Discussion Notes

Time to talk, post speeches--Let's see what the audience--and the speakers--have to say:
The panelists are discussing trust and reputation; Dan Gillmor and Joi Ito are describing how bloggers can build up trust and reputation over time, and that bloggers can--in particular circumstances--be (alm olst) as credible as mainstream media.
Krishna Bharat says that he believes in the need to rely on people "on the street, on the scene--you have to take your facts where they come from, and in ways that give you a fresh perspective."

Audience comments:
A Nigerian delegate asks about the emphasis of speed in posting--if bloggers post so quickly to the web, how can they cross-check their stories and get their facts right? Especially if they don't get paid? How can they afford to be accurate?
Nachison: This question applies equally well to mainstream media, where mistakes are published and corrected every day...this is a universal question.
Joi says: My main thing is fear--when I POST 100,000 people see it--when I make a mistake, people shred me to bits. I correct myself, and have a need to check--and `I find myself quite boring." (Susan: There, he finally said it!)
OH, Oh my new says: Articles are checked on staff, especially if they are sensitive. When our citizen journalists write they use their real names and they check themselves because their reputations are at stake as well.
Sussman: In the US, there are rules that indemnify publishers from operating forums that are platforms for free discussion, so I run open comments on my site for everyhthing but obscentity.
A Turkish journalist explains how carefully her newspaper builds their front page and says that Google News turns news stories into the equivalent of wire services because it takes their stories and builds its own front page.
Bharat respnds that Google News is not a newspaper and that it doesn't want to be one--it's a "neutral intermediary."
He restates his comments on the aggregation process, but the journalist's question is an acute one--whether Google means to build a page or not, they are making up a new front page--actually every 5 minutes.
A Chilean editor has a question for Google's Bharat--Aren't you acting as an editor when you arrange the clusters? Also, you say you want to be equal in your selection of news, but what sources do you include and what do you leave out?
Discussion gently rages...
(More in next post)