Information Videos - The Documentary Network

The Impact of Twitter on Journalism

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:36:58 +0000

The world of journalism has changed in the internet era. Newsrooms are significantly smaller now than they were 10 years ago, and news is no longer a once-a-day product, but instead a constant flow of information. The rise of Twitter brought concerns within the industry - would this overwhelming source of direct raw information put professional reporters out of business? Journalists are now faced with the challenge of adapting their roles in this digital era, finding new ways to add value to content, and helping to ensure that the internet is changing our worldview for the better. Featuring: Jeff Jarvis, Director, Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism Mark Luckie, Manager of Journalism & News at Twitter Craig Kanalley, Senior Editor of Big News & Live Events at Huffington Post Chris Anderson, Director of Research, Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism

What Facebook knows about you

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:05:42 +0000

A couple of months ago the Austrian law student Max Schrems asked facebook to send him all their data stored about him. All Europeans have a right to do this, because facebook is based in Dublin, Ireland. It took a while and then facebook sent Max a CD with 1222 PDF files. A visualization of the data by taz.de Schrems was surprised how much the social network knows about him and his friends. And how much it remembers. In theory, people at facebook could read all of his facebook messages. And find out what he has written on criminal law. The content of these messages might interest advertisers who place customised adverts. Customised advertising probably earnt facebook around two billion dollars in 2011. What Schrems writes to his friends might also one day interest the police - or hackers. facebook keeps the messages even after Max has deleted them, deep down in its servers. And facebook knows exactly when Schrems writes messages. And it remembers when Schrems logs on. So even weeks later it can be established precisely at what time Max used facebook. facebook also sent a CD with data to Schrems' friend Lisa. It knows much more about her because Lisa has taken photos with her i-phone. With GPS coordinates, the data can be used to work out exactly where she was. With biometric facial recognition, which Mark has introduced to facebook, it is possible to know about millions of people exactly who was where when. Read more at taz.de

Assange: Facebook, Google, Yahoo spying tools for US intelligence

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 09 May 2011 09:20:38 +0000

The man behind WikiLeaks says his website's revelations are just the tip of the iceberg. In an interview, Julian Assange said it is only a matter of time before more damaging information becomes known. "It's not a matter of serving a subpoena, they have an interface they have developed for US Intelligence to use. Now, is the case that Facebook is run by US Intelligence? No, it's not like that. It's simply that US Intelligence is able to bring to bear legal and political pressure to them."