While I sympathise completely, extending my sincerest thoughts to those affected, I cannot find it in my heart to endure Norwegian media‘s one-tracked attention on the ten-week Anders Behring Breivik lawsuit commencing in

While I sympathise completely, extending my sincerest thoughts to those affected, I cannot find it in my heart to endure Norwegian media‘s one-tracked attention on the ten-week Anders Behring Breivik lawsuit commencing in Oslo today.

Furthermore, I simply can’t shake this feeling that the press serves as the culprit’s unwitting instrument, in offering exactly what motivated his evil deed; A deep-seated need for attention (for his cause), hereby granted by our all-too compliant press.

In continued respect for the injured, the deceased, their next of kin – and those otherwise inflicted, I shall remain focused on the news at hand (knowing full well that I’m throwing myself at the mercy of the foreign press), leaving legal procedures to the powers that be, as well as those insatiable souls out there.

Late edit: 23 Breivik stories on front of leading daily Dagbladet.no at noon (my apologies if I missed a story or two). Which is not at all unique, by the way.

Launched a new site last night. Well, not so much new as a remake – or a micro site, put on top of the regular one, to be precise, advocating relocation to our small community. A pro bono job, comme d’habitude, as far as local charity goes. And you know how it goes:

My old workplace, EDB ErgoGroup (actually just ErgoGroup at the time) re-branded itself Saturday night, following last year’s merger, to Evry – a deliberate misspelling of “Every”, for reasons lost on yours truly. But I’m confident we’ll get used to it, especially with such a talented brand management, responsible for [...]]]> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2-gbjs-jM

My old workplace, EDB ErgoGroup (actually just ErgoGroup at the time) re-branded itself Saturday night, following last year’s merger, to Evry – a deliberate misspelling of “Every”, for reasons lost on yours truly. But I’m confident we’ll get used to it, especially with such a talented brand management, responsible for the above multimedia show. Looking at it now, I kind of envy my old marketing crew, but find that I simply have to salute them on a job well done. Indeed, very well done. You don’t get to see this kind of breathtaking footage every day. Congrats, Dag (and whom ever is left of you guys)!

Man, did that take me back… OK, so I had to rummage the old files, revealing a number of eight or nine-year-old shots of the old joint ErgoGroup marketing crew. We were but a few, consisting of the marketing managers from various ErgoGroup companies. Here’s someone, whose back I simply do not recall, gesturing wildly at an attentive audience (among whom far left Dag Heim, the current Evry brand manager, ErgoSolutions at the time, Tore Sorknes, ErgoEphorma, me, ErgoBluegarden — latter day Bluegarden, and the marketing manager of some subsidiary, which name escapes me – ErgoDialog?):

Which is not to say that I was all ears – all of the time:

In all fairness I should add that all we said was utter rubbish, in honour of present photographer. But I have to admit now, working on my own on a practically desert island, that I truly miss the company of competent colleagues and a dynamic, prosperous work environment – going somewhere. Alas, you won’t find that in these parts. Pride and prejudice, perhaps? I should hope not.

Anyway, the company has grown exceedingly over the eight or nine years that have passed since these pictures were taken – some 1800 employees at the time. Now: approximately 10,000, if I’m not mistaken. Hopefully we did something right.

Oh well, bygones.

On a lighter(?) note, though:

1. evry

To receive sexual servicing from a female who is under the age of 18 years.

“Hey man I went to that trendy high school party last night and I got some evry from this sophmore!”

Source: Urban dictionary

Ouch… That’s got to hurt. But it’ll blow over. It usually does.

At any rate: Bon voyage, Evry! Miss you to bits, but I’ll be cheering from my island exile.

(Evry breath you take // evry move you make // evry bond you break // evry step you take // I’ll be watching you)

HD resolution and full screen viewing strongly advised.

I seem to remember my desperate outcry the other year (more to the point: three years ago), as my despair over the constant growth of social media outlets came to what I thought was a culmination of sorts, named Social media? Enough already!

Little did I know that [...]]]>

I seem to remember my desperate outcry the other year (more to the point: three years ago), as my despair over the constant growth of social media outlets came to what I thought was a culmination of sorts, named Social media? Enough already!

Little did I know that it had only just begun, although I suspected as much.

Enter Pinterest, another me, me, me service, compiling your personal likes and dislikes for all the world to see – and partake in, if I’m not mistaken. Well who am I to complain, sporting numerous blogs, a half-hearted social media presence, and curating visual art, in a manner not too unlike that of said Pinterest?

The Tumblr community, causing something of a rampage in most parts of the industrialised world the other year, came fairly unnoticed in these parts, for reasons unknown. The very few domestic Tumblrs I have stumbled upon, however, tend to use their Tumblrs as traditional blogs, not so much as a community-based, themed reblogging phenomenon.

