Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Paper Etmaal 2007 congress online
Today, I've put my paper of the Etmaal 2007 congress in Antwerp online. You can download it from this link (paper is in Dutch).
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Integrated or desintegrated use of text and video online
One of the main features of online news is multimedia. In past literature, multimedia is most of the times defined as the integration of text, audio, video and other modalities into one format.
However, when studying Flemish online news sites, we must conclude that video is seldom fully integrated into a news article. Indeed, many online news sites use video, but most of the times these video fragments are not integrated into a news article. There is not much more than a video-link integrated into the text-article. When clinking on the link, a new window opens and the video is played above the orginal test-based message. We suggest that this use of video is not an integrated or convergent use of different media but instead a divergent one.
Example 1 - example 2: In these articles, the focus is on the text. Alongside the article, there are some links. One of the links refers to a video and when clicked on this link, a new window opens and the video is played. This is a disintegrated use of video.
Sometimes, these videos are even presented in a seperated section on the website. In this case, the videos stand alone and are not even linked to the text message. This stand-alone character of video is reinforced by the covering title these videos get. In HLN.be, these stand-alone videos are stored under the "HLN-TV" section (as if this is a totally different news medium than the general web site), and on standaard.be these video are called "WebTV".
However, example 3 and example 4 demonstrate that an fully integrated use of text and video is possible. While looking at the video, it is still possible to read the text and to get the whole picture of the news item. VRTnieuws.net has been using this type of integrated news since the beginning of the site (even with integrated audio), but today I noticed that also HLN.be uses a fully integration of these two modalities (example 4). However, the way VRTNieuws.net integrates video into the text is in my opinion more ideal since HLN.be uses Youtube for playing the video.
As I will demonstrate and defend in upcoming articles and paper presentations, I suggest that the term multimedia is often not correct for describing one of the main features of online news media. I suggest that the integrated use of different modalities like text, video and audio into one news format (like vrtnieuws.net) should be called multimodality (a term often used in linguistics and semiotics), while the desintegrated use of different modalities (like webTV and HLN-TV) can be called multimedia, as in this case different online media are used (general website for the text and the videosites for the video fragments).
However, when studying Flemish online news sites, we must conclude that video is seldom fully integrated into a news article. Indeed, many online news sites use video, but most of the times these video fragments are not integrated into a news article. There is not much more than a video-link integrated into the text-article. When clinking on the link, a new window opens and the video is played above the orginal test-based message. We suggest that this use of video is not an integrated or convergent use of different media but instead a divergent one.
Example 1 - example 2: In these articles, the focus is on the text. Alongside the article, there are some links. One of the links refers to a video and when clicked on this link, a new window opens and the video is played. This is a disintegrated use of video.
Sometimes, these videos are even presented in a seperated section on the website. In this case, the videos stand alone and are not even linked to the text message. This stand-alone character of video is reinforced by the covering title these videos get. In HLN.be, these stand-alone videos are stored under the "HLN-TV" section (as if this is a totally different news medium than the general web site), and on standaard.be these video are called "WebTV".
However, example 3 and example 4 demonstrate that an fully integrated use of text and video is possible. While looking at the video, it is still possible to read the text and to get the whole picture of the news item. VRTnieuws.net has been using this type of integrated news since the beginning of the site (even with integrated audio), but today I noticed that also HLN.be uses a fully integration of these two modalities (example 4). However, the way VRTNieuws.net integrates video into the text is in my opinion more ideal since HLN.be uses Youtube for playing the video.
As I will demonstrate and defend in upcoming articles and paper presentations, I suggest that the term multimedia is often not correct for describing one of the main features of online news media. I suggest that the integrated use of different modalities like text, video and audio into one news format (like vrtnieuws.net) should be called multimodality (a term often used in linguistics and semiotics), while the desintegrated use of different modalities (like webTV and HLN-TV) can be called multimedia, as in this case different online media are used (general website for the text and the videosites for the video fragments).
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saving the screen with news
As I will discuss in one of my forthcoming papers and articles, the internet should no longer be considered to be a homogeneous medium. I suggest, together with some other scholars, to tread the internet as a technical infrastructure that holds various different types of news media. A news item covered by a 'regular' news website looks different when compared to the publication on a news blog of trough RSS. Instead of speaking in terms of the internet as news medium, is suggest it is better to tread websites, rss-feeds, news blogs, discussion boards, usenet, ... as different news media with, apart from the possible differences in content, a specific structure and organisation.
When doing research in this interesting domain, I often discover some unknown types of news media. One of the first was the 'nieuwskraker', a service that makes it possible to chat with a news bot that provides you with the most recent news through MSN. Type 'Belgium' and the nieuwkraker gives you all the relevant Belgian news. The only disadvantage is that this is a Dutch service (De Volkskrant) so that only the very important Belgian news is covered. But it is for sure a new way of getting the news on the computer, especially for kids.
Today, I also discovered the 'news by screensaver'-service of Gazet van Antwerpen. Somewhere hidden between the multiple whistles and bells, this service caught my attention. I have no idea how long this service is already available, but I already know that I regret having installed it. After a break, I usually install myself before my computer and continue with what I was doing. But instead of moving the mouse and move on, a screen saver with lots of relevant and less relevant stuff now begs me to click on a link. Of course I want to know the latest gossip about Britney Spears!! So I click and click and click ... news is addictive, even it is pushed by a silly screen saver. After this blog post, I will definitely uninstall it.
