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Berkman Buzz: July 1, 2011

A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations

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What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below.

* Dan Gillmor reviews Google+
* The Citizen Media Law Project explores the future of big journalism
* Ethan Zuckerman considers metrics for the civic impacts of journalism
* Herdict explains Google's new Transparency Reports
* David Weinberger wonders how much to trust the Internet
* Weekly Global Voices: "Global Voices Podcast 1: Who do we believe online?"

Note: metaLab is hiring a designer/developer!

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The full buzz.

"I've been using Google+ for less than a day. It is very much an early work in progress. But the service – a major new push into the social web, launched in a semi-public test phase this week by the search and advertising giant – is already ample proof that the social network and media worlds do not begin and end with Facebook."
From Dan Gillmor's post for the Guardian, "A B+ for the beta Google+"

"I imagine my entire class lined up in a row, everyone smiling and excited about their futures in civic journalism — and then a giant commercial printing press comes alive and severs everyone at the neck."
From Brittany Griffin Smith's blog post for the Citizen Media Law Project, "The Stumbling Giant That is Big Journalism"

"There may have been a day in the rosy past of newspapers when a wall between the publisher and the editor meant that newsrooms published only what was most newsworthy and civically important, without consideration of a given story’s appeal to their audience. In an age where editors can know instantly whether a story on a school council meeting is playing better than a story about a labor action, it’s hard to believe that access to analytics doesn’t shape coverage decisions."
From Ethan Zuckerman's blog post, "Metrics for civic impacts of journalism"

"Here at Herdict, we’re always excited about new ways to look at data about accessibility and freedom on the Internet. Yesterday, Google updated their country Transparency Reports with a new format and more information about who has requested content take downs. Transparency reports previously contained information about Google services and traffic as well as information about government take down and data requests. Now, the data can be broken down by Google product, by takedown requester and by takedown percentage."
From Kendra Albert's blog post for Herdict, "Google Transparency Reports (Now with More Transparency!)"

"I love the Internet. I trust what I learn from it, or, more exactly, I generally trust my ability not to be fooled by it. But, like all of us (?), I have a limit."
From David Weinberger's blog post, "How much do you trust the Internet?"

"For all the talk of Internet freedom, little of it takes into account the bleaker reality of inhabiting Chinese cyberspace. Influential tech blogger William Long addresses this with a post criticizing the destructive bent to China's hacker communities, which then brought on a multi-front attack against Long."
From Jamillah Knowles's post for Global Voices Online, "Global Voices Podcast 1: Who do we believe online?"

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Compiled by Rebekah Heacock.

The Berkman Buzz is selected weekly from the posts of Berkman Center people and projects and sometimes from the Center's wider network.

Suggestions and feedback about the Buzz are always welcome and can be emailed to buzz@cyber.harvard.edu.


Projects & Tools 02

Digital Media Law Project

Founded in 2007 as the "Citizen Media Law Project," the Digital Media Law Project (DMLP) works to ensure that individuals and organizations involved in online journalism and…

Herdict

Herdict collected and disseminated real-­time, crowdsourced information about Internet filtering, denial of service attacks, and other blockages.