Story Review

If journalism is a conversation then how do the participants in it talk to each other? Is it enough for media companies to talk to their audiences? Why not allow the members of the public talk to each other, within the framework of the same conversation?

Google Friend Connect looks like a very promising tool to help in this respect. So let’s test in on our blogs and see if it would work on our news sites. Join this blog (find the widget in the sidebar on the homepage) or send me invites to join your sites. Thanks.

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• Google Friend Connect Beta Available for All Webmasters

Well, let’s get this started. We are not yet entirely clear about the design but we will just tweak the site on the go and hope you will not mind.

This blog will feature reviews of journalistic stories. No, it will not be like book reviews of extremely short books. We will try to explain.

People have told stories for as long as they have had language. Over the millennia, technology has changed and the ways to tell stories have multiplied. Storytelling started off as an oral tradition; it then expanded to paper, picture and video, and is nowadays going online. But, as well as changing the means to tell a story, each new medium has meant a shift in people’s perceptions of what a story is, how it is structured and how it works. Some writers of fiction, like Kurt Vonnegut in Breakfast of Champions, have experimented with doing away with storytelling.

Journalism has long been obsessed with telling stories. It still is. Many journalists are under the impression that they are in the business of producing and distributing news. And when they say news, they usually mean stories. Pictures, although an established part of the journalistic product, are largely seen as an aide to telling a story. Text is king.

But why should it be that way? Stories told in print, sound and video are ubiquitous. But can a Google map tell a story? Can a Java game tell a story? Can a discussion on a Facebook group’s wall tell a story? What will it mean for a story if a video shows one thing and the sound tells another?

An industry on the verge of a radical shift, as journalism is, needs bold and creative minds that are eager to explore and find the answers to such questions. This blog we will try to present some of the best efforts in the field in the hope to inspire creativity.

We will try to give an objective rating of each story reviewed, focusing on three main criteria: originality, presentation and journalistic value. The last one might need some explanation. Many journalists will probably think it means newsworthiness. But we are rather of the view that journalism is not about news: it is about content. Journalism is not about telling people something: it is about talking to them and listening to them, and letting their views become part of the story. Journalism is not about democracy: it is about community.

We are starting with just one reviewer – me – but hope people interested in the project will want to join. Also, we will be extremely grateful to anyone who suggests a story that we should review: the web is now too big to scale it alone. Do not be shy to promote your own stuff. If you have done a good job, there is no reason not to brag.

Image|quintessence by Demion