I’ve got this idea to do a print version of Kottu. Basically, take the top 10 or 15 posts each week and publish them (with basic editing). The Sunday Leader will distribute it and it’s fairly trivial to lay out (unless someone wants to do that). All the bloggers will be properly credited and paid, which may perhaps set an example for the papers randomly stealing stuff. Say, about Rs. 750 per full pager, perhaps less if it’s like a paragraph. The format would be a 16 page insert, like the Mirror Mag, tucked into the Sunday Leader. Let me know if youse think it’s a good idea.
Editorial Policy
Kottu already has a policy for joining, basically loosely ‘being’ Sri Lankan and not obscene or libelous, etc. Beyond that I suppose the print version would need a sort of editorial policy.
- Intellectual Respect: I don’t say intellectual property, but I think all writers should give permission, be properly credited and be paid. I think all photos should be Creative Commons licensed or have permission. This would seem to be basic but it’s nor much practiced in Sri Lankan print.
- Popular Selection: Basically, the top stuff (by clicks) should have priority to print. There needs to be some editorial judgement (a one link YouTube post may not work, for example), but posts should be generally selected from the Top Ten list (ends up being Top 15 or s0).
Beyond that I can’t think of much. The idea is that the cover photo is whatever’s judged really interesting by the Flickr algorithm, and under a Creative Commons attribution license. Then two pages of ‘interesting’ photos. There should be some provision for photo bloggers that aren’t on Flickr, must think about that.
Then I’d basically copy and paste the top posts that week into a layout. Note that some may be left out, the top post his week is about some estranged husband publishing their NIC, which wouldn’t really fly in print. I’d also have to email people to figure out how they get paid. I think it’d basically be cash from the office in someone’s real name, that may be an issue, dunno.
That’s basically it. There’s a kottu dummy. Tell me if you think it’s a good idea or not. Can get it out in a few weeks.
this is great idea, i fully support it…… top 10 posts i don’t think…….. you or some people should choose the best posts ,not based on the clicks, but based on its content :-) .
Great idea!
But beware what happened to Writeclique.net – people do crazy things to get into the Top 10 and monetary incentives could well start off the the next (previously unimagined, but horrible “kottu”) war!
I don’t think the Top 10 represents what is being read. Some of the most read ones will get in there, but there will also be a few crappy ones thrown in there as well, not to mention the controversial ones that make no sense at all but still hav many clicks.
Good Idea I must say, but I also agree with Jerry on the fact that some attention grabbing posts and Kottu drama end up on the top posts and those posts don’t deserve the bandwidth they’re getting, let alone getting printed and bundled with a national newspaper!
But then, barring that, what’s a non biased way to pick posts?
The big problem with the Top Ten is it’s mostly based on the title and one paragraph. Anyone will click something that says FREE SEX but there’s no way to register if the post sucks.
Other options are
1. Post ratings (stars by the post). Has similar problems
2. Bloggers could nominate a few posts they like on, say, Tuesday
any ideas? If you want to try the latter then nominate, like, now
we should have a poll to vote for the ones that get in
with nominations and stuff
brilliant idea nevertheless!
I too think it’s a great idea but selection policy should be different.
For one, because of some technical errors too some posts don’t get on most clicked list.
Also they are usually the post with best headers – not necessarily the content.
Maybe you could appoint a panel to read as much posts as possible and choose, say 20 or 30 among them so that bloggers (or anyone else for that matter) are able to vote them. There may be issues but I’m sure we’d be able to work them out.
Thanks for the idea.
Great idea, but I’ll leave you to sort out the selection process! :)
A fantastic idea, but I think the content of each “issue” should be decided by a person (you). Clicks are voting would only be poor attempts at being fair and wouldn’t succeed in that way.
Brilliant idea Indi. And I agree with RD. Maybe you should be the one deciding. Or at least get a couple of people to short list possible posts and then you make the final call, if the entire process is too much to juggle with your other work.
not a good idea
bad to publish blog posts created for a new medium on an old failing newspaper medium.
( quite apart from being published in one specific newspaper, which is short on ads=circulation, and which made a name through lies and blackmails and other such stuff. not a place to be seen for some ppl with principles ) .
one of results will be curtailing of new modes of expressions so that it fits in with the old restrictions of a failing medium ( i can see that some of the comments above already trending to such a policy )
if newspaper wants newpaper articles they should contact the specific writers concerned and ask for article rewritten to fit that medium (and make sure to pay the normal rate btw)
–
also the top ten posts at kottu can be easily manipulated . as happened to one of my posts,(in feb 2007, ironically on the subject of kottu, to points made in which indi here sort of replied ) when someone ( for reasons unknown ) sent it to top of the list in a clearly artificial way as was confirmed by log in my blog . (btw i informed all concerned through email etc ).
while such manipulations has not repeated to my posts later( tough posts do some times end up in list) , all indications are that this was not fixed ( even though the fix for this is pretty simple ) , and the kottu list can still be manipulated .
if there is an open permission, this can be demonstrated by sending any random post to the top .
