Who has the $10,000 idea? Vote now!

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Three student groups came up with new technology to shape the future of journalism. Read about their products, view their demos and help RJI pick a "people's choice award."

In summer 2007, the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) and partner Adobe Systems asked a simple question of MU students: What great thing will you invent this semester?

The masterminds of Google, Yahoo and Facebook all invented those Web heavyweights while they were in school. When looking for the next great advancement in journalism technology, why not look to the people who use such technology every day?

RJI asked. Students answered.

Eleven teams ─ consisting of students from journalism, business and computer science ─ submitted ideas for new ways to help news organizations deliver news and advertising and to ease the two-way conversation with their consumers. These ideas would use the new Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) platform for desktop applications.

Judges selected three final groups of four students each. RJI provided those groups with up to $5,000 in allowable expenses to turn their ideas into reality through research, development and testing. Adobe provided access to AIR experts and technical support, plus free admission to MAX 2007, their annual, worldwide developer’s conference in Chicago.

The hard work is finished, and the results are in. Judges have selected a winner to receive a $10,000 prize. Now you have the chance to cast your own vote and help RJI pick a “people’s choice award.”

Read about each team’s applications and watch demos below, then vote for your favorite using the voting box at left. Voting will close Feb. 28, and RJI will announce the grand prize and people’s choice winners shortly thereafter.

Team Wallowr

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Watch Team Wallowr demonstrate its new technology.

Student members: Adam Hosp, senior, information technology; Matt Allen, senior, information technology; Nick Leonard, senior, journalism and information technology; Danny Beard, senior, information technology

The story behind the technology: YouTube, Digg, Reddit, Twitter and countless other social networking and new media tools give people novel ways to share news. Users pass along interesting stories from online news sources and share personal updates, pictures and video clips. Team Wallowr members use these tools, but they also see a problem: New networks sprout up regularly, which forces users to pick and choose or spend valuable time digging through mountains of information.

Team Wallowr’s big idea: Streamline all the popular social networks and their features, plus local and national news feeds, into one user-friendly place.

“Wallowr facilitates the data flow between people,” Hosp says. “Our idea was that you get information overload trying to keep up with all your friends and your news feeds, too. This keeps it simple.”

What the application does: Wallowr combines several basic features into one desktop application. Features include:

Access to news, messages from friends and “friend” requests from all of the various social networking sites in one place.
“Drag and drop” functions for easily sharing files, converting video and other files into a usable format, keeping up with personal information and more.
A “premium members” option for media outlets. Local and national news organizations — plus bloggers and other sources — can have profiles in Wallowr where they present their own news to users.
Offline usability. When users are away from an Internet connection, they still can read the stories and messages they already downloaded.
An address book feature that updates personal info on all social networks Wallowr supports. When a person moves or changes an e-mail address or phone number, that person needs to make the update only in one place — instead of updating on Digg, Twitter, Reddit and every other network they use.
A customizable look and settings for all users, including font sizes and the ability to switch easily between Mac and PC.

Beyond the application: Team Wallowr also has developed its own Wallowr Web site and a mobile version of the Wallowr technology for the Apple iPhone. Other versions and products are in development.

Team Rubik

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Watch Team Rubik demonstrate its new technology.

Student members: You Li, master’s student, journalism; Mi Li, master’s student, journalism; Sandeep More, master’s student, computer science; Bandhana Katoch, master’s student, business administration

The story behind the technology: Team Rubik’s members are international students, so they each had experience coming to a new place and knowing little about specific neighborhoods. What neighborhoods have the best access to restaurants and other businesses? Where are the safest places to live? These questions and others about neighborhood-specific information drove the team’s work.

Team Rubik’s big idea: In a word, hyperlocal ─ hyperlocal news, ads, forums, security information and more, all in one place on your desktop and all searchable and sorted by a particular neighborhood or area.

“It pulls in news from Web sites of local media and relocates them by the place of the story,” You Li says, “plus business offers, announcements, events, crime information and dialogue for the neighborhood people.”

What the application does: Team Rubik was able to develop four facets for a desktop application, with more planned for future development. Features include:

A profile for registration and login. A user provides their location, and in turn, Rubik provides content specific to that location.
Discussion boards. This provides a spot for neighbors to talk with each other, create new discussion threads and comment on others, and cover topics such as security, goods and services, lost and found items, and so on.
A news section, pulling feeds from local news sites and other online sources. Team Rubik hopes to offer diverse search options, including three layers that get progressively more specific: by state, by community (county) and then by neighborhood.
A customizable look and settings, including different size options for icons and tools.

Beyond the application: Beyond what the group has developed already, members also hope to develop a feature called Biz Offers, which will highlight specials or deals from local restaurants and other businesses. Other possibilities include educational tools, games and a “groups” feature for local people with common interests.

Team Contributr

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Watch Team Contributr demonstrate its new technology.

Student members: Jonathan Coffman, senior, journalism; Ian Graves, senior, computer science; Brian Grinstead, senior, computer science and information technology; Chad Godsey, senior, computer science and information technology

The story behind the technology: Citizen journalism continues to gain popularity, with traditional news organizations asking their readers and viewers to submit content, from stories and blog entries to photos and videos of spot news. The issue: Submission guidelines aren’t always clear or easy to find for news consumers, and those submissions aren’t always in a format (video type, photo size, etc.) that news outlets can use easily.

Team Contributr’s big idea: Simplify the process — and aid the two-way dialogue between media and consumers. Create one intuitive spot for users to submit content and for news organizations to receive it, convert it to the right format and display it.

“I’ve spoken with news managers at several different newsrooms,” Coffman says. “You know, everybody’s looking for a way to take their users’ brains and put them to good use. We’ve taken that process and made it simple not only for the newsroom but also for the user.”

What the application does: The Contributr desktop application provides several options for citizen-journalist interaction. Features include:

Readr. This area lists stories or other content users have submitted and media outlets have approved, plus any news feeds a user wants to include from local or national news sites.
Submitr. Here users can “drag and drop” to submit their stories, videos, pictures or other files to a news outlet. They can add titles, comments and notes with their submissions.
Commentr. This provides another communications tool for news consumers. They can submit story ideas and comments to news organizations.
File conversion for the news organization. Media professionals can use this to resize photos, convert video and manage other files in the format they prefer to use.
Offline usability. When users are away from an Internet connection, they still can access content they already downloaded.
A customizable look specific to a user or news organization.

Beyond the application: Team Contributr also offers news organizations a customized Web site with a look consistent with their existing sites and materials. The team also has developed a mobile application for the Apple iPhone, plus syndication options for posting content on different sites and in different news feeds and social networks.

Final results are now available here!

Let RJI know what you think

E-mail the editor at rjionline@missouri.edu with your comments or questions.

Note: If published, feedback may be edited for length, style and clarity.

Reader feedback

I enjoyed reading about the 3 finalists in the RJI/Adobe AIR competition:

1. Team Wallowr: After reading about what it is, I'm still confused how the word "wallower" relates. Further, the "we're all followers" doesn't seem to relate to "wallower" or the program. I'd be very curious to know how the team came up with their name and tag line. Despite all that, they are who I voted for, mainly because their idea seemed so polished with their video that was superior to the other two and well developed website.

2. Team Rubik: they had a phenomenal idea but didn't seem to be able to follow-through. With everyone moving across the country and world today, a tool to learn about different neighborhoods and be able to gain the knowledge of a local would be priceless, and there isn't really anything out there that serves that purpose yet. But, to be successful, I think it would need someone with Craig's list-esque vision to execute the idea. This group just didn't seem to have it.

3. Team Contributr: finally a title that makes a bit of sense! I thought it was a really creative idea, but I wondered (and I'm definitely no expert in journalism) if it would be practical. This seems the most aimed at RJI and targeted towards a niche community that I don't know enough about to judge its efficacy.

Thanks for all your work, the entries were fun to read and listen to!

Kira Christie | Feb. 17, 2008

I selected Team Contributr since they seemed to have the most comprehensive approach to providing content and accessibility.

Ben Williams | Feb. 18, 2008

I voted the way I did because, of the three, I think Team Contributor is the most feasible idea presented for a working journalist. One thing to note in the Wallowr comment, that "it facilitates the data flow between people." It should be "among" people. A few of my copyediting professors would never have allowed that; however, since it was a direct quote, the grammatical error was not the fault of the copyeditor.

Good luck to all three groups; they are all worthy — and I would hope that the other two who don't get the $10,000 find backers to start their own dotcoms.

