AR&D Reinventing Local Media

I love it when the Internet makes it possible to attend a conference from afar. Mark your calendars for a Brookings Institute Webcast — The Impact of the New Media — from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. March 22, 2005. Brookings has put together an excellent panel, and the Webcast will be interactive.

Panelists: Jodie T. Allen, Senior Editor, Pew Research Center; Ana Marie Cox, Wonkette.com; Ellen Ratner, White House Correspondent, Talk Radio News Service; Jack Shafer, Editor-at-Large, Slate; Andrew Sullivan, AndrewSullivan.com; Senior Editor The New Republic, Columnist, Time Magazine.

Here’s the registration page.

What a shock! The feeds now take you to AP stories from member Websites, not the AP Website. When they launched RSS a couple of weeks ago, links went directly to the AP site, and that had get the bile going in the stomachs of members.

I believe their feed software is grabbing the IP address of the end user to deliver a regional member site, but I can’t prove that.

Interesting.

UPDATE: Susan Mernit (who works with AP) emails: “This was their intention all along–to be able to geotarget the IP addresses and attach to the closest partner site..it’s just turned on now. They never planned it any other way.”

Thanks, Susan.

Here’s a little gem of knowledge for those who have ears to hear. I downloaded iPodder the other day, because I’m helping a client with Podcasting. For the uneducated, the iPodder software allows seamless downloads of subscribed Podcasts and will even place them into the memory of your faithful iPod.

The download process is fairly typical of downloading any software, with one tiny — almost unnoticeable — exception: the option to add an executable file to your “quick launch” menu is “opt in” instead of the usual “opt out.” The little box wasn’t already checked. It was empty, meaning I was “invited” to add it to quick launch instead of being forced to un-check the box and opt out. This is what happens when people who really understand the Web get involved in the processes heretofore owned by the mass marketers of the world.

This seemingly innocuous little thing speaks volumes about the new world. As noted earlier this week, Richard Tobaccowala asks the question “How will you engage God” in an environment where the consumer IS God? Answer: you ask permission first.

Here’s an interesting little tidbit. Californian Mark Williamson dropped me a note last night to chat about my appearance on the Chris Pirillo Show last week. Mark’s a blogger and a Mac fanatic (they’re incorrigible) and a listener of the show. He was in Washington D.C. this week and listened to a Podcast of the show via his iPod while navigating the Beltway. Podcasting has become his “radio” while behind-the-wheel.

In his note to me, Mark gives a nice explanation of the Internet’s “Long Tail,” something all of my broadcasting friends need to understand. The long tail refers to the extended reach of information, because users can access it when and where they want. In this case, however, it goes further, because the long tail also applies to conversations and discussions, and this is where Mark recognizes what’s taking place.

I guess this is kind of case and point for the potential of the new news media: your blog gets picked up by a PODCAST, and then someone aggregating discussions about a subject he’s interested in gets introduced to your blog, and then expands/relays his thoughts on his blog. That is the interaction that I see becoming much more common in the future.