If there's one thing the Internet is lacking, it's personal opinions from politicians, newsmakers and caffeine-deprived tech reporters. Google on Wednesday volunteered to fill that gap and announced an "experimental" update to its news section that will allow for commentary from the people and organizations mentioned in news stories.
"Comments will be published in full, without any edits, but marked as 'comments' so readers know it's the individual's perspective, rather than part of a journalist's report," news team software engineers Dan Meredith and Andy Golding wrote in a blog post.
Google said it wants comments from a variety of news subjects ("penguin researchers or presidential candidates"). This might appeal to people featured in more local news stories without the means to respond publicly, but if the news story in question is about a major corporation or a presidential candidate, it's more likely that that entity would leave the commenting up to their PR handlers via official statements or posts on their own blogs.
I suppose the Google name, however, could help draw in participants.
Submitted comments must be e-mailed to Google with contact information and a means to verify e-mail addresses. "The means for confirming identity may differ on a case by case basis, but they may include contacting the organization affiliated with the author, contacting local officials, or collaborating with journalists," according to Google.
So basically, Google is going to hire fact checkers to follow up on submissions - essentially becoming reporters themselves?
Also, a major story is going to get coverage from a variety of news outlets. Will comments apply to all the stories about one particular topic or can people commenting direct their thoughts at a specific journalist's copy?
Meredith and Golding wrote that while hard news occupies "a critical place in the information age ... a personal view can sometimes add a whole new dimension to the story."
Are we to assume that Google thinks today's news stories lack a personal view? I'm admittedly a tad irritable this morning due to the hellish NYC commute, but isn't it the whole point of a news story to get comments from both sides - a personal, yet objective view?
The effort will kick off in the United States and will expand to other countries and languages after a testing period, according to Google.
Source:www.appscout.com
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