The FJP

May 30

Got Audio? Enter the Third Coast International Audio Festival Via our inbox: Entries now being accepted for the Third Coast International Audio Festival’s 13th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition! The TCIAF invites producers around the globe to submit their finest radio/audio stories in the following categories: Best Documentary (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Directors’ Choice, Honorable Mentions), Best New Artist, Radio Impact and Best News Feature. The TCIAF accepts stories that document people, places, times, events, phenomena and issues. These include but are not limited to: investigative reports, narrative stories, personal essays, profiles and audio portraits. Podcasts and documentaries that redefine the documentary form are also welcome. Winners receive cash awards - $4,000 for the gold prize - to support their future creative endeavors. They also receive national recognition in Best of the Best: The 2013 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, airing on public radio stations across the country this fall. Deadline: June 19. Contest Site: TCIAF. Image: Toshiba Vacuum Tube Radio, via Wikimedia Commons

Got Audio? Enter the Third Coast International Audio Festival

Via our inbox:

Entries now being accepted for the Third Coast International Audio Festival’s 13th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition!

The TCIAF invites producers around the globe to submit their finest radio/audio stories in the following categories: Best Documentary (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Directors’ Choice, Honorable Mentions), Best New Artist, Radio Impact and Best News Feature.

The TCIAF accepts stories that document people, places, times, events, phenomena and issues. These include but are not limited to: investigative reports, narrative stories, personal essays, profiles and audio portraits. Podcasts and documentaries that redefine the documentary form are also welcome.

Winners receive cash awards - $4,000 for the gold prize - to support their future creative endeavors. They also receive national recognition in Best of the Best: The 2013 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, airing on public radio stations across the country this fall.

Deadline: June 19.

Contest Site: TCIAF.

Image: Toshiba Vacuum Tube Radio, via Wikimedia Commons

May 29

Banning Porn According to Smithsonian, the desire to ban porn exists all over the world. The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, wants all porn to be blocked from public spaces to maintain “clean Wifi.” There are websites exclusively dedicated to banishing porn in the U.S. And Iceland has even proposed to get rid of Internet porn altogether.  Despite these efforts, The Economist points out that porn is impossible to eliminate from the Web. Algorithms can’t catch everything, which means to totally get rid of porn, humans would need to scour the Internet all day for inappropriate content.  Slate writes that when Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, was met with suggestions to restrict porn on Tumblr for the sake of Yahoo’s reputation, she refused. The “Not Safe For Work” (NSFW) tag that Tumblr already offers is sufficient enough at filtering pornography, and Mayer wants Tumblr to maintain the “richness and breadth of content” that it’s known for.  And that richness and breadth is going to be hard to beat back. An infographic by Paintbottle shows that 70 percent of men and 30 percent of women watch porn — with the average viewer visiting porn sites 7.5 times per month for an average of 12 minutes at a time. Smithsonian says that one of the driving forces behind this porn paranoia is that children are learning about sex through porn and not sex education classes. Parents are afraid of porn’s influence on minors who aren’t properly educated on intercourse. Apparently, this concern isn’t without merit. Aside from kids accidentally stumbling upon porn while web-surfing, porn shows up in public places. In Slate’s Manners For The Digital Age podcast, a woman explains that a passenger had been watching porn on his portable DVD player in close proximity to herself, her daughter, and her young and impressionable granddaughter during their flight. FJP: In an attempt to make porn more “appropriate,” L.A. County passed Measure B — a law forcing porn actors to use condoms in their scenes and to receive STD training before performing. The law also forces adult film producers to pay a fee for Department of Public Health inspections.  So should your child stumble upon some pre-marital, raunchy, no-holds barred Internet sex, at least there will be a thin layer of latex to shield them from that silly strain of death-gonorrhea. — Krissy Image: Found down in the NSFW, dirty depths of Tumblr. 

Banning Porn

According to Smithsonian, the desire to ban porn exists all over the world. The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, wants all porn to be blocked from public spaces to maintain “clean Wifi.” There are websites exclusively dedicated to banishing porn in the U.S. And Iceland has even proposed to get rid of Internet porn altogether. 

Despite these efforts, The Economist points out that porn is impossible to eliminate from the Web. Algorithms can’t catch everything, which means to totally get rid of porn, humans would need to scour the Internet all day for inappropriate content. 

