Using maps online: what difference does it make?

An earthquake has struck Sumatra, one of the Southern Islands of Indonesia. To localise the region of disaster, online news media often use maps. Good idea ... if the map is clear. In the article of GVA.be, only a small region is showed, so that it is impossible to understand the big picture, for example the distance between the epicenter and the threatened cities. The maps of CNN and BBC are better, but still not making fully use of the online possibilities like interactive maps with informational texts, maps with associated distances or maps with integrated picture-option.

Timelines in flash

De Standaard Online gives a great overview of the most important events during the political negociations in Belgium in the form of a timeline in flash. Today, I was analysing the online news site of cnn.com and saw somewhat the same feature: a timeline which summarised the Maddie-history. Great type of journalism, especially for long-running news items!

Social Bookmarking for dummies

For dummies, but yet interesting!

Chapter in press

Few weeks ago, I received great news that my chapter for the Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication is accepted for publication. The title is "Divergent News Media in Computer Mediated News Communication" and will appear in the spring of 2008. In this article, I question 'the internet as one medium', discuss the results of a content analysis of online news about the Belgian elections of 2006-2007 and propose a typlogy of divergent online news media.

Neuroscience and new media

In the end of June, I visited the Aberdeen University to give a presentation about the classificiation of interactivity at the information:interactions and impact conference. There was a keynote speaker, dr. Martin Westwell of this institute, who was really great. He told us about the relationship between new media possibilities and neuroscience, in a way dealing with the stuff I'm working on. Things like cognitive overload and structural isomorphism (which I study in relationship with online news features) have more or less to do with the capacities and limitations of the human brain and associated neurons. I'll try to get his presentation and ask him permission to put it on this blog.