NOTIFICATIONS
Dec. 9, 2015 New updates to the website.
Oct. 21, 2015 Launched a new version of the current Speaker theme (Bicycle 2.0). It’s faster, simpler, and more refined. What has been removed is a lot of the bulk and complexity, and the code has been cleaned up to be lighter and faster.
Some modifications are still pending, so if you see something that isn’t quite right, it may change soon. If you see something that doesn’t work, please let us know by commenting here.
The previous layout (the one with the featured image offset to the right) is still available to writers. It has been cleaned up as well, but looks the same. To use this layout for your articles, simply select “August” from the “Single Post Template” box when you compose your article. Here is one that is using the “August” template.
There is also a version of the current template, which appears as “Default” in the options but which is titled “Matte,” which has less ads. Writers can use this as they please. Ads support The Speaker, but if for whatever reason you require less ads on an article, use “MatteLessAds.”
Aug. 12, 2015 Launched the chatroom, available to all contributors with accounts.
Aug. 7, 2015 Simplification of writing numbers now accepted for articles: all numbers nine and below written out, 10 and above as numerals, even at the beginning of a sentence. For those who use correct AP style rather than this simplification, that is fine; all this means is that we are allowing the simplification as well, as it will not make a significant difference for readers and will allow citizens to complete news more easily.
Now using titles written in caps (simply every word capitalized) because capitalized titles are stronger when shared on social media and because capitals set a title off from other text.
Aug. 4, 2015 Launched a new front page. It will continue to be developed. Let us know if you think it needs something.
Why does the Twitter account have the editor’s photo instead of The Speaker logo? Accountability. We will be adding Twitter and other social media accounts to the other sections (if you want to take this on for a given section, let us know — or if you think you would like to take over the main account). All accounts will use the photo of the editor/other person(s) responsible for the account. Anyone who accesses any social media news account should be able to get through to a person behind it.
July 18, 2015 We have joined Google’s Shield program. Thank you, Google, for accepting our news service and offering us to join, and thanks to all the contributors of The Speaker, the serious efforts of whom are certainly the reason Google accepted us into their valuable service.
July 7, 2015 As you can see, we have user pages (if you click your name on your article, you will be taken to your account page). These pages are designed so that they look best when users add at least a line of bio and at least one social media account (go into WordPress, click “Your Profile”). It is good practice in journalism to let people know who you are, and to show them that you stand by your writing and offer yourself as accountable to your readers for discussion. (Does not apply in the same way for those who are writing on highly sensitive [dangerous] subjects and are forced to use pen names for safety — in these cases, you should provide a social media account for your pen name and use an appropriate avatar that people can associate with you, so they can still get through to the person behind the articles for accountability). If there is something you would like to see us add to author pages, let us know. Also, if your section needs a particular layout to be effective, or if you need a new layout for a particular type of report or composition, please make a comment.
July 2, 2015 The new site (Bicycle Theme) is now up. There will be some adjustments over the next few days and weeks, and we will improve the site for its life. Tell us what you think of the new design. All thoughts are welcome, of course — criticism and approval.
If you have suggestions or ideas for the design of the website (or if you are a coder and you have an idea to streamline or otherwise improve the architecture), post your comments HERE. Keep in mind there exist certain demands on the service The Speaker provides. For example, the website must be accessible by EVERYONE around the world — the cell phones and browsers in parts of Africa, to cite something specific, are extremely limited in terms of bandwidth and data plans. Not all phones are equipped for javascript (pure css solutions are better). The site must serve fairly and impressively ALL news writers and news interests. It should be elegant, interesting, easy to use, and fun to use.
Another example: the front page design keeps in mind that daily news readers — or more than once daily — can come to the site and get a little of everything: see a couple of the things happening in the world, get a bit of science, learn a few health developments, find some new arts, get involved in a debate with an opinion piece, get inspired by the lifestyle section. And, of course, see the outstanding work of journalists featured at the top of the front page.
June 28, 2015 All journalists and photographers should keep copies of their articles even after publication. After an article is published, journalists should copy the text (and formatted images) from the live article and replace the hard copy they hold. Journalists and others should be aware that the content of The Speaker is backed up in more than one location, so even in the worst of cases all that can happen is a temporary interruption of service. In some cases, the website may need to be restored to a previous version (usually a version that is less that 24 hours old). If journalists keep hard copies of their articles, the site will be able to simply flow back into its previous space quite simply.
June 22, 2015 (reposted from Blogger page) For several days, the website of The Speaker was attacked — DDoS and brute force attempts. All evidence suggests the impetus for the attack was The Speaker’s publication of an interview with North Korean prison camp escapee Dong-Hyuk Shin.
Although even the biggest internet properties can be disrupted by these types of attacks, the attacks served as an opportunity to make some changes to deal with the issue of publishing news on subjects certain nations are not above reacting to with terrorism. We have made some changes in the backend of the site (that is all we will ever say on that matter). The Speaker has expanded to several nearly-unsinkable alternative online services like Blogger, and will continue to expand in this way. We also will be publishing this type of story on social media in full (rather than as a link to the article).
Speaker2 was also launched for the purposes of publishing the most sensitive news. Weighing the desire to publish this important news on The Speaker’s main organ versus the need to provide for journalists who want to publish news on uncontroversial subjects without interruption, this course may be most fair. The sites will share social media accounts, so news will be distributed from both equally. (edit: Speaker2 is currently only a backup, since we have implemented other protective measures for The Speaker)
June 19, 2015 The Speaker site was configured and running well on our new dedicated server for several days. After publishing a couple of articles on June 18, the site went down three times over the course of a few hours. The site is currently back up. The site has also been reconfigured to a more reliable set of parameters than it had been initially on. The current site as you see it will soon be replaced by a newer site (Bicycle Theme) with many interesting improvements. If you see some unusual things on the site before Bicycle Theme the new site is activated, please bear with us.
It seems people like to be there during the building. They like to be there during the course of something, to see and witness things builded up. So the journal of The Speaker.
NOTES
July 22 What goes on the top of the front page? Original reporting that is interesting to a world audience. If a person in Kenya or Indonesia would be as interested in the article as someone from America, and if the journalism includes statements or other information from the newsmaker himself, it is considered for the top of the front. The front represents the original reporting efforts of journalists.
June 11, 2015 It becomes increasingly clear and pressing, in light of the sort of customer service and unaccountability possible in the internet/voip age, The Speaker must present ourselves as accountable and responsive to those we serve. This means providing our names and contact information as well as taking the time to respond and treat those who communicate with us.