Pinterest, on the other hand, seems to have created something of a frenzy on the Norwegian social media scene, among women and men alike, even if the service comes across as extremely girly, teaming with cupcake images, scrapbooking samples, interior design and such (but hey, that’s me). Nothing wrong therein, of course, but being the guy that I am, I’ve concluded that it’s just not my thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcCqO1KbRTw

Had I been a man looking for sweet loving, on the other hand, I can see how… Ah, you naughty boys, you!

Oh well. The question that immediately springs to mind, though, is: What on earth possessed them to think the world needed just one more social media outlet (as I’m sure that eons of future SoMe—So Me Social Media—services will conclude)?

Of course, the inevitable shake-out is relatively imminent, and Pinterest, for one, seems to have found its niche. Just a little surprised to see that it includes men, is all. So the question arises: Do we find ourselves at the dawn of a metro-sexual era revived? I am digressing, of course. My main concern lies with the social media surplus, as indicated in this off-the-top-of-my-head list, which I posted over at Google+ (would you believe) yesterday:

• BBS (Check)
• Usenet (Check)
• IRC (Check)
• Webchat (Check)
• PowWow (Check)
• ICQ (Check)
• AOL IM (Check)
• MSN (Check)
• Internet fora (Check)
• Blogging (Check)
• FB (Check)
• Twitter (Check)
• Google Buzz (Check)
• Posterous (Check)
• Google Wave (Check)
• Paper.li (Check)
• Tumblr (Check)
• Quora (Check)
• Scoop.it (Check)
• Google+ (Check)
• Pinterest…

Right. And the list goes on, pushing us onward, making us leave our personal data in so many databases that, in the end, they will know more about us than we ourselves do. That doesn’t strike you as just a tiny little bit uncomfortable, does it?

Besides, it’s not as if they’re offering staggering, new functionality, is it? Come on… Revisit the above list. At the time of the BBS’es (we’re talking 30–40 years ago), wouldn’t you, too expect the world to have evolved just a little further by the futuristic age of 2012? Only to discover, some 30–40 years later, that we’re more or less in the very same spot (even if communications take place via TCP/IP, in lieu of a machine-to-machine modem connection)?

Should we perhaps be impressed? The later day saved, devoted social media “experts” seem to be, but they’re excused, novices that they be.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

At the risk of reiterating myself, though: Enough, already!

No, really. But I must admit to ulterior motives, [...]]]> As an act of compassion for – and in solidarity with – the old media, whose inevitable demise has become painfully apparent over the last couple of years, I have decided to discontinue Insignificances for now, both in its English and Norwegian incarnations.

No, really. But I must admit to ulterior motives, the real ones chiefly being lack of time – and the fact that all the fun went out of self-hosting. In addition, quite frankly, I’m tired of blogging serious posts (which was this blog’s intention). I do that for a living. In all honesty, I  appreciate having the ability to distinguish between pastime and work – which is something I all-too rarely get to do. As a result thereof, comments are no longer possible, relieving me of the gatekeeper responsibilities. I will however keep blogging over at WordPress.com.

You can always keep tabs on my whereabouts at Magntize. Who knows: I may even decide to re-open.

In connection with the Bergen Railway’s 100th anniversary last Friday, the Norwegian Broadcating Corporation (NRK) ran a highly bold experiment during Saturday’s prime time: A spectacular journey from Bergen to Oslo, for the full duration of the approximately seven-hour trip, as seen from the engine driver’s seat.

The programme re-ran in its entirety on [...]]]>

In connection with the Bergen Railway’s 100th anniversary last Friday, the Norwegian Broadcating Corporation (NRK) ran a highly bold experiment during Saturday’s prime time: A spectacular journey from Bergen to Oslo, for the full duration of the approximately seven-hour trip, as seen from the engine driver’s seat.

Screendump from the NRK programme on the Bergen Railway.

The programme re-ran in its entirety on the auxiliary NRK 2 today, a huge success, praised on Twitter, Facebook and in a number of domestic blogs, but is available to you, too, as the entire “show” has been released on Internet TV, shown in full (if you have some seven hours to spare) – or in three parts, circa two hours each:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

The Oslo train leaving Bergen station at 15:58 (Blogger's mobile photo)

I know how I must appear more than averagely absorbed with trains. Never used to be, but global warming and the consequences of frequent flying considered, I’ve become quite the advocate of high-velocity express trains, likely to improve on our total greenhouse gas emissions, as well as our overall economy (if we’re willing to give up the income from fossil fuels, that is).

Be that as it may: Give the seven-hour Bergen Railway trip a go. You’d be surprised how addictive it can be. And extremely beautiful.

Top photo: The Bergen Railway. Photographer: Rune Fossum/NSB

My absence from the social media scene during summer, mainly based on a number of all-too time-consuming assignments, has lead me to realise that I simply do not miss it, save for blogging, as you will understand. And I think I know why, as I suspect I really tired of the social media more than [...]]]>

My absence from the social media scene during summer, mainly based on a number of all-too time-consuming assignments, has lead me to realise that I simply do not miss it, save for blogging, as you will understand. And I think I know why, as I suspect I really tired of the social media more than a decade ago. “Hang on,” you say? “Social media didn’t exist at the time”?

