Journalism is back.
Beyond the headlines (and marketing stunts such as this one), most of us know journalism never really went away -- just as the brave, lone, alternative voices will continue to break new ground in years to come; the same way news media will continue to bumble and struggle with technological change.
For over a decade of open source software development, we have never lost sight of the journalist’s need to work collaboratively to produce and deliver quality content. To stay on that course was a matter of common sense.
Today, as Sourcefabric, we are able to put much more substance behind that common sense.
As a first major public milestone on this new course, we are now introducing two overhauled and renamed versions of our flagship products:
Newscoop, the open content management system that succeeds Campsite, is tailor-made for today’s journalism. Our multi-author environment, built-in paywall and issue-based approach were always what set us apart. Now we’ve also got some of the most powerful geolocation tools ever seen in a CMS and a templating engine flexible enough to handle any layout or device, be it a tablet or a subway display screen.
Airtime is a refocused rewrite of our long-time radio broadcast flagship Campcaster. We’ve cut down the features for this initial release to emphasise rock-solid scheduling with sub-second precision and intuitive radio-programme management. Campcaster’s unique media library lives on in Airtime, behind a streamlined and modernised interface.
And that’s just the beginning.
We are setting our aims high. We want to make a new generation of open source software on par or better than the commercial alternatives, and we offer services and support to match.
Our aim is to make technology a leveller instead of a barrier. So talent can compete with big money and outweigh government favour. So people with ideas and vision, whether in Bamako or Basel, Freetown or Frankfurt, Portland or Porto Alegre, can ensure journalism will not need a comeback.