Tag Archives: journalism

The Weekender, aka things to read for the online crowd

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve had a hell of time trying to fix my comment problem, which appears to be something in the .php of this theme. I refuse to give up this theme, however, and I will fix it. The good thing is that right now I get very few comments, so it doesn’t matter.

Because I’ve spent half the night trying to fix it, to no avail, all I’ve got are some meaty links for now

Yeah, it’s cheap to just post a link farm but it’s what I’ve got for now.

Oh, and as an aside, the venerable Mindy McAdams was at my very own (well, not mine per se) Orlando Sentinel doing trainging on blogging and audio. I missed it unfortunately, but by the looks of the outlines it looked like a good time.

‘Post’ Staffer Fired After profane-laden postings

Posted on by
Reply

In a story pseudo-related to what I was talking about earlier, a staffer from the Washington Post was fired after some profanity-laced statements he made on sports blog. The problem, however, wasn’t so much what the staffer, identified as Michael Tunison, said, but that he associated himself with the ‘Post’ when he did it.

Michael Tunison, who blogged under the name “Christmas Ape” at the “Kissing Suzy Kolber” site, wrote on Wednesday that he had been fired for “bringing discredit to the paper.”

Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. confirmed that Tunison no longer worked at the paper and had left his job on Wednesday, but would not specify if he resigned or was fired. “We don’t discuss personnel matters, but we have standards for people’s outside work,” Downie told E&P. “You need to clear it with your editors here before and it should not be a conflict of interest.”

I am inclined to side with the Washington Post on this incident. Even though Tunison was only an editorial aide, any postings he made while associating himself with the paper hurts the integrity of the paper as a whole.

Does this mean that journalists shouldn’t be able to blog in their off time? Certainly not, but there is some personal responsibility you have to take when it comes to what you post on the Internet. I go with the Golden Rule when it comes to posting.

If you put it on the Internet, it will be seen. If you don’t want someone to see it, don’t hit ‘publish.’ In addition, if you are going to post something possibly inflammatory or negative about your employer, don’t identify yourself as an employee of said place. If you do, you are just asking for it.

I also, on this blog and those I have had in the past, always include a personal disclaimer that states that what I post here is my opinion and mine alone and in no way reflects the opinions or thoughts of my employer.

So to use the tired, and albeit edited cliché, blogger beware.

‘Toronto Star’ lays off entire Web staff

Posted on by
Reply

Hat tip: Danny Sanchez

In a huge purge Torstar Corp., owners of Canada’s largest-circulation newspaper, the Toronto Star, is laying off 160 people, including the entire 10-person Web team. This comes as a shock during a time where one would think the Web team might be the safest place to be (at least I’m hoping so, *gulp*).

Most of the job cuts, taken through severance packages, were already expected, but laying off the 10-person Internet staff came as a surprise, said Maureen Dawson, an official with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

“Their message to the world is that they’re all dedicated to the Internet, but then they lay off the whole department,” she told The Canadian Press.

“The Star has said they would tell us in the coming weeks where the (Internet) work would go. We have an idea where one or two of the positions would go – but not all of it.”

“I don’t think it’s clear where it’s going for them either.”

I’m not sure if Torstar Corp. knows it or not, but Google hasn’t created a Web product just yet that eliminates the need for a Web staff. They might want to keep around a person or two. You know, someone that at least knows HTML or something. More:

But some industry critics suggested that the newspaper would try to shuffle out its older workers, and hire younger and cheaper workers, rather than train all of the veteran staff on new technology like online video.

“We see this trend of seeking to get the older employees out and bringing in new employees,” said Lise Lareau, the national president of the Canadian Media Guild, which does not represent the Star.

“Training becomes an issue. There’s ways of addressing this other than by (voluntarily laying off) the older staff and bringing in newer staff.”

Wait a minute, so there’s openings in Toronto. Robin, to the Canadian consulate, passport at the ready!

Good online journalism-related reads for today

Posted on by
Reply

Read anything good today?

CoverItLive, live blogging for journalists; Is it too much too soon?

