Publisher's Platform

Wikileaks released another report yesterday.  It reveals a lot about who pulls the strings internationally, (who knew King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was such a player?), and how they really talk and think.

Uncloaking state secrets in a manner unprecedented up until now, Wikileaks documents shine a light into how states operate and makes it unlikely that diplomats and national leaders will ever feel that they can operate in secret again.

No more backroom deals.  No more presenting one face to the public and another where the decisions happen.  No more lies protected by a cloak of silence.

Altering the world more radically than Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia combined, Wikileaks now leads the way in both safeguarding the future and potentially throwing it into peril.

Some bloggers recently have been debating what, if any, ethics the Weblog community should follow, Cyberjournalist.net says. It's worth thinking about,  particularly if you are interested in getting beyond the average, with your writing online, and really serving the public interest.  Cyberjournalist says:

Since not all bloggers are journalists and the Weblog form is more casual, they argue they shouldn't be expected to follow the same ethics codes journalists are. But responsible bloggers should recognize that they are publishing words publicly, and therefore have certain ethical obligations to their readers, the people they write about, and society in general.

For Glenn Beck, spawning lies about the left  is a $32 million business. He's a dark entertainer who knows how to froth up an audience and Fox News pays him a king's ransom to do so.  But for Byron Williams, a mentally unstable man, Beck's right wing rhetoric about the "evils" of two progressive organizations sounded like fact. Later he would tell police he wanted a revolution.  The kind Beck was talking about on his show.  To this end, Williams set out with a car full of weapons and went to shoot  the leaders  of the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.)  Police stopped him in Oakland for speeding. 

What if they hadn't?

Canadian Online Publishing Awards finalists for the 2010 competition were announced today and the Vancouver Observer is a finalist in three categories.  VO is competing against CBC.ca for  "Best article" for our "Lost Canadian" series and "Best Overall Website" online only award.  VO is competing against four publications for "Best Website design," including Toronto 18, owned by The Toronto Star,  Southwest Booster, owned by Transcontinental Media,  Missassuaga.com, owned by  Metroland Media Group, and Cyberpress.ca, owned by Cyberpress.  VO's "Lost Canadian" series is being considered for "Best article."

Among judges were online media directors from New York Magazine and Esquire Magazine.  The same judges will make final selections, which will be announced at an awards ceremony in Toronto in late October.