Slate writes that when Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, was met with suggestions to restrict porn on Tumblr for the sake of Yahoo’s reputation, she refused. The “Not Safe For Work” (NSFW) tag that Tumblr already offers is sufficient enough at filtering pornography, and Mayer wants Tumblr to maintain the “richness and breadth of content” that it’s known for. 

And that richness and breadth is going to be hard to beat back. An infographic by Paintbottle shows that 70 percent of men and 30 percent of women watch porn — with the average viewer visiting porn sites 7.5 times per month for an average of 12 minutes at a time.

Smithsonian says that one of the driving forces behind this porn paranoia is that children are learning about sex through porn and not sex education classes. Parents are afraid of porn’s influence on minors who aren’t properly educated on intercourse.

Apparently, this concern isn’t without merit. Aside from kids accidentally stumbling upon porn while web-surfing, porn shows up in public places. In Slate’s Manners For The Digital Age podcast, a woman explains that a passenger had been watching porn on his portable DVD player in close proximity to herself, her daughter, and her young and impressionable granddaughter during their flight.

FJP: In an attempt to make porn more “appropriate,” L.A. County passed Measure B — a law forcing porn actors to use condoms in their scenes and to receive STD training before performing. The law also forces adult film producers to pay a fee for Department of Public Health inspections. 

So should your child stumble upon some pre-marital, raunchy, no-holds barred Internet sex, at least there will be a thin layer of latex to shield them from that silly strain of death-gonorrhea. — Krissy

Image: Found down in the NSFW, dirty depths of Tumblr. 

Conquering Everest Sixty years ago today Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hilary became the first people to scale Mount Everest. The feet, obviously remarkable, was also cloaked in journalistic intrigue with the Times of London sponsoring the expedition and having exclusive access to the climbers. While The Times broke the story, it didn’t publish the first photos of the successful climbers. That honor belonged to Reuters’ Peter Jackson who tracked the expedition through the Himalaya. Via the BBC: [Jackson] needed 11 porters to carry his equipment and supplies - one just to carry a heavy box of coins because the hill people did not use paper money, and another to carry a portable radio and spare batteries. After several weeks of climbing and perilous river crossings, Jackson arrived at the Thyangboche Monastery. The monks there looked after him while he waited for news… …Two weeks later, a messenger raced through the monastery with an urgent despatch. Jackson discovered the runner had been offered 200 rupees to get to Kathmandu in six days and he suspected the mountain may have been climbed… …[Jackson] trekked down to the small town of Namche Bazar where an Indian police officer manning communications let him see the message. It was from the expedition leader, Colonel John Hunt. On the trail back to the monastery, Jackson said he met Morris heading down to Kathmandu, and the Times reporter claimed the expedition had failed. The next day, All India Radio announced Everest had been conquered and the Times was able to break the news on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Jackson’s hunch had been correct - the message had been sent out in a pre-arranged code. “Snow conditions bad” meant Hillary, and “advance base abandoned” meant Tenzing. Morris had not taken photographs and was rushing to Kathmandu to file his story. Jackson then waited for the climbers to come down to the monastery and was thrilled to be able to meet them. There were no other journalists in this remote place, and it was there he interviewed them and took the iconic picture of Hillary and Tenzing smiling at each other. FJP: And that is how you scoop a story. Bonus: The tech the 1953 expedition team used compared with what’s used today. Image: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hilary drink tea at Camp IV on Mount Everest, by George Band via National Geographic.

Conquering Everest

Sixty years ago today Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hilary became the first people to scale Mount Everest.

The feet, obviously remarkable, was also cloaked in journalistic intrigue with the Times of London sponsoring the expedition and having exclusive access to the climbers. While The Times broke the story, it didn’t publish the first photos of the successful climbers. That honor belonged to Reuters’ Peter Jackson who tracked the expedition through the Himalaya.

Via the BBC:

[Jackson] needed 11 porters to carry his equipment and supplies - one just to carry a heavy box of coins because the hill people did not use paper money, and another to carry a portable radio and spare batteries.

After several weeks of climbing and perilous river crossings, Jackson arrived at the Thyangboche Monastery.

The monks there looked after him while he waited for news…

…Two weeks later, a messenger raced through the monastery with an urgent despatch.

Jackson discovered the runner had been offered 200 rupees to get to Kathmandu in six days and he suspected the mountain may have been climbed…

…[Jackson] trekked down to the small town of Namche Bazar where an Indian police officer manning communications let him see the message.

It was from the expedition leader, Colonel John Hunt.

