Interactive Narratives, the multimedia database site begun by Andrew DeVigal many moons ago, has relaunched with a spiffy new interface, new multimedia stories, and even a Facebook fan page.

Welcome to Interactive Narratives 2.0, a site designed to capture the best of online visual storytelling around the country and the world. Unlike the original IN, submission to the database is open to the membership of Interactive Narratives. And members can also rate and make comments on individual entries. A sort functionality allow users to list those interactives focused on their preference or craft. Our goal is to highlight rich-media content, engaging storytelling, and eye-popping design in an environment that fosters interaction, discussion, and learning.

Interactive Narratives has the best database for this type of material out there.  With IN 2.0, we’ve retained the ability to search past multimedia stories from the original database. Now, