Newsdesk.org needs your help now!

Tue Dec 5 13:23:38 PST 2006

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           Newsdesk.org 2006 Fund Drive
           Funds raised so far: $0   //   Goal:  $2,000
           People on List:  1,695   //   Weeks left:  3

           Donate online: http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/

           * Full details on making a tax-deductible
              donation are at the end of this email. *
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December 5, 2006

Dear Friends of Newsdesk.org;

The results are in for our fourth annual reader survey! A remarkable 
97 percent of you said that News You Might Have Missed is living up 
to its name, and 90 percent said Newsdesk.org is filling a need unmet 
by commercial media.

We asked why you subscribe to NYMHM, and got a flood of glowing 
feedback. Here's a sample of the more than 60 personal comments you 
filed with us:

      -- "To track news I never hear about in other media."
      -- "I like the variety of sources and topics."
      -- "Because I value the information you provide."
      -- "Nothing else out there like this."

A TRULY INDEPENDENT SOURCE
Can it be true? In a world of titanic Internet news search engines, 
is there really nothing else out there like NYMHM? What makes us so 
different ... and better?

In fact, a recent study finds that the world is relying on fewer and 
fewer sources for news. Even Google News provides only the "illusion" 
of diversity, the study found, relying primarily on the Associated 
Press, Reuters and a few other major sources. (See below for details.)

As usual, Newsdesk.org is bucking the trend. A typical, "handmade" 
edition of NYMHM cites no less than 13 distinct international news 
sources -- and finds the common threads that make those diverse 
stories relevant no matter where you live.

YOU CAN HELP
We've been publishing News You Might Have Missed every Wednesday 
since February 2002. Our budget is less than $10,000 a year. But now 
we need your help. There's a lot of news out there you're not 
getting. And it's clear that you can't count on the big guys to 
deliver it.

Your donations of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more will keep Newsdesk.org 
alive in 2007 -- and help us grow. Details on how to make a 
tax-deductible donation are at the end of this email -- or just click 
through to our secure online donor page:

      Newsdesk.org Donor Page
      http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/

All donations are handled by our sponsor, Independent Arts & Media, a 
nonprofit group that advances public dialogue by increasing access to 
independent voices.

Below, you'll also find a link to the study on news source diversity, 
as well as a summary of its findings. And in the next few weeks we'll 
update you on our fundraising efforts, and provide you with more food 
for thought about the state of news media in America today.

Thanks so much for your support of nonprofit, commercial-free journalism!

Sincerely,

Josh, Julia, Scott, David, Michael, Virgil
... and the whole Newsdesk.org team

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Excerpts from: "News Agency Dominance in International News on the Internet"
By Chris Paterson, University of Leeds

[NOTE: Paterson, a professor of media studies at the University of 
Leeds, is also a Newsdesk.org adviser (he began this research long 
before he ever heard of us, however). Contrary to expectations and 
industry hype, Paterson has found that information diversity and 
sourcing for international news online is actually *declining*.]

Full Study: "News Agency Dominance in International News on the Internet"
     http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/cicr/exhibits/42/cicrpaterson.pdf

Article on Study: "Beyond the Wire"
     The Listener (New Zealand), Aug,/Sept. 2006
     http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3459/features/6883/beyond_the_wire.html

** SUMMARY OF FINDINGS **

= ON AGGREGATORS
     "This period has seen the emergence of the news aggregation
     industry and with it a somewhat disguised reliance on a surprisingly
     limited set of news organizations, even as that industry offers
     news consumers the illusion of information diversity and an
     endless range of perspectives."

= ON DIVERSITY OF SOURCES & INFORMATION
     "The Pew researchers argued, 'News organizations have made
     news sites more attractive and rich with content in recent years.'
     This paper counters that analyses of this sort are falling for a
     conjurer's trick - being duped by more brand labels on the
     same very limited news content."

= THE INTERNET AS "OLD MEDIA"
     "The Internet has fully transitioned into what we have traditionally
     regarded as 'old media:' it is now, for most users, a mass medium
     providing mostly illusory interactivity and mostly illusory diversity.
     It is becoming a substantially tailored mass media product through
     the personalization of information delivery, but these phenomena
     make it no less a form of mass media than would the insertion of
     targeting advertising into a magazine delivered to someone's home.
     Because resources are being devoted to endless distribution and
     redistribution, Internet journalism will continue to grow thinner.
     Given the massive explosion of distribution, there is surprisingly little
     new original journalism within the mainstream (mass audience)
     worldwide web."

= POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
     "Predictions are dangerous, but it is not unreasonable to suppose
     in the near term that the online news industry will try still harder to
     disguise its dependence on limited sources through cosmetic changes,
     the additional of minor editorial adjustments to agency stories (by
     machine and human), and the addition of further bells and whistles
     at news sites. They seek to distract readers from the essential
    problem. But in the longer term the industry must invest in more
     original reporting as an alternative to the few genuinely international
     news organizations now on offer, and give more prominence to
     buying, and properly translating, original non-English language
     reporting from around the world. Without such change, new media
     will continue to present to most users the dangerous illusion of
     multiple perspectives which actually emanate from very few sources."

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HERE'S HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NEWSDESK.ORG IN 2007

          Newsdesk.org 2006 Fund Drive
           Funds raised so far: $0   //   Goal:  $2,000
           People on List:  1,695   //   Weeks left:  3

           Recommended donations: $25, $50, $100, $500 or more.

           Donate online: http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/

           Snail Mail (checks only!): Independent Arts & Media
           PMB 821 * 601 Van Ness Ave., Ste. E * SF, CA 94102

           * All donations are tax-deductible. *
           * Thank you for your generous support! *
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