Commuter Heads to 'Collegiate Day' at OSU

Members of the Commuter staff will be at Oregon State University on Friday learning more about journalism and celebrating their accomplishments at the annual awards program put on by the Oregon Newspapers Foundation.

"Collegiate Day" this year will feature seminars on newspaper design, internships, online journalism, open records/meeting laws, and sports writing. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at OSU.

At the awards program the Commuter is seeking to improve upon last year, when it earned Second Place in General Excellence among the state's non-daily college newspapers.

The staff already has been notified that it has won awards in these categories: best online site, best graphic, best editorial, best spot news photo, best sports photo. On Friday afternoon the staff will learn whether those are First, Second or Third-place awards.

Good luck Commuters! You've done a great job this year!

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(Photo credit: "Trophy" by bernd ploderer, courtesy of Flickr.com)

First Twitter, Now Flutter

Be the first on your block to get in on Flutter, the "nanoblogging" ap that's sure to sweep the nation.

... and then there's ...

Watch Real Life Twitter on CollegeHumor

... and Twitter unites strangers on a train ...

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Who Needs Google When You Can Twitter?

So what's the big deal about Twitter? Mashable contributor Soren Gordhamer has some answers in "How Twitter Is Dethroning the Old Guard."

Gordhamer notes how the "next great social media site" may soon replace some of our most-used online actions, including searching for information, e-mail and even MySpace. He writes:

To the extent that Twitter will begin to truly rule these areas is unknown, but I think it’s hard to argue that it is not already having an impact.... Twitter is clearly riding the waves of our time, and could have an even more significant impact on social networks, search, and communication than it does today.

Noting the power of the Twitterverse, Gordhamer poses the question: Why look something up on Google when it's faster to get the answer from your Twitter followers? "As information becomes more social, Twitter provides both a community and a much more effective means of finding emerging news and content than Google does," he notes.

As for e-mail, its faster to send a tweet; and MySpace contains too many graphics and other information for a generation increasingly using mobile devices to connect.

Each day more of my students are signing up for and finding new uses for Twitter. It's time to devise a fun classroom experiment.

BONUS COVERAGE: Don't miss this list of Twitter "don'ts" by Sean Ludwig.

MORE BONUS COVERAGE: "Twitter's Hot, Sure, But What Does It All Mean?" by Peter Ames Carlin in The Oregonian.

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Who Will Lead Commuter This Fall?

The end of the LBCC school year is rapidly approaching, as is the reign of the Commuter's editor-in-chief and his staff.

Now's the time for prospective editors to submit their applications to lead the campus newspaper and its online site beginning this summer. LBCC's Student Publications Committee will interview applicants for the editor-in-chief job on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 13.

Other positions are appointed by the new editor-in-chief.

Greg Dewar and the rest of the staff have done a great job diversifying the content of the campus newspaper and building the online Commuter from the ground up.

Applications are available at the Commuter or on the door of Rob Priewe's office, Forum 112. See Priewe (that's me) if you have questions about the jobs and all they entail. You also can call 541-917-4563 for more information.

Ideally, all applications should be submitted by May 8.

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Just Blog It! Tips for Blog Writers

This term most of the students in my News Reporting and Photojournalism classes at LBCC are creating their first blog. While some students dive right in, it's hard for others to get a feel for blogging or keep their momentum.

Fortunately, there are a lot of experienced bloggers out there with encouraging words for my young journalists. Here are some of their suggestions for launching and maintaining a good blog.

Craig Stoltz (Web2.Oh...Really?) offers "Five Lessons From a Year of Blogging," including this gem:

A personal blog is as valuable to the writer as the reader. A near-daily obligation to write forces you to learn something new or create an insight about something you already know. Writing a blog lets you educate yourself in public.

I can always count on Mindy McAdams' "Teaching Online Journalism" site for new ways to improve what we do and better connect with readers. When it comes to blogging, her site is a valuable archive of tips and ideas.

These days, she's doing a series titled "Reporter's Guide to Multimedia Proficiency." She began with urging journalists to read blogs and use RSS, then followed up with the reasons why we blog:

Today’s topic might seem mundane to many of you, but I always say that writing a blog with commitment, on some kind of regular schedule, makes you smarter.

The advantage for a journalist who needs to catch up, who needs to learn new skills for a digital and online world, is that having a commitment to a blog drives the blogger to search out new information. It’s kind of like taking a college course for credit instead of auditing the course. If you’re just auditing, when the rest of your life gets busy, you’ll just quit going to the classes. Some people abandon their blogs, of course. But those who make a commitment and stick to it soon find that the blog connects them to new developments and kindred spirits in ways they had not anticipated.

Third, I'm always looking for interesting blogs by young people that my students can use as role models. Shannon Paul works as a social media specialist for a company called PEAK6 Online in Chicago. Once or twice a week she writes about various aspects of her job and subjects such as personal branding and new public relations techniques. The bottom line is that she has fun with her blog, which should be one the top reasons we blog.

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(Photo credit: "Writers Block (6)" by Jonno Witts, courtesy of Flickr.com)

Pulitzer Puts Spotlight on PolitiFact

Every April we're strongly reminded why journalism matters as Columbia University announces the deserving winners of the Pulitzer Prize.

This year's awards are noteworthy with the inclusion of PolitiFact.com, an online fact-checking news bureau of the St. Petersburg Times. As the story on the winning site notes:

The (Pulitzer) board cited PolitiFact's use of "probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."

Neil Brown, executive editor of the St. Petersburg Times, which launched PolitiFact in August 2007, said the award was "proof that the Web is not a death sentence for newspapers. In fact, PolitiFact marries the power of old-fashioned shoe-leather journalism with an extraordinarily powerful way to present it."

During the campaign, PolitiFact had a staff of five Times reporters and editors, plus the support of researchers and writers from Congressional Quarterly, a sister company of the Times. PolitiFact re-launched in January to fact-check Congress and the White House, and added the Obameter, a feature that tracks President Barack Obama’s campaign promises.

I couldn't agree more with Neil Brown on the value of journalism. PolitiFact clearly shows there's a future for those who won't be satisfied until the truth is told and the public served.

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