Google Glass — Can I Get A Witness?

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Don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand gardening. But the first thing that came to mind when I put on Google Glass was my mother’s organic garden.

You won’t catch me outside in broiling 98-degree southern humidity struggling to hack through a dense, painfully stinging row of okra, or pulling nasty, squirming wormy things off dozens of tomato bushes. No siree! But you will catch my mother doing that crazy stuff. For hours on end, day after day, week after week, throughout the south’s high summer months.

That said, if you can get past the oppressive heat and humidity there really is no more verdant and glorious vision of bounty, robust health and natural beauty than a southern organic garden at its summer harvesting peak.

Thus the thought of me strolling, beatifically wired, through rows of an organic garden in full, wearing a pair of Glass with my mother narrating the purvey and provenance of every lush plant and vegetable, set my pan-media-tuned mind into high and sunny gear.

Who wouldn’t want to document and share that kind of rich media in our connected world? To be fresh content-enabled, breezily so, by merely putting on glasses, something I’ve done every day since I was 7-years old anyway.

One of the great things about living near the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, of course) is participating in some of the innovations and events churned from there. Whether beta testing products in development, networking, attending concerts or lectures, there’s a wealth of experience and knowledge available to the university’s surrounding community, so last night (July 11) I hopped over to nearby startup nurturer, Flashpoint on West Peachtree Street.

There, Randy J. Mitchell, the founder and CEO of Plisten, along with Google and Hypepotamus, hosted a meetup for Google Glass developers and designers. My friend/mentor and sometime colleague, veteran political reporter Tom Baxter, who’s always up for some new media-creation adventures, tagged along too.

Upcoming State of Media Forum In Atlanta

On Sept. 15, 2011 I will be speaking on a panel hosted by the marketing division of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). This is titled: The State of the Media: Traditional, New Media, and Analyst Panel.

Registration for that panel discussion/breakfast is here. More deets are not yet available. Hope to see  you there!

And I’ll add more deets about the rest of the panel when TAG adds more to their page on this particular panel. They crank through about 5 panels a day, so it seems, at TAG, so updating each one could take a little time. Be patient.

Wave Your Magic Media Legitimizing Wand

I sleep like a baby at night, knowing I always bust MY butt to be the best illegitimate media source I can be. And there are plenty of others in Atlanta/Georgia who go at their illegitimate media efforts like bunnies, too.

Recent good examples are Todd Rehm at Peach Pundit and Matthew Cardinale at Atlanta Progressive News. Heck, Cardinale takes illegitimate media to a whole new magical level; suing the crap outta the Atlanta City Council for violating Open Meetings/Open Records law. And winning too.

I don’t want to re-cap that long and very winding issue right here. The Daily Report, Atlanta’s legal community daily, just did a good cover story on the messy matter of Mr. Cardinale. Alas, they’re big honkin’ capitalist pigs over there at the Daily Report, and they lock-up their legitimate media behind a firewall. New media curses on them.

Of course anyone with an Internet connection and a Facebook account has already copied and pasted the Daily Report’s story about Matthew Cardinale, and is merrily circulating it that way amongst Atlanta’s media and political cognoscenti. I’ll leave you on your own to find your, er, unique way to it.

But Peach Pundit, for a bunch of boisterous, loud conservatives (with fun, boozy happy hours too!), is very good at keeping information free and flowing to us lowly masses. So there’s an ongoing updating of the Atlanta City Council open meetings/records saga there. Seek away.

And please… do your part. Always be the illegitimate media YOU wish to see. You never know who will be the one to legitimize you with their magic, media-legitimizing wand.

I know I stash several, top shelf Media Legitimizers around my palace. Now if I could just figure-out where I put the damn things…

Georgia New Media Notes March 31, 2011

Several new media things jump out today… Facebook is such an amazing tool for tracking legislation going through the legislative process. The Sunday Sales/Senate Bill 10 may or may not be before the Rules Committee today.  Advocates such as Rich Sullivan and co. are at the Georgia State Capitol now Tweeting and posting Facebook updates about this one bill’s progress.

Lobbyista, media, advocates and ordinary folk, take note! Could save tons on tasseled loafer polishing costs by not having to hoof it along the hallways of the Gold Dome. Watch and learn from the comfort of your connection.