Dear reader, I beg to differ.

The sudden enthusiasm for web 2.0 and, in particular, the scores of social media outlets emerging over the last five years or so (in some instances much less) is a very puzzling one, implying that we’re dealing with something altogether new – which indeed it is not. In fact, many of them are, for one reason or the other, 1990′s phenomena – some even older –  cracked up to be new.

You have to wonder though, where the enthusiasts were in the early 1990′s to the mid-nineties, at which time the social media flourished, even though you cannot blame them for revelling in the wonders the rest of us hailed some 15 years ago. Even so, it is fascinating to see how so many of the newly converted appear as experts, chiefly based on mere ardour.

My guess is that most of them still wore shorts at the time, lacking Internet access, as most did. Which, in my view, is a perfectly understandable and valid excuse. I, for one, am not the least surprised that they perceive social media as a novelty.

Granted you never found sophisticated, convoluted packages such as Facebook, with its multifaceted solutions back in the heydays of Web 1.0. Nevertheless most of them did exist, albeit separately. What Mark Zuckerberg et al did, was to offer it all as a package, invoking much praise. For work already done by the included third-parties.

Also, video clips weren’t nearly as accessible back in the 1990′s as they became with the launch of YouTube. But accessible they were, even in pre-web times. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’re back in the 1980′s, at which time even many of Facebook’s, Twitter’s and the instant messengers’ basic features indeed were available.

In the 1980′s you had access to the net, even if it was a different one, by way of a slow dial-up modem and a plethora of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), first and foremost championed by CompuServe, as I recall (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong in that assumption). It offered much of what we find on today’s Internet, less the GUI (Graphic User Interface) and hypertexted functionality. Let me mention but a few:

• YouTube? A matter of instant on-page access only. You could download just about any video you wanted back in the 1980′s, although often as native AVI files (later, in the early 1990′s, Apple’s Quicktime MOV files came to)
• Flickr/Picasa? Same thing here: Photos were shared by the numbers, quite often at impressive resolutions for that time
• Socialising? Numerous fora were available on the equally numerous bulletin boards

As for socialising, by the end of the 1980′s, some had even been on the Internet for almost two decades, enjoying the blessings of email and the very email-like Usenet (more often referred to as Newsgroups), offering threaded discussions, not to mention IRC (Internet Relay Chat), when it came along at le fin de décennie (i.e. the 1980′s).

When it came to video, we also had Real Player and Quicktime files embedded in web pages for years and years prior to YouTube, which by the way really wasn’t much of a novelty in terms of technology, as it was based on Flash, introduced back in the mid-nineties.

My chief motivation for hooking up in pre-web times was the ability to “modem” (as a verb) brochure and magazine originals to print offices. Little did I know, at the time, that the yet-to-come web would make printed publications obsolete.

Before long I was, however, deeply fascinated by the interactivity (as in interaction between the individual and the on-line community – and between individuals) offered by the web, at a time when “interactivity” was largely seen as a highly graphical experience, with avatars and landscapes, in which the participating parties roamed. VRML (Virtual Reality Markup language, as opposed to the static HTML, Hypertext Markup Language) came along at some point, bringing hope to those who were taken to the idea.

There were simpler, more widespread alternatives, too, such as The Palace, Virtual Places and WBS – of which the latter really brings out the nostalgic in yours truly, a regular guest back in 1995.

Screendump from the soon-to-maybe relaunched Webchat Broadcasting System, with the look and feel of its mid-nineties predecessor.

Later on, early 1996 saw the first major Norwegian webchat, SN-snakk on Schibsted Nett:

The mid-nineties header of Schibsted Nett, with changing daylight as the day (and night) progressed… A feature that I found highly intriguing at the time.

And oh, there were some quite advanced instant message systems and clients out there, too, such as the mid-90′s PowWow, with VoIP and shared whiteboards! I remember trying it out for a while, before I laid eyes on ICQ and AOL’s IM.

Soon after, in 1999 or so, I found myself a victim of social media fatigue. Which, I suppose, makes my marvelling in present-day social media enthusiasm all the more understandable. At any rate you will, of course, understand that I find the novelty of social media to be greatly exaggerated – and that my absence from social media is to do with more than just time-consuming assignments.

In many ways the various on-line communities of yesteryears were endowed with several (isolated) features superior to those of Facebook or Twitter. In blessing Twitter for its unsurpassed role as conveyor of breaking news, useful links and so forth and so on, we completely ignore that in fact all of the above mentioned, now outdated, services had it all – even that. To their own misfortune they were launched at a time when business models were immature, to say the least.

By the time Larry Page and Sergey Brin eventually incorporated their spare-time project, Google, on 4 September 1998, the infamous dot com era was already long since on its way. I worked in a leading Norwegian daily’s Internet edition at the time, in sync with the Internet’s constant development, as it were. We all sensed that a “new economy” was afoot, even if we did not anticipate its short lifespan.

Google in 1998.

