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Unless your a lefty activist, you’ve probably never heard of the online news site IndyMedia. But regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, the First Amendment rights of the site’s citizen-journalist operators must be protected from federal interference.

Recently, US Attorney Tim Morrison sent a subpoena demanding “all IP traffic to and from www.indymedia.us” on June 25, 2008. The request also asked for IP addresses, times, and any other identifying information of the site’s visitors such as email addresses, physical addresses, registered accounts, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers. And most troubling of all, the subpoena even instructed the site’s host “not to disclose the existence of this request,” even though it’s probably illegal to send such a gag order to a journalist.

As Declan McCullagh reports on CBSNews.com, the Justice Department has somewhat limited powers when dealing with the press. Its guidelines dictate that “no subpoena may be issued to any member of the news media” without “the express authorization of the attorney general.”

Morrison has since withdrawn his subpoena and there has been no official comment on why there was an investigation in the first place.  Perhaps Morrison disregarded protocol, since a Justice Department official claims the attorney general’s office in Washington never saw the subpoena.

In my opinion, President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder cannot stay mum on this issue.  There needs to be a clear reprimand from the top, not a string of “no comments.”  Otherwise, the Justice Department leaves the impression, even if it’s unintended, that they can continue to snoop on online news operations.

Related posts on BNET:

• Columbia U’s Call for Journalism’s “Reconstruction”
• FBI Wants Businesses to Rat on Their Customers
  
• Why Do Americans Hate the Media?

Everywhere you look, newspapers are dying. And even though there are plenty of old-school journalists shaking their heads and arguing we’ll miss miss them once they’re gone, many folks have actually been celebrating the “mainstream media’s” demise lately.

Vanity Fair’s Matt Pressman wonders what’s behind today’s hatred of the media.  After all, aren’t journalists some of our best defenders of democracy?

Here are a few of his explanations, edited down for length.

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Barack Obama might have not beaten John McCain on Election Day if he hadn’t bested the GOP contender throughout the year online, by raising millions more through microdonations and regularly activating partisans through email messaging.

Yet at this point, the McCain clan also has a decent track record using online tools for career purposes.  McCain’s daughter Meghan, for example, has turned her high-profile campaign blog into a gig at the Daily Beast and a place on the pundit circuit.  The septuagenarian Senator is staying hip with the new media crowd too. McCain’s Twitter feed now has over 1.5 million followers.  That’s ten times more than his former running mate, popular political personality Sarah Palin.

So how has McCain been hooking his audience?

Most of his strategy is Social Media 101 (participate regularly, engage other users, share personal anecdotes and interesting links, etc.).  But there’s a new tactic he’s been using recently that can be adapted by anyone who’s looking to establish thought leadership online.

It’s not really a secret that we all are suckers for lists and rankings.  McCain (or perhaps his “ghost tweeter”) recognizes this trick.  Recently, he has started to send out his top ten pork barrel projects via Twitter each day.  And he breaks them down and ranks them before shooting them out one by one until he reaches his most outrageous spending project of the day.  This keeps the McCain brand in the conversation throughout the day and maximizes his feed’s viral appeal.

And now for your enjoyment, here is a short sample of McCain’s most outrageous pork barrel picks:

• $165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont
• $325,000 to study seismic activity in Memphis, TN
• $195,000 to research how to increase the lifespan of peach trees in South Carolina
• $130,000 to relocate the residents of 130 homes in DeKalb, IL
• $900,000 for the City of Whitefish Emergency Operations Center in Whitefish, MT (Population: 6700)

Photo credit: Flickr user “World Economic Forum,” CC 2.0.

If you are worried about the future of the news industry, you should read “the Reconstruction of American Journalism.” The report, commissioned by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, concedes that today’s informed citizen has access to plenty of information.  As traditional newspapers fade away, partisan news sources, bloggers and websites filled with databases of government activity are filling the void.

But the authors are skeptical that those new forms of media can replace the “explanatory reporting” done by professional journalists who have the resources to cover local affairs. After arguing that our democracy depends on professional journalism, the authors offer this call to action:

American society must now take some collective responsibility for supporting independent news reporting in this new environment—as society has, at much greater expense, for public needs like education, health care, scientific advancement, and cultural preservation— through varying combinations of philanthropy, subsidy, and government policy.

Here are their six solutions:

1. The Internal Revenue Service or Congress should clearly and explicitly authorize any independent news organization substantially devoted to reporting on public affairs to be created as or converted into a nonprofit entity or a Low-profit Limited Liability Corporation serving the public interest, regardless of its mix of financial support, including commercial sponsorship and advertising.

2. Philanthropists, foundations, and community foundations should substantially increase their support for news organizations that have demonstrated a substantial commitment to public affairs and accountability reporting.

3. Public radio and television should be substantially reoriented to provide significant local news reporting in every community served by public stations and their Web sites.

4. Universities, both public and private, should become on-going sources of local, state, specialized subject, and accountability news reporting as part of their educational missions.

