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Soundslides: Mustang Daily

October 12, 2007 in Learn, Websites

brush fire

The Mustang Daily at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has been busy over the past few days covering a brush fire and a visit by a famous alumnus – Weird Al Yankovic. Check out the audio slideshows here: Fire and Yankovic. Deadline multimedia is a good way to get students involved in producing for the web first.

yankovic

One slight complaint – the stories on the site don’t have links to the multimedia presentation. For instance, this story: Fire spreads on hills, inches toward Poly Canyon, doesnt’ contain a link to the audio slideshow, which would be a great addition to the story.

Thanks to Paul Bittick for the heads-up.

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Getting to the web-first mentality – start with the Content Management System

October 10, 2007 in Learn, Multimedia views, Websites

A couple of conversations recently reminded me of one of my main points of contention: until college newspapers start using the web in their copy workflow, their efforts at practicing a “web-first” publishing mentality are going to be decidedly uneven.

The tragedy is that there are many tools already available to make that happen.

Check below the fold to see what I’m talking about and read a few objections.

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Washington U’s Student Life

October 9, 2007 in CICM shop talk, Learn, Websites

chris carroll at washington university

Sunday and Monday, Chris Carroll (pictured above) and I got the opportunity to visit with students and board members of Student Life, the student newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis. The editors we met with were interested in making their web presence more robust, but unsure how to go about it. We spent about two hours with them on Sunday talking about ways they could do so without detracting from their print publication.

On Monday, we met with their board of directors, which is composed primarily of professional journalists from around the country  (places like the Wall Street Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Newsday). We talked about where college media was in developing new media skills (based on our survey results) and some of the impressions we had from the Student Life meeting and looking at the web site.

It’s always rewarding to see people put the stuff you talk about into practice, and so today, there’s a map (accompanying a story about hair salons) on the Student Life web site, and a slideshow.

Sometimes, all it can take is showing a few examples of what other students are doing to get people pointed in the direction they already want to go.

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Bradshaw: How to be a journalism student

September 25, 2007 in blogging, career talk, Learn, Multimedia views

Paul Bradshaw, a UK journalism prof, writes some tips about how to be a journalism student. Great stuff (thanks to Mindy for bringing it to our attention).

Never content to let well enough be, I’m going to add some thoughts to Paul’s list. Here’s the basics of his bullet points:

  1. Read the news
  2. Forget you have an opinion.
  3. Know the difference between news and features.
  4. Make contacts.
  5. Get a life.
  6. Don’t sit around waiting for an email reply.
  7. Learn how to spell.
  8. Be open to new experiences.
  9. Read books.
  10. Know what you want to get out of this – and chase it.

Be sure to go to the link above to read all of the explanations.

So here are a few additions I’ve thought of, off the top of my head – where you can see that there are thoughts taking off, because there’s no hair there. :-)

  1. Watch good video – It’s not enough now to just be able to tell a story with words. I love words, but words don’t always do the story justice. Look at good video documentaries. See what they do well, and what could be improved.
  2. Engage in conversation – I’m not as much a stickler as Paul about forgetting that you have an opinion. Be willing to admit mistakes. Respond to readers. Engage your audience.
  3. See stories from all angles – It’s not always about the photograph, either. Sometimes, a map can tell a story as well as a graphic in the newspaper, or a timeline. Know which types of online artifacts can help your news story.
  4. Embrace the Web – Use hyperlinks. Practice blogging. Push for online-first news publishing. Use the online content management system in your workflow. Don’t accept the old standards of turning in .doc’s to the copy editors. Demand that they embrace the future instead of dragging their feet in the past. Follow bloggers on your campus. Let them help you ferret out story ideas. Don’t EVER dismiss the power of the online medium to drive readers to your publication.
  5. Be willing to fail – Try innovative projects. Throw things at your editors that they would never expect. Look for ways to push the envelope of storytelling on your campus. I guarantee if you do you will be more prepared for the future of journalism than your peers.
  6. Ask “why?” – NEVER be afraid to challenge the conventions of journalism. Some of the things we’ve done for so long have been done because “that’s the way we’ve always done them.” This goes along with the point above about being willing to fail. If we accept the received wisdom as wisdom – without critical evaluation – we do a disservice to ourselves and to journalism as a whole.
  7. Think about databases – How can a story with lots of data be broken down into manageable bits of information that people can parse by their interests.

These additional ideas won’t guarantee your success in the future of journalism, any more than will Paul’s original 10. But they will be a help, more than a hindrance. Don’t just stop at print (or broadcast). The best piece of advice I ever received was to keep learning always. Keep learning always.

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Selling online ads: less than half

September 18, 2007 in Learn, Websites

I thought I’d throw this into the discussion of online-only publications. For the past two years, we’ve asked the question: Do any of your student media web sites include local advertising sold by campus representatives? The first year, these were the results: 44 percent (N=108) said yes. 56 percent (n=139) said no. In 2007, the numbers were no less encouraging: 47 percent yes (N=81), 53 percent no (n=92).

Clearly, if anyone is going to consider concentrating more on their online presence, that number is going to have to increase.