Great idea man. Keep it simple & stupid, that was you can improve it alot.
Cheers,
Chamara
to add a small point i what was already written( where is the comment ? here is to hoping it will reappear! ) , specifically requesting articles to be reedited takes care of some problems.
a disclaimer/description to the effect -“these articles are blog posts of note that appeared on kottu aggregator in past week as selected by editor and published with consent and editing by original writers”- or some such will cover all objections .and will be truthful to boot ( rather than pretending they are the popular posts or true reflection of sri lankan blogosphere etc .
I hope you know this. There is an inherit problem with the Kottu top clicks. Anyone can run a script to fake the top ten clicks and even include non aggregated link to the top clicks. So someone can easily put non aggregated link to the top 10.
How about identifying top bloggers and give them voting rights to nominate the posts. I have done something like that to create feeds for my Google Reader. Since editorial quality of the feeds has gone down on Kottu recently, I created a script to read through all the listed blogs and create a list of blogs that have been linked most. This list was used as my reading list. So how about applying the same principal and ask this top bloggers to pick the best 10.
If you are interested I can give the source code for the script and the top 10 bloggers list and even run this script weekly to ensure that top 10 bloggers are generated weekly.
1- Clicks – No way. People can manipulate clicks. Author can click as many times as is required.
2- Fundemental contradiction with original intent – Kottu was supposedly an ONLINE medium. Not Off line mainstream yellow paper. How do people living abroad access this? Then it boils down to online version again.
3- No strategic fit between Sunday leader and Kottu (Unless ofcourse you like to see Kottu as controversial as Sunday Leader). You might wanna explore another distribution strategy if at all.
4- A sub magazine is NO JOKE. Requires effort. With you running around building mansions for IDPs, you have no time (at least thats the impression i have of you), as such you need a full time editorial team. Meaning, a paid team. How you gonna fund them? Unfair if anyone expected you to pocket out. Look at a revenue base so you can sustain the effort. May be Advertising sponsorships.
5- You resign from your post of Kottu Janitor. Serious. Perhaps a committee or board of trustee or editorial board would do. Let’s face it. Professional organzations are never a one man show. Its a collective effort. You need a team behind you.
6- Weekly editions at the begining is an over ambitious target. Perhaps fortnightly would do. Trust me it requires effort. You don’t wanna stop after 3 editions, do you? Perhaps monthly, then fortnightly and as we progress weekly… Take it gradually
7- Think about it seriously, If you started and withdrew after a few editions, then it would back fire on Kottu. Is this what you want? Think.
8- Kottu DOES NOT even have a proper logo. Design one. A proper one i mean.
9- If I were you, I would rather focus on making Kottu Online version popular. Why? English readership is limited. People who do read English newspapers in SL are internet savvy. They would anyway come to Kottu if you created awareness through a few Ads. I don’t see the need for another print version for the same clientale / readers. Waste of time.
10- Completely re-design kottu. It needs a make over. Localised versions in a global village is an obsolete concept. Make kottu popular worldwide, whilst retaining its lankan roots, heritage and flavour. Your print version if at all is a step in the wrong direction (at least for me), reather you spend energy with online version. Thats the trend. thats the future. When traditional media are embracing online techniques, you wanna go offline? Pray tell me why?
11- Embark on an aggressive Kottu membership drive. In my family there are five bloggers. Only i’m on Kottu. Facebook has an estimated 300,000 lankan members of which 5% are bloggers (as per stats), thats a wopping 15,000 Srilankan bloggers across the globe. Say even 5,000 bloggers, how much does Kottu have? Mere 250? Kottu needs penetration online. Do that first.
My two cents. Upto you anyway. I feel you have much unfinished work online. Do that first.
fuck everybody else. i personally think that the missing sandwich should be made into hardback. haha. nobody else makes print worthy posts on kottu. gossip aiyyah a close second, me the blogger a third. padashow and trumpet in the background with honorable mentions.
Great idea…. cheers…
Hi,
We try to do the same thing. as a co project of http://www.sahithya.lk . we talk to few print shops. like lakehouse. but at the time they were not ready for it. specially they were not ready to distribute it with the Sunday print , instead they gave us 4-6 pages in a monthly magazine . but its not practical to do this project monthly . so we had to turn that down .