Then again, just being at the Capitol on a busy day is exciting in itself. Go live and in person whenever you can. Just report back for us what is going on… as it happens. Social media tools make it very easy to do. (They’ve got great wi-fi at the Dome.)

Other quick note… when giving interviews to text-only outlets avoid passive language, such as Michael Bond’s here. While it’s earnest, and might work in a broadcast environment, it always prints bad.

Councilman Michael Julian Bond pointed out that Sandy Springs and DeKalb County have full government participation and the continual council snubs are “almost getting to the point where it is beginning to be offensive.”

Elsewhere, Bob Barr believes in the intended effects of mass media propaganda. The best money can buy. Cute, huh?

One more… from what I hear, bloggers are already revolting on donating free content to @11AliveNews/@gannett‘s Where U Live project. Must give back, news farms! Must. Think of better ways to give back to the blogger (on-air time comes to mind), and you might get more better content from ’em.

Today is the deadline to nominate your fave Georgia journo/blogger now for The Atlanta Press Club 2010 awards. It’s easy to do.

That’s it for the morning. Make it a great use of new media day!

Video Blogging The 2010 Georgia General Assembly Session

Some have gone before me. Bloggers venturing forth to blog the Georgia General Assembly (don’t ever call it The Legislature) session at the State Capitol. And gotten themselves in a bit of a sticky wicket for their nondisclosure efforts in the process. (Atlanta political blogger Andre Walker of course comes to mind.) No one has ever gone video blogging down Georgia State Capitol ways. Until now.

I spent last week getting the lay of the land at the Gold Dome. Tagging alongside (trying to keep up is more like it) with veteran political newsman, Tom Baxter. Baxter and I are video blogging for CBSAtlanta, Channel 46, WGCL, a Meredith property.

The special web page they’ve created to house our multimedia materials is Covering The Capitol.  (I do photos too.) And yeah, it’s not real pretty. Not yet. There is the proverbial ways to go.  The video player won’t do right in some browsers. (Although it works fine if you select the videos via the “Videos” tab up top.)

Our videos are sure not real pretty either. Not yet. We’re all on a steep learning curve right now. Like Chloe, I’ve got new software and new gear issues. And also like Chloe, no one is the least bit sympathetic. Maybe if I wish hard enough my Jack Bauer will emerge from the mist, but I ain’t holding my breath on that ever happening. Sometime around the end of the session, mid March or so, I expect we MAY begin to level off of the steep ride up. I hope you bear with us though as we’re offering up loads of unique Georgia political media you simply will not find anywhere else.

My hat’s off, way off, to CBSAtlanta (on Twitter as @CBSAtlanta) for trying new online media things… and for having an open mind with their willingness to let me and Baxter have a go at in-depth political coverage during the course of the 2010 General Assembly session. As I like to say, “be the media you want to see.” That’s CBSAtlanta all over – a true community news outlet.

This is an amazing opportunity for me. To tag along into the Celestine Sibley press gallery, to march along the floors of the stunningly gorgeous State Capitol, meeting and greeting as we go, is infinitely thrilling and fascinating. For instance, after one week I know where the “good” lobbyists hang and where the “bad” ones perch. I know a few new faces and names by now, good and bad and in between ones. I don’t yet know where all the bodies are buried, but rest assured Mr. Baxter does! (The remains to your left live in the Governor’s Capitol press office, BTW.)

I feel like a cub news producer again. A trainee. The new girl. And that’s ok. I am nothing if not adaptable, and our system of government in Georgia, as we face a fiscal crisis such as we’ve never experienced, is having to adapt… like it or not. These are exciting political times for Georgia. Out with the old and in with something new. (At least in theory, right?)

I’m delighted to have a front row seat for the 2010 session to share with you. Tom and I will be using every mobile social media tool we have (before our batteries need re-charging at least) to bring you word and media from our State Capitol. Heck, before the session’s over I hope to have done some live streams and broken at least one very juicy story.

Follow me as SpaceyG on Twitter (I’ll be tagging material as #GALeg there) and follow Tom Baxter as twombax. CBSAtlanta is just that on Twitter, and their special General Assembly page is here. Friend Baxter and me on Facebook. CBSAtlanta is on Facebook here. Watch  CBSAtlanta broadcasts in the mornings, at 4pm, 6pm and 11pm for special broadcasting appearances too by Baxter.