5. A national Fund for Local News should be created with money the Federal Communications Commission now collects from or could impose on telecom users, television and radio broadcast licensees, or Internet service providers and administered in open competition through state Local News Fund Councils.

6. More should be done—by journalists, nonprofit organizations, and governments—to increase the accessibility and usefulness of public information collected by federal, state, and local governments, to facilitate the gathering and dissemination of public information by citizens, and to expand public recognition of the many sources of relevant reporting.

Do these seem like reasonable solutions?  Or do you think government intervention will be counterproductive?

Do you even agree with the premise of the Columbia report, that “explanatory journalism” is under threat and needs to be saved?  Please share your thoughts below.

Many conservatives love what they hear coming out of Rush Limbaugh’s mouth.  And many liberals are horrified that so many Americans could love Limbaugh’s show.

But most of us understand that today’s talking heads are nothing more than entertainers who take extreme positions to keep their audiences hooked.  I doubt Rush, Keith Olbermann or Glenn Beck believe half of what they say and I am confident that their audiences know that they shouldn’t take any of that combative commentary seriously.  For all we know, when the cameras are off, Rachel Maddow and Ann Coulter count their money together over a cup of tax-protestor tea.

I bring this up because some folks are looking for career lessons from Rush Limbaugh’s failed attempt to be on the team that might end up buying the St. Louis Rams. In case you haven’t been following the saga, the players union spoke up and rejected Rush because he’s chosen to make lots of inflammatory comments about the league and its players over the years. Furthermore, the other NFL owners don’t want their brand tarnished by politics, even though they may personally agree with Rush’s views.  Therefore, it’s in their collective economic interest to keep this walking controversy out of the owner’s box.

Kris Dunn, editor of the HR Capitalist blog, believes that Limbaugh’s failure might serve as a cautionary tale for any working stiff with loose lips.  Here’s his hypothetical:

How about the time you made Marge come in when her kids were sick and you openly stated, “remind me not to hire people who have kids”.

You thought no one heard it, and even if they did, it was a joke, right?  Wrong - in the new transparent world that’s right around the corner, sites are going to start collecting information on your abilities as a manager - and yes, your biases - via user generated content.

It’s right around the corner.  The NFL players won’t play for Limbaugh, and someday soon, how you treated Marge is going to come back and haunt you when you need a candidate, and the best sources of candidates for your position are working moms.

It’s true that in this new age of web-powered transparency, being a jerk could have lasting consequences for your career and your company.  However, I am not sure that’s the key takeaway. It’s hard to draw a parrallel when most of us aren’t public figures who get paid to be offensive.

So Rush can huff and puff all he wants about “race hustlers” and the “liberal media.”  He could even threaten a libel suit. But at the end of the day, he can’t use the millions he earned making degrading comments to buy the team.

What do you think the lesson is?  Share your thoughts below.

The 1990s were all about the white paper.  New technologies, problems and solutions–all summarized in a neat downloadable document on a company’s website.

Whenever I consult with an organization during the initial stages of their website redevelopment, there’s almost always a conversation about where all the old white papers will live on the new website.  To me, white papers seem a little dated so I typically advise against placing them front and center on a new site.  There are often handier mediums now, such as online video, to quickly illustrate the value of a product or service and entice the potential customer to want to learn more.  If your goal is to get site visitors to sign up for more information, then I generally believe that a less is more approach works best.

I don’t deny that sometimes white papers do have value for certain audiences. Everyday I see press releases from companies that keep churning them out.

Yet I wonder whether anyone really reads white papers anymore.  Because I rarely do.

Is the white paper dead?  Share your thoughts and experiences below.

A new Citibank/GfK Roper survey has found that America’s small business owners aren’t that fond of the latest social networking tools:

The study found 76 percent of small-business owners polled were not using social media or finding it helpful in generating business leads during the last year, and 86 percent said the did not use such sites to get advice or information.

I’m sure a lot of new media gurus will take this as yet another piece of evidence that most companies still “don’t get it.”  But the results shouldn’t be surprising and it’s not that irrational for business owners to conclude that Twitter is a waste of resources.  If 86 percent don’t use social networks themselves to get information, than it’s reasonable to assume their customers and colleagues aren’t using them either.

And if those social networks don’t actually lead to sales, than what’s the point of having all those friends and followers?

The key with new media is to be where your customers are.  If you sell something geared toward younger people, than a Facebook fan page may make sense.  But if you own a restaurant that serves a local market only, than you probably want to monitor your online reputation on search engines and traditional directories before diving into the social media realm.  However, be aware that many of these directories, such as Yelp, are morphing into social networks too.  So you may need to sign up, at least to protect your brand and direct traffic to your true website, sooner or later, even if you don’t plan to actively participate in the prominent web networks.