But we print a small news letter 4 pages. every week. which carry the best articles. and we distribute it for free. we try to put this inside a national newspaper. but for that also they ask 1 Rs to put a one news letter inside a one paper.
so any way. if if there’s any thing i can do to make this happen let me know ……
I’d be interested to see that script. Don’t quite get what you mean by ‘linked most’
I agree with what most people have said about the top 10 clicks. Sometimes the stupidest and most trivial posts get into the top ten – I’m sure you know the ones I’m talking about in particular – because of what RD would call blogstitution or whatever it is!
The posts should be topical or interesting or just well written. I think there should be a good mix – and maybe a small group of people could pitch in with the selection process. I would love to be involved if you need any help. Love editing and things so just let me know.
Good luck! It’s a great idea Indi.
Yes, there should be a selection board… we can change the selection board every 6 moths or so.. they should choose posts under each category ….say science, thoughts, technology , humour ..this will give readers interesting articles even photo bloggers like me have a chance of getting our posts in…. NOT THE CLICKS FOR SURE ….
“In my family there are five bloggers.”
Yes, Nibras, but all five are you, no?
Actually, I’m not thrilled with this idea. It really adds nothing to the already existing Kottu lineup. Only difference is that the words will be on paper instead of pixels. In fact, without the ability to link to other parts of a web, it loses it’s dynamism.
The TV idea we talked about, which takes it into a different dimension, might be better.
this is 4 people without internet facility , who wants to read some best posts in one place
Oh Dumb Blacker, tell me where you wanna meet me. I shall do you a favour. If I was NB as you and many idiots presume, i wouldn’t have written these comments you idiot. Indi, sorry to digress, but this is uncalled for, a fellow blogger making unnecessary comments thats anyway off topic. Dumb Blacker, please for God sake grow some brain will ya? :)
Bloggers won’t nominate enough posts for any period of time. We’re lazy like that. If a bunch volunteers, and they can pick and choose every week, then good for us.
The “linked to” concept is a little shaky as well, since the popular blogs(the ones on everyone’s blogroll) will get on the list every time.
“tell me where you wanna meet me”
Sorry, Nibras, Dickmans Rd transvestites are not for me.
Whats the guarantee that the leader will not want heavy modifications to make the content more ‘politically correct’ ?
This may have the effect of getting some posts heavily altered and some even rejected outright. The advantage of blog posts is that writers have no call to strictly conform to any norms. Therefore content is more original and fresh. Will these qualities be taken away, or will posts published be un-edited?
But having a print version ensures (hopefully) a wider readership – which is always a good thing, isn’t it? And the links will probably be provided so maybe kottu blogs in general will become more popular and widely read.
The leader does carry a perception around with it, much like each and every SL paper in print. Whereas the net’s pretty unbiased. How bout a small mag of interest just left around public places. Not only Il Gelato, but places like the public library, Unis, schools even…just to encourage reading and opening up viewpoints of all levels of society.
Look who is talking. Aren’t we CLEAN dumb blacker?
In some ways it’s a good idea, but not so in several other ways.
Let me only highlight the issues that I think maybe a problem.
1. Any blogger who write under a pseudonym may have issues with their identity being revealed to at least some folks in Sunday leader/ Indi. (This may especially be an issue for folks who a critical about the government etc)
For people who are not interested in the money could they be donated somewhere?
2. As Dee mentioned Sunday Leader does carry a certain perception around. For folks who don’t want to identify themselves with their theme or cast in the same lot may have issues with this. Kottu on the other hand is free from such encumbrances.
(For example even though I deeply respected Lasantha for his bravery, I didn’t like the way the Sunday leader was engaging in selective journalism where there was unquestioned support for certain quarters of the UNP.
3. As several others have highlighted, monetary compensation could drive people to somehow get their post nominated.
4. As whackster and others have pointed out, does the authors have any say in the editing process? Will my post be tamed down to be more politically correct? Or will my post be edited in such a way to highlight the stand the leader takes against the current government? Words are very powerful. At the hands of a skilled editor, a few changes here and there in post could dramatically alter the shape and tone of a post. The last thing we want is the content being used for petty political purposes.
Indi, IMO this may not be a good idea after all. Even though you are doing this with a good intention, this may create a lot of unnecessary issues down the road and may end up destroying kottu.
I think it’s an idea worth trying.
The Leader doesn’t censor anything, they’re (obviously) quite open. I give the final copy myself. Only things that need to be edited are swears (fuck, shit). And I don’t think Gotabaya can be mentioned by name because of an ongoing court case. In my print experience distribution with a newspaper is the only thing that works, otherwise logistics is expensive and impossible.
People would have to give real names to get paid. So I guess that’s either trust or optional.
