I’ll admit I’ve never given Web comments serious thought. As a news consumer, I tend to gloss over them by accident, mostly, while trying to find the end of whatever story I’m reading. And as a writer, my inclination is to internalize the positive ones, ignore the mean-spirited ones and openly assess the validity of the constructive criticisms, discerning how the person’s view might improve my reporting and/or writing skills.

But I was struck by the impact of comments Thursday morning when I was directed toward a piece by a Waco Tribune-Herald reporter. For my non-Texan friends, Waco is the biggest city near (south of) West, where the horrific fertilizer plant explosion on April 17 left 15 dead, many of whom were volunteer firefighters.

The Tribune-Herald story describes the intimate details of the “blunt force trauma” incurred by each of the victims, including graphic, downright disturbing particulars of individual causes of death and other vivid information about the deceased.

The comments were ruthless, and perhaps rightfully so. West and the surrounding areas (including Waco) are relatively small and very close-knit, especially considering their recent circumstances. At last check, there were around 450 comments (a lot for a local daily) lambasting the paper — and the writer — for disclosing such gruesome information about people esteemed in their community, and beyond, as heroes. By my count, there was not a single comment in favor of the story, its contents or the journalist who produced it.

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Just when you think you’ve mastered the art of quick, effective visual storytelling, there’s a brand new tool to learn.

The latest tool for journalists to tinker with? Brickflow, a building-blocks type of application you can use in the newsroom that is both super fun and a simple way to enhance your image-based storytelling efforts. Literally, it’s kind of a toy, as its creators liken the process to Legos.

Think of this addition to your storytelling library, built by Hungarian developers, like Storify — only the end result is a square-shaped slideshow rather than a vertical story flow.

Here’s how it works:

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With a vast array of technological gizmos at our disposal, it’s easier than ever to take an idea for a new media tool and run with it.

But what if you had a support group to work around for 100 days, the cash to experiment with your endeavor and Silicon Valley entrepreneurial expertise?

That’s what Matter Ventures wants to give people with fresh media venture ideas. Their team wants to help you scale your startup and give you $50,000 for the design (both front and back ends), hacking and whatever else needs to be done for your media company. Partially funded by the Knight Foundation, Matter says its association with various news organizations gives entrepreneurs access to an audience for product testing and works as a media accelerator.

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There’s a new player entering the longform non-fiction revolution taking place online.

Only, rather than a traditional gatekeeper — an editor — making decisions about what gets published on this digital platform, the readers accept the responsibility. But more on that later.

Introducing… The Big Roundtable. The brainchild of longtime reporter and Columbia journalism school professor Michael Shapiro, The Big Roundtable (BRT) is a site that promises to bring together authors, known or unknown, with readers hungry for good stories. Its name (which invokes such a distinct image, doesn’t it?) was inspired by the old group of New York writers and creatives, self-dubbed the Algonquin Round Table, who lunched and discussed their crafts at the Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. In the same way that members of the Algonquin group reportedly swapped stories, BRT hopes to do the same on the Web.

Shapiro, founder of BRT, launched a Kickstarter with a $5,000 goal and came away with $19,219 after 28 days, indicating to the folks at BRT that their idea to connect readers and quality stories was popular even outside their circle. As a former National Magazine Award judge, Shapiro told Nieman Storyboard he got tired of reading formulaic writing. A writer’s work should radiate a burning desire to tell his story, Shapiro maintains.

His (small) team’s original timeline slated The Big Roundtable’s launch for late August, but it’s already up and running.

BRT’s site design is clean and elegant, its typography and black-and-white cartoonish story art a bit reminiscent of The New Yorker‘s signature look. Six stories by authors like Anna Hiatt (also BRT’s Product Manager and Managing Editor) and Katherine B. Olson grace the site’s home page, along with the video BRT used to promote its Kickstarter campaign.

Shapiro was kind enough to answer some questions about BRT.

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