This page is part of Julian
Sher's guide, "JournalismNet" . Please send
any additions or criticisms to jsher
at journalismnet.com.
*Pick of the Week for December 28: The Year in Review: A dreadful journalistic
tradition, but you can suffer it again by reading Macleans
magazine's round up of the year in Canada and try CNN's annual review for
world and American stories. Better still, go out and celebrate with
friends!
*Pick of the Week for December 21: Greeting Cards: My annual holiday pick.
Even journalists have to take holidays -- and what better way to show
your appreciation to that Deep Throat source, that helpful flack or
your other loved ones: Send them an electronic greeting cards for
Christmas, Hanukah or any other reason. These cards move, sing,
and talk -- and you can even add your own message and names.
*
Pick of the Week for Sunday, December 14, 1997:
Ecola Newstand
An updated interactive guide to Web sites of newspapers
and magazines worldwide, using human editors to limit the directory
to qualifying links. Currently over 5,300 publications are listed,
including 1,900 English-language newspapers. Plus a guide to free
newspaper archive searches
*
Pick of the Week for Sunday, December 7, 1997:
Canada's SEDAR Online
A comprehensive resource about Canada's publicly-listed companies,
the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval provides
user-friendly access to public financial information
*
Pick of the Week for Sunday, November 30, 1997:
News Library
Search the archives of 25 American papers belonging to the Knight-Ridder
chain -- including a few major ones such as the Miami Herald and the
Philadelphia Inquirer -- for free and retrieve the article you want
for a small fee.
*
Pick of the Week for Sunday, November 23, 1997:
Northern Lights
The newest kid on the block when it comes to search engines, and
one of the best, with folders to organize your search and Special
Collections. My favourite after Alta Vista ... this newcomer
will blow away the competition.
* CAR -- Number
crunching enlivens story In a nine part series entitled
"Time Passages",
the Halifax Herald vividly
portrays the changing face of the province of Nova Scotia. New
media editor Paul Schneidereit led the team that used Computer
Assisted Reporting to crunch Stats Can census figures from 1951-1996
to figure out what was happening -- and then relied on solid journalism
to begin to figure out why.
*Special
Pick of the Week for Monday, November 10, 1997
Woodward decision
on the web In a precedent-setting move, the Massachusetts
judge presiding over the trial of a British nanny found guilty
of second degree murder of a child in her care, released his
surprise decision on the web Monday. He sentenced Louise Woodward
to time served and set her free. These sites -- CNN, Lawyers
Weekly, Associated
Press -- promised live coverage, but be warned, the traffic
was extremely heavy. The decision was expected to be online
in the morning but CNN reported that the court's Internet service
provider was down and there would be a delay until the afternoon ...
Isn't nice to know you're not the only one with crummy internet service?
By the end of the day, the full text of the
judge's decision was available.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, November 9, 1997
Public Agenda A nonpartisan,
nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization
based in New York that tries to explore major issues in the
U.S. covered by journalists -- including health care, reform,
national security, AIDS, crime, economic competitiveness and the environment.
Press releases and background materials available online, though there
is a fee to order documents.
*Pick of the
Week for Sunday, November 2, 1997 What day is it
Today was Marathon Day in New York City -- I know because I ran it!
But if you're travelling, or doing research, or hosting a radio show
and you want to know what national, religious or cultural holidays
are being celebrated around the world on any specific day, check this
site. For example, Nov. 2 was also Memorial Day in Belarus.
[For those journalists who are also serious runners, check out various
running sites -- CoolRunning , Runners World , and my favourite group,
The Dead Runners Society
. ]
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, October 26, 1997
Booknotes If you like reading as much
as I do, you can get transcripts of the authors interviewed on CSPAN's
"Booknotes" program, plus listen to the interviews in RealAudio.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, October 19, 1997
Megastories Two experienced British
journalists turn their talents to online reporting with a creative
site that combines traditional reporting with web wonders. Background
and features on major international stories. Check it out if
you are ever considering leaving the old journalism for the new.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, October 12, 1997
The Cassini Saturn Controversy
NASA's nuclear-power probe to Saturn -- scheduled for blast of this
week -- is causing an explosion of debate here on earth. The
best source to keep track of the issue (and many other space questions)
is Florida
Today -- Debating the Risks; you can also check out NASA's own
version on their Cassini page.
