Wednesday, October 07, 2009 • Announcements • by Eva Wisten • #
“The most powerful media experiments are akin to fusion cuisine”
The Center for Social Media lists ScienceBlogs as one of eight public media projects that are doing “Public Media 2.0” right.
Last week, the organization released a report on how digital media projects are allowing engaged users to handle important issues and make them accessible to a broad audience. In the report, the authors identify the eight best practices in digital journalism.
“We found that some of the most powerful media experiments are akin to fusion cuisine “hybrids that unexpectedly combine platforms, funding sources, and perspectives to attract diverse and enthusiastic publics.”
We’re happy and proud to see ScienceBlogs among them:
4. Repurpose, remix, recycle: The ScienceBlogs website expands the reach of 100 independent science-related bloggers by connecting them with a community of more than 1.5 million monthly users. Bloggers added to the portal are recruited based on their area of expertise (i.e. physics, biology, philosophy, law, public health, etc.) and track record of success with their site. Participating bloggers include university scientists and doctoral students, attorneys, physicians, journalists, social scientists, and filmmakers. The most successful bloggers average between 200 to 1,000 user comments per post, and write as many as a dozen posts a day. ScienceBlogs was launched as an extension of for-profit print magazine Seed, and has subsequently boosted the magazine’s brand, visibility, and subscriber base. Seed, however, provides little to no editorial oversight for the bloggers. ScienceBlogs generates revenue through paid advertising, which comes mostly from pharmaceutical, energy, chemical, and book publishing companies that are attempting to align themselves with science. (Some of these same companies underwrite productions of PBS’ “Nova,” Scientific American Frontiers, or PBS’ “NewsHour.”)