Bloggers Excel Where Other Media Won't

Where newspapers and other media neglect to cover issues important to readers, bloggers are filling the void, according to a Simon Owens on MediaShift.

He chronicles several places where bloggers have taken on a particular topic -- politics, crime, land-use planning -- and gained a significant following. Why? Because people passionate about those issues see that bloggers share their passion and often are better connected than those in the media.

Another attraction? Bloggers aren't afraid to call it as they see it. And why shouldn't they if they've built their credibility by providing readers with the most timely, accurate and extensive coverage. Owens notes:

"As city daily papers continue to strain under the pressure of massive reporter layoffs, hundreds of knowledgeable and independent local bloggers are rising up and finding themselves with small, niche audiences that sometimes provide massive political sway."

The rising ability of bloggers to better serve these "niche audiences" is one of the reasons we're teaching young journalists this valuable skill.

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(Photo credit: "Moo cards..." by Mexicanwave, courtesy of Flickr.com)

College Media Copes With Tough Times

Just in case you were thinking college media might be immune from the ills bringing down the newspaper industry ... think again.

Today's MediaShift column highlights some of the steps college papers are taking to weather the economic downturn, from cutting the number of daily editions published to eliminating summer publications and reducing other expenses.

At the Commuter, we feel fortunate to have maintained a steady number of ads while gradually expanding our online audience and advertising. A growing, enthusiastic news staff reflects the continued interest in journalism among LBCC students.

As I was telling one of my teaching colleagues this afternoon, this is an exciting time to be in college media. I applaud my students and other young journalists who recognize that the multi-media skills they are building today will be in even higher demand tomorrow, even if it's difficult to foresee the future of journalism.

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The State of Journalism: 6:26 p.m. Jan. 24, 2009

One of my students posed these questions on the "state of journalism" for another one of his classes at LBCC:

1. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing journalism today?

The biggest challenge facing today’s journalists remains the same as ever: Gathering, analyzing, organizing and disseminating information for the benefit of readers and citizens in a democracy. Just like other industries, the media goes through periods of upheaval, change and innovation. We’re seeing that now, especially in the economic struggle of newspapers. From a consumer point of view, however, information has never been so plentiful. The challenge for those in the media is adapting to the technological and economic realities of the new millennium and satisfying the unprecedented demand for information.

2. How has the economy put pressure on journalism to adapt?

The media benefited from an immensely profitable economic model throughout the 20th century. Nothing in this world is guaranteed, however. And while they were enjoying healthy profits, the media – newspapers in particular – weren’t innovating aggressively enough or investing in serving the next generation of news consumers. For the past decade TV has been quicker to adopt new technology and adapt to the demands of its customers, whether incorporating the latest in video technology or expanding online.

3. What can students entering journalism do to avoid extinction?

As in any profession, journalists – whether veteran reporters or those just starting out – must stay current in their skills and knowledge. Those now in college not only must become well acquainted in the tasks and traditions of journalism, but they also must master rapidly evolving technology. It used to be that new journalists could find work if they excelled in writing, editing or photography. These days they have to be able to excel at all these tasks in addition to all aspects of online journalism, from writing and maintaining a blog to shooting, editing and posting video reports.

4. What are the benefits of journalists being forced to learn multitasking?

Journalists capable of mastering all the tools available for gathering and disseminating information always have been in highest demand. That hasn’t changed. Just as the most successful newspaper reporters learned how to incorporate the skills of radio and television journalists, today’s young reporters need to be knowledgeable about all these mediums as well as online. Those who can maintain the utmost versatility will continue to capitalize on all the opportunities the media has to offer.

5. What's the best advice you ever received as a journalist?

Practice, practice, practice. In the broadest sense, this means get out of the office, ask questions, get answers, and share what you learn. Journalism isn’t that difficult. As with anything else, the more you practice the better you become. The more stories you write, the more interviews you conduct, and the more photos you take, the better journalist you will be.

Note: To paraphrase Charles Dickens: “These are the best of times, these are the worst of times…” While some aspects of the media are struggling to redefine themselves and their economic reality, I believe it’s never been more exciting to be a journalist, especially a young, college-age journalist. The opportunities for applying the research, analysis, writing and presentation skills of a journalist have never been in greater demand.