And of course, if you’ve got a great tidbit you’d like me to turn my under-$200 HD camera on be sure to tell all. You know how to get in touch. Hope I see you on the floating marble staircases. Can I get a quick interview if so?!

Emory Student Gives Journalist Her Facebook Login Info

While it’s ugly and disgraceful that Atlanta’s Emory University has been the scene of on-campus incidents of obvious intolerance between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli students, what’s almost as distasteful is the thought of giving a journalist, of any stripe, one’s user ID and password info to one’s personal Facebook account –  just to prove a point.

But this Emory student felt compelled to do just that for Atlanta Progressive News:

Saba Khalid, 20, a junior at Emory and an activist, told Atlanta Progressive News she believes she knows who three out of four of the perpetrators are, and that they include student leaders of pro-Israeli groups at Emory.

Atlanta Progressive News obtained copies of Facebook messages between Khalid and another Emory student, Eddy Goldfarb, which appear to show Goldfarb implying that he was involved in the incident and saying he knows the identity of all the participants.

After receiving the copies of the messages, APN confirmed their authenticity by obtaining the password to Khalid’s Facebook account from Khalid, logging in to Khalid’s account, and verifying the conversation in Khalid’s inbox. With Khalid’s permission, APN also reviewed what appeared to be, by all indications, Mr. Goldfarb’s public Facebook page.

Full story here.

The Look Of New Media Coming Soon

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ANP – Building The New Journalism Army

This mercifully short video accomplishes so much: it is not only watchable, with compelling music to get us beyond simple talking heads, it wets the appetite for more.

It makes the viewer want to explore what James Risen, the National Security reporter for the NYT, knows. Risen obviously knows a lot. Much more than me or you. I thus purchased his book from Amazon after viewing this video.

The video is also easily shareable and/or embeddable. I embedded it with a couple of clicks here and slapped it on my Facebook page. And I Twittered it too. No muss. No fuss.

When it comes to the New Journalism Army, ANP is always the one to watch. They are setting the bar. Word.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Behind the Byline: James Risen | Amer…“, posted with vodpod

Caroline Kennedy To Save Old Media!

Now that Caroline Kennedy has been cured of her allergy to the Democratic Party, she should certainly be designated Senator from New York just because she feels like it. Think of how a slide show a day of old Kennedy family photos could breath life into old, flagging media plantations!

The never-flagging, trend-setting Huffington Post shows you how it’s done. They’ve likely had 10-trillion hits to their front-and-center slide show already.

In other Kennedy matters, Matt Towery talks about the Kennedy family role in the Obama nomination here. It’s all in his new book, Paranoid Nation. Order your copy by clicking ad to your right. On book store shelves this week too.

This Ain’t No Mud Club. No CBGB. I Ain’t Got Time For That Now.

Lemme ask you Dear Reader… would you waste your precious time teaching social media apps and skills to a group of (laid off likely) professional… let me say that again… PROFESSIONAL journalists who had made such pitiful personal forays/investments into new media that they had no personal laptop to bring to the party/workshoppe? That, rather, they were expecting to learn new journo-entrepreneurial ways on borrowed gear belonging to the state (a university for example), or some such other journo-charity case?

This ain’t no home for unwed mothers out here, kiddies. If you’re a serious journalist and want to continue to be one, yet are not serious enough about social media to scrounge for the most basic gear you will have to have to wield it, then you can sit on your decaying front porch of dead-tree products and rock ‘n yearn for days of yore and that long dried-up corporate-journo tit.

Times done changed. Wind done gone. Let’s put this post in the Lacks Curiosity Of The World Exploding Around Them category.

TV Today: Good Thing, Bad Thing?

Oh dear. I am not sure how to react to all this breaking TV news today. Item #1, and of utmost importance in the big scheme of things. From Reuters:

CBS is saying aloha to a new installment of “Hawaii Five-O.”

The new take on the popular crime drama, which aired on CBS from 1968 to 1980, is being developed by Ed Bernero, executive producer and showrunner of “Criminal Minds.” He is such a big “Hawaii Five-O” fan that he has the Ventures’ iconic theme song from the show as his ringtone.

Bernero is writing the project, which he describes as “‘Hawaii Five-O’ 2.0.”