Even if you are new to Twitter, you’ve probably already learned that most of the tweets are “pointless babble” about whatever users had for lunch.  Even though almost half of all tweets could be classified as nothing more than narcissistic notes, it is important to send out messages other than links to the latest “hot deals.”  Because if you don’t add those personal soundbites, you will seem like a spammer.  No one will follow you, ensuring that Twitter ends up being a waste of your precious time.

So naturally, it seems fitting to fill your feed with tweets about your job.  Many use the service solely to promote themselves or their company (shameless plug: follow my new feed).  However, while the evidence hasn’t yet proven that Twitter can further your career, it can certainly end it if you foolishly broadcast nasty things about your employer.  Here are five ways Twitter can get you fired, according to Applicant, a job blog:

1. Tweet how much you hate your boss

2. Brag yourself up on successfully lying to your boss

3. Make it public that you are sleeping with your boss

4. If you are quitting and don’t think before tweeting

5. Block your boss and tweet as you please

Everything that’s published on the web circulates virally across multiple platforms.  Nothing that’s published can be deleted so those tweets can always get back to you.  Therefore, I’ll add a sixth lesson: use common sense.  Those 140 characters aren’t worth your paycheck.

What’s the worst job-related tweet you’ve ever seen?  Feel free to share it below.

The bad news for the media industry keeps coming in this week. The FTC is changing the rules related to product endorsements. GE wants to cut its losses with NBC Universal.  Bellweather AOL may start shedding more jobs once its Time Warner divorce is done. Internet advertising revenue dropped 5.3% during the first half of this year, when compared to a similar period a year ago.

It’s been a tough year for publishers and there is little light at the end of the tunnel.  No one knows for sure how for-profit media companies can adapt to the internet era, when content runs free and advertising channels bypass the content creators.  But that hasn’t stopped many from pontificating on why media companies are struggling.

A new book, The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies, written by Columbia Business School faculty members Jonathan Knee, Bruce Greenwald and Ava Seave, joins the fray this week.  Here are a few of their survival tips for the world’s major media players, edited down for length:

• Keep it local, keep it focused Ignore all the conventional wisdom about global footprint, and find businesses that have either a narrow geographic territory or more likely a product niche
• Don’t be such a big shot Overpaying and other means of destructive competition is a communicable disease, so try to find small areas of collaboration in your industry cooperation can be similarly contagious
• Watch your back Even companies that seem to have an impregnable fortress will eventually be scaled, so a constant reassessment of the strength and reinforcement of the the source of competitive advantage is called for
• Dying with dignity is an option It’s hard to admit you’ve lost it, but rather than reinvesting in projects that have little prospect of generating an adequate return, instead, milk a declining franchise and returning the proceeds to the shareholders

You can read the rest of their tips on Columbia Business School’s Public Offering blog and a full article on the book on the Atlantic’s website.

And the big question: Assuming the media companies of tomorrow will have to be scrapier, smaller units, as the Columbia professors argue, will we ever see another global mogul like Rupert Murdoch? Share your predictions below.

Nationwide, unemployment hit 9.8 percent in September. Of course, some regions have been hit harder than others but at a certain point, it may make sense for anyone who is unemployed to consider cutting their losses, packing up and leaving.  The forecast still looks relatively sunny throughout Texas and in coastal metropolises like New York, Seattle and Washington, DC (for a handy breakdown on the best job markets in small, medium and large cities across America, check out New Geography’s tables; for the worst cities for jobs, check Forbes).

Let’s say you’ve made the decision to seek greener pastures elsewhere but haven’t actually moved yet. How can you keep your local-address-less resume from reaching the wastebasket?

Here are six tips for the long-distance job search, edited down for length and clarity, from career guru Penelope Trunk:

• Pitch yourself as specialized Most people are relocating from a city that is in low demand to a city that is high demand; if you want to get a job [in a big city like San Francisco] from Tucson, you need to have one of those skill sets that people do not think they can hire for in San Francisco
• Pitch yourself as a big-city catch Some of you are trying to move the opposite direction: New York City to Tuscaloosa; in that case, you can pitch yourself as having big-city know-how that you can bring to a smaller city
• Get a reality check If you can’t pitch yourself in either of those ways, then you’re going to have to relocate before you get a job
• Be amazing at building local networks If you are still determined to get a job before you move…you need to have a strong network on the ground where you want to relocate; this does not mean inviting forty people in that city to connect with you on LinkedIn
• Choose a city since you can’t choose a job Since you are going to have to move before you have a job, why not make sure you are going to the right place?   For figuring out where you belong, [see] Richard Florida’s book, Who’s Your City, which he has conveniently broken up into web-friendly widgets for your relocating pleasure
• Consider your friends and family Before you relocate for money, consider that the number-one factor for whether or not your next job will improve your happiness is whether you’ll be moving closer to friends and family; [O]nce you have the basics of a good job, it’s your relationships that make you happy

If you’ve recently relocated to find a new job or are considering a move, please share any additional tips or words of wisdom in the comments section below.