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(Photo credit: "Reuter's (sic) Got Mojo" by inju, courtesy of Flickr.com)

Obama Champions Open Government

Openness and "transparency" in government will be more than just talk under President Barack Obama, if the first day of his administration is any indication. Among his first official actions as president, Obama sent a memo to all executive departments and agencies that effectively reverses the U.S. government's stance on freedom of information.

"Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears," Obama wrote in the memo. "Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve."

The bottom line? "All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in (the Freedom of Information Act), and to usher in a new era of open Government," the president wrote.

Of course, we'll have to see if action follows these words. Nevertheless, the move was cheered by open records advocates, including the Society of Professional Journalists and the Columbia Journalism Review.

The move by the administration mirrors Oregon's open records law, one of the strongest in the United States. It too puts the presumption on openness, and that citizens are entitled to view and obtain copies of public documents unless they have been specifically put off limits by law (i.e. health and medical records).

From the first moments it was on the job, the Obama team moved quickly to transform the public information function of the administration, including a new White House blog that was launched at 12:01 p.m. Tuesday. The administration's swift changes in the information functions mirror the effectiveness Obama and his team demonstrated throughout the campaign, making exceptional use of social networking and other new information technologies.

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p.s. It's interesting the chronicle the Obama campaign through the candidate's Flickr photostream, which includes the above photo from his stop at American Dream Pizza in Corvallis, Ore.

CNN, Facebook and the Techno-Inauguration

It was fascinating Tuesday to watch the day-long live video stream of the inauguration by CNN.com, accompanied by the continuous flow of Facebook reactions from around the world.

The Facebook world wished our new president well, along with sharing their feelings of pride for our nation. Mixed into the fast-flow of reactions were the inane along with the innocuous, even comments on Michelle's footwear when she and President Obama ditched their limo to stride among the masses.

How fitting for the President who mastered social networking in his quest for the White House to be the focus of the largest social networking event ever. As many stated Tuesday, praise to technology, which gave a truer sense of the spectacle of it all, especially for those of us thousands of miles away.

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What's a Blog? Video Explains It All

A student in my Photojournalism class at LBCC came upon this simple but effective video that shows what blogging is all about.

The three-minute video, "Blogs in Plain English," was produced by Lee and Sachi LeFever for The Commoncraft Show. It's worth taking a look, especially if you're wondering just what blogging is and why it's growing exponentially.

It's among a variety of interesting videos, including explanations of Twitter, social media, phishing scams, and podcasting. You'll want to get the lowdown on zombies, too.

Thanks, Frank, for the tip.



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'Pinata of Dreams': LBCC Ezine Deadline Nears

Time is growing short for those who would like to contribute to this year's LBCC ezine -- "Pinata of Dreams," a soon-to-be-published online collection of art, photography, poetry, stories, prose, music, videos...

"There's still time!" wrote faculty advisor and LBCC English instructor Natalie Daley.

The deadline is Jan. 20 (or soon after, if you contact Natalie).

If you need more inspiration, check out last year's edition, "Creative Highway."

Here's some submission guidelines and other things to know from Natalie:

Piñata of Dreams, LBCC’s ezine, reflects the original prose and poetry; instrumental and sung music; videos and film; photography, crafts, and art of students, staff, and our community.
Decisions about the content and design of Creative Highway are governed by two classes:
• Writing 247, Literary Publications, winter quarter, will select its contents from submissions collected November 1-January 18, 2009.
• Writing 246, spring quarter, will design and produce the all electronic version, available mid-spring quarter, 2009.
Parameters for submitting material:
• One submission (poem, story, photo, etc.) with agreement form per email.
• Written materials should use easily readable/reproducible fonts such as Times, Helvetica, or Palatino.
• Prose should be under 2,500 words.
• Poetry should be under 500 words.
• Art and photography should under 10 megs.
• Music, video, or film should be three minutes or less.
• Resolution of all submissions should be limited to 300 dpi.
• JPEG, MOV, and MP3 formats should be used to submit materials.

