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Thursday, August 09, 2007

New Google Feature Could Change the Face of Print Reporting
Posted by Melina | 11:23 PM

On Tuesday, Google announced a new feature in which subjects of news articles will be able to respond to what was written about then, and also the reporter can then respond back or update the story. Currently in the testing phase, the feature depends on a Google News employee checking the identity of the author before posting any response:

If the identity of the author is confirmed, the response is posted on the same page as the story search results.

The feature helps the Google news site evolve from being solely an aggregator of news articles to a forum where news subjects - even the journalists who wrote the stories - can respond publicly to criticism. The company emphasized that the feature is in the testing phase but could be expanded to include other regions and languages.



I don't know about anyone else out there, but I find this to be a thrilling new development in that print news stories will become more of an interactive medium before radio and TV has even fully embraced the possibilities that are obviously out there.

Like anything, I guess this could be used for evil, but I have a feeling that with a strong author checking feature, the responses of scientists and professionals will be taken more seriously than those of wingnuts or say, lying governmental officials. This will be a separate feature from the one already offered that directs the reader to computer generated algorithms that are applicable to the story. According to Google's announcement:

We'll be trying out a mechanism for publishing comments from a special subset of readers: those people or organizations who were actual participants in the story in question. Our long-term vision is that any participant will be able to send in their comments, and we'll show them next to the articles about the story. Comments will be published in full, without any edits, but marked as "comments" so readers know it's the individuals perspective, rather than part of a journalist's report.


I've always predicted that the future of broadcasting lies in the interactive medium that used to be such a big draw on certain Air America Radio shows such as Morning Sedition, and that still plays a big part in what is left of the Sam Seder Show. People all over the world are drawn to the more interactive mediums, and they also want to see many sides of the same story. This is a new dimension to the comments section that we have become used to, and a welcome peek at the future of information dissemination.

Since we know how badly the press has fallen down on the job in the past years, it seems like a good thing that, along with intrepid bloggers breaking stories that used to be the sole domain of "professional" newsfolk, we will also have a major news service offering the subjects of stories the opportunity to provide clarifying information if they feel it is necessary. It won't be long before every news outlet will have to offer this sort of service, in an arena where every American must take hold of the information, or misinformation being shovelled at them at every turn.

Cross Posted from RIPCoco

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