*Pick of the
Week for Sunday, October 5, 1997 Freedom of Information Project
A research project to assess the condition of access to information
or freedom of information (FOI) legislation in Canada conducted by
the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University. They want
as much input from journalists as possible. A final report will be
available through this site in May 1998.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, September 28, 1997
Committee of Concerned Journalists
American journalists are going through a period of reflection (begun
before the Lady Diana debacle) about the whys and wherefores of journalism,
led by the Committee of Concerned Journalists. You can check
out the call to arms issued by leading journalism thinkers.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, September 21, 1997
Strategis -- Tracking Corporate Canada
Canada's federal government has set up a useful site with free information
on tens of thousands of companies in the country, complete with
a search engine and other links.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, September 14, 1997
Using CAR to track the
FBI An investigative team from The
Nation magazine used data tapes containing detailed information
of FBI activities obtained under the Freedom of Information
Act by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) to analyze
everyhting from FBI success rates to its biases. A great example
of computer-assisted-reporting, and using a Web version of your magazine
to provide more detailed tables and background.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, September 7, 1997
Keeping Tabs on the Tabloids The
debate stills rages over the role the tabloids played in the death
of Lady Diana. You can check out a brief summary -- with photos
-- of what's making news in the British tabs at this site. For
regular criticism of the American mainstream press from a left-wing
perspective, check out a daily radio show called CounterSpin
or a more dated web page maintained by FAIR
.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, August 31, 1997 -- The Death of Princess Di:
The Guardian
The tragedy of Princess Diana has caused a media fervour. Check
out one of the better London papers for a pulse of the nation. They
also have a special Diana section with pictures
and tributes. The
Sunday Times also provides excellent British coverage and
allows you to build a Personal Times with your news preferences.
One of the best web papers in England is The Daily Telegraph which has a searchable
archive going back four years. On the other side of the ocean, the
New York Times
provides an index of all its Diana coverage -- but you have to have
a web subscription.
*Pick of the
Week for Sunday, August 24, 1997: The smoking Gun Two reporters
have put all kinds of revealing documents on line -- everything secret
memos on the Kennedy assasination and modern-day scandals. They
site authors say they are "using material obtained from government
and law enforcement sources, via Freedom of Information requests,
and from court files nationwide, we guarantee everything here
is 100% authentic. The Smoking Gun is a Pierre Salinger-free zone."
The site may not help you on a current story. but seeing the actual
documents is neat.
August 24 is also the birthday of my 14 year old son, so if you
have teenagers fascinated by Star Trek, Magic Cards, and computer
games, check out Daniel's home page.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, August 17, 1997:
Crayon CReAte Your Own Newspaper,
get it? CRAYON is simply one of the best of the personalized
news services . You can custom build your own newspaper
-- even give it your own title -- by choosing from a wide array of
world, national and local news sources. Hey, you can even pick
your favourite comic strips. A marvelous display of making the
Web work for you.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, August 10, 1997:
Dogpile Don't be turned off by its
name. One of newest search engines, it is amazingly fast and
complete. My preference is still for Alta
Vista but Dogpile allows you to search Alta Vista and choose
your other favourite search tools.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, August 3, 1997:
CIA Factbook
I know what you're thinking -- journalists relying on the CIA for
facts appears foolhardy. But the good folks at Langley put together
an annual review of the countries of the world with excellent background
material on everything from GNP to languages. And no, the names
of the CIA officers posted in each country are not included.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, July 27, 1997: Canadian Statistics on-line Want to find
out what Canadian numbers are available online? This page has
links divided in two groups (social statistics & economic/environmental
statistics). Currently only federal government department websites
are indexed but the site will grow to included non-government statistics
sources. Produced by GDSourcing.