On the trail back to the monastery, Jackson said he met Morris heading down to Kathmandu, and the Times reporter claimed the expedition had failed.

The next day, All India Radio announced Everest had been conquered and the Times was able to break the news on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Jackson’s hunch had been correct - the message had been sent out in a pre-arranged code.

“Snow conditions bad” meant Hillary, and “advance base abandoned” meant Tenzing. Morris had not taken photographs and was rushing to Kathmandu to file his story.

Jackson then waited for the climbers to come down to the monastery and was thrilled to be able to meet them.

There were no other journalists in this remote place, and it was there he interviewed them and took the iconic picture of Hillary and Tenzing smiling at each other.

FJP: And that is how you scoop a story.

Bonus: The tech the 1953 expedition team used compared with what’s used today.

Image: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hilary drink tea at Camp IV on Mount Everest, by George Band via National Geographic.

[video]

May 28

[video]

How does copyright work in space? -

Here’s one for your inner copyright lawyer:

CHRIS HADFIELD has captured the world’s heart, judging by the 14m YouTube views of his free-fall rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, recorded on the International Space Station (ISS). The Canadian astronaut’s clear voice and capable guitar-playing were complemented by his facility in moving around in the microgravity of low-earth orbit. But when the man fell to Earth in a neat and safe descent a few days ago, after a five-month stay in orbit, should he have been greeted by copyright police? Commander Hadfield was only 250 miles (400 km) up, so he was still subject to terrestrial intellectual-property regimes, which would have applied even if he had flown the “100,000 miles” mentioned in the song’s lyrics, or millions of kilometres to Mars. His five-minute video had the potential to create a tangled web of intellectual-property issues. How does copyright work in space?

Some things to think about before you answer.

Copyright law differs from country to country while global agreements also create common rules and regulations. But with the space station orbiting the planet almost 16 times a day, which earthbound jurisdiction should govern any copyright claims? Or, riddle this one: the ISS is constructed of different modules. There’s an American one along with European, Russian and Japanese ones. So whose rules would govern copyright as Hadfield floated throughout while singing Bowie’s song?

As The Economist points out, “The agreement governing the ISS makes it clear (in Article 5) that the applicable laws, including those governing IP rights, depend on which part of it an astronaut is in.” [Emphasis ours.]

[video]

May 24

A Very Big List of Very Good Tumblrs libraryjournal: You told LJ about over 390 of your favorite Tumblrs. Here they are, from most to least popular: thelifeguardlibrarian, with 29 mentions libraryjournal, with 16 mentions fishingboatproceeds, with 13 mentions (sorry John Green, Kate & LJ won this battle) librarianproblems, with nine mentions nypl, with six mentions oupacademic schoollibraryjournal todaysdocument motherjones, with five mentions neil-gaiman slaughterhouse90210 theatlantic theparisreview therumpus betterbooktitles, with four mentions bookriot chicagopubliclibrary darienlibrary doctorwho edwardspoonhands ilovecharts johndarnielle laura-in-libraryland libraryadvocates mentalflossr nprfreshair shortformblog theartofgooglebooks unypl wilwheaton Read More FJP: What a great list of Tumblrs. Some we know, others that we look forward to following.  Also, thanks to whoever recommended The FJP. If you squint just right you can see us down among the small print. And, if you’ve made it this far, programming note: The first FJP photo contest is going on. We’re accepting submissions on Facebook until May 31. Details and contest page here.

A Very Big List of Very Good Tumblrs

libraryjournal:

You told LJ about over 390 of your favorite Tumblrs. Here they are, from most to least popular:

  1. thelifeguardlibrarian, with 29 mentions
  2. libraryjournal, with 16 mentions
  3. fishingboatproceeds, with 13 mentions (sorry John Green, Kate & LJ won this battle)
  4. librarianproblems, with nine mentions
  5. nypl, with six mentions
  6. oupacademic
  7. schoollibraryjournal
  8. todaysdocument
  9. motherjones, with five mentions
  10. neil-gaiman
  11. slaughterhouse90210
  12. theatlantic
  13. theparisreview
  14. therumpus
  15. betterbooktitles, with four mentions
  16. bookriot
  17. chicagopubliclibrary
  18. darienlibrary
  19. doctorwho
  20. edwardspoonhands
  21. ilovecharts
  22. johndarnielle
  23. laura-in-libraryland
  24. libraryadvocates
  25. mentalflossr
  26. nprfreshair
  27. shortformblog
  28. theartofgooglebooks
  29. unypl
  30. wilwheaton

Read More

FJP: What a great list of Tumblrs. Some we know, others that we look forward to following. 