When doing research in this interesting domain, I often discover some unknown types of news media. One of the first was the 'nieuwskraker', a service that makes it possible to chat with a news bot that provides you with the most recent news through MSN. Type 'Belgium' and the nieuwkraker gives you all the relevant Belgian news. The only disadvantage is that this is a Dutch service (De Volkskrant) so that only the very important Belgian news is covered. But it is for sure a new way of getting the news on the computer, especially for kids.
Today, I also discovered the 'news by screensaver'-service of Gazet van Antwerpen. Somewhere hidden between the multiple whistles and bells, this service caught my attention. I have no idea how long this service is already available, but I already know that I regret having installed it. After a break, I usually install myself before my computer and continue with what I was doing. But instead of moving the mouse and move on, a screen saver with lots of relevant and less relevant stuff now begs me to click on a link. Of course I want to know the latest gossip about Britney Spears!! So I click and click and click ... news is addictive, even it is pushed by a silly screen saver. After this blog post, I will definitely uninstall it.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Paper presentation about different online news media
I've just finished my paper for the 'Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap', a congress about contemporary trends and studies in the domain of communication and media studies. I will present a paper about 'multimedia, interactivity and hypertextuality in online news: defining different online news media and effects on knowledge'. The main purpose of this paper is to plead in the defence of the various submedia online. I suggest focusing on different online news media like blogs, general news sites, usenet, mail alerts, rss-feeds, etc. instead of studying the internet as one, homogeneous news medium. I try to construct a typology in which the different news media are characterised based on their degree of multimedia, interactivity and hypertextuality. Once this typology is made up, the associated cognitive processes and effects on the news-processing can be explained. To be continued on February, 8-9 at the University of Antwerp. I'll try to put the paper online after presentation.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Hallo online eindredactie?
[this message is in Dutch because of the language-specific content]
Twee online berichten deden me de voorbije week schrikken. En vooral beseffen dat journalisten nog steeds niet foutloos zijn, wat er ook mag gedacht worden van spellings- en vertaalsoftware. En het kan ons tot de vraag brengen of er 's nachts geen eindredacteurs zijn op de online redactie van kranten...
Vorige week verscheen rond 01.00u op HLN.be een bericht dat de trainer van Henin Kim Clijsters een bitch vindt. In het artikel zelf stonden enkele raar geformuleerde zinnen zoals "Ik zeg haar altijd 'trek met meisjes als Kuznetsova op', want met haar verstaat ze zich wél perfect."
Met haar verstaan? Uh? 'Goed overeenkomen, niet'? Of beter: 'met haar klikt het'! Toch?
De journalist gaf de Spaanse sportkrant Olé op als bron van de uitlatingen van de coach. Als we de brontekst door een online vertaalmachine zoals babelfish haalden, leek het resultaat ons al iets logischer. Maar daarom niet beter!
Voorbeeld 1:
Twee online berichten deden me de voorbije week schrikken. En vooral beseffen dat journalisten nog steeds niet foutloos zijn, wat er ook mag gedacht worden van spellings- en vertaalsoftware. En het kan ons tot de vraag brengen of er 's nachts geen eindredacteurs zijn op de online redactie van kranten...
Vorige week verscheen rond 01.00u op HLN.be een bericht dat de trainer van Henin Kim Clijsters een bitch vindt. In het artikel zelf stonden enkele raar geformuleerde zinnen zoals "Ik zeg haar altijd 'trek met meisjes als Kuznetsova op', want met haar verstaat ze zich wél perfect."
Met haar verstaan? Uh? 'Goed overeenkomen, niet'? Of beter: 'met haar klikt het'! Toch?
De journalist gaf de Spaanse sportkrant Olé op als bron van de uitlatingen van de coach. Als we de brontekst door een online vertaalmachine zoals babelfish haalden, leek het resultaat ons al iets logischer. Maar daarom niet beter!
Voorbeeld 1:
- Olé: Mis amigos son pocos, (Kim) es una jugadora más en el circuito, a la que le digo ''buenos días''.
- Babelfish: My friends are few, (Kim) is one more a player in the circuit, to which I say 'good días' to him.
- HLN.be: Ik heb weinig vrienden en Kim is gewoon één van de vele speelsters in het circuit, aan wie ik goeiedag zeg."
Voorbeeld 2:
- Olé: "Vos hacé tu vida y llevate con chicas como Kuznetsova, por ejemplo". Con ella se entiende muy bien.
- Babelfish: "Vos hacé your life and llevate with girls like Kuznetsova, for example". With her it is understood very well.
- HLN.be: Ik zeg haar altijd "trek met meisjes als Kuznetsova op", want met haar verstaat ze zich wél perfect.
Nog in het artikel deze zin: "Vandaag zegt ze dat ze misschien nu niet meer zou trouwen, met alle verantwoordelijkheid en moeilijkheden die zo’n beslissing met zich meebrengen."
Ook bij Standaard.be blijken ze ('s nachts) geen online eindredactie te hebben. Gisterenavond rond 11u verscheen de volgende titel zowel op de website als in m'n rss-lezer: "Lincident in Sint-Genesius-Rode". Klinkt alleszinds beter dan een 'Longeval', maar dan nog ... Of is het misschien uit het Franse (of beter:Waalse) 'L'incident' overgenomen en dus slecht geknipt en geplakt?
Twaalf uur later staat het er nog steeds ...
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