*Pick of the
Week for Sunday, July 20, 1997: Canadian Information By Subject
As part of the National Library's World Wide Web service, this site
provides links to 1,400 Internet sites that offer information about
Canada. Sites are arranged by subject for ease of access by Internet
users in Canada and around the world. A very convenient way to browse;
it may not be complete but it is a fast start for your research. easy
access.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, July 13, 1997: WebSeer
Finding the right picture can be vital for TV journalists and
print people as well. But searching for pictures on the web can be
tough. This new image search engine developed at the University of
Chicago allows you to hunt for Web images sing words describing the
contents of the image or by specifying characteristics of the image.The
current database contains over three million images and is growing
continuously.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, July 6, 1997: Private
Eyes Sometimes all your snooping isn't enough. If you need a reputable
private investigator for everything from skip tracing to stakeouts,
this site lets you search by state or country. Canadian listings too.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, June 29, 1997: Canada Day -
July 1 Yahoo! Canada has put together a fun site to mark Canada's
national holiday -- some of the best historical and government sites.
Plus music ... and even David Letterman's Top Ten Canadian Complaints
about America
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, June 22, 1997: Dean Tudor's CAR Page An
extremely useful resource from Dean Tudor of Canada's Ryerson College.
Plus check out Dean's gateway page with some of most complete listings
of Canadian and international sites for journalists.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, June 15 , 1997: Andy Riga's Internet Lessons
A journalist from the Montreal Gazette newspaper has put up an excellent
internet primer which takes you through the basics of using and searching
the net. Use it and learn!
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, June 8 , 1997: NewsCentral One of the best
ways to find a newspaper on the web -- anywhere in the world. Offers
links to 2,700 newspaper websites around the world. The site has its
own search table, or you can look at papers by country and continent.
It lists 146 Canadian papers at last count
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, June 1 , 1997: CBC's
Election Page promises to best live coverage for election night
Monday June 2. Check out CBC
Radio for live RealAudio coverage. For more election sites, including
all the major parties, see my Election '97 page.
*Pick
of the Week for Sunday, May 25, 1997: Anita Cannon's
Canadian list Anita Cannon's great list of Canadian sites available
on an American-dominated web is by far your best bet to start finding
Canadian content. For more tips on searching for Canadian tips check my Canadian government
page.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, May 18, 1997: convention website and its Media magazine
*Pick of
the Week for Mothers' Day, Sunday, May 11, 1997:
Women's Wire Sort of a Ms. magazine
online. Honour your mother by reading up on feminism. And if you forgot,
send your mom some real flowers, e-mail her some Virtual Flowers or an animated greeting card .
*Pick
of the Week for Sunday, May 4 , 1997: Web
Buddy One of my favourite web tools. What's a journalist to do
with all the files and data you find online? Web Buddy allows to quickly
download and file your web pages into file folders you have created.
Web Buddy attaches to your browser. Then, when you find a site or
page you want to save for future reference, click and it saves it
-- even with some of the hot links if you want. It even barks when
it's finished!
*Pick
of the Week for Sunday, April 27, 1997: CBC's
Election Page Prime Minister Jean Chretien today announced Canadians
go to polls June 2. keep up to date with complete election coverage
-- with live audio and video clips -- at this excellent CBC page.
For more election sites, including all the major parties, see my Election
'97 page.
*Pick of
the Week for Sunday, April 20, 1997: Healthgate
For health journalists -- or just unhealthy journalists worried about
their degrading bodies -- a useful medical information site. its particular
strength are the quick and advanced searches available of Medline,
plus CancerLit and AIDS databases.
*Pick
of the Week for Sunday, April 13, 1997: Headliner
News Ticker One of many new "push" technologies that
allow you to select various news, entertainment and sports sources
and then have them scroll on the bottom of your screen as headlines.
Just click on the ones that catch your eyes. Easy to configure and
easier to control than Pointcast. Click here as well for a
list of other personalized news services
*Pick
of the Week for Sunday, April 6, 1997: Canadian
Database of Databases An exciting project by Ryerson's School
of Journalism -- a list of available databases in Canada... to help
Canada's fledging CAR industry ... the computer assisted reporting
business, not the automobile trade.
