13 May 2005 >> NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen praises the 18-month tenure of the very first public editor of The New York Times, Daniel Okrent. I’m inclined to agree. Okrent was the very first Times insider to admit the paper’s bias. And he did so in a matter-of-fact way that was not snide, not defensive and not dismissive of those of us who’ve been pointing out the bias for years.

By being the first to speak the unspeakable truth about the paper, Okrent made it that much easier for similar honesty to prevail in the future. As a business, that would be very healthy for the Times. Conservatives will read liberal papers. But fewer conservatives will read liberal papers that insult our intelligence by pretending not to have the perspective that they do. If Okrent’s legacy lives on, the Times might be able to lure back some readers who find the newfound candor refreshing.

13 May 2005 >> A new net-based software service from the BBC aims to revolutionize the way online news and media are distributed. “BBC Backstage” gives software developers the ability to extract, reorganize, repackage and display content in new ways:

backstage.bbc.co.uk attempts to encourage and support those who have provided most of the innovation on the inernet - the passionate, highly-skilled & public-spirited developers and designers many of whom volunteer their time and effort.

In the past the BBC has not always encouraged such “amateur innovators”, however public-spirited their intentions and products. backstage.bbc.co.uk aims to foster a newly constructive and open dialogue with the wider development community using BBC content and tools to deliver public value.

Sounds promising. I hope other media firms will consider similar experiments.