NewsDiffs, a new project from a former New York Times reporter and two talented programmers, makes it easy to see how articles are changed and updated over time on The New York Times, Politico and CNN homepages.
Journalist Jennifer 8. Lee teamed up with sibling programmers Eric and Greg Price to build and launch NewsDiffs. In a live chat, Eric Price and Lee joined me and my colleague Mallary Tenore to discuss the new tool, where it goes from here, and the issues and questions it raises.
The ability to easily view change and updates, whether or not the news organization enables this on its own, provides a new and useful window into the way iterative journalism works on the Web.
In one recent example, NewsDiffs made it easy to see how the Times updated and changed a breaking news report about the health of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane wrote about NewsDiffs in his most recent column, saying: “It’s as if The Times is being turned inside out, its inner workings exposed for all to see — a kind of forced transparency.”
You can replay the chat here:
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