*Pick
of the Week for Easter Sunday, March 30 1997: The
Vatican You know the Internet has come of age when the Pope himself
goes online. A beautiful site -- still under construction -- where
you can visit the museums, check out the news services and read a
"Greeting from the Holy Father to Internet users" ... in
53 languages. No online confession booth, yet. Vatican Radio also broadcasts
in RealAudio in several languages. The Vatican site is powered by
three computers ... named after angels ... because, as one church
spokeswoman put it, why leave anything to chance?
*Pick
of the Week for March 24, 1997: Launchboard
A neat piece of software for the busy journalist -- just click
one key and you go to our favourite newspaper, news source or web
site. Launchboard -- for under $30 -- allows you to program a dozen
keys on your keyboard. A great timesaver.
*Pick
of the Week for March 16, 1997: New
York Times Book Review Searchable archive of over 50,000 book
reviews, author interviews, and book news articles from the newspaper
since 1980 ... not to mention the full text of the weekly Book Review
... and even first chapters from bestseller list books. Just a treat
for book buffs!! Snuggle up to your computer and enjoy. (You have
to be an online subscriber to the Times.)
*Pick
of the Week for March 9, 1997: The
London Times The venerable British newspaper
goes online, with an option to "personalize" your own front
page for the world, business and cultural news you want.
*Pick
of the Week for March 2, 1997: New York Times --
Cyber TimesThe Times is not only a good source of the usual international
news and views. Its internet coverage is insightful and often fun.
*Pick
of the Week for February 23, 1997: Pointcast
Canada The most popular of the many new automatic News Services
that keep you in touch with the news you choose. An
American version is also available.
*Pick
of the Week for February 16, 1997: NewsTracker
An excellent free service from the Excite Search engine. Instead
of hunting through all web pages, it retrieves only news stories from
major papers and magazines. By keyword -- or you can even create your
own permanent story topics. A joy to use for journalists!
*Pick
of the week for February 9, 1997: Valentine
Day's Flowers Why not send a bouquet of flowers to your favourite
source, copy editor or colleague. Virtual flowers (they're quite pretty)
are free. You can also send real ones ... for a price.
* Pick
of the Week for January 26, 1997: Washington
Post One of my favourite newspapers online. Not only all the great
articles you find in the dead tree version, but good links to other
resources down left-hand side of many of their major stories. And
check out their "Search the world" section for info and
web resources on every country.
*Pick
of the Week for January 19, 1997: CNN
Still one of the best TV and news sites on the Web, with good
links, easy layout ... and be sure to check out the fabulous video
vault.
*Pick
of the Week for January 12, 1997: Hot
News / Hot Research Nora Paul of the Poynter
Institute selects a current hot media story and gives you excellent
web resources. Plus an wonderful archive of previous top stories.
Always a good place to start your search for background material on
a story.
*Pick
of the Week for January 5, 1997: World
Public Radio Listen to the best in international public radio
with this collection of broadcasters from around the world.Everything
from Radio Moscow to Vatican Radio.
*Pick of
the Week for December 29: AJR's
Best Newspapers on the Web Start the New Year off right with the
best international papers on the Web, as selected by the American
Journalism review. Plus links to excellent resources for journalists.
*Pick of
the Week for December 22: Greeting
Cards: Even journalists have to take holidays -- and what
better way to show your appreciation to that Deep Throat source, that
helpful flack or your other loved ones: Send them an electronic greeting
cards. These cards move, sing, and talk -- and you can even
add your own message and names.
*Pick of
the Week for December 15: The
Online NewsHour is an excellent website for the PBS NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer. It has a comprehensive archive with every NewsHour transcript
going back to October 1995, a fine search engine and pleasing graphics.
*Pick of
The Week for December 7: COURT
TV A very well-organized site with good search facilties and an
excellent library -- for example, with many of the key cases pending
against the tobacco companies. Plus check the COURT TV CASEFILES which feature
transcripts from the Oklahoma bombing hearings, the Unabomber trial,
war crimes hearings ... and, of course, O.J.
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