But Page and Brin inspired much innovation by demonstrating how far you can go with limited funds. The company, founded by the two not yet eleven years ago, now boasts some 20,000 employees, after several credit crunch motivated cut-backs. Nevertheless, I think it’s fair to say that Web 2.0 started with the two. I even took an initiative myself, back in 2000, which could well be construed as a web 2.0 phenomenon; video assisted on-line medical consultations. Needless to say; raising money in the post-dot com period wasn’t easy. Five years later we just could’ve pulled it off.

But others, who either waited the crisis out or came up with their ideas at a later, financially more favourable stage, succeeded, supported by huge expectations to the second generation worldwide web. With Ajax and other means of integration, syndication and cross-publishing came the ability to package a lot of functionality in one portal – or as many as you like. Third-parties were invited to contribute in an open community, such as Facebook.

Wikipedia, launched in 2001, paved the way for content collaboration, such as citizen journalism or even competitors. The blogs, a factor to be reckoned with even then, grew to unfathomable proportions, utilising elements imported or embedded from many of the above mentioned, as well as mutual syndication, linking and, not least, by facilitating a dialogue, by way of reader comments.

Having said that, homepage owners of the 1990′s had much of that, too, even if comments were usually made in the now archaic guest books. But we had feeds, even if the technology behind wasn’t called RSS. I personally had a number of various hard coded (html coding in Notepad) homepages, some made in WYSIWYG editors, too, between 1995 and 2002, of which the last is still available (in Norwegian), by the way.

In many ways the only new thing about blogs, back when they first surfaced, was that they required no prior knowledge of html coding.

In short: Web 2.0 and the social media brought about precious few new features. It has, however, been cracked up to have done just that. Probably, as already mentioned, because the enthusiasts couldn’t possibly know that last century’s Internet indeed offered much of the same.

Upon reading this, I see how I must be perceived as anti social media, but believe me; although I’ve tired of them, I still urge my clients to make good use of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and so on, as demonstrated on this website, that I recently helped to launch. Most enterprises’ participation in the social media is long overdue. However by approximately 15 years, not four or five, as the newly converted social media consultants would have it.

The real revolution in web 2.0 lies in the so-called cloud. We all know Google Docs and a number of similar services. Personally I’m currently testing the promising G.ho.st service, reminiscent of older thin client solutions, which most definitely is the way to go.

Even Microsoft recently announced a “cloud computed” version of their Office 2010. Who would’ve thought, only two years ago!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzFdmmeomA

But wait… There has to be a catch. Will the use of Office 2010 provide a Sharepoint server of your own – or access to one? That’s pretty much what it sounds like to me. Otherwise they just wouldn’t be Microsoft. But things definitely move in the right direction.

Therein, dear reader, lies the novelty in Web 2.0. Social media, on the other hand.

That’s just yesterday’s news.

Some of us have mourned the apparent demise of CitJ site iNorden.org, a service we all hoped would once become the Scandinavian response to the Korean success OhmyNews, which, evidently, never came to pass. After about a year’s existence, iNorden flopped big time last autumn, at which time I decided to retire [...]]]>

Some of us have mourned the apparent demise of CitJ site iNorden.org, a service we all hoped would once become the Scandinavian response to the Korean success OhmyNews, which, evidently, never came to pass. After about a year’s existence, iNorden flopped big time last autumn, at which time I decided to retire myself as editor, leaving it all to co-editor Øyvind Strømmen, who clearly didn’t have much time to spend on the project either.

The remaining staff, if that’s an appropriate term, was unable to uphold the regularity we came to rely on during iN’s first year, leaving us all to believe it had come to an end. Until Øyvind mailed a few of us the other day, wondering if any of us had any ideas. Along came iNorden 3.0 – a full-fledged social media outlet, boasting functionality never before seen in the open (seeing as Facebook provides a log-in), and I have to say: For the first time in about a year, I’m all about great expectations, if Dickens will excuse my insolence.

Click for full size (1:1).

iNorden 1.0 started out as an online newspaper, really (as seen in screendump to the left, click for full size), with an ever-growing number of contributors – up until a certain point of time. Personally I have to admit to losing faith as I discovered that I was left to edit the whole thing single-handedly for the last couple of months prior to my “retirement”. By then we were already slightly connected to other social media, boasting a few functions ourselves, but nothing close to what we see in today’s version, offering blog pings, feeds from major Scandinavian ping services, Twitter-style dialogue and an integrated, filtered blog search engine, courtesy of Google. For now.

Apparently the ambition is to offer Nordic newspaper listings (feeds, perhaps?) and a host of additional functions, undoubtedly, and in all honesty, this may very well turn out to be the place to be for Nordic on-line socialites, citizen journalists, bloggers and all of you who are simply interested in Nordic goings on.

I can tell you this much, though: Even if I’m no longer involved, other than as an average contributor, I keep my hopes up high for iNorden’s re-introduction, which is much more in line with the 21st century social media requirements. That said, much remains to be done about the interface, and several functions are yet to be implemented, according to Øyvind Strømmen. In other words, it’s early days yet, but I can say this: Here’s a site with potential aplenty.

