Across The Media Universe: "Yes, We're Still Occasionally Doing These" Edition

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Across The Media Universe

(CBS/AP)

Chris Dodd Is Totally Going In My Top Eight: MySpace, "a place for friends," is now a place for presidential candidates. As the New York Times reports, the site is introducing a politics section this week, which "will make it easier for the site's 60 million American users per month — many of them from the traditionally elusive and apathetic youth demographic — to peruse the personal MySpace pages of, so far, 10 presidential candidates." Vote, consider yourself slightly more rocked.

The Wisdom Of Crowds: Wired magazine and NYU professor Jay Rosen wants to bring the open-source model driving Wikipedia and Linux to journalism. "Assignment Zero will use custom software to create a virtual newsroom that allows collaboration on a discrete, but open-ended, topic from the very start," reports David Carr. Regular citizens will do the lion's share of the work, but experienced journalists will oversee and edit it. "This is a new approach to watchdog journalism. Crowdsourcing is engaging the wisdom and expertise in our communities early on in the reporting process," Jennifer Carroll, vice president of new media content for Gannett, told Carr.

Johnston Still Missing: A week ago, BBC correspondent Alan Johnston was abducted in the Gaza Strip. "We are growing increasingly concerned about Alan's safety," says the BBC. "Over the past week, we have worked intensively with the authorities in Gaza and elsewhere to try to locate Alan and we continue to receive assurances that everything possible is being done. However, it is disappointing that after seven days there has still been no firm word either about his whereabouts or his condition." As the Guardian notes, a number of foreign correspondents and aid workers have been kidnapped in the region in the past year, but all have been released, usually within days.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by ronmwanga March 20, 2007 2:07 AM EDT: I heart also that the CIA is planning an "intelliPedia" based on Wikipedia, on the subject of international intelligence. I cannot wait to see some hard, critical CBS Evening News -- or "60 Minutes" stories about Wikipedia (Or have I blinked and missed some).; Reply to this comment