Twitter becoming "real-time news wire for the world," analyst says

New media analyst Mathew Ingram writes on GigaOM that there's a growing demand not only for careful curation of news, but also "the need to start looking at news as a process and not as a pristine, finished product." He cites the BBC, which has staffers assigned to pull in reports from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and other outlets for verification, similar to Andy Carvin's work for NPR. "Twitter is becoming the real-time news wire for the world, and we need people who can make use of it as such ... And we need new attitudes about how we look at journalism as well, now that everyone is doing it."

"The Fracking Song" is latest twist in explanatory journalism

A ProPublic series on the environmental threats of drilling for natural gas inspired a new kind of news explainer: A song. David Holmes, a journalism student in New York University’s Studio 20 program, which focuses on adapting news to the web in innovative ways, tells Poynter, "We were concerned with building a better entryway into that investigation and we figured a song would be the perfect way to do it — especially since it’s called fracking.”

"My Water's On Fire Tonight: The Fracking Song," has nearly 83,000 hits on YouTube since it was posted last week — along with lots of fans. "I don't understand how 'Charlie Bit Me' can have more views than this," quipped one.

Chicago's only noncom Latino radio station up for sale

WRTE/90.5 FM in Chicago, the city's only noncom Latino radio station, is for sale, and Chicago Public Media is interested. WRTE's licensee, the National Museum of Mexican Art, is parting with the youth-run station, known locally as Radio Arte, and the building housing it due to budget woes.

Museum President Carlos Tortolero tells WBEZ: “The funding, especially in radio, is going south. We have a building that’s costing us money. We tried to borrow some money to do some things and [banks] are saying, ‘No, no. You can’t.’ The banks are looking at us and saying, ‘Hey, you have to get rid of some of this stuff.’” Former Radio Arte volunteers are also forming a coop to attempt to buy the station.

"For all intents and purposes Radio Arte is the city of Chicago’s only true community radio station that isn’t affiliated with a college or university, and therefore more of a hybrid college/community station," notes Radio Survivor. "It is all the more unique because of its focus on Chicago’s large Latino population. Any significant change in programming brought on by a station sale would represent a real loss for the city."