If you read this: Please don’t hesitate to spread the word. These things tend to rely on a certain participatory level, but are more often than not short of funds necessary to make themselves known.

iNorden 2.0 is still available, by the way, in a very crude, default WordPress theme.

Top photo: The Nordic social media outlet and ping service iNorden.

I’ve never had the pleasure of counting myself among the Alexa elite (as a matter of fact, this blog holds a humble 8763rd place – among sites Norwegians visit). Never paid much attention to search engine optimisation, commenting wildly on other bloggers’ posts for requital [...]]]>

I’ve never had the pleasure of counting myself among the Alexa elite (as a matter of fact, this blog holds a humble 8763rd place – among sites Norwegians visit). Never paid much attention to search engine optimisation, commenting wildly on other bloggers’ posts for requital traffic, unless I should, for other reasons, but I do appreciate frequent visitors and love the input you provide, unless you’re up to no good, that is.

In short, my insignificances are indeed highly insignificant, in the big picture that is the blogosphere, but I cherish my readers, who, more often than not, provide additional facts to my posts – or correct them, even, which is even better. There’s no better way to expand your horizon than to have your own misconceptions rectified, no matter how embarrassing at the time. Which is why I’m pleased to pride myself with a highly competent parish, whose own blogs I admire immensely.

Even though my traffic figures have been and remain modest, I’ve discovered that there’s really nothing to boost traffic, if that’s what you’re after – provided you have the time, unfortunately a very sparse commodity, to actually maintain the blog regularly.

Seeing as I prefer quality over quantity, I broke my stride the other week somehow,  on deciding to experiment with a somewhat more popular – some would say common – approach, delving into the realms of popular culture. Which, believe you me, is a lot easier in Norwegian, as we Norwegians do not much care for high brow phenomena, save for the odd occasion when, for one reason or the other, we’re flaunting our faux intellectualism. In reality we’re every bit as commercially inclined as the outrageous Americans. The decision was made: I was determined to attract the salt of the earth by blogging a few posts of monumental interest to the average news reader (useful information: Hereabouts the term “news” refers to entertainment, celebrities and the “heinous Muslim immigrants”).

My blog boasts a meagre average of some 500 visits a day (not unique), but on 20 April  I published a post on the Pirate Bay verdict (in Norwegian), which was all over the place, linking liberally to every Twingly-enabled news outlet, thereby securing a minor boost in reciprocal traffic, to 2252 visits and 10,475 page views that day, an exercise I repeated on several occasions, in relation to other popular subjects, such as Norway’s Eurovision Song Contest contender, who accidentally won the whole thing (did I remember to inform you that Norwegian news are all entertainment, celebrities et cetera?).

As you will see from this table, activity was extremely low during the year’s two initial months, until a gradual increase became evident as of March:

The May figures aren’t complete at the moment, but with all probability end at approximately 10,000 unique visitors. Still not impressive, but I’m more than happy. A monthly average from just below 1000 unique monthly visitors to say 11,000, wouldn’t be possible for a fairly new blog, such as this (launched in the end of last September, with moderate activity), if it hadn’t been for the Twingly trackbacks and Google Friend Connect. Here’s an interesting piece of information, see:

Of the above shown figures, some 48,5 percent are referred from my very limited participation in the Google Friend Connect network – among those actually referred from elsewhere, that is. I’ve joined a very moderate number of blogs, as follower, if you will. All blogs that I intend to follow, mind you (joining those you don’t care much to follow, simply in order to attract reciprocal traffic, would be a little overzealous, in my opinion).

In other words, if increasing traffic figures is a goal in itself, I really ought to join more sites – via Google Friend Connect. As the screendump to the left (or the real deal in the lower end of my sidebar) shows, I haven’t got more than 13 followers to show for myself, me included. Followers who undoubtedly have come to much of the same conclusion; that Google Friend Connect indeed is a proverbial lifesaver, in terms of traffic figures.

In fact, I’m amazed that very few blogs seem to have discovered. If you don’t have one, Go get. If you’d like to assist fellow bloggers in their attempts at improving visits, that is. If you’re all about attracting traffic to yourself: joining blogs who have it is an alternative, I suppose.

We all seem perfectly agreed that the credit crunch has to take most of the blame for the current media crisis, threatening to overthrow the press we’ve become so dependent on over more than a century or so, but didn’t the media’s frantic search for cost reductions really begin years and years ago – [...]]]>

We all seem perfectly agreed that the credit crunch has to take most of the blame for the current media crisis, threatening to overthrow the press we’ve become so dependent on over more than a century or so, but didn’t the media’s frantic search for cost reductions really begin years and years ago – some time around last fin-de siècle?

I, for one, still harbour vivid memories of my very first job in the business, an almost 20 year old novice in a provincial Norwegian newspaper, which happened to keel over while I took a leave of absence to serve my compulsory year in The Royal Norwegian Navy. By the time I returned, my working place had ceased to exist, due to an all-too costly investment in print works which far exceeded the newspaper’s own requirements. 27 years have since come to pass, in which the press’ conditions have deteriorated considerably – especially, of course, in the wake of the early to mid-1990′s World Wide Web introduction.

