Welcome to the 64th episode of the Mediatwits podcast, with Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali as co-hosts. We’re back from the Turkey Day break and there’s more news than ever: Jeff Zucker takes the reins at CNN; Marissa Mayer is leading a renaissance at Yahoo; and Facebook is shifting its privacy rules — again. But the biggest story is the release of the Leveson Inquiry’s massive report after nine months of testimony, considering new press regulation in the U.K. after the phone-hacking scandal. We talk to MediaShift correspondent Tristan Stewart-Robertson, who says that the Inquiry only wants regulation of mainstream press and is not considering blogging or the rising digital media in Britain.
Plus, we’ve been wowed by a new mashup called The Beat, taking photos from Instagram and placing them where they were taken with Google Earth images. It’s striking to look at hashtags such as #sandy or #drunk. While it’s a fascinating way to give context to Instragram photos, it also brings up privacy issues. Are people sharing too much on photo-sharing sites about their locations? We talk to Rutgers’ Mor Naaman and Abe Stanway about their project.
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Guest Bios
Tristan Stewart-Robertson is a freelance writer based in Glasgow, Scotland, operating as the W5 Press Agency. He has done some work for News International papers such as News of the World and The Sun. He contributes to PBS MediaShift on U.K. issues.
Mor Naaman is the co-founder and CTO of Mahaya, a platform to organize the social media generated in all the world’s events. He is an assistant professor (currently on leave) at the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, where he runs the Social Media Information Lab.
Abe Stanway is a software engineer at Etsy. Previously, he studied Philosophy and Computer Science at Rutgers. He tweets @abestanway and writes love letters to the Internet here.
Highlights from the Show
Intro
1:00: Mark gets addicted to Instagram… finally
2:30: Facebook changes its privacy rules again, adds more mobile ads
4:10: Zucker in at CNN; Yahoo moves away from media business
5:30: Rundown of topics on show
Regulation coming in wake of Leveson report?
6:30: Special guest Tristan Stewart-Robertson
8:40: Tristan: Report is 20 years too late, doesn’t focus on digital press, blogs at all
11:40: Tristan: Self-regulation regime needs to be revamped
13:10: Many U.K. newspapers are pushing digital initiatives
15:00: Prime Minister David Cameron in a pickle
16:40: Couldn’t British publications move overseas if regulation is too strong?
18:20: Tristan: All U.K. journalists shouldn’t be stained by scandal
Mashup of Instagram, Google Earth
19:10: Special guests Mor Naaman and Abe Stanway
21:00: Naaman: Project set up to find out differences between cities in lifestyle
23:40: Stanway: Originally set up with Twitter, but the API was too limited so we went with Instagram
25:45: Naaman: I worked at Yahoo and Flickr was using a lot of geo-location data
28:20: Can The Beat be used by stalkers? Stanway says fears are unfounded
30:00: Naaman: We are concerned about privacy, and think people should think before they post
More Reading
British Press Needs New Regulator, Report Says at NY Times
What you need to know about the just-published Leveson report on phone hacking, press regulation at Poynter
Leveson report published – live coverage at the Guardian
Video: Nick Davies on what the Leveson report means for press regulation at the Guardian
Leveson Inquiry could become one of David Cameron’s greatest regrets at The Independent
The Beat at Rutgers’ Social Media Information Lab
What Happens When You Mash Up Instagram and Google Street View? at The Atlantic
Mug Me Please: Rutgers Mashes Up Instagram and Google Street View at Beta Beat
Instagram and Street View mashup reveals who’s smoking weed and where at The Verve
Jeff Zucker named CNN president at Washington Post
Could Yahoo’s move away from media be AOL’s big chance? at CNET
Poll
Be sure to vote in our weekly poll, this time about what you think about regulating the press in Britain:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian and fiancee Renee. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit. and Circle him on Google+
