ANNOUNCEMENT:  This will be the last JNet Pick of the Week for the foreseeable future. After more than ten years of weekly picks, the demands of investigative journalism make it hard for me to continue this mailing list in 2009.

 

JNet thanks all of you for your devoted support and keep in touch with any questions and suggestions.

 

Yours,

 

Julian Sher

Click here for the Top Ten of 2008

Click here for previous years of Picks of the Week, going back to 1997.

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Google, the BBC and the New York Times top the list with improvements to their services and new tools on their web sites:

Google:

• Google Audio Indexing is a new technology from Google that allows users to better search and watch videos from various YouTube channels. It uses speech technology to find spoken words inside videos and lets the user jump to the right portion of the video where these words are spoken. For similar tools, see JNet's Find Audio Page.
• Google Insights Want to know what the world is searching for? This new tool by Google allows you to see where and when any keyword has been searched. You can even get detailed location information on by state, province, and even right down to the city level. Want to know what regions get the most searches for a racy or illegal topic? Want to see how interest in a story you are covering has waned? This is the spot. For similar tools, see JNet's Google Page.
• Google News Quotes Google News has offered a new feature - listed on the left hand column of its News Page. When you put in a name -- for example, "Colin Powell" or "Sarah Palin"-- clicking on the Quotes link gives you a selection of recent news quotes from that person. A faster way of getting the quotes you need without having to go through all the articles. For similar tools, see JNet's News Page and JNet's Google Page.
• Google News Timeline If you're a regular fan of Google News, click on Archive News Search and then, when you enter your keywords, select "Timeline." This will give you results along with a sliding timeline: you can select a year or month to narrow down your news archive search to a particular time period. For similar tools, see JNet's Google Page

BBC and New York Times:

• New York Times Topics An alphabetical listing of thousands of news topics. with all the news, reference and archival information, photos, graphics, audio and video files published going back to 1981. For similar resources, see JNet's News pages.
• BBC Video and Audio A selection of the latest top video and audio stories from the BBC, plus background dossiers and links to major programs. Even a single click for a one minute world news summary if you're really pressed for time.
• BBC In depth Dozens of BBC news dossiers from 1998 to the present. An excellent way to get background, leads and timelines on major stories.

Finding News:

• Politifact Truth-O-Meter Run by the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly, it tracks the lies, distortions and half-truths of the politicians. Check out the Truth-o-meter, the Flip-o-meter and the files on each major candidate. For more tools, see JNet's U.S. Page.
• Today's Front Pages During the week of an historic U.S. election, this popular Pick of the Week from the past is worth a visit. The day after the results see how newspapers around the U.S. and the world cover the news. For similar tools, see JNet's News Page
• Economist Country Profiles One of the most newsmagazines in the world has improved its already excellent Country Profiles Page, with more extensive news, forecasts, statistics and more on many countries, plus background news articles. For similar resources, see JNet's Countries page.