Gaining clips (and experience) through placeblogs
March 13th, 2007 by BryanLisa Williams of Placeblogger dropped a comment in an earlier post that somehow got caught by Akismet. But her point is such that I want to promote it to full post status:
Hey, one thing I’ve been thinking: Placeblogs offer a really unparallelled way for journalism students to get clips. Many allow contributions without even needing to pitch anybody. Pick a story, write it, hit enter.
Oh, and for style points:
– respond to all comments on your story
– if you didn’t get any, reflect on why (maybe it’s that most people don’t feel like a traditionally written newspaper story is a prompt to conversation. Hint: Just asking a question at the end doesn’t work. Humor does work).
– Take bad cellphone camera pictures. Take decent digital camera pictures. Add them as a slideshow. Invite others to add their photos.
– Figure out how to shoot and edit short videos, embed a YouTube clip.
– Do the whole story as a podcast.
– Add it to your list of clips.
– Lather, rinse, repeat!
If you’ve never heard of a “placeblog” before, check out this explanation. I think Lisa has a good idea. Placeblogs can be an effective way to learn the ropes of community engagement - working with people who aren’t “Big J” journalists to gather stories and build an audience. Unlike a blog that you start yourself (like this one), placeblogs already have a niche that they are trying to fill. You can practice your storytelling craft and try out new media techniques as well. And that experience will prove valuable on the job hunt, or the entrepreneurial path to your own placeblog.
Thanks, Lisa!
