Ryan Sholin » wikipedia http://ryansholin.com The future of news. And more. No funny stuff. Thu, 24 May 2012 18:54:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 2006-2007 ryansholin@gmail.com (Ryan Sholin) ryansholin@gmail.com (Ryan Sholin) http://www.ryansholin.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com 144 144 Ryan Sholin on the future of newspapers, online news and journalism education. Ryan Sholin Ryan Sholin ryansholin@gmail.com no no Wikipedia for Journalists & Bloggers – Slideshare http://ryansholin.com/2009/05/07/wikipedia-for-journalists-bloggers-slideshare/ http://ryansholin.com/2009/05/07/wikipedia-for-journalists-bloggers-slideshare/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 19:49:17 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2009/05/07/wikipedia-for-journalists-bloggers-slideshare/ An *excellent* and incredibly useful presentation by @stevenwalling on how journalists and bloggers use Wikipedia every day, and why.

Wikipedia for Journalists & Bloggers – Slideshare

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2009/05/07/wikipedia-for-journalists-bloggers-slideshare/feed/ 0 Watch out for secondary characters with more interesting stories than your protagonist http://ryansholin.com/2007/12/22/watch-out-for-secondary-characters-with-more-interesting-stories-than-your-protagonist/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/12/22/watch-out-for-secondary-characters-with-more-interesting-stories-than-your-protagonist/#comments Sun, 23 Dec 2007 05:45:02 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/12/22/watch-out-for-secondary-characters-with-more-interesting-stories-than-your-protagonist/ That’s good advice up there in the title of this post. I got it from a screenwriting teacher, and it’s been a running joke around our house for the last week based on a couple movies we’ve watched lately.

And it’s also good advice for narrative journalists.

But that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about the Long Bet between Dave Winer and Martin Nisenholtz.

Just in case anyone is keeping score, I’ll add my name to the list of unofficial judges who think Wikipedia was the winner.

Here’s the kicker from Rogers Cadenhead’s post on the topic:

“Winer predicted a news environment ‘changed so thoroughly that informed people will look to amateurs they trust for the information they want.’ Nisenholtz expected the professional media to remain the authoritative source for ‘unbiased, accurate, and coherent” information. Instead, our most trusted source on the biggest news stories of 2007 is a horde of nameless, faceless amateurs who are not required to prove expertise in the subjects they cover.”

He’s exaggerating (‘nameless, faceless’) to harp on the contrast between the interesting secondary character in this story and the protagonist/antagonist pair, but the point is clear:

The crowd beats the individual and the organization when it comes to …well, SEO is a factor… but the reason the crowd’s version of events floats to the top of search results has more to do with individuals linking to the crowd’s record than a header tag matching a title tag.

There’s plenty of intriguing thought about this being thrown around, including these bits:

  • Dave Winer: “The world that I hoped would come about did not. While blogs have broken many stories, they have not, in general, turned into the authoritative sources I hoped they would in 2002. When the blogosphere resembles journalism it’s often the tabloid kind.”
  • Paul Boutin: “Cadenhead has exposed the flaw in my genius idea: I presumed there were only two sides. That’s journalist math. Any real techie knows there are never only two values to anything in real life.”

Where’s Martin Nisenholtz’s blog, anyway?  I’m eager to hear his take on this.

And the last open-ended question: Who’s the third player in the scene you’re writing? For example, is there a third element in the Newspapers vs. craigslist equation?

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/12/22/watch-out-for-secondary-characters-with-more-interesting-stories-than-your-protagonist/feed/ 0 List anonymous wikipedia edits from interesting organizations http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/14/list-anonymous-wikipedia-edits-from-interesting-organizations/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/14/list-anonymous-wikipedia-edits-from-interesting-organizations/#comments Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:18:54 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/14/list-anonymous-wikipedia-edits-from-interesting-organizations/ This is awesome, but the server appears to be getting rocked right now. Check back when they get un-buried.

List anonymous wikipedia edits from interesting organizations

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/14/list-anonymous-wikipedia-edits-from-interesting-organizations/feed/ 0 North Miami Beach High School – Wikipedia http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/04/north-miami-beach-high-school-wikipedia/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/04/north-miami-beach-high-school-wikipedia/#comments Sat, 04 Aug 2007 05:21:23 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/04/north-miami-beach-high-school-wikipedia/ A surprisingly detailed narrative Wikipedia entry for my high school.

North Miami Beach High School – Wikipedia

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/04/north-miami-beach-high-school-wikipedia/feed/ 0 San José State University – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/31/san-jose-state-university-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopedia/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/31/san-jose-state-university-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopedia/#comments Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:23:11 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/31/san-jose-state-university-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopedia/ If you look carefully at this story, you’ll find that a story I wrote for the Spartan Daily is cited as a source of information about the SJSU judo team. An odd sensation…

San José State University – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/31/san-jose-state-university-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopedia/feed/ 0 JOHO – December 29, 2005 http://ryansholin.com/2006/01/03/joho-december-29-2005/ http://ryansholin.com/2006/01/03/joho-december-29-2005/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:19:13 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2006/01/03/joho-december-29-2005/ A good piece by David Weinberger about Wikipedia and recent controversies.

JOHO – December 29, 2005

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2006/01/03/joho-december-29-2005/feed/ 0 The avatar versus the journalist: Making meaning, finding truth http://ryansholin.com/2005/07/22/the-avatar-versus-the-journalist-making-meaning-finding-truth/ http://ryansholin.com/2005/07/22/the-avatar-versus-the-journalist-making-meaning-finding-truth/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2005 14:49:30 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2005/07/22/the-avatar-versus-the-journalist-making-meaning-finding-truth/ Online Journalism Review provides some great insight to what’s running Wikipedia.

The avatar versus the journalist: Making meaning, finding truth

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