I think you should have a stand permanently at Pilawoos.
Kottu indeed.
Oh dear… day dreaming, aren’t we your majesty?
First things first.
“Kottu” is a generic term, under the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003 which came into effect on the 12th November 2003 and regulations under section 204 of the Act published in Government Gazette no. 1445/10 of 17th May 2006 that replaced the Code of Intellectual Property Act No. 52 of 1979.
This act clearly prevents the use of the term “Kottu” for commercial purpose (or otherwise) by individuals or organizations though the term can be used in conjunction with other terms, say Kottu Blogsphere for instance.
Our learnered peace activist does use this term for his cheap self-marketing. What a loser. Yes he may have succeeded registering the domain with Godaddy that is not in SL, but in SL there does exist laws preventing this. All it takes is a complaint to the National Intellectual Property Office.
Moreover, http://www.kottu.lk can not be registered for the same reason. Generic term.
Indi trying to monopoloze the term first online and now with traditional media is a joke indeed. But not all Lankans are as ignorant dear peace activist. A complaint can result in Kottu.org been banned by the lankan authorities. Its that simple. refer http://www.nipo.lk for more info.
A piece of advice though, try registering your Kottu trademark, then you will realize your folly. Welcome to the real world His Excellency Indi Day Dreamer.
kottu.org is the only thing that’s registered. Besides that Kottu is obviously a generic term. Kottu Print would be something else. Like Machang Magazine or the Mirror Magazine I think this is not especially controversial. Machang and Mirror are both generic terms.
The point is to encourage new bloggers and develop the blogosphere here. I already have a column in the Leader and generally get more traffic than Kottu on my own (stats are public on both). The point is to promote blogging in general. This does benefit me indirectly by increasing opportunity for everyone.
Great idea Indi. I don’t know if this has already been suggested, but adding a rating system for articles on Kottu will be a good way to determine the best articles. Let the editor or a group of people pick the top ten best rated posts. Make sure the widget you use for rating only allows one vote per IP. This way you will eliminate fraudulent clicks.
there are so many posts in kottu, how are u going to read them all …. so the best thing is to let bloggers submit their good posts to the review board.. then the review board can select best out of the submitted ones and publish…in this way u can choose good posts without needing to read through the whole loads of kottu posts …this is the most practical way i guess
Your stats and ego apart, try registering KOTTU and see what happens. I dare challange you. Wake up, welcome to real world dear peace activist :P
By the way people do know your hidden agendas. Ass kissers will kiss your ass, but the common man on the street is not as foolish. I repeat, try registering Kottu and see what happens kid.
Great idea Indi, I fully support this. What you propose would definitely address the lacunae between online and print material vis-a-vis readership. But yes, I too agree that the top ten posts may not be the best option. Perhaps a cross-sectional interest group who would select posts for print could be nominated?
I’m with David Blacker on this. Just printing posts out will not add anything to Kottu.org or the blogs themselves. Unless it comes out like a real magazine with the full colours, layouts and photo spreads, it’ll just be relegated to wrapping up the weekend market purchases by the large majority of readers who dont give two cents about web publishing. If that is the case, will a mainstream newspaper cover the costs anyway? It also brings up the question of why have a separate mag anyway when the selected ‘good’ posts could be published in an existing established mag, which incidentally I think would bring greater credibility. But then these posts would be sent to the papers anyway by the authors.
I feel that to many, a blog is like their own personal newspaper. Posts should be taken in the context of that specific weblog/author. To take just one out and publish would take away the full impact, and it would anyway be taking away the social and dynamic aspects of blogging.
There still will be the problem of how to select the posts. Re: nominations Cerno’s Top 100 blog posts project should be a good place to start. Any rating system will have the same problem as the hit counter. more popular the post, the more people rating it higher, not necessarily because its better, but because its visible. Again, an editor has to be around to select from the nominations. Whacksters questions on editorial policy are a very legit issue. Even putting aside the fears of editorial bias, one will have to trim the obscenities from some of the more colourful posts at the very least.
Instead of actually publishing the posts itself, why not do an RD style “Lately in the Lankanosphere” at a regular interval?
Note that there’s also a link to a comp PDF above. I think it looks pretty good, has a lot of photos. I think what the blogs produce on an off-day is still better than most of the content in Mirror Mag or other inserts.
A print version obviously doesn’t replace the blogosphere, it just reaches more people, about 60k circulation I think. But have a look at the comp
Great Idea :)
You know it’s not really ‘click fraud’, or even people clicking 100+ times to get their posts up. Most of the posts with most clicks are due to Kottu.org not re-directing to the link quickly enough. People either refresh several times over or keep clicking till it works…
That needs to be sorted out..