Archive for May, 2008
What was isn’t what will be
Change is happening at a very rapid pace. What journalism was and what journalism will be don’t share a lot in common beyond the basics of good, solid reporting. As long as we don’t forget the basics and don’t fear the future, we’ll be OK. But have enough journalists gotten the memo? Sometimes I feel [...]
Is the mainstream media overrun by a toxic culture?
Amy Gahran has a fantastic blog post about a possible toxic culture forming at many journalism organizations and within the field of journalism. I highly recommend you read Amy’s post and think about it. What she is basically saying is that many journalists are overcome by hubris or a journalistic arrogance, as Sam Zell put [...]
Interview with an enthusiastic adopter, Paula Froke
Paula Froke has jumped headfirst into the world of online and multimedia journalism with her upstart blog, Paula’s Adventures in Multimedia. While she may not have been born a digital native, she has quickly become an enthusiastic adopter. And as the Deputy National Editor for the AP, she is a manager, not a content producer. [...]
Conversations in Media: David Cohn on Spot.Us
David Cohn discusses his latest project, Spot.Us, which was made possible by a Knight News Challenge grant. Some of the things we discuss: What is Spot.Us and what will it mean for journalism? Why people should apply for Knight News Challenge grants? How hard is it to apply for a grant from Knight? Click here [...]
Journalism is killing itself with shallow coverage
It’s not the Internet that is ailing journalism and newspapers. We’re killing ourselves. I was always struck by what Mark Felt, AKA Deep Throat, said to Bob Woodward. He said didn’t like newspapers because he “thought newspapers were too shallow and too quick on the draw. Newspapers didn’t do in-depth work and rarely got to [...]
Career advice for new journalism graduates
Will Sullivan, yet again, has a fantastic post with job advice for journalists, especially new grads. First, I recommend you check out his full list of 32 tips. I’m going to highlight a few here and make some comments: 1. Your boss matters way more than where you are working. Horrible, stifling, untrusting, unengaging, uncaring [...]
It’s not just new content that brings in traffic
Yesterday the JI had about 50 different posts receiving traffic. You might wonder why that is a big deal? It’s a big deal because I usually write about 30 posts a month, which means that many older posts were being read and discovered. I keep harping on the need for rich SEO and social networking [...]
Enthusiastic adopter? Digital native? Doesn’t matter. We need them.
Sarah Hartley and others have taken offense to the term digital native. They don’t want to feel like immigrants. That’s fine. I don’t want to get into a debate over semantics. The terms mean nothing. The reality means everything. We need people at newspapers who get and use the Web — especially on Web staffs. [...]
Knight News Challenge 2008 winners announced
Sixteen projects were awarded $5.5 million today by the Knight Foundation to help build innovative journalism in the 21st century. The most high-profile project to date by a past winner is probably Adrian Holovaty’s EveryBlock. EveryBlock was made possibly by a $1.1 million grant from the 2007 Knight Challenge. The biggest surprise was Sir Tim [...]
Would you hire a Web person without a Web site?
How important is it for Web staffers to have their own personal sites? Clearly, a personal site/blog showcases online skills, but is it a necessity to get hired? I think the answer usually should be yes. Yes, I know some talented Web people who work at newspapers who don’t have Web sites, but I also [...]