You’ll be notified, electronically, of Writing 247’s decision for acceptance of your material by March 21, 2009.
Questions? Contact Natalie Daley, faculty advisor, at daleyn@linnbenton.edu, 541-917-4573, or during office hours in North Santiam Hall 211.

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Trendspotting: Facebook Fun, and MySpace too

This week the Media and Society class at LBCC is exploring the Internet and new technologies, including the explosion of social networking. Most of the students in the class have Facebook accounts and know the lowdown on MySpace. They're beginning to pick up on Twitter...

Anyway, one of the students recalled this terrific February 2006 clip from "The Daily Show," featuring Demetri Martin's "Trendspotting" report on social networking. Thanks, Luke, for the tip.

Enjoy.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Trendspotting

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

On Stephen King's "On Writing"

As part of the Feature Writing class this term, we're starting to read "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King. Yes, that Stephen King, author of "Cujo," "Carrie" and other assorted tales of horror and woe.

While not necessarily a huge King fan, I enjoy this foray into the writer's craft immensely. If nothing else, it makes me laugh out loud every couple pages.

It has several things to offer young writers: Inspiration that they too might make a living someday by exercising their creativity and adhering to Strunk and White's "Elements of Style," and that like anything else you don't become expert at your trade without practice, practice, practice. But that comes later in the book.

Our first assignment was to read pages 1-50.

Here's my favorite inspirational moment from this section (it's on page 37 of my edition):

"Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up."

One of the hardest things for young reporters is recognizing the good feature story right in front of them. Or they choose a topic that's way too broad when answering one compelling question will more than propel them to a good clip containing their byline.

In the first few pages King also addresses the mystery of inspiration: "We are writers, and we never ask another where we get our ideas; we know we don't know."

I've suggested my students share some favorite passages from "On Writing" in their newly created blogs. I'm looking forward to reading what they discover.

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Photo credit: "Creepy!" by Midnight-digital, courtesy of Flickr.com

Journalism 2.0: New Term, New Blogs

My LBCC journalism students concluded the first week of the new term in Feature Writing (JN217) and Photojournalism (JN134) by creating their own blogs.

Throughout the term they will post their assignments, from feature story ideas, commentary and profiles, to their news and feature photography and photo essays.

Blogging is new territory for many of the students, and it will be interesting to see how they apply their creativity to their blogs.

Follow their progress by way of the blog rolls at right...

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Photo credit: "Entropy ≥ Memory . Creativity ²" by jef safi, courtesy of Flickr.com.

A Musical Welcome Back to Winter Term

Just got a heads up on this Twitter video that seems a fun way to start off Winter term.



Thanks to OSU new media professor Pam Cytrynbaum for passing this along.

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Good Job Advice for Journalism Students

I remember earning my journalism degree and thinking I was ready for my dream job as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times or the Orange County Register. That was several dream jobs and more than 20 years ago.

Which is to say you never know when or where your career in journalism will lead you. New media professor Mindy McAdams has some good advice for young journalists who will be looking for work before they know it: Think of that first job as the stepping stone to the job you really want.

"If you see the kind of job you would like to have, then make sure your first job will serve as good preparation for that future job," she writes in her online journalism blog.

With all that's happening online, this is one of the most exciting times ever to be getting into journalism. Sure the media is going through some tough times now, but that will change.

As always, young journalists should be looking for any way they can to get their foot in the door, whether it's an internship or a part-time/freelance reporting gig. Think twice about holding out for the the next opportunity to come your way. As McAdams points out:

"That first two years might be tough — long hours and low pay, just like you’ve been told all along. But I believe there is still light at the end of the tunnel for young journalists who pay their dues (just like always) and acquire a flexible skill set.

"Read those job ads, and make note of what the jobs you really want are asking for."

** For even more good information/inspiration on getting ahead, see this blog post on "Everyday Journalism" by Suzanne Yada.

** Also see the great advice in "Top 10 List of Tips for Journalism Students" by Greg Linch.

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(Photo credit: "Me & My Powerbook" by Brian "DoctaBu" Moore, courtesy of Flickr.com)