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Subject: Article on Publications on AOL From: jvncnet!aol.com!arirhodes Date: Thu, 03 Mar 94 14:49:14 EST
Subject: Article on Publications on AOL From: jvncnet!aol.com!arirhodes Date: Thu, 03 Mar 94 14:49:14 EST
How the Web Was Won
Subject: Article on Publications on AOL
From: jvncnet!aol.com!arirhodes
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 94 14:49:14 EST
Sender: jvncnet!marketplace.com!owner-online-news
Content-Length: 7374
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This is a thousand word article I wrote in November on publications and
news organizations on AOL (I didn't write the headline). It was written for
the bi-monthly paper of the Bay Area journalist's organization, Media
Alliance. I'm not including a short sidebar on Voyager (a multimedia
company). A lot more news organizations and publications have or are in the
process of joining AOL. I hope to continue covering online news.
December/January 93/94 Mediafile
Mass media meets the future with on-line publications and journalism services
Mediasurauses no more?
by Steve Rhodes
On Sunday, a day or two before Time arrives on newsstands, users
of America Online (AOL) can read the magazine. On Wednesday, AOL users will
find the international edition.
Since early November, between 10 and 45 people have been in an AOL chat room
(a place for live on-line discusssion) moderated by San Francisco resident
Cynthia Hobgood discussing the issues brought up on National Public Radio's
Talk of the Nation while the p
rogram airs.
Readers of the San Jose Mercury News might see a Mercury Center icon at the
end of a story and know they can later log on to AOL for the full text of a
speech, a transcript of a c
ongressional hearing or a related story the paper didn't have room to print.
Although journalists have been using computers to write and do research for
years, it's clear that the media - and the media that covers the press - are
finally waking up to the ways computers are redefining the way we get our
news. Recent issues of Columbia Journalism Review and American Journalism
Review feature cover stories on how and why news organizations are going
digital. All these developments will have a m
ajor impact on both readers and journalists.
According to Walter Isaacson, editor of Time, Inc.'s New Media unit and
president of the News On Demand service for its interactive cable system in
Orlando, Florida, when Philip Elmer-Dewitt's February 8 cover story
"Cyberpunk!" was posted on The Well, it sparked a lively discussion and
planted the seeds of what would grow into Time Online. Isaacson met
with Steve Case, president of AOL, and Time was on-line for its August 30
issue.
Tom Mandel, a futurist at SRI International in Menlo Park, moderates Time
Online's message boards. He has been on the Bay Area based on-line service
The Well for 10 years and moderated their conference on the Gulf War. Both
Isaacson and Mandel say they are learning a great deal from the 50-60,000
users of AOL who vi
sit each week, as well as from ways other publications have launched their
on-line services.
"We're learning about interactivity," says Isaacson. "We do get some money,
but it is not really the money involved. It's the chance to hear the
feedback, to engage in discussion with readers and to rea
lize we're not handing down tablets from on high. We're part of an
interactive world."
On AOL, different publications have chosen different ways to implement their
on-line version. Some, like Time and the San Jose Mercury News, put all
their text on-line, along with additional materials not in the print version.
Others, like Omni basically use AOL as a forum for communication with their
reeaders.
The Atlantic Monthly (which proclaims, "After 136 years in print, we have
entered the cyberspace age.") currently only uploads some of its articles
while Wired uploads articles after each issue goes off the stands. In an
area of AOL called "Columns and Features", a syndicate posts all o
f their columnists (including local writer Ian Shoales).
All of the publications offer message boards that serve as forums to
discuss stories and general topics (there's even a Time discussion called
"Smash Time Inc."). Most also allow for quick contact with their writers
and editors, who often post messages in the discussion areas. Rather than
passively reading a story and occasionally firing off a letter to the editor
- which may or may not get printed - anyone can voice their opinion on a
message board for all to see, or e-mail a comment to someone at the
publication. The response from editors and writers is often surprisingly
quick . It's this interactive quality that makes on-line publicat
ions unique from their print-only partners.
Journalists can also cut out some of the time consuming hassles that
surround snail mail. Omni magazine, Wired and others post submission
guidelines and accept e-mail queries. The Mercury Center's message board
allows readers to post pieces for possible publication. If an editor is
on-line, it's often easier to get a response by e-mail than by phone.
AOL also offers a limited version of Writers Market, a staple of any
freelancer's library. Writers can search for publications by category,
though it only lists the name of the editor and address of the publication
(But be warned: it's not always up to date - Doug Foster is still listed as
the editor of Mother Jones instead of Jeffrey Klein). Message boards post
calls for freelance writers as well as offer advice on how to get published.
Many writers seek out sources on-line - most of the interviews f
or this article were arranged by e-mail.
Mother Jones will be available on AOL early next year. Like many other
progressive publications including the Nation , Mother Jones is available on
Peacenet (it also has a node on the internet ). Joel Truher
(truher@mojones.com) of Mother Jones says he
plans to hold on-line discussions about guns, the topic of the
January/February issue.
According to Bill Buzenburg, NPR vice-president for news and information,
NPR also plans to get a dedicated connection to the Internet. He, former
TOTN host John Hockenbury and TOTN senior producer Marcus Ronsenbaum have all
stopped in TOTN's chatroom. Rosenbaum says he sees it as an extension of the
interactive nature of the show itself and an opportunity for listeners who
can't get through to the show to
respond and react. The guests on each week's shows are posted on AOL.
The possibilites of this infant medium are just being realized. Today
on-line services push media in new directions, bringing more and more people
into the debate. As author Michael Crichton noted in a speech to the
National Press Club, reprinted in Wired 1.4, "...Where can you find this kind
of debate in today's media? Not in television, nor in newspapers of
magazines. You find it in the computer networks, a place where traditional
media is distinctly absent." Crichton made these remarks last April.
Already, it appears that tr
aditional media are finally catching up, and getting on-line.
Steve Rhodes, a member of the Paper Tiger TV West video collective, just
completed an internship at the Center For Investigative Reporting and is
looking for a job. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Extra!, the
Christian Science Monitor and other publications. He can be reached at
stverhodes@aol.com.
The Fall 1993 issue of American Writer, the journal of the National Writers
Union, has more information on other on-line services, as well as a special
section on new technologies. A NWU draft position paper on electronic
publishing is available for $1. Both are available by contacting the
National Writer's Union at 212-254-0279 or 72400.1712@compuserve.com
From jvncnet!marketplace.com!owner-online-news Fri Mar 4 02:26:59 1994