Around the Wire: New Tools for Journalists, Wearable Tech’s Future & More Media Moves

Welcome to the latest installment of Around the Wire, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging and freelancing stories from the past week.

Photo by adesigna used under CC BY 2.0

The Dallas Morning News Is Building Data (and Sources) Through Its New Rolodex Tool (Nieman Lab)

Journalists at The Dallas Morning News are currently contributing to a new database called Rolodex, a tool that centralizes newsroom sources and contacts. It was brought about by app developer Jon McClure whose goal is to create useful databases and ease the work in newsrooms. The plan is to gradually roll-out the database to other newsrooms, creating a more substantial database of contact information for sources such as government officials and agencies.

The New York Times’ Long View on Wearables (World News Publishing Focus)

Executive Director Matt Boggie of The New York Times’ R&D lab presents his thoughts on emerging wearable technology and the implications of these gadgets when it comes to receiving news and information. Boggie predicts new devices will be less aspatial and asocial and provide information based on where the user is and what they are talking about or researching. He also provides insight on the future of voice control, and where Google went wrong concerning tech goggles.

Congressional Hearing: Russia’s Use of Pseudo Journalism Against U.S. (Poynter)

During a Congressional Hearing this week titled “Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information,” two foreign media experts presented their case on how Russia is essentially ‘weaponizing’ information against the west through ‘pseudo-journalism.’ Peter Pomeranzev, a Russian “propaganda expert” and former journalist, and American Elizabeth Wahl, a former TV-anchor for Russia, testified in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, outlining how Russia is successfully waging this ‘peaceful war.’

EJC Launches New Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting (Journalism.co.uk)

Last year, the European Journalism Centre launched their Verification Handbook, “a definitive guide to verifying digital content for emergency coverage” that has been downloaded over 50,000 times. This week, The Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting was released. The companion guide focuses more on online investigations and how journalists should approach user-generated content. Both of these guides are free and valuable in helping investigative journalists ethically source their articles.

Media Moves for the Week of April 13 (PR Newswire)
Media Moves keeps you up to date with who went where in the world of media. This week Fortune adds several reporters, The Washington Post makes a promotion and National Journal bulks up its election coverage.

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Stephanie de Ruiter is an audience researcher with PR Newswire keeping up with media moves throughout the nation with a focus on blogs and online publications.