Keep in mind, that question asked did *any* college media sell *any* local online advertising.

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College newspapers doing video

September 9, 2007 in Learn, Multimedia views, Websites

Megan Taylor asked today if I could point her to some college newspapers who were doing “good” video. I was able to quickly put together a list of a few colleges who were doing video online. I qualified my list with this: I’m not vouching for the “good” quality of all the videos presented on these sites. These are colleges that I know are doing video regularly right now. The quality varies, just as does the quality of written articles and photography.

So here’s the list. If your college newspaper is doing video and you’re not on this list, drop me an e-mail or put something in the comments and I’ll update this list as necessary.

Disclaimer: Again, this is the *beginning* of a list of school newspapers using video on a regular basis. At this point, it’s not comprehensive by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a start, and sharing it will help to get a better list together.

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What’s a blog

September 5, 2007 in Learn, Websites

I spent about 10 minutes with a student yesterday who was worried that her “blog” for the Daily Eastern News would become too much like a print story. Funny how we fall back into the old media formats we’re used to. So, for all of our benefit, I’m going to put down a short bullet list of things to remember when writing a weblog formatted piece for a traditional media outlet (standard disclaimer: your mileage may vary – YMMV):

  • A blog is not a story – It can be as long or as short as you want. For a taste of the different styles, check out this post by Instapundit Glenn Reynolds and this post by Poliblogger Steven Taylor.
  • Find a niche and fill it. I think this student actually has a good niche, she’s just a little uncertain about where she’s going with things. Write about something you’re passionate about. It doesn’t have to be something earth-shattering. Sometimes, the best-read blogs are hyperlocal or very topically specific – like azalea gardening. I have no interest in azalea gardening, but there are plenty of people who do.
  • Link to others who are writing in your niche. In the past I’ve been quick to provide hyperlinks to stories that relate to college media and multimedia storytelling. I want my readers to get the best information possible, and this is one way to insure that happens. If you’re writing a blog and you don’t have any hyperlinks in your blog posts, you’re failing. Period. It’s not a blog, but an advanced version of shovelware. For a good example of someone who took this advice and ran, check out Joe Gisondi – onsportz.
  • Try something different. The beauty of the blog is that there are no rules. Try something with video. Try a couple of photos. Try audio. Try writing in iambic pentameter if necessary. There are a number of ways to get your point across without resorting to the nut graph and the inverted pyramid style. Develop something that you enjoy.

Okay, so those are some off-the-cuff guidelines. Will they ruffle feathers? Probably. But who cares? If you develop a devoted audience, then those people who are upset can go stuff themselves.

Remember: Blogging can be journalism AND fun at the same time. But you have to figure out how to mix the two. If you do, send me a link so I can point others to your good example.

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Doing the critiques: Let’s think disruption

September 5, 2007 in Learn, Multimedia views, Websites

Meranda Watling posted a comment that I thought should get extra “play” in the main body of the blog. The Daily Kent Stater’s critiques of the print edition include the following questions – all of which are good:

  • What’s the most helpful or informative piece we had in the paper?
  • What’s the most distinctive story aimed at our college audience?
  • Something I learned from today’s paper.
  • A lede that really works.
  • A risk with design, photography or writing.
  • A photograph that tells a story in itself.
  • Eye-catching design in the newspaper.
  • A headline that grabs readers into a story.
  • Mistakes to learn from and avoid next time.
  • Other special praise.

Now, let’s apply those critique questions to online. Notice the question about “risk with design, photography or writing”? No offense, but when was the last time anyone really saw serious *risk* in print involving design or photography? You want to talk real risk, let’s get those photographers out there shooting video. Let’s get those reporters collecting audio. There’s some real risk. Or even more so, respond to some of the comments on your online stories. Risk? Try using your Web content management system as the copy workflow instead of Microsoft Word. Talk about rocking your world. Post something online first. Include some links in a story. Think outside the box.

As an adviser, are you critiquing the online site like you do the print version? If not, why not? If so, how are you doing it? Drop a note in the comments.

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Online content: when to change?

August 29, 2007 in ethics, Learn

I’ve written previously about the rising numbers of people who are coming back to college media outlets asking for removal of information contained in online archives (see the 2006 edition of Keeping Free Presses Free). I also wrote about a possible solution for those folks (see online identity management). Now, Online Journalism Review has posted an article by a college media adviser about this issue: Rewriting history: Should editors alter or delete online content?

My answer: It depends, as I explain below.

Below the fold, I’m including part of the Keeping Free Presses Free article entitled “Legal and Ethical Issues in Online Journalism,” for further information. I don’t think the publication is online.

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Notes from UGA

July 30, 2007 in Conferences, Learn, Multimedia views, Va. Tech Shooting

As I mentioned Monday, I headed off to the University of Georgia’s management seminar for newspaper editors, where I talked about advising and also about how other newspapers covered the Va. Tech tragedy. If you’re interested, I’m including some links and expanded notes from my talk on Tuesday afternoon. I actually didn’t get to cover the second part of the discussion, and I promised some folks that I’d post further notes online. I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I’d like talking about how student news outlets could prepare for a huge news event, but these are some of the notes I had.

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