Jeff's TED Talk: This Is Bullshit

Fellow TED fans ...

Another one of our favorites, "What Would Google Do?" author Jeff Jarvis, just made his debut talk to TED. (He said the video will be posted in a week or so.)

Based on Jarvis' notes posted on BuzzMachine, it's an interesting speech on education, media, innovation, Google, collaboration ... and it starts by saying, "This is bullshit."

Here's a couple excerpts from the rest:

I tell media that they must become collaborative, because the public knows much, because people want to create, not just consume, because collaboration is a way to expand news, because it is a way to save expenses. I argue that news is a process, not a product. Indeed, I say that communities can now share information freely – the marginal cost of their news is zero. We in journalism should ask where we can add value. But note that that in this new ecosystem, the news doesn’t start with us. It starts with the community.

And...

We must stop our culture of standardized testing and standardized teaching. ... In the Google age, what is the point of teaching memorization?

We must stop looking at education as a product – in which we turn out every student giving the same answer – to a process, in which every student looks for new answers. Life is a beta.

Why shouldn’t every university – every school – copy Google’s 20% rule, encouraging and enabling creation and experimentation, every student expected to make a book or an opera or an algorithm or a company. Rather than showing our diplomas, shouldn’t we show our portfolios of work as a far better expression of our thinking and capability? The school becomes not a factory but an incubator.

It's a good speech that picks up on many of the concepts Jarvis continues to tout on BuzzMachine, his various talks and, of course, "WWGD?"

I'm looking forward to adding the video version to my media curriculum at LBCC.

p.s. The BuzzMachine comments are interesting too...

-rp-

(Photo credit: "Jeff Jarvis" by Robert Scoble, courtesy of Flickr.com/Creative Commons)

McAdams Shares Multimedia Toolbox for Journalists

It's the next best thing to a great journalism textbook. Wait, I think it may be better in so many ways...

Mindy McAdams has compiled her 15 terrific posts that make up the "Reporter's Guide to Multimedia Proficiency" into an elegant one-stop PDF. She goes from reading and creating blogs to editing audio and delivering multimedia presentations.

Every "chapter" begins with a note of encouragement, such as this one on taking photos:

Every journalist should be able to capture a decent photo in a breaking news situation. You might be the only journalist on the scene. Sure, today it’s likely that 100 people with cell-phone cameras will be on the scene too—but why shouldn’t YOU be the one who captures the Page One image that gets picked up by Reuters or AFP and zapped around the world?

Best of all, Mindy doesn't get bogged down in technical jargon or debates over which software is better than the next -- just the tools to set you sailing. The guide is loaded with links to excellent examples and other resources.

As one of her many "fans" (Jack Zibluk) commented: "It’s all here. it’s succinct and comprehensive. The guide provides a solid foundation for anybody interested in multi-media storytelling. It’s great for beginners, and has useful tips for advanced practitioners."

I too am looking forward to sharing Mindy's excellent guide with my media students this fall.

-rp-

Dave Eggers: "Print Lives!"

Anybody who has taken Media & Society knows what a huge fan I've become of Dave Eggers - educator, entrepreneur, writer, buccaneer... Besides his writing, I most admire his enthusiasm for the written word and his gung-ho quest to engage young people with reading, writing and publishing.

Along those lines, here's an e-mail Eggers sent out via gawker.com and his faith in the future of print! In part, he writes:

Reports that no one reads anymore, especially young people, are greatly overstated and almost always factually lacking. I've written about youth readership elsewhere, but to reiterate: sales of young adult books are actually up. Total volume of all book sales is actually up. Kids get the same things out of books that they have before.

And about journalism, he had this to say:

We're convinced that the best way to ensure the future of journalism is to create a workable model where journalists are paid well for reporting here and abroad. And that starts with paying for the physical paper. And paying for the physical paper begins with creating a physical object that doesn't retreat, but instead luxuriates in the beauties of print. ... As long as newspapers offer less each day— less news, less great writing, less graphic innovation, fewer photos— then they're giving readers few reasons to pay for the paper itself.

Onward, Mr. Eggers!

(If you haven't seen the TED.com video above, you must! Called "Once Upon a School," it chronicles Eggers' quest to encourage communities to involve children in reading and writing -- and even buccaneering!)

-rp-

Spring Training for Journalists

Looking for something to do over spring break? How about learning a new multimedia skill?

A good place to start would be a new post on 10,000 Words -- "Essential Multimedia Tutorials and Resources for Do-it-yourself Training."

The list includes some of my favorites, including Mindy McAdams' "Teaching Online Journalism," "Common Craft" and the Knight Digital Media Center.

Have fun.

-rp-

(Photo credit: "E-learning" by mushon, courtesy of Flickr.com)