Old copies of The Times with supplements (Wikimedia Commons)

By 1996, most news corporations were dead set on exploiting this new channel for all its worth, regarding it a means to a much different end than the eventual result: An on-line display of the printed editions’ merits, by which subscribers and readers would be recruited in fourscores.

I don’t have to remind you, some 15 years later, that web news became an almost instant success. To such an extent that some newspapers even tried out paid content, only to learn that by then we were already too spoilt to accept anything less than free news. It’s that old Internet proverb all over: Information wants to be free.

They’re all tabloids now

Consequently the media corporations spent more and more on their free of charge outlets on-line, hoping for vast advertisement income following the hugely increased traffic figures, at the cost of ever-declining printed circulation – up to a point where the once so respected broadsheets decided to go for the much more cost-effective tabloid format, ignoring the mere fact that a tabloid format also requires a tabloid-accommodated content. That’s right: A tabloid content (hence the description) – unless, of course, they were prepared to increase the number of pages per story, which again would undermine the measurement’s chief objective; to reduce costs.

We can’t have that in times like these, try as we may – and some really do. As mentioned ad nauseam, The New York Times have decided against quality reductions in order to meet its financial challenges, leaving the entire corporation vulnerable for multiple cases of near-bankruptcy. The UK’s and Ireland’s The Independent needs to raise EUR 200 million to repay debts, which, under the circumstances, is considered a very tough call.

In order to boost circulation figures the press, unfortunately, is forced to provide “news” that’s in demand, which, for modern day citizens happens to be light entertainment, I’m sorry to say.

Serious = Corny

In Norway we see that a modest number of serious and opinionated newspapers have grown, in terms of circulation figures. But we’re talking marginal circulation, compared to our nationals – or some regional dailies, even – however declining. Do you know what we call the serious newspapers in our neck of the woods? Niche papers. That’s right: Niche papers!

Being serious has become something of an oddity best left to the intellectuals, whose gross purchasing power is nowhere near that of the common majority. But who am I to complain, who long since gave up printed news on the altar of the almighty interwoven Interweb. Then again, I have my reasons. Some of the “niche papers” are a tad too pretentious for my taste, to be honest, while the nationals are all about sports, celebrities and… well, light entertainment, creating a void in which the serious general newspapers once used to reside – one that I fear is not about to be filled any time soon.

Following the massacre

As if an acknowledgement of the state of the press isn’t enough, I’ve delved into frequent and depressive tidings of the media’s infinite demise. Actually, keeping tabs on the ongoing massacre has turned into something of an industry in its own right (a development I fear I’m not about to alleviate in any way). Take this little chap – on Twitter, for instance:

1. 
   themediaisdying Fort Collins Now will now cease publication on May 21 : http://digg.com/u13b0n (via @mcfaddenpat) 19 May 2009 from twhirl
2. 
   themediaisdying “Why journalists deserve low pay” — economics of journalism, brilliantly explained : http://tr.im/lOmf (via @amonck / @niemanlab) 19 May 2009 from twhirl
3. 
   themediaisdying Microsoft mag for IT pros, TechNet, loses most of staff because of company cut backs…http://tiny.cc/FLzDb 19 May 2009 from twhirl
4. 
   themediaisdying Washington’s Finest has ceased publication :http://bit.ly/DFmK3 20 May 2009 from twhirl

— this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

Not to mention The Newspaper Death Watch, of course:

Screendump from The Newspaper Death Watch.

And then there’s people like me (along with legions of concerned journalists and news consumers). A quick look at some of my recent posts on the matter:

• Media crisis: TV news sacrificed
• ePaper — Newsprint’s saviour?
• Online life after newsprintocide
• Schibsted head saves face
• 2009 a turning point for web news

In addition to numerous similar posts in my native tongue. As a freelance journalist, very much dependent on the well-being of our press, I must admit that I’m frequently tempted to shrug it all off with a nonchalant What me worry, while in truth I’m scared stiff. Like most freelancers, I’ve experienced a significant decline in assignments, while payment for those I do get, more often than not requires a lot more persistence than only half a year ago. By all means, I’m not special in that respect. These are all signs of the times, prompting yours truly to take his entire livelihood under serious consideration.

Then again, we’re all pretty close to doomed these days, anyway, regardless the nature of our business. I really never thought it’d come to this, but I’m more than happy for suggestions – like most of my writing brethren, I suppose.

On a lighter note, however:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kvEgeC-nAk

P.S. Yes! I was indeed tempted to use “Fleet Street from Broadsheet to Spreadsheet” in the headline, but let’s not go completely overboard. After all – and contrary to popular belief, for all I know: This is not a tabloid.