Posted on by
Reply

CoverItLive is a , free (sort of) Web-based live blogging platform that can allow news organizations or bloggers to update, in real time, an event or breaking news story. It has been used and touted by both Newsweek and Seattle’s The Stranger. From the creators:

CoveritLive’s web based software takes your next live blog to a new level. Your commentary publishes in real time like an instant message. Our ‘one-click’ publishing lets you drop polls, videos, pictures, ads and audio clips as soon as they come to mind. Comments and questions from your readers instantly appear but you control what gets published. Try our software for your next live blog. Your readers will love it.

I think this might be a little before its time. Live blogging, in theory, works. Through blogs at the Orlando Sentinel, we’ve done live blogging of golf tournaments, NASCAR races, football games and even of the 2008 CES Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nev. All of those worked well with sporadic, well-written updates to their respective blogs.

Having a scrolling, streaming update log, including reader interaction, would seem too easy a thing to spiral out of control and turn into nothing more than a glorified chat session. Live blogging via the traditional method (if you can call something created a few years ago ‘traditional’) still allows you to moderate comments from trolls and put a little thought before posting. Not only that, CIL ties the reader to the page, chaining them to one spot. People don’t have time for that. I think the average reader looks at a news Web site less than five minutes a day. They aren’t going to stick around just to read chatty updates about a sporting event. In this battle, quality will always win out over quantity.

The quicker we post, the more prone to mistakes, errors and lapses in judgment we become. Would journalists live blogging an event in such an instant format be responsible for off-the-cuff remarks or perhaps responding to commenter with a curt response? What about issues of libel? As great as technology is, we can’t let it overshadow that journalistic integrity and those ethics we are supposed to hold so dear.

Admittedly, I have not used this software so I should not be so quick to judge. From a bloggers standpoint, especially if you are one with an established audience, this is a great idea. A blogger is not bound by many of the rules and forces that journalists must hold to, even in the changing technological landscape. From a journalism standpoint I think this would be a dangerous product to implement, even in the most benign of scenarios such as live blogging a parade or charity event.

We put up the walls of copy-editors, senior editors and other checks and balances to not only protect us from ourselves, but to protect our readers from having to sort through the drivel. Breaking down those walls opens us up to more criticism, more liability and a lessening of our credibility as news organizations. All of the information is already out there for the public to find, we are meant to help filter that content into a coherent and cogent conversation. If that conversation is something they can get from an instant message chat room or Web forum, what good are we?

Like I said, great idea, but probably not yet ready to be adopted by a major news organization, even those that are pioneering and championing the online journalism movement. This is related to something I mentioned earlier about “understanding technology before implementing technology.” With each technological step, organizations need to make sure they don’t slough off their journalistic ideals, ethics and mission of truth in order to jump on board with the next new thing.

I’m a geek for sure, but I am also a journalist, and those two things are sometimes difficult to compromise.

Find sounds with FindSounds for your Soundslides or Flash projects

Posted on by
Reply

Find-sounds

Via Lifehacker:

For YouTube videos, presentations, or even just system sounds, having the right sound effect file can make all the difference. FindSounds, a search engine focused on audio files, is a heck of a lot more convenient than typing “.wav” into Google and wading through inconsistent results. Type in what you’re looking for and specify parameters, and the results are offered in playable previews and waveform diagrams. I almost always found relevant results in the 10 or so test searches I performed, and being able to see how long the sound helps winnow down results when you’re hunting just the right sound to fit into a project. Got your own sound clip search methods? Share ‘em in the comments.

This is perfect for those hunting for that perfect bird chirp, child laughing or alligator growl they need to complete their Soundslides, Flash piece or any other project requiring sound. Great tool.

Wired Magazine planning Web-oriented style book

Posted on by
Reply

According to Jon Friedman over at MarketWatch, tech-minded publication Wired has plans to release a style book with the 21st-century journalist in mind (don’t bother with the video, it’s annoyingly pointless). Evan Hansen, Wired.com editor-in-chief says:

“There is often a separation between editorial and technology,” he said. “We’re trying to create a culture where there is a lot of parity. We want to give editorial people a primer on what do you need to know to work well with the tech people. And the tech people can learn about news people.”

Through bad reporting on Friedman’s part, obviously trying desperately to be cool, I can’t tell if the style book is meant to complement the AP and Chicago Style Books or replace them. I would think Wired would not try and reinvent the wheel and is instead making a niche style book. I may be a tech-head, but no one is taking my AP book from me, I love that thing.