It’s no secret that my favorite TV show EVER was/still is Hawaii Five-O. Item #2: look at this about CNN’s big reorg. Seems they are barking way up the new media tree. From a NYTimes blog:

CNN announced Tuesday that it would “double its domestic news-gathering presence” by assigning journalists to 10 additional cities across the United States.

But the journalists will not work from news bureaus; instead, they will be stationed at local television affiliates and other office locations. Using inexpensive laptops and cameras, they will file stories for the Internet and report live on television. One “all-platform journalist” will be assigned to each city.

The strategy reflects the increasingly portable and flexible nature of television production. Expensive bureaus with camera crews and satellite uplinks are increasingly being downsized by TV news divisions, in favor of so-called “one man bands” that interview, write, record, edit and report live.

So much new. So much re-vamped. So much changing outright. We just need to take a moment, take a deep breath and ask… what would McGarrett do?

Old Media Geezer? New Media Wants You Out of the Way.

At the rate journalists are blogging now, seems they don’t want to wait for Old Media dead-wood types to just politely die-off. From a story from the American Journalism Review titled: Murky Boundaries: What are the guidelines for the personal blogs of journalists who for for mainstream news organizations?

According to Tom Regan, like Moor a cochairman of the panel and a news blogger for National Public Radio, it’s a difference of opinion that largely pits old-school media types against new-school, new-media types. And, from what he saw at the conference, Regan says, the most obvious determinant of where a journalist will stand is age. “The older journalists felt that it compromised your position as a reporter. Younger journalists felt it’s a whole new era, we all use Facebook, we’re all used to sharing everything with everyone, so why shouldn’t we as journalists? It was a real big split.”

That split should ring a bell: It’s almost identical to the one over whether newspapers should host their own blogs. It’s not that long ago that newspaper editors were arguing over the viability of hosting blogs and all the objectivity and editing concerns that go along with doing so (see “Blogging Between the Lines,” December 2006/January 2007).

That argument didn’t last long, though. The market made the decision pretty rapidly. Today, journalists are blogging for their employers in ever-increasing numbers. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s 2008 State of the News Media report, “Fully 95% of the top 100 newspapers included blogs from reporters in March 2007, up from 80% in 2006.” What’s more, the study found that “the number [of] unique visitors to blog pages on the 10 most popular newspaper sites grew 210% from December 2005 to December 2006,” making up 13 percent of total traffic and drawing in a rapidly ballooning amount of advertising revenue. With editors across the country trying to take advantage of these realities, blogging for the boss has become almost ubiquitous in today’s newsrooms.

Full story here.

Media Culture Clash

Old Media “slow and unresponsive?” Say it isn’t so. From TVNewswer today:

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about former ABC correspondent Amanda Congdon, who has returned to her roots as a video blogger.

In September, Congdon left ABC News after a brief stint with the network.

Now Stelter reports Congdon is moving back to the web. “Congdon, feeling a little burned by big media, is back blogging and hosting and producing,” he writes. “Working with the independent production studio Media Rights Capital, she is reintroducing herself on ‘Sometimes Daily,’ an irregular look at life through Ms. Congdon’s eyes.”

Regarding her time at ABC News, Stelter writes, “She found producers at ABC to be unresponsive to her ideas, calling it a ‘slow and messy process.'”

The ladies of TrueGritz had something to say about Ms. Congdon when she first went to play in the Old Media playground.

New Media Tells Old Media What’s Journalism Now

From Southern Political Report’s Tom Baxter:

Convinced (former Alabama Governor) Siegelman was guilty and ready to move on, they (traditional media) were bailing out of the story just as the new media was beginning to pay attention. Since Siegelman’s conviction, the story has been kept alive on the internet — notably on the blog Horton writes for Harper’s and several spirited, Democratic-leaning Alabama blogs — and in a few of the state’s smaller and alternative newspapers.

At times, the animosity between the two sides of the media divide has equaled that between the two parties in Alabama. Horton has sharply criticized the Birmingham News, the Mobile Press-Register and the Huntsville Times, all former Newhouse papers now owned by Advance Publications, for their coverage.

Bloggers… whatcha gonna do with ’em?. Read more from ’em! All that Alabama dirt Mr. Horton at Harper’s has been digging in is here.