something shocking, at least for me.
Yesterday my parents hosted a BBQ at our cabin in Sedona, Arizona for the press who have been traveling with us on the campaign.
Excuse me? Journalists are having dinner with a presidential candidate? Am I that naive that I always thought journalists should be independent and not too cousy with politicians? Sure, when I was working at the United Nations I made sure that the vibe between me and a politician was ok, but we didn’t barbecue on the shore of the East River! The pictures of the laughing ‘press guys’, chilling with the pretty blond daughter of McCain make my old-fashioned romantic idea (I guess?) of journalism fall apart.
And so, without even the intention to actually reveal anything of the truth behind a presidential campaign, Meghan’s blog does surprise me. I wish every slick PR publication did that.
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