Amid what up until recently was considered a newsprint crisis, commercial TV stations in Norway take drastic budget measures, of which TVNorge’s (TVNorway) appears overly dramatic, as it on Monday announced the shut down of its news, sports and weather forecast department, effective by the end of this year. The channel’s local programming for [...]]]>

Amid what up until recently was considered a newsprint crisis, commercial TV stations in Norway take drastic budget measures, of which TVNorge’s (TVNorway) appears overly dramatic, as it on Monday announced the shut down of its news, sports and weather forecast department, effective by the end of this year. The channel’s local programming for the Oslo area, OsloTV, is affected, too, taking effect on 19 June this year.

The decision won’t affect the number two commercial channel’s presenters, but third party provider Mastiff, in charge of content and production, took quite a blow. Moreover, the country’s leading commercial TV channel, TV 2′s CEO Alf Hildrum announced an NOK 70 million cost reduction today, saying:

“We may paradoxically find ourselves in a position where the [state-owned] Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation remains the sole TV news provider, ” which may very well be the case, if TV 2 bails out of the news market, too, as Norwegian TV news today consists of just TV 2 and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK.

Although Norwegian finances, in comparison, have been fairly unaffected by the global downturn, we’ve already seen massive lay-offs in the newspaper business, including two newspapers going out of business altogether, which, I’m afraid, is far from the end of it.

Being a freelance journalist myself, I’m seriously considering an imminent career move – as far away from journalism as I can possibly get, unless you have an offer that I simply cannot refuse, to paraphrase a certain Don. I’m certainly open for suggestions, for which purpose I’ll even provide a contact form:

In conclusion, and as a greeting to worried colleagues:

Dear friends, run for your lives. It’s every man for himself!

In all honesty, if the NYT struggles, who are we to think we’ll not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKpQTLvmU_Y

Photo: TV Norge news, sports and weather presenters (photo from TVNorge).

Amazon’s Kindle DX launch stirred enthused response in the media business the other day, which shouldn’t come as a surprise really, seeing how the old media for the time being seem to be on a desperate search for ways out of the current downturn.

The Kindle DX, Amazon’s generation [...]]]>

Amazon’s Kindle DX launch stirred enthused response in the media business the other day, which shouldn’t come as a surprise really, seeing how the old media for the time being seem to be on a desperate search for ways out of the current downturn.

The Kindle DX, Amazon’s generation 2 ebook board, with a larger screen, specially designed for newspapers, is by many expected to be the salvation for a newspaper business in utter distress. The very idea is, of course, brilliant. Save the forests and reduce costs! But is it a viable business model?

First of all, the Kindle is sold in the U.S. only, mainly, I expect, because it connects to the Internet via Amazon’s own Whispernet, through Sprint’s 3G network. No wi-fi connection, what are they thinking? There are, however, ways around that obstacle, I’ve been told. More important, I think, is the Kindle’s – or rather the distributed newspapers’ – lack of links, interactivity and multimedia.

The news consumers’ flee from newsprint to news on the net isn’t related to the medium (i.e. the paper/the platform) per se: If links, leaving instant comments, sound and living images were an option on newsprint, chances are we’d stick with the good old rags. Unfortunately it’s not. Or rather… Who knows? The electronics industry have been fooling around with bendable, unbreakable electronic displays for over a decade now (I seem to remember Philips experimenting with it, sometime back in the 20th century, too). Maybe it’s time we could expect an outcome?

Back to the Kindle DX: Let’s take a closer look at how it works, shall we (text continues underneath video clip)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjFb8TfQag

The New York Times have been at the forefront for several years, in terms of finding new methods for traditional newsprint distribution. Several years ago I tried out the NYT Reader, in beta at the time, presenting the newspaper on-screen, pretty much in exactly the same fashion as a traditional newsprint paper – on the computer, but I soon tired of it.

This time around they attack the need to boost circulation with a different platform. According to a press release issued by Amazon last Wednesday, The New York Times Company and Washington Post Company are launching pilots with Kindle DX this summer. The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post will offer the Kindle DX at a reduced price to readers who live in areas where home-delivery is not available and who sign up for a long-term subscription to the Kindle edition of the newspapers, which ties in nicely with the media executives’ expectations. Clearly, the intention is to maintain – or increase, even – “traditional” circulation and subscription figures. The medium, the newspaper, that is, remains the same. The new thing about it is the distribution channel, as it were. Furthermore, according to the press release:

The New York Times headquarters. Photographer: Haxorjoe/Wikipedia

“At The New York Times Company we are always seeking new ways for our millions of readers to have full and continuing access to our high-quality news and information,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman, The New York Times Company and publisher, The New York Times.

“The wireless delivery and new value-added features of the Kindle DX will provide our large, loyal audience, no matter where they live, with an exciting new way to interact with The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Additionally, by offering a subscription through the Kindle DX to readers who live outside of our delivery areas, we will extend our reach to our loyal readers who will be able to more readily enjoy their favourite newspapers. Meanwhile, we are continuing to work with Amazon to make The New York Times and The Boston Globe experiences on Kindle better than ever.”