Also, thanks to whoever recommended The FJP. If you squint just right you can see us down among the small print.

And, if you’ve made it this far, programming note: The first FJP photo contest is going on. We’re accepting submissions on Facebook until May 31. Details and contest page here.

German IT Firm Seeks Autistic Workers -

Via The Guardian:

Declaring its eagerness to find workers that “think differently”, a German software giant has announced it plans to recruit hundreds of people with autism within the next few years…

…People with autism have a neural development disorder that often undermines their ability to communicate and interact socially, and their brains process information very differently to people who are not autistic, leading to repetitive and restricted behaviour.

But in the world of computers the tendencies they often display such as an obsession for detail and an ability to analyse long sets of data very accurately can translate into highly useful and marketable skills.

The move was welcomed by Germany’s largest organisation for people with autism, Autismus Deutschland. “This is the first major company to make such a commitment, and from that point of view alone it’s groundbreaking for sufferers of autism,” said Friedrich Nolte, of the group. “We will be watching closely to see that they follow through and also looking to see that these workers are not being exploited.

The Guardian reports that the program is underway with a few employees with autism hired in both India and Ireland.

SAP is an international enterprise application developer with approximately 65 thousand employees.

Google Streetview Comes to the Galapagos There are some good gigs in the world. Say, for instance, being part of the Google Streetview or Charles Darwin Foundation teams that are collecting panoramic images of Galapagos islands for inclusion in Streetview later this year. Via the Google Lat Long Blog: It’s critical that we share images with the world of this place in order to continue to study and preserve the islands’ unique biodiversity. Today we’re honored to announce, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), that we’ve collected panoramic imagery of the islands with the Street View Trekker. These stunning images will be available on Google Maps later this year so people around the world can experience this remote archipelago… …Our 10-day adventure in the Galapagos was full of hiking, boating and diving around the islands (in hot and humid conditions) to capture 360-degree images of the unique wildlife and geological features of the islands with the Trekker. We captured imagery from 10 locations that were hand-selected by CDF and GNPD. We walked past giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, navigated through steep trails and lava fields, and picked our way down the crater of an active volcano called Sierra Negra. …Life underwater in the Galapagos is just as diverse as life on land. We knew our map of the islands wouldn’t be comprehensive without exploring the ocean that surrounds them. So for the second time we teamed up with the folks at the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect underwater panoramic imagery of areas being studied by CDF and GNPD. This imagery will be used by Catlin Seaview Survey to create a visual and scientific baseline record of the marine environment surrounding the islands, allowing for any future changes to be measured and evaluated by scientists around the world. Image: Shooting a group of Sea Lions at Champion Island in Galapagos. Via Google Lat Long and Catlin Seaview Survey.

Google Streetview Comes to the Galapagos

There are some good gigs in the world. Say, for instance, being part of the Google Streetview or Charles Darwin Foundation teams that are collecting panoramic images of Galapagos islands for inclusion in Streetview later this year.

Via the Google Lat Long Blog:

It’s critical that we share images with the world of this place in order to continue to study and preserve the islands’ unique biodiversity. Today we’re honored to announce, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), that we’ve collected panoramic imagery of the islands with the Street View Trekker. These stunning images will be available on Google Maps later this year so people around the world can experience this remote archipelago…

…Our 10-day adventure in the Galapagos was full of hiking, boating and diving around the islands (in hot and humid conditions) to capture 360-degree images of the unique wildlife and geological features of the islands with the Trekker. We captured imagery from 10 locations that were hand-selected by CDF and GNPD. We walked past giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, navigated through steep trails and lava fields, and picked our way down the crater of an active volcano called Sierra Negra.

…Life underwater in the Galapagos is just as diverse as life on land. We knew our map of the islands wouldn’t be comprehensive without exploring the ocean that surrounds them. So for the second time we teamed up with the folks at the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect underwater panoramic imagery of areas being studied by CDF and GNPD. This imagery will be used by Catlin Seaview Survey to create a visual and scientific baseline record of the marine environment surrounding the islands, allowing for any future changes to be measured and evaluated by scientists around the world.

Image: Shooting a group of Sea Lions at Champion Island in Galapagos. Via Google Lat Long and Catlin Seaview Survey.

