Web Muckrakers Fight Corruption in China

Some fear official tolerance is surveillance in disguise

(NEWSER) - The usually repressive Chinese government has been surprisingly tolerant of—and even responsive to—a wave of Internet petitions protesting local injustices and corruption. Online campaigns have gotten accused killers freed, officials fired, and charges dropped against a motorist who cut off his own finger to protest police entrapment, then publicized the deed. “This is the era of disguised accountability,” one professor tells the Washington Post, "holding officials accountable by relying on the Internet rather than on traditional means like elections and the checks by the Congress." More»

Online outlets mull pay models, putting a price on sensational stories

(NEWSER) - Word is that newspapers will soon start charging for online news—but no one’s quite sure what it’s worth. Take a story like the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping: It’s “tragedy porn” that “neither informs nor enlightens. It merely titillates,” writes Simon Dumenco for Advertising Age. “It's an extreme case, sure,” he notes, but infotainment seems to be a growing proportion of the news. Are we willing to pay for it? More»

Once-anonymous posters must register with true identities for 'social responsibility'

(NEWSER) - The Chinese government has quietly instructed news websites there to require new users and commenters to log on under their true identities, the New York Times reports. Netizens in China have long resisted the so-called “real name system,” which the government claims engenders “social responsibility” and greater “civility.” Those opposed fear a more sinister purpose, and news portals report a drop-off in traffic. More»

Phrase now has own Web site, Twitter handle

(NEWSER) - Around this time every year, “everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up,” President Obama said yesterday—and immediately, the media was aflutter, Politico reports. “WTF does wee-weed up mean and how do you spell it?” wondered a reporter for the Hill. Soon after, the jokes started rolling in: “Is this some Chicago phrase I don’t know about?” blogged Michelle Malkin. More»

(NEWSER) - If you think blogs are useless, think again: Scientists have developed a “hedonometer,” or happiness gauge, that analyzes personal online statements to pinpoint the overall contentment of the US population on a given day, the Discovery Channel reports. The program looks at sentences beginning with “I feel” and then grades the statement based on what follows. “Triumphant” gets an 8.87; “hostage” scores a 2.20. More»