Edward Woodyard | Feb. 21, 2008

The betterment of society is a goal with which J-School infused us quietly. Without being grandiose, it just seemed like the air we breathed down there at the lower left-hand corner of the red campus suggested to us that we could be part of something bigger than ourselves — that in fact we owed it to the craft to aim bigger than ourselves.

The Contributr project facilitates that. In its effort to raise and standardize the quality of information news outlets are collecting from their audiences, Contributr carries on this spirit of the School of Journalism in an ultra-populist context.

By contrast I found Wallowr, as its name suggests, to be a way of aggregating whatever yammering is going on in cyber-space, giving easier access without adding information, standards or worth. Social networks are important, undoubtedly, and can be fascinating, but I think this concept is significantly outbid by Contributr.

The overall concept of Rubik seems to me to lean into the punch of isolation that the Web at its worst threatens. With the nearly miraculous ability ask only what we want of the Web, we are in jeopardy of living lives of self-fulfilling prophecy, learning only what we already want to know. This is a pretty harsh judgment to lay on Rubik, and not entirely justified.

Asking about one's near environs is a good idea. I just think that more collective interest beats more parochial interest, and I'd rather not have the latter be the prize-winner.

Thanks so much for asking. I'm glad to be on the list of RJI and look forward to staying in touch.

Michael Weaver | Feb. 21, 2008

It was hard to choose, they are all great ideas.

The Wallowr presentation was great, the idea of streamlining info would be a big hit with young people, but I don't see it being used for a news source, and advertising will not get through, similar to TV viewers fastforwarding through commercials.

I can see Rubik being very useful for any age: getting information for trips, moves, and more; but it is still consumer driven and I think it will become more of a blog forum with little news value or productive advertising.

So I chose team Contributr as the winner for the most viable idea to open the communication between news and advertising sources and the consumer. It will be easy to promote on every medium. Consumers eagar to share their views will welcome the streamlined venue and news sources will save the time and money it would otherwise take to make the information quickly available for distribution. Advertising can be sold to show online and will be visible for a fairly long time while the consumer has that screen open to submit their information.

The first two will make somebody rich as commercial products to which consumers subscribe for personal use, but I see the Contributr desktop operation becoming an important tool for journalism.

Joanne Rotert | Feb. 21, 2008

As a dinosaur (BJ '71), I have never used social networking, nor do I feel a need to collect stuff from all over but...you never know.

I voted for Contributr because, by the end of the presentation, I felt as if I understood the concept. It was pretty clear, good visuals, no dead air and the presenter sounded more professional than the presenter in Rubik.

Wallowr had no voice and timed out so frequently that I did not stick w/ the whole presentation.

Lesson: Effective packaging helps.

Toni Messina | Feb. 21, 2008

All these ideas are amazing, but from a former TV producer's standpoint I have to say Contributr is the application that gives citizen journalists the greatest ability to affect the news. I would have loved a tool like this when I was working in newsrooms. Breaking news is a news driver now more than ever and it looks like Contributr offers news outlets accessibility to events no matter where or when they happen.

Best of luck to all three finalists. Bravo!

Amy Lanier | Feb. 21, 2008

Hi, what an impressive group. A little mind bending for a MA '64 who was working at KOMU pre Color, Video tape and while news stories were still covered on 16mm negative film. Although I thought the WALLOWR team did a fantastic job of presenting their idea with all the digital bells and whistles, I felt that the Team Contributr group came up with an system that provided a very useful interface between the burgeoning "citizen journalists" and professional news operations. Figuring a away to quickly convert, verify and broadcast a cell phone video, or any of the other consumer news gathering tools seems to me a great service both for the professional outlets and the public.

Jim Crum | Feb. 21, 2008

I chose Team Contributr’s idea because I think it is very important for consumers to be able to easily communicate with media and vice versa. Hopefully, this easier exchange of information would contribute to more objective reporting by the media. If I may digress for a moment, One of the worst things we could do when I was a J-School student at MU was to have even a hint of an “opinion” anywhere in the paper except on the op/ed page. Wish that were still true with more of our news reporters — paper, radio and TV. Seems they now feel free to “interpret” the news.

