In what I would consider to be a profoundly beneficial use of our tax dollars (no, that’s not sarcasm, I’m serious,) the FCC is considering options to provide free Internet service throughout the US although the CTIA is less than enthusiastic. That’s fine though since the US Airforce is considering ways to destroy access to that very same Internet.

In a characteristically webish move, change.gov (yeah, that’s a gee-oh-vee at the end) goes all Creative Commons on our ass. 

Link Love courtesy of Tom Cheredar

To those of you new to the topic, DigiDave provides an excellent primer on linking for journalists (or anyone really.) I would pay damn close attention because not taking advantage of these tools is like walking into Level 9 and facing Ganon without those silver arrows! In other words, Certain Death. In addition to linking, Mark Potts lists what should be obvious to all but clearly isn’t. 

If you’re already on the auction block (chopping block?) this might be too little, too late. For anyone else, this is worth a read. 

One opportunity for community building as well as addition revenue lies in the realm of social media. But building a social networking site from the ground up is such a daunting task you say! Not so. Just don’t forget what separates a good niche social media site from a bad one. Oh, and you better hurry, cuz socialmedian is no longer in beta. 

Laying off hundreds of employees at various papers, Gannett has had a bit of a rough week. After reviewing this post on Gannett Blog, some of those employees might have further reason to feel a bit disgruntled. However, all those jobless journalists with limited skill sets have the opportunity to take advantage of some free technology training. 

There are an awful lot of newspapers closing or up for sale. What becomes of their audience? Community building takes time and is certainly worth something whether you’re a newspaper or social media service. Remember that. 

If this guy honestly represents the future of journalism, I think it’s better to opt out now. 

Everyone always preaches the merits and benefits of link journalism. You know, “the more you send ‘em away, the more they come back” but very few actually act. NYTimes just released Times Extra which allows you to modify your version of the NYTimes homepage with aggregated links. The idea is great, the current execution is clunky at best.

Ah the disposable medium… print is clearly dead and yet, not so dead. Er, wait… is everything dead?