Buyouts galore, it’s a journalist blowout sale! Everything must go!

Posted on by
Reply

Yeah, so more bad news out of the newsrooms. Or is it?

Jack Schafer at Slate.com talks about the good news about the bad news coming out of newsrooms. In summary, newsrooms are getting rid of those that have sat in their cushy positions for far too long, cost the paper too much money in salary and are too far in their career to learn the new skills of the modern newsroom.

The “retirement” of the buyout brigade has the added benefit of loosening the ugly stranglehold the boomers have over the press. I may be risking self-extermination by advocating wholesale boomer expulsion, but there are just too many of us—especially the older variety—in top slots for journalism’s good. The sheer weight of our presence blocks the promotion of the next generation of talented journalists to the most desirable beats.

I’m in inclined to agree, almost wholeheartedly. Journalism is one of those jobs that, though difficult to break into, one can hang on to the position for decades. Once a journalist makes a name for themselves they become highly sought after by competitors, so in order for a paper to keep their “star” they must pay them more. That’s fine in the beginning, but eventually it spirals out of control.

Eventually those treasured giants who the paper is forced to pour vast resources into while being rewarded with limited output, must be purged. Buyouts are one way of doing that. This is not always the case however, and buyouts are not limited to those close to retirement age, but it is simply one way of looking at buyouts in a positive light. Not all is grim and gray as it may seem.

Though there’s no surefire solution to this problem now and no wants to be out of a job, but it’s one of the side effects of a market that can’t break out of it’s one-track, linear mindset. We need to learn to deal with it in order to move forward.

I’m going to talk about all of these things in the future, but the first priorities should be these:

  • Fixing and modernizing the revenue model
  • Standardize Web metrics for news sites
  • Dismiss the “More with less” attitude
  • Cross-platform training
  • Understanding technology before integrating technology

Entry-level cameras for the online journalist or mojo

Posted on by
Reply

DSLR-cameras

Gizmodo has an excellent review of four, entry-level DSLR cameras that are hitting the market soon. The four models are from Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus, the current digital camera heavyweights. Having at least a modicum of camera skills is essential for an online journalist, so these sub-$1000 cameras are a great addition to any arsenal.

I currently use a Canon Digital Rebel-XT, which is about as entry level as it gets, though I do need to upgrade my lens. If I ever get to the point where I need go bigger I’ll probably go with one of the upper-level Canon EOS cameras or one in the Nikon D-series. Regardless, none of that matters if you don’t know what you’re doing looking through the viewfinder.

Also recommended, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 for quick, high-quality video. They recently started issuing these to the reporters at the Orlando Sentinel and it has worked out well. The cameras are easy to use, have a long battery life, start up very quickly and shoot very good quality video.

I used one recently to shoot a post-game press conference at UCF. The only problem is MPEG4-only format and the $700 price tag. If, however, you want to be the next Kevin Sites (one of my personal idols), having something like this is also an essential.

What’s in your bag?

The early days of the Mojo

Posted on by
Reply

Via Boing Boing:

The first days of the mobile journalist, courtesy of RCA.

Portable-mixer

This battery-operated RCA back-pack weighs 53 pounds, including batteries. Antennas for transmitting picture signals and receiving orders from a base station extend from top of pack. Range is about one mile. At rear of camera case is an electronic finder and a microphone for the narrator.

Boy am I glad Al Gore created the Internet.

Quote of the Day: Christopher Hitchens

Posted on by
Reply

In response to the Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit the United States:

If Ratzinger is not asked at every stop he makes, and in level yet firm tones, why he and the Vatican continue to shelter Cardinal Law, our profession will have shamed and disgraced itself. We already know that the Pope is a Roman Catholic. What we need to hear is his reason for giving sinecure and asylum to the man who organized and excused the rape and torture of tens of thousands of American children. And then, when he has given his first answer, we need to hear how he answers all the supplementary questions.

This is from the Washington Post’s ongoing “interactive” feature about the state Catholicism, On Faith. Personally, I think they should have gone with a jazzier title, ‘Catholicism WOW!’ (tip: Dogma), or perhaps something more politically oriented, ‘Pope Watch 2008′.

