Industry News Archive

Editor's Note: Rootly is a current sponsor of CenterNetworks.

Rootly is a news aggregator at its most basic definition. It brings together news from around the web in about 100 categories and includes a search to make finding the news you are looking for easy. Blogs do appear in the results which continues my belief that the quickest news reporters are blogs today.

The technology is pretty well put together, the menus fly open and closed which is nicer than having to refresh the page each time. There is a menu on the right which rotates the newest headlines so you don’t miss anything.

I think the best part about Rootly is being able to grab a feed for the categories you are interested in. Say you want news in the Web 2.0 space, there are probably several hundred potential sources (including CenterNetworks), by using the Rootly feed for the Web 2.0 category, you will always stay on top of the latest happenings.

Rootly also has social networking options for users to be able to monitor other users activities, such as seeing what stories they were interested in, and, Rootly allows you to mark certain news items as “favorites” and share them with your friends. This is similar to the trusting of reviews we have discussed in the past with sites like Reevoo and Soapadoo. Here, news that your friends have visited or thought was important, immediately becomes more important to you (at least initially.)

My main suggestion for Rootly is to improve the look and the usability. Right now the site feels a bit “loose.” If the design could match the quality of the content and the technology, it would be an even stronger player in the news aggregator market. The other suggestion I have is a way to move back in the list of “More News” on the right – if you miss clicking on an item, where does it go?

Update: Friday 8AM, Just to be clear, my issues below with Amanda’s video show, are less about her tshirt, and more with the ditzy appearance (overall look, tone, hair swoops, etc.) of someone who is on a respectable news channel. I apologize if that is the way it appears. The tshirt comment just adds fuel to the fire. Someone on another blog called her the Suzanne Sommers of video blogging, that is fine, move it to a network suitable for that. In addition, how many mainstream people know what JavaScript is? If this is a video show for male geeks, then again, move it somewhere else.
Friday 10AM, Check out my post on female video blogs I like.

I don’t know Amanda Congdon. Never met her, never heard of her or until now, her former show Rocketboom. And after yesterday’s “show”, I hope I don’t have to see her again. She launched a new video show (it is a show), on abcnews.com yesterday. When I think of ABC News, I think of important stories, both in the U.S. and abroad. I think of Charlie Gibson reporting from Iraq. Yet, now on the homepage of ABC News sits Amanda.

So now let’s talk about her show and then follow that up with why I think it does a horrible service to women online, both news reporting and blogging. She is sitting behind a desk in a t-shirt. A tight t-shirt that is tight for one reason. We all know that sex sells, but c’mon, this is a freaking NEWS show. And then, what made the show absolutely stupid, is these quick hair swoops to move from camera 1 to camera 2. Let’s see her chest move in slow motion! There is no fast-forward button, no reverse. Just sit and watch her fly around as she moves on the camera. And the show she says is about things that interest her. I can’t believe she (or anyone frankly) would be ok with the produced version of this premiere show. Embarrasing Amanda, and disappointing at the same time.

Side note: Her form to submit videos, has no way to actually submit a video! might want to get someone to check that JavaScript :)

For a woman who has received so much fame (I guess), I am shocked that she can actually sit behind the desk looking like a sex object for a few dollars. And shame on ABC News, I know that I won’t be tuning in anymore to the nightly news. Sorry Charlie. I sure would love Katie Couric’s and Bambi Francisco’s opinion on Amanda’s show.

Could this be a good/decent show with some value? Yep. Put on a business suit, or something else more respectable, and act like a reporter. Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it. But this belongs on E! at best and certainly not on ABC News.

Now let’s talk about why this is such a poor display for women online. There have been lots of discussions about women and blogging, reporting and so forth and the beliefs that men dominate the space and keep it a “white boy club.” While I disagree with this statement somewhat, things like Amanda’s video show, just widen that gap. There is no reason that women can’t be sexy and smart at the same time (men too). What all of this does, is make it harder for other women to avoid the short skirt (tight t-shirt), no brain mentality. There are so many better women (and men) for the job, heck as much as I hate to say it, the Technorati BuzzTV gets my vote over this. And you all know how I feel about that one!

For example, on the blogs discussing her show, here are a couple of the comments:

• thedetroitchannel — “nice set”. yep, looks like a d-cup!
• moses — nice rack, can you set them up higher next time?
• I wish my news items were as hefty and substantial.
• Those breasts need their own agent. Or, maybe, an agent for each one.
• Not so much marveling at the tits as their power to create a career out of what appears to be not much of anything else. But then, that’s hardly news.
• why is she all swiveling around on her chair, and why is she speaking to the camera like the audience is full of 5 year olds? and, as such, what the fuck is the target demographic for this?
• They look fair and balanced to me. Ba da bum.

To me this is similar to the comments being made towards Natali on the TechCrunch blog. I am disappointed that Arrington has not stepped in about the comments. It’s shit. Bash her for her content, fine. But making comments about her looks is just plain wrong. All of these types of things just make the case stronger about the difference between women and men in the news reporting/blogging space.

And want to know what’s sad… Amanda’s video show will have high ratings and will be a huge hit because she will draw in all the pre-pubescent boys will be all over her. Maybe that’s what ABC News wanted?