Annette Lott | Feb. 21, 2008

I'm in advertising, and it's all about the presentation. I was initially most intrigued by Contributr, but the presentation and possibilities shown in the Wallowr application won my vote.

Great job by all the teams!!

Aimee Borders | Feb. 21, 2008

I picked Contributor because it enables the watchdog role of journalism to continue in a new way and ushers in a new genre of user generated news. It would be interesting to understand what types of content do and do not get picked up by the various news groups. And how newsworthy information would be selected and distributed beyond the mainstream media, without getting anyone hurt and maybe getting some paid.

Shelley Wood | Feb. 21, 2008

Just wanted to let you know great idea (for the competition, that is)! As for why I voted for Team Wallower, I'm so excited about the deceptively simple idea of using an application to navigate social networking content. Brilliant! I think this application will ensure that the lag we currently see on social networking sites (a small turn-down, or so I've heard on NPR) will be refreshed with better fluidity and connectivity of separate networking sites. This idea, of taking the nuts and bolts and stitches, off of the Frankenstein-ing of separate social utility sites is really what all information systems people are working towards, at least from my limited experience in Mizzou's SISLT Master's program.

Keep up the collaboration between info tech, journalism and business (maybe think about using some hip librarians too... they have great, transferable ideas as well, especially since they'll be directing users to applications such as these!!). This collaborative venture is what we need to do to keep the j-school and the Fourth Estate fresh and innovative!!

Michaella Hammond | Feb. 21, 2008

I picked Contributr because it seemed more related to journalistic functions. The Wallowr presentation certainly was eye- and ear-catching, but it had more to do with social networking than journalism. All of the contestants should be congratulated for very fine efforts.

Jeanne L. AuBuchon | Feb. 21, 2008

Team Rubik had a fresh bottom-up approach which avoided recycling content and assisted injection of new and local content often deleted in the Macro sifting of "content."

Raymond Pleasant | Feb. 25, 2008

I selected Wallowr. The Wallowr team was able to wrap a solution to a real problem (myriad social networks) into a very well designed and developed application.

As an interactive producer in advertising, it is nice to see the way that the Wallowr guys combined several disciplines into a great integrated effort.

Hope they had fun.

Tom Buchok | Feb. 25, 2008

I voted for Rubik though the other projects were equally good because it was more user friendly and very good applications.

Sampath Devaram | Feb. 25, 2008

I voted for Wallowr due to the feasibility of the idea and the implications it could have to others.

I don't believe team Rubik's idea could be implemented the way in which they envisioned. I see the idea turning into a message board for the negative images for each community area based on crime statistics and community members. Realistically, multiple areas of Columbia would be very negatively influenced based on information in the media. This ultimately could have impacts on housing markets, property values and further reaches.

As for Team Contributr, I preferred the idea of Wallowr compared to this conceptual idea. I believe the ideas is interesting. However, I prefer the level of interactions Wallowr proposed.

Tina Edholm | Feb. 27, 2008

I almost voted for Contributr because it seems to answer the question specifically - and addresses the issue at hand of bringing a connection between the news bureau and citizens ... but that is all it does. Great, but ...

It seems as though Wallowr will be used more often — daily — as it incorporates all of your major desktop utilities into one clean place — while also working the news feature into it's functions. If a person were to login and browse through all the categories, I think a person would be more apt to view news and respond using this venue. It brings the news to you and allows for commenting, etc. — and I really liked the organization of it — and ease of function. Very impressive... User-friendly...

Rubik has a really great concept — and I like the design, but didn't think it offered as many tools as Wallowr

I was extremely impressed by all three projects! Wallowr got my vote ... while I could easily have chosen any of the three.

Kim Castleman | Feb. 27, 2008

It seemed to me that the Wallowr team did a little better with the presentation than the other two. They all seem like great ideas, but I really liked theirs. Happy inventing!

Sarah Towne | Feb. 27, 2008

I picked team Wallowr. I think it's a great idea to integrate all the popular social networks into one place. I am kind tried of digging useful information from information mountains online. Simple is best. Moreover, team Wallowr's idea has commercial value which would attract companies to invest in it.

Su Jing | Feb. 28, 2008

I felt Team contributor's idea had benefit at the national level and would simplify the usability of contributors' submissions to news agencies. I also liked the Rubik Team's project but thought the scope was smaller.

Susanne Logan | Feb. 28, 2008

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