In the ensuing months after Google made the decision to unceremoniously discontinue Google Reader (which is,  in this journalist’s opinion, one of the best news-gathering methods around), panicked users have made the mad scramble to find a suitable replacement before the plug is pulled this July.

But perhaps our best option for a new reader isn’t even out yet — and it comes from a pretty unlikely place.

Well-known startup developer-turned-budding publishing company Betaworks is making a serious gambit to change social reading as we know it today. Last year, the company snapped up forlorn social news aggregator Digg, and gave it a new lease on life. Today marks the company’s follow-up acquisition of Instapaper, a stunningly simple article saving service that has been known and loved by journalists and the broader public for years. With both companies now under the same umbrella, it’s no surprise that Betaworks is planning on somehow revamping newsgathering on the web.

But how? Well, filling Google Reader’s shoes is a great start.

Read more

Last week, the world let out a collective sigh in exasperation when Google announced that it would be “winding down” its long-running RSS service, Google Reader. While it stands to be an inconvenience for some, it’s an earth-shattering one for journalists who rely on Google Reader’s services daily to pick up on beats and understand what competitors are running every day.

If you’re still concerned about how where to go after Google Reader shutters on July 1st of this year, then fear not: there are plenty of reasonable and free alternatives to port your sources. Here’s a roundup of a few apps that will fit your individual needs as a news-consuming journalist and also give you a great RSS experience without breaking your budget.

What’s your favorite RSS alternative? Let us know in the comments!

1. For Those Who Want the Old Google Back: The Old Reader

The Old Reader is exactly what it claims to be: a recreation of the Google Reader as it was in 2011, before the introduction of the new design and share features to align the product with Google+. The free service is still in beta, but is able to seamlessly import an existing RSS feed list. The design is minimal — like the classic Google Reader — and allows users to follow other people and share their stories easily on Facebook or via email.

The app has already gotten a flood of beta invite requests from users eager to port over as soon as possible, so the teeny startup behind the app is overwhelmed. However, with a new mobile app on the horizon, it’s easy to guess that The Old Reader will be the closest to a Google experience as possible. Read more

While there’s plenty of debate about what journalists should post and to retweet on social networking sites, there’s not enough discussion about what’s not getting posted. Specifically, most of what’s debated is about what news organizations want to share — not what followers actually want to see.

I’m sure there are reams of data floating around corporate offices full of feedback from focus groups and online surveys about what readers want. Yet most news organization feeds are bastions of one-way discussion and self-promotion.

While there’s certainly a place for sharing content on these networks, it’s not the end-all-be-all. In fact, it’s not all that useful. Twitter and Facebook aren’t RSS feeds, and they shouldn’t be used that way. They should be used to engage audiences, and to engage audiences requires more than a requisite run down of your top stories. Read more