The Link to our Journalistic Crossing

For a look at our largest group project of the semester, click on our collaborative work titled Crossing the Street.

Intrepid journalists

The project takes its name from something our student journalists discovered in the course of talking to people: Many sources who are not from the university said they didn’t know much about Elon students beyond their view of them crossing the roads around campus.

Notably, several people observed that students don’t pay much attention when they cross. They’re texting or talking. They just walk without much regard for people on the road.

What if we all paid a little more attention? That’s at the heart of our purpose in exploring the issues behind the campus-community relationship.

We’re looking to understand how students and residences cross the line between campus and community — and how, perhaps, we might do it better.

We invite your feedback! Just click up above on Leave a Comment to share an idea or an observation that might advance this discussion.  We will monitor the discussion, so please use the same courtesy you would display and expect in a face-to-face conversation among friends.

That’s our course group, below, in another daring crossing.

Multimedia journalists, from left: Lindsay Fendt, Sammi Miller, Hobie Temple, Alison Hydrick, Julia Jacobs, Tim Barber, Lesley Cowie, Katie McKee, David Koontz, Sophie Duensing, Dan Rickershauser, Russell Varner and Lauren Wisniewski.

Here is the URL to our website:  http://www.wix.com/multimediaj/Bridging-the-Gap

The SF Panorama: A One-Day Newspaper

See this video about the Panorama, a newspaper that does not mean to be an online site.

The message here? There are reasons to be in print even in the digital era. Take a gander at a new take on an old product. This could only happen in San Francisco among the artists and intellectuals who like to do what everyone else isn’t.

Got five bucks? Almost makes you want to read . . .

Photos That Tell a Story

by Lindsay Fendt

I came across this post on a blog today and thought it applied to a lot of what we have been talking about in class.  This post shows photos, some by famous photographers and others not, that not only show good composition and are aesthetically pleasing, but that also tell a story.

In class we have talked about how right now many journalists are producing multimedia content for the sole purpose of creating something that can be labeled multimedia.  In the same vein sometimes photos that have nothing to do with a news topic accompany a news story just so that there is a visual element for people to look at.

These photos not only go along with a particular story, but they also have the ability to stand alone and tell their own story without additional elements.  I think this kind of photography is what photojournalists and multimedia journalists in general should strive for when producing quality journalism.

Time Inc.’s New Digital Magazine Format

For a look at the near future of journalism — exactly what we’ve been discussing — take a look below at  a digital magazine format developed for Time Inc.  and its family of periodicals.

Thanks to professor Janna Anderson for tipping us to this

Here in this slick video we see another innovation built on prediction that readers will use some sort of tablet PC, or perhaps a Kindle-like touch screen, to consume information.  Sounds like a good bet.  Don’t forget that Apple is about to unveil its tablet Mac, which will be something of an enlarged iPhone no doubt well-suited to this magazine format and probably capable of running lots of iPhonish apps.

This gives us a fair picture of how news and information will be delivered. The related question: How will this system make money? How will the producers turn their profits? We see one possibility, first raised this semester by Barry Diller, Daily Beast backer, that truly digital productions will allow far more creative and engaging advertising that can “breathe.” We catch a glimpse of that here.

The other potential is in subscriptions for this sort of value-added design and content (along with customization options). Here’s a story with video from TechCrunch that gives us another look at the magazine format, with some news of market research on users’ willingness to pay fees.  Of course,  “using” the news this way will require an investment from a few hundred to a few thousand bucks in a device, but perhaps that’s a given for always-on consumers.

The Next Big Q:

How much, really, will consumers pay?

The new Time Inc. format, by the way, was developed by The Wonderfactory, a web development company and probably another great place to work. I wonder if the factory needs journalists — or just some creative, hard-working and intrepid college grads. (See links below.)

Take another look at the about page for TechCrunch. Scroll down. How old are the people running this operation? Notice the ads? My first-blush response is to note that here we see the blending of the old and the new. We have a set of young entrepreneurs creating a successful 4-year-old blog and business, but they are doing it based on the most fundamental element of journalism: They are providing credible news that their audience needs.

As always, the people who actually dig up and interpret the news are the key cog in the process. Be innovative — and be a hard-working, curious journalist. Do that, and good things will happen.

As for Jobs

Click here for the Time Inc. page for college students and recent grads.

The Wonderfactory has internships and some jobs. See page here.

TechCrunch provides a jobs board (another way it earns income).  Not many listings are for entry-level people, but here’s an interesting one for free-lance writers to work for soon-to-morph AOL.  Not everyone is jazzed about the switch, really, from AOL to Aol. See these thoughts. Then again, what if your free-lancing takes you somewhere good?

watch?v=5SeZBmwMtHw

Making the Job Search A Little Less Stressful

As seniors, we’ve had plenty of talks in our class about finding jobs after graduation. While looking for a job can seem overwhelming and frustrating at times (I know for me it is), I found a website that has become my new best friend . . .

