Challenging traditional journalism

Updated on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 11:00 PM by Logan Molen

"Rebooting the News" is among the better-known podcasts devoted to the convergence of journalism, technology and the reshaping of communication.

I listen weekly, but it's a love-hate affair. Hosts Jay Rosen and Dave Winer can be variously intriguing and grating throughout a 45-minute podcast. Rosen is a journalism professor at NYU and Winer is a programmer best known as editor of Scripting News.

They're intriguing because they bring fresh thinking to journalism and communication. But they can be incredibly ignorant of basic business requirements to fund or maintain even bare-bones journalism efforts so the concept of "rebooting the news" sometimes comes across as a hollow promise. And for people highlighting new forms of communication, they've made absolutely no effort to figure out how to control audio levels after 66 episodes (I'm constantly adjusting the volume control because their levels are rarely in sync).

But to the good news:

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Listening vs. hearing

I've been thinking a lot recently about how the brain can absorb what seems like endless streams of information in this age of 24-7, particularly sound, so I found Julian Treasure's TED presentation on hearing fascinating.

That's in part because it's my business to figure how to deliver news and information to busy people who more than ever need filters on that media faucet. But there's also some selfish interest at play.

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Selling pop culture one chapter at a time

Gonzo pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman has stumbled into a new way to redistribute his books: One chapter at a time using an iTunes-like model of charging 99 cents a pop.

I say stumbled because on this Soundcheck interview (stream above), Klosterman doesn't even know where people can download his work using this new model.

I had to find out by searching Google, finally landing at a "Chuck Klosterman eCollection" page on the Simon and Schuster website.

Once there, the site is easy to use, with bright colors and clear titles enticing one to buy. If you're familiar with Klosterman's books, you know he has the attention span of, well, me. Which means he hops from subject to subject, with book topics running the gamut from Britney Spears to Lakers basketball. Thankfully, in addition to being able to buy e-book chapters ala carte, he sells $7.99 bundles of columns package by topics like sports, rock, pop, media and culture.

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