May 23

Why It’s Time to Rethink Web Video Entirely Producer Adam Westbrook recently built an essay called The Web Video Problem about how cinematic video content is wrong for the web, and that we can and ought to recreate the visual storytelling experience on the web entirely. Toward that end, he’s working on web publishing house (Hot Pursuit). He writes: In visual storytelling on the web we are still talking about images in deliberate sequence. We are juxtaposing these images, either over time (in a linear audio/visual way) or in space (like a web comic might). If we accept this definition of visual storytelling (in the purest sense) then it doesn’t matter if it’s video, a web comic or even an animated GIF - or a combination of all these and more. Combine this with the growing capabilities of the web browser, and the connectedness of the internet, and potentially we have the ability to tell dynamic, visual stories in a way that hasn’t been done before. This excites me very much. The essay is nicely built and designed with bold, scrolling visuals (using the curtain jquery plug-in, which yes, is very popular these days and can be downloaded here for your own building pleasure) so that you can choose to read the whole thing or just get the highlights. It’s worth checking out.  Bonus: He provides some great resources on visual storytelling: A good briefing on the principles of visual storytelling are featured in the second issue of Inside the Story Magazine, available here. If you don’t want to pay for the whole thing, this free articlecovers a lot of the same ground. Scott McCloud’s comic book on comic books is an essential read for visual storytellers. Craig Mod’s essay on Subcompact Publishing informed some of the ideas about thinking web-natively, as did this article by John Pavlus and this piece by Bryan Goldberg. Finally, Steven Benedict’sanalysis of Spielberg’s cinematic storytelling skills demonstrate what visual narrative can acheive, and let Steven Soderbergh tell you why this new thing shouldn’t become like the movie business. Image: Screenshot from The Web Video Problem

Why It’s Time to Rethink Web Video Entirely

Producer Adam Westbrook recently built an essay called The Web Video Problem about how cinematic video content is wrong for the web, and that we can and ought to recreate the visual storytelling experience on the web entirely. Toward that end, he’s working on web publishing house (Hot Pursuit).

He writes:

In visual storytelling on the web we are still talking about images in deliberate sequence. We are juxtaposing these images, either over time (in a linear audio/visual way) or in space (like a web comic might).

If we accept this definition of visual storytelling (in the purest sense) then it doesn’t matter if it’s video, a web comic or even an animated GIF - or a combination of all these and more.

Combine this with the growing capabilities of the web browser, and the connectedness of the internet, and potentially we have the ability to tell dynamic, visual stories in a way that hasn’t been done before.

This excites me very much.

The essay is nicely built and designed with bold, scrolling visuals (using the curtain jquery plug-in, which yes, is very popular these days and can be downloaded here for your own building pleasure) so that you can choose to read the whole thing or just get the highlights. It’s worth checking out. 

Bonus: He provides some great resources on visual storytelling:

A good briefing on the principles of visual storytelling are featured in the second issue of Inside the Story Magazine, available here. If you don’t want to pay for the whole thing, this free articlecovers a lot of the same ground. Scott McCloud’s comic book on comic books is an essential read for visual storytellers. Craig Mod’s essay on Subcompact Publishing informed some of the ideas about thinking web-natively, as did this article by John Pavlus and this piece by Bryan Goldberg. Finally, Steven Benedict’sanalysis of Spielberg’s cinematic storytelling skills demonstrate what visual narrative can acheive, and let Steven Soderbergh tell you why this new thing shouldn’t become like the movie business.

Image: Screenshot from The Web Video Problem

Banksy on Advertising Via Upworthy. Select to embiggen.

Banksy on Advertising

Via Upworthy. Select to embiggen.

The Editorial Observations of a URL Shortener 

The Editorial Observations of a URL Shortener 

Definition of “journalist” could pose problem for shield bill

Bipartisan momentum is building for legislation that would give reporters new legal protections from government authorities who want them to reveal their confidential sources. But it’s far from clear whether the effort can overcome the objections that derailed similar bills in the Senate in 2007 and 2009.

Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., appeared with a group of lawmakers from both parties Wednesday to announce growing House support for “media shield” legislation (HR 1962) that would create a judicial process to ensure that reporters are not compelled to identify their sources unless certain conditions are met. The conditions include requiring government investigators to prove that “the public interest in compelling disclosure outweighs the public interest in gathering or disseminating news or information.”

via Rollcall