One Day, One Job

Ross Wade, our helpful and animated career counselor, introduced me to the website, One Day, One Job, after I almost had a meltdown in his office, worried about my future career after graduation. My worries were gone (at least for a little bit) after taking time to browse around the site which features entry level jobs for college graduates.

Each day, a new employer is featured, hence the name of the site, One Day, One Job.  Willy Franzen, a 2006 graduate of Cornell University and creator of the site, posts a brief paragraph about the featured employer in a very blog-like method — no big, fancy words, but rather conversational writing that appeals and speaks to our generation. Underneath each entry, a section called, “Links to Help You Begin Your Research,” follows, providing direct links to the employer’s website, job page, and other helpful links.  You can even search for specific jobs or specific concentrations from the homepage.  For example, I always search “sports,” and check out results from MLB, the Big Ten Network, and other employers that appear in my search.

The thing I like most about this site is that all the research is already done for you.  There’s no need to search through companies’ websites, trying to find the section for jobs, or if they’re even hiring. One Day, One Job sends you right to the places you need to go on a company’s site.  It also provides a good starting place for jobs if you’re like me and have no idea where to even begin looking. I recommend taking a look at this site. It’s been a really useful tool for me so far in starting the job search process. I even started checking it just as much as my Facebook . . . OK, maybe not that much, but it’s definitely a resource worth looking at!

This Just In: Media Notes from NPR

We can thank our friends in the news biz for keeping us up to date on changes in their lives, and perhaps   ours.  Good thing, too, because every day brings new stuff. Here are two useful updates from the information-rich NPR site:

From Morning Edition, this piece about GlobalPost, that experimental operation aimed at finding any number of new tricks to make money to cover international issues. Love the natural sound in this report.  One technique we haven’t tried in this course is an audio-only story.  We could sure emulate this report.

On an NPR news blog called The Two Way, you can read this item. It offers a bunch of links about a new proposal that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. reportedly is floating to link with Microsoft as an exclusive provider of certain media content. The strategy here: To bypass Google and to maintain a proprietary control over the flow of the company’s news content. The goal, obviously, is to find ways to charge for the content before it gets distributed around the Net for nothing.

Meanwhile, before you snap to judgment on Murdoch leading the charge (get it?), try reading Newsday, another online site based near The Big Apple in Long Island.  Once a property of The Times-Mirror Group,  Newsday is now owned by the more local Star Community Publishing Group, and its publisher also is looking to charge for content.

If you’re not in the habit of reading the NPR site, well, this is a good time to build one.

The Texas Tribue

Encouraging Change

The Texas Tribune knows that media formats are changing, and they are taking a stand on which direction news is moving. Focusing on only politics, the website hopes to be a leader in a media transition heading towards niche journalism. Why not take a chance and be a part of something that you hope will catch on? The industry is changing, and instead of sitting back and watching the change, The Texas Tribune is brave enough to encourage and implement that change.

 

Why Niche is Nice

 Presenting news and information via niche websites allows for more in-depth coverage of certain events. Instead of getting a broad idea about all kinds of topics, you can get all the information about one thing. Information will be more accessible, and writers and reporters will be able to work with topics they are passionate about. If a writer loves covering a certain topic, their work will reflect that passion. If a writer or reporter doesn’t care about what they are covering…you can definitely see that in their work too.

 

Problem

 The Problem I see with niche news is that it will be difficult for news consumers to gain insight into all areas of coverage. There will need to be a way to link the niche sites together without creating an umbrella news organization if niche journalism is the future of journalism. I like getting a little information about everything, and so do others…so I doubt focused websites (like The Texas Tribune) are ready to take over the media industry just yet. David Carr’s article points out the beauty behind the idea of a changing industry, but I think it’s important to note that the idea has a long way to go before it is perfected.

Texas Tribune: A Lonely Attempt from the Lonestar State

In the multimedia journalism world today, new innovations, videos, and websites can be either a hit or miss. David Carr’s article…a hit.  The Texas Tribune…a miss.

Hit

David Carr’s article in the New York Times, “News Erupts, and So Does a Web Debut”, focuses on the idea of websites and online newspapers becoming more focused on one specific genre/topic area.  In a world where people have shorter attention spans and want exactly what they’re looking for right away, this concept seems like a good idea.  However, I do see some potential problems arising, mainly the credibility of these sites for news in their respective field.  For example, if you wanted the latest news on trade rumors in Major League Baseball, would you go to a small site similar to the Texas Tribune, or would you go to ESPN?  I’m pretty sure I’d go with the World Wide Leader in Sports on this one.

Miss

For such an interesting concept and idea for a multimedia site focused on politics, the Texas Tribune could not be any more of a miss. First of all, the site’s overall appearance and usability is horrendous.  The color scheme reminds me of a cross between a Pittsburgh Steelers fan blog (their colors are black and yellow) and a New York City taxi cab.  To me, the colors just don’t scream Texas, but hey, maybe that’s what they were going for.  Secondly, the site is somewhat difficult to navigate.  There’s not much white space, no interesting graphics of pictures, and everything resembles a print newspaper too closely.  It’s hard to distinguish between breaking news and older opinion articles…it’s even hard to tell what certain articles are about because of the vague story headings.  Overall, like David Carr’s article talked about, I think site’s like these have the potential to be successful if executed properly. The Texas Tribune must have missed that memo.

Changing Collegiate Journalism: Using a Model of the Teaching Hospital

Chronicle of Higher Ed

As journalism keeps transforming, applied theorists keep pumping out new conceptions for how we should think of our field.  Here is an article in the well-respected Chronicle of Higher Education from Michael Schudson and Leonard Downie Jr. suggesting that universities explore looking upon college journalism training much as they see the function of the teaching hospital.

If hospital can train young physicians to do actual work, goes the theory, why can’t universities teach journalism students to provide community service as they, too, learn the practices and ethics of the journalism profession.

This proposal gains currency as commercial news operations cut back and lose money. If they can’t cover their communities, who can?

Responds the authors:  The universities can. They already have students doing so-called practice journalism. Why not simply broaden the process?

This has been mentioned before, such as in our class.

Now we see some experts making the case, drawing the functional thread from medical students to journalism students.

But wait. Medical residents have already studied for years in college before they treat patients.  They’ve cleared hurdles, earned their ridiculously high GPA’s, earned entrance into medical schools.  Not so journalism students.

How much training and elimination should collegiate journalists go through before they begin producing news for their communities? Are two years enough? Four? Is grad school a necessary entry point? Will journalism students pay extra for the privilege of reporting for free? Student reporters and editors don’t wield scalpels or fix balky hearts, to be sure. But journalists do hold delicate reputations in their hands as they investigate stories and report the news.

Here’s a direct quote that gets to the authors’ point. It’s a lengthy quote. (These guys must be academics):

Thinking through what universities can do for journalism requires some serious conceptual work about how best to integrate the legitimate educational and research missions of the university with service to society. Can university-based journalism enhance the quality of public information available to citizens and contribute to the intellectual life of the university at the same time? It needs to do the former to help serve the broader society; it needs to do the latter to justify itself in the university over the long haul. It can probably blend these purposes best if it focuses on the most ambitious and exploratory journalistic work­—the in-depth stories that make use of new and complex databases, investigative reporting, new ways to make good use of multimedia technologies, and experiments that link volunteers and amateurs to professional guidance and editing (what is known as pro-am journalism).

The Report Authors

Schudson and Downie are the same elite pair who issued another big report this fall, which we’ve discussed, proposing new economic models for American journalism. That report is titled, The Reconstruction of American Journalism. You can read it here.

Schudson is a media historian and sociologist who is a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Downie is former executive editor of The Washington Post, still an editor-at-large, and also a professor at Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Great Multimedia Stories

I stumbled on this site today and thought the Herald  Sun did an excellent job of producing multimedia with very strong emotional elements.  However, what struck me most about the stories was the “less is more” theory.  There is nothing complicated about that presentation of the stories, and they only use audio, pictures and text.  I think using very simple methods in presenting the stories made them even more powerful.

The Texas Tribune sounds great on paper, but the young site still needs to learn the Internet

In David Carr’s article, The Texas Tribune sounds like a great model for the future. I like the thought that online journalism is becoming niche market-focused. I’m not sure how the idea will fare in actual practice, though. I feel people won’t like having to check 15 different sites to get their news. I think they would rather check one site that has all of the news they want.

Regardless, on to the site itself.

One HUGE issue with the site I have is that it seems like they are trying too hard to be a newspaper online, instead of an online newspaper. The headlines for one thing are not SEO and don’t give me very much of a clue into what the story is about. There are pictures and graphics without cutlines, so I am left clueless about the content.

All in all, the site is not very geared for the Web, and it’s a colossal problem to me.

Texas Tribune

David Carr Article

The article definitely provides a good look into this new type of newspaper and how it could change the face of online news as we know it. David Carr does a good job talking about niche newspapers and the theories behind it and on why people believe they could work. I personally believe that this could work, but it would have to challenge with blogs that already cover the same type of news. The question will become which will people trust more, and that is going to determine the future of these niche online newspapers and of some blogs as well.

Texas Tribune Website

The layout for this site is interesting. I’m personally not a fan of it, though I’m not a hundred percent sure why. It just does not catch me and something real appealing right off the bat. I’m not a big fan of the yellow, white and black color layout. I’m also not a fan of this particular niche, being a huge sports fan and I am not from that area, so most of these stories do not interest me. But I can see how someone from the area would love a site like this. I’d like to see a few more pictures or videos or something multimedia, though. This just seems like another regular website to me at first glance.