The reason I put the word interactive in quotes is because, though touted as such, there isn’t much interaction beyond a normal story gallery. Right now it is mostly just print stories dressed up with graphics and a powder blue color scheme and a single video. I assume they are going to add more during the Pope’s visit, but they should have started it off with a bang. Perhaps an audio slideshow of Benedict’s history or even of Catholicism.

The Washington Post has the resources to do a lot more (and win Pulitzer’s). We’ll have to see how they play this out.

Rupert Murdoch and Sam Zell named to AP Board

Posted on by
Reply

Everything I just said, I take it back. We’re all doomed.*

Other reads for today:

“Ensuring that the essential values of journalism are carried forward into the unsettling but enormously promising new world of media is a challenge that all of us in the craft, the journalism academy and the concerned public share. USC Annenberg is blessed with extraordinary resources, from its setting in Los Angeles, to its exceptional faculty and students, to the innovative leadership of Dean Wilson. I can’t wait to begin.”

*I’m only half joking, half.

Are Newspapers Doomed?

Posted on by
Reply

I surely hope not.

That’s the question posed on the Britannica Blog’s extremely lengthy, multiple-post spanning forum, Are Newspapers Doomed? (Do We Care?): Newspapers and the Net Forum. Yeah, that was a mouthful.

Like I said, this is a lengthy read spread out over nine posts. The posts are written by various journalism and new media heavyweights such as Clay Shirky and Jay Rosen and include roughly 30 comment responses from other important folks in the new media landscape. Yeah, it’s a lot to digest and to be honest I haven’t even had a chance to read it all since being directed to it by new media maven Jeff Jarvis in his response to the forum (read this, it has some really fun, crudely-drawn charts drawn by Jarvis).

The initial question though I think is a little too simplistic and hurts the discussion. Are newspapers doomed? That’s no more valid of question than when they asked if radio was doomed at the dawn of television or if the music industry was doomed when the MP3 hit the scene.

If newspapers try and stay exactly the same, making money via the standard business model with owners attempting to reap the 15 to 20 percent profit margins like the days of old, then yes, newspapers are indeed doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed…yes, doomed. The better question should be, ‘Is journalism doomed?’

To this I say no, journalism will live on. The medium may change, but news and information will always be a necessity. Media barons, owners and publishers need to embrace this changing of the guard and the change being forced upon them by the Internet, mobile platforms and advances in Web applications. Hanging on to the old model like a child holding on to a favorite blanket is a losing battle and is only going prolong the inevitable.

Cutting news rooms and limiting outgoing costs to maintain those profits is not going to allow a news organization, any news organization, the keep up with the speed of the new media landscape. The age-old adage of “Do more with less” doesn’t apply in journalism. It may work in manufacturing, it may work on a labor union-run dock but it simply does not work at a news organization.

To quote Gus Haynes on HBO’s The Wire: “If the paper is still profitable, why are we making cutbacks?”

Our product has a dual-purpose, one of which is intangible: to inform. We aren’t making widgets here, we’re telling people the news. Regardless of how that news gets to them, people will always need some sort of filter and someone to deliver that news to them. Yeah I’m young, I know, and one day my idealism and love of this business will be beat into submission, but not today.

Even though we are in a semi-dark period in modern journalism, I for one am happy to be embarking in this business right now. Once we finally shed this dark shroud of bottom-line thinking and write first, think later style of journalism, I think the industry will emerge into a renaissance period that will embrace the technology and capabilities at our fingertips.

Either that, or you’ll find me greeting you the next time you step into Wal-Mart.

NPAA Best of Photojournalism 2008 Web winners

Posted on by
Reply

The National Press Photographers Association has announced its winners for the Best of Photojournalism contest. The winners in the online categories were quite impressive this year. Steve Myers over at Poynter weighs in on some of the notables and trends.

Here are some that I liked a lot:

I really liked the video on this last one so I included it. It’s short and simple, but it easily gets the point across. Along with a story, talking about the video system, cost, etc., this makes a nice complete little feature package. As an aside, that system would not go over well at the University of Central Florida. Cars would be getting towed left and right.

Check out all of the winners at the NPAA site.