Old copies of The Times with supplements (Wikimedia Commons)

You really can’t blame them for trying, but, as indicated above, I really wouldn’t hold my breath. For one, the revenues are dramatically reduced by the mere fact that Amazon charges 70 percent of the subscription income. Secondly, the reason we all fled the print editions is the Internet’s ability to offer additional functionality, which isn’t featured in the Kindle version.

I could go on, of course. Suffice it to say the technology obviously remains at its earliest stages. With Amazon offering U.S. newspapers only, I’d guess that the market has its limits. Why don’t they open up a bit? This really could be Amazon’s equivalent to Apple’s global iPhone success!

But there are alternatives. Take the Plastic Logic Reader, for instance, sporting a full range of business document formats, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and Adobe PDFs, as well as newspapers, periodicals and books. Plus (BIG plus!), it has wi-fi connectivity (text continues underneath picture)!

ePaper from Plastic Logic (photo from Plastic Logic).

Let’s have a closer look at that one, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaQHDxOxVhs

In all honesty, I think it’s time the media execs leave the old print editions behind, regardless the distribution channels or platforms. Modern day man wants the Internet interaction. The platform itself isn’t so bad, though. I’d love reading news on a Kindle or a Plastic Logic reader, but with Internet functionality, if you please.

If I’d like to have one? Of course, but gadgets – any kind of gadget – are a little out of reach if you’re a freelance journalist these days – as an interesting reflection of the overall and very tangible news business crisis.

See also:

• Switched On: Big Kindle on Campus – Engadget
• How Big Can The Kindle Get? – TechCrunch
• Hands-on: Amazon Kindle DX – TechCrunch

Late edit (Tuesday 12 May 2009): Norwegian daily Dagbladet’s tech writer Jan Omdal seems to share my Kindle scepticism in today’s article (in Norwegian, obviously): Ville du betalt for å lese papiravis på denne? Link later changed to this: Ville du betalt for å lese papiravis på denne? (Loosely translated: Would you pay to read print editions on this?)

Top photo: Amazon’s Kindle DX.

About a week after New Year’s Eve, amid Israeli warfare in Gaza, I wrote a post on Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life was in immediate peril as he remained at home to report on the Israeli advances.

Needless to say, we were all severely shocked by the [...]]]>

About a week after New Year’s Eve, amid Israeli warfare in Gaza, I wrote a post on Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life was in immediate peril as he remained at home to report on the Israeli advances.

Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (photo from Gaza today)

Needless to say, we were all severely shocked by the atrocities the Palestinians were forced to endure, even though most fled their homes to take shelter. Unlike Sameh Akram Habeeb, who provided us with the latest developments – a true and passionate journalist at heart.

Good news

I must admit that I’d almost forgot all about him, until two of my overseas readers, Tom Charles and Dana, reminded me of my blog post the other day, that is, bringing happy tidings of Mr. Habeeb’s whereabouts and further endeavours:

Tom Charles:

Sameh is alive and well and spoke at the UK House of Commons, see his blog http://www.gazatoday.blogspot.com

Dana:

[…] Thank God- Sameh is alive, launched The Palestinian Telegraph and is out doing what he does best, advocating for the Palestinian people who have NO voice. He is a brave man.

Peace, Dana

The Palestinian Telegraph, huh? I wouldn’t be a journalist if that didn’t spark my curiosity, so I set out to find out more about it. Turned out its name is The Palestine Telegraph, embellished with the pay off “We change our world”, an advanced blog cum online newspaper, with an impressive level of reporting, considering the (fairly recent – and humble) starting point (post continued after screendump).

Screendump from The Palestine Telegraph, Monday 27 April 2009.

Truth be told, I’m left in awe, overwhelmed with an intense desire to congratulate Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life and whereabouts were most uncertain, only a couple of months ago.

International acknowledgement

Not only that: During its short life, The Palestine Telegraph has been source to international news, cited by renowned news outlets, such as BBC News, to mention but one.

Undoubtedly, the world needs an independent source from within the Gaza strip and the Palestinian territories on the whole, which makes The Palestine Telegraph’s entrance on the news scene all the more welcome. And to think it’s all done with a humble piece of blog software (WordPress, by the looks of it, but I wouldn’t bet) – while yesterday’s press crumbles all around. I have to say they’ve succeeded far better than we ever did with Nordic iNorden, though, even if the latter has been severely abated over the last months, both in form and content (then again, who would want to read about Scandinavian affairs?).

Please give your support to these good people, by spreading the link, blogging about them – or even by contributing to “The Pal Telegraph” yourself. Visit The Palestine Telegraph today.

From today’s reading:

• Hamas-Faith talks resumed
• Top Hamas leader reelected
• Non Violence in Palestine: Timing and Intentions
• Israeli soldiers storm a wedding, abduct groom
• Swine flu in Israel

There’s even a story on Norwegian lawyers setting out to accuse Israeli leaders of war crimes, which of course holds particular interest to Norwegians, such as I. As for Norwegian-Israeli relations in an overall perspective, please read Norway: Maybe a little too pro Israel?

Top photo: Screendump from “Gaza Today” from Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (23).