OhMyNews Publishes in English

PR Watch reports that OhMyNews, a full-fledged participatory news site, is publishing in English.

We've reported in the past on OhMyNews! -- an innovative, Korean-language online newspaper that has transformed journalism and Korea's traditionally conservative political culture by serving as an outlet for tens of thousands of "citizen journalists" teamed up with professional reporters and editors. Now there's a English-language "international version" of OhMyNews, featuring stories ranging from a look at the controversial impeachment trial of Korea's president to a first-person report from Fallujah.

Opera Sings RSS' Praises

Opera today introduced a new browser that integrates RSS reading capabilities. Users can subscribe to feeds and have new items arrive regularly as individual messages in Opera's mail client, which is packaged with the browser.

AP says "The decision by a major browser maker to include RSS is a sign of the technology's rapid adoption."

RSS has clearly passed the tipping point. Everyone I show it to leaves with their mouths open wide. However, it still needs to get a lot easier to use before it becomes a technology a grandma can love. How much longer will it be before Microsoft buys and dumbs down Newsgator or Feeddemon and integrates the technology into XPSP3 or Longhorn? Or before AOL, Google or Yahoo! buys Bloglines and throws ads into the mix? Not long.

PR Ethics in the Era of Participatory Journalism

Amy Gaharan today voiced some concerns about the ethical implications of PR people playing journalists (which I did yesterday), while at the same time heralding the era of participatory journalism.

"Steve directly raises the precise issue about participatory journalism that deeply disturbs many traditional journalists. He discusses the tremendous potential that participatory journalism offers PR practitioners.

Now, that's the point at which most traditional journalists would stand up and scream 'Ethics foul! That's PR, not journalism!' And they might be right – from their perspective. However, does that ethical gray area necessarily mean that PR people can never meaningfully contribute to the universe of news, that their content is inherently and entirely tainted by their profession? I don't think so."

~~Snip~~

"In my opinion, as long as they fully disclose their profession and involvement or interest in the issue or organization being covered, I don't have a problem with PR people doing participatory journalism. As long as the audience has enough honest information to put that information in an accurate context, to 'consider the source,' I don't think this harms the public discourse."

~~Snip~~

"Again, if PR professionals approach participatory journalism in the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, and if they're willing to endure the inevitable criticism from traditional news purists, I think they'll make out all right in this emerging field."

Amy adds a lot to the conversation. That said, however, I'm not sure if participatory journalism really disturbs most traditional journalists. I understand why it might, but I think many of them embrace the ability to have an ongoing dialogue with their readers. Look at Dan and Steve Gillmor, Jon Udell, Tom Mangan, Jon Dube, Steve Outing and many other journalist bloggers. They relish in getting the chance to listen to readers and not just talk to them.

Second, I don't think the rules of PR have changed in regards to ethics. The good PR people have always understood the need to "keep it real." The main difference now, however, is that there is much greater transparency into our practices. Amy is right in saying that we will all need to be on our best behavior. The citizens will rat out the phonies from the more ethical PR pros.

Interesting reading.

Fed Up with Cicadas? Cook 'Em!

University of Maryland grad student Jenna Jadin has published some tasty cicada recipes just in time for the big Brood X invasion. Great stunt...very viral and blogable. You can download the PDF here. Check out the U of M disclaimer! (Thanks Dad for the tip)

**Disclaimer: the University of Maryland and Cicadamaniacs do not advocate eating cicadas without first consulting with your doctor. While many people do eat cicadas, there is no guarantee that they are safe for every person to eat. As with all foods, it is possible that certain individuals, will have allergic reactions to substances within the cicada.**

First, I'd Like to Thank the Academy

...as well as my fiancée, my Mom and Dad, my brother and his wife, my teammates at CooperKatz (I love you "guys"), the dog (OK, I don't have one), Elvis Presley, Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays for this fabulous honor. Oh yeah and Hans Kullin at Media Culpa for dreaming up this "study"/stunt, but really, I'm no Tom Murphy or Phil Gomes. I am just a rookie. Hey Hans, why is Phil absent, because he's at E3? Cmon, is there a write-in? Recount! Recount!

Seriously, thanks, but we are all influential as a group.