Archive for July, 2007
Check out the new Journerdism
One of my favorite journalism blogs is Journerdism, and it just got better with a new redesign. The new look is certainly sharper, but what I really like is how Will Sullivan is positioning his content differently. Instead of doing big updates with multiple small stories, he is posting each item as its own update. [...]
Making your site stand out
Many of you are freelance writers, photographers, designers, etc. Is there a better way to possibly display your work than through a Web site that anyone in the world can see? No. A well designed, easy-to-navigate site is a great place to display works, especially for journalists. I tell my writer friends all the time [...]
The YouTube debates show some flare
I’ll admit, I was suspect of the concept of the CNN / YouTube debates. I mean, really, does it matter how the questions are asked? Candidates just give canned answers anyway. That’s still true, but the YouTube debate of the democratic primary ended up going off pretty well. Unlike other sites, I am not going [...]
Today’s thoughts 7-23-07
Reporting is important and it always will be No matter how much I stress the importance that journalists need to learn Web and new media skills, there is one thing I will always mention: reporting skills are a must. The world will always need people who can work leads and cultivate sources. That’s a given. [...]
Show photos some love
People love photos. No, they really, really love photos. Don’t believe me? Check out flickr, webshots or even facebook. The digital revolution has allowed everyone to cheaply take and share photos. People absolutely love photos. 68% Respondents to a survey I commissioned for my 2006 award-winning honors thesis on the impact of the Web on [...]
Hyperlocal might need a little more journalism
Just how will hyperlocal make money and have good content at the same time? Backfence tried to make money without rich, compelling content. The key is giving users quality content, which costs money to produce. You spend money to make money. Can we honestly expect a journalism site to succeed long term without quality journalism? [...]
Hyperlocal’s new hope
LoudounExtra.com has become hyperlocal journalism’s new hope. The dazzling new site by The Washington Post is loaded with stuff to read and discover. It might be the site that finally puts the journalism in hyperlocal journalism. But will LoudounExtra.com succeed where others have failed? Only time will tell. Let’s take a loot at the good [...]
The page view quandary
How exactly are we supposed to accurately measure the popularity of Web sites? Is it through unique visitors, page views, time spent on a site? Most likely, it will be all three of those metrics. It’s extremely important to figure out a cogent way of measuring a Web site’s popularity, especially for newspapers and other [...]
Journalism students, do you want jobs?
If you want a journalism job you better have the journalism skills that employers wants. That users want. That means more than writing and reporting, because there are a lot of veteran journalists with those skills and many of them are looking for work. Those journalists also have better clips than you and a lot [...]
Every paper needs common sense
I have heard and seen so many stupid ideas with the Web that I realized that one thing most newspapers and editors lack is common sense. That’s why every newspaper needs to go out right now and hire a Vice President of Common Sense (thanks Bill Simmons). The premise is simple: every time an editor, [...]