When the Government Comes Knocking, Who Has Your Back?

Do newspaper editors know what an Internet is?

Reblogged from felixsalmon with 86 notes / Internet Journalism Opinion 

futurejournalismproject: Finding a digital poverty line According to a new study by American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop, there is a new (or at least under-thought) difference between the rich and the poor in the United States. Having analyzed data from all fifty states and D.C., the group shows that areas with relatively low household incomes have low broadband subscription percentages, too. No duh, you say? Well, read on to the implications: Access to broadband has become critical for anyone to keep up in American society. Finding and applying for jobs often takes place entirely online. Students receive assignments via email. Basic government services are routinely offered online. The lack of a broadband connection puts people at a profound disadvantage. According to the article, which drew information from data collected circa 2008-2010, wealthier households subscribe to broadband at a rate of 80% to 100%, while lower income homes are closer to 40% to 60%. A broadband connection, which clocks in at or above 96 kb/s while downloading, is most widely purchased in the country’s wealthy Northeast (and Hawaii, but they think it may be all the vacation homes), with Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut being the country’s most heavily subscribed metro area. The states with the lowest subscription rates by household are, from the bottom, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. Of those, Mississippi holds the title of both poorest state and least connected, with a median household income of $36,850 and only 38 broadband subscriptions per 100 households. By household income, Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia follow directly behind it, according to the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. FJP: Is it just a coincidence? Probably not… It’s not a rural problem, they say — Alaska’s subscriptions have gone up 15% recently. Montana and South Dakota have also gone up. The West, too, showed rapid growth through 2010. This contrasts with the South, which the report singles out as the least prosperous, least connected region in the country. Furthermore, when looking Bridgeport, CT, the group found their “poverty divide” looked like a rainbow from the city center to its outer suburbs. Using an interactive map created by the workshop, anyone can see their community’s broadband use, and Bridgeport’s is probably the most damning: The Bridgeport MSA also ranks No. 1 when it comes to the unequal distribution of wealth, according to a Stanford University study that looked at income segregation in American cities. That gap is reflected in the broadband map. The urban core of the city suffers from biting poverty and low rates of broadband subscribership, while the outer suburbs show sky-high incomes and correspondingly high rates of broadband subscribership. The report also confronts why poor areas don’t have fast internet, and the answer is perhaps all too obvious — it’s too expensive. But there are a few more considerations, too: There are cultural issues. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to subscribe. Whites subscribe at higher rates than blacks and Hispanics. And senior citizens subscribe at lower rates than young people. That doesn’t mean the poor or less fortunate don’t find a way online, though. Take the country’s least connected metro area — McAllen, Texas, which is just five miles from Mexico. The report states: In McAllen, the library is often where people go to connect. “Our computer lab and free Internet services are probably the largest draw into the building, said Jose A. Gamez, director of McAllen’s public libraries. “We’re adding about 50 more computers because of the demand.” The low home-subscription rate in the city is no mystery. ”Hidalgo County is one of the poorest counties in the country so a lot of people here just can’t afford their own computers or the broadband connection,” he said. And for the record, Maine fell 2% recently. Wonder why?

futurejournalismproject:

Finding a digital poverty line

According to a new study by American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop, there is a new (or at least under-thought) difference between the rich and the poor in the United States.

Having analyzed data from all fifty states and D.C., the group shows that areas with relatively low household incomes have low broadband subscription percentages, too. No duh, you say? Well, read on to the implications:

Access to broadband has become critical for anyone to keep up in American society. Finding and applying for jobs often takes place entirely online. Students receive assignments via email. Basic government services are routinely offered online.

The lack of a broadband connection puts people at a profound disadvantage.

According to the article, which drew information from data collected circa 2008-2010, wealthier households subscribe to broadband at a rate of 80% to 100%, while lower income homes are closer to 40% to 60%.

A broadband connection, which clocks in at or above 96 kb/s while downloading, is most widely purchased in the country’s wealthy Northeast (and Hawaii, but they think it may be all the vacation homes), with Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut being the country’s most heavily subscribed metro area.

The states with the lowest subscription rates by household are, from the bottom, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. Of those, Mississippi holds the title of both poorest state and least connected, with a median household income of $36,850 and only 38 broadband subscriptions per 100 households.

By household income, Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia follow directly behind it, according to the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

FJP: Is it just a coincidence? Probably not…

It’s not a rural problem, they say — Alaska’s subscriptions have gone up 15% recently. Montana and South Dakota have also gone up. The West, too, showed rapid growth through 2010. This contrasts with the South, which the report singles out as the least prosperous, least connected region in the country.

Furthermore, when looking Bridgeport, CT, the group found their “poverty divide” looked like a rainbow from the city center to its outer suburbs. Using an interactive map created by the workshop, anyone can see their community’s broadband use, and Bridgeport’s is probably the most damning:

The Bridgeport MSA also ranks No. 1 when it comes to the unequal distribution of wealth, according to a Stanford University study that looked at income segregation in American cities.

That gap is reflected in the broadband map. The urban core of the city suffers from biting poverty and low rates of broadband subscribership, while the outer suburbs show sky-high incomes and correspondingly high rates of broadband subscribership.

The report also confronts why poor areas don’t have fast internet, and the answer is perhaps all too obvious — it’s too expensive.

But there are a few more considerations, too:

There are cultural issues. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to subscribe. Whites subscribe at higher rates than blacks and Hispanics. And senior citizens subscribe at lower rates than young people.

That doesn’t mean the poor or less fortunate don’t find a way online, though. Take the country’s least connected metro area — McAllen, Texas, which is just five miles from Mexico. The report states:

In McAllen, the library is often where people go to connect. “Our computer lab and free Internet services are probably the largest draw into the building, said Jose A. Gamez, director of McAllen’s public libraries. “We’re adding about 50 more computers because of the demand.”

The low home-subscription rate in the city is no mystery. ”Hidalgo County is one of the poorest counties in the country so a lot of people here just can’t afford their own computers or the broadband connection,” he said.

And for the record, Maine fell 2% recently. Wonder why?

There is misinformation circulating about this situation: It started with this Feb. 23 post on the Future Ex Banker blog (now MIA).  It landed on The Huffington Post — of course! — the next day.

There is misinformation circulating about this situation:

It started with this Feb. 23 post on the Future Ex Banker blog (now MIA).  It landed on The Huffington Post — of course! — the next day.
Co-signed.

Co-signed.

Reblogged from fimoculous with 23 notes / Opinion Internet 

In a recent jobs posting, Tumblr advertised for in-house editorial staff who would be responsible for both creating original content and promoting interesting blog posts created by the service’s massive user base. The advertisement, which called for staff to help “tell the stories of the millions of creative Tumblr users to the world,” was later taken offline. Tumblr’s Mark Coatney tells Fast Company that while “80 to 90% of Tumblr’s new hires will be developers,” paid editors would be used to help cherrypick interesting content and develop original stories.

Tumblr In 2012: More Original Content, Less Fuck Yeah Memes

(via fastcompany)

I’m your man.

Reblogged from fastcompany with 277 notes / Tumblr Internet Business 

Kickstarter - 2011: The Stats

2011 was a year of milestones. In April we celebrated our second birthday by announcing $50 million in pledges. In July we reached 10,000 successfully funded projects. And in October we reached $100 million in pledges and had our one millionth backer. It was an eventful year. Let’s look at some statistics for 2011…

Fire in the Library

givemesomethingtoread:

Once, we stored our photos and other mementos in shoeboxes in the attic; now we keep them online. That puts our stuff at the mercy of companies that could decide to throw it away—unless Jason Scott and the Archive Team can get there first. 

If Congress is complaining that they don’t know about something that you care about, the right answer isn’t to tell them to go get educated. The right answer is to educate them. Congress mentioned the word “biologics” 75 times in a month because a lobbyist spent a long time doing their job: educating members of Congress on the needs of its industry. Right now, if you want effective legislation around your industry, then you need to pay the right lobbyists, make the right campaign contributions, and write the right legislation at the right time in order to get it out of Washington. If you had to objectively pick the winning team in Washington, pick the team with deep pockets and great lobbyists, not the team with community organizers and signed petitions. It’s a gross system that needs change. It’s a cancer on our democracy.

Dear Internet: It’s No Longer OK to Not Know How Congress Works

(via joshsternberg)

Another Near $6 Billion Dollar Week for Online Holiday Sales

bylinebeat:

For the second consecutive week online sales hit the $5.9 billion mark and saw growth rates remain in line with the season-to-date at 15-percent, reports comScore, which measures digital data.

In addition, the most recent week (ending December 9) had three days surpassing $1 billion in sales, the Reston, Va.-based company reports. For the holiday season-to-date, six individual days have surpassed the billion dollar threshold, led by Cyber Monday at $1.25 billion.

“These highlights represent another very positive sign for the holiday shopping season, said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. The week following ‘Cyber Week’ (which includes Cyber Monday the Monday after Black Friday) often experiences relative softness in spending momentum due to retailers pulling back on their promotional activity. As we enter what will be the heaviest week of the season for online retailers … all signs are now pointing to a strong finish to the season.”

This season has been a coming out of sorts for online retail. Since comScore began tracking e-commerce spending in 2001, seven individual shopping days have surpassed $1 billion in spending. Six of those days occurred this year. To date, Cyber Monday 2011 (Nov. 28) ranks as the heaviest online spending day in history at $1.25 billion. Leading off this most recent week of the holiday season, December 5, now ranks as the second heaviest spending day in history at $1.18 billion, followed by November 29 at $1.12 billion, and December 6 at $1.11 billion. Cyber Monday 2010 (Monday, November 29, 2010) rounds out the top five at $1.03 billion.

Retail e-commerce spending for the first 39 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season has reached $24.6 billion, a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

On Reading Life Reports

citizenkerry:

Say what you want about David Brooks, (and I know you will) but the man is curating like a mofo. He recently invited people over age 70 to evaluate their lives so far—what worked, what didn’t, and what they’ve learned. He’s been posting a few of these essays on his blog. Here is a quote from David Lesham’s life report: 

Reblogged from citizenkerry with 69 notes / Life Reports Wisdom Internet 

Black Friday Online Sales Jump 26%

Online retail sales in the United States on the post-Thanksgiving shopping day known as “Black Friday” jumped 26 percent this year, led by Amazon.com Inc, comScore said on Sunday. Black Friday online sales reached $816 million, making it the heaviest spending day on the Internet so far in 2011, according to comScore, a closely watched tracker of Internet activity. Year-over-year growth on Black Friday in 2010 was 9 percent, so this year’s 26 percent sales increase online was much stronger, the firm also noted.