Iran from Norway

Will the aftermath of the Iran elections be the defining event for social media tools like Twitter? How do old and new media manage to provide coverage of chaotic breaking news? And how does a place like Norway, with a tech-savvy populace and presumably media, juggle coverage from afar, when there are virtually no journalists allowed on the ground?

I’m writing this in real time, with Norway’s leading news sites open in front of me, various Twitter tools trying to tackle the stream of tweets related to the Iran election, while flicking between various TV news stations and watching major international news sites. How are they doing?

Social media

The rapidly shifting media landscape should be a subject of detailed study for anyone linked to traditional communications and trying to make a living thereby. A few interesting things in this context.

First, TED has the always fascinating Clay Shirky in the spotlight these days, posting a recent lecture on the potential impact of Twitter, due to the topicality of the micromessaging service as a tool for protestors in Iran. I can’t help feeling that Shirky is both overly emotional and enthusiastic on the impact of Twitter in Iran, carried away by the swirl of unfolding events.  There are just too many key questions begging answers; how to filter the noise,

Recycled news

Evidence that the former Aftenposten News in English service was not completely moose or animal centered came in connection with another bit of zombie traffic.

A former colleague working on the desk of Aftenposten’s web site messaged me recently to say that one of the old stories was generating noticeable traffic again. This story was not about wild beasts, royals or nursing puppies, though it was not the hardest news either. The revived item detailed some rather harsh speculation about Harry Potter author JK Rowling from a Norwegian film director.  

More moose in sports

Blogging does tend to be a lonely activity, so using a combination of analytical software tools and curiosity is very natural to seek an answer – when do people drop by to read this, and why? Apparently I nearly found out by accident when scribbling about moose in rally racing; there is a moose-sports angle. According to my little traffic tools here, people have been dropping by trying to find out about moose hitting football players. Moose hitting footballers?

Moose in sports

Despite their odd appeal to an international public, most of the time moose here are not up to much – their two most common pastimes appear to be accidentally wandering into towns, and getting hit by cars. This weekend an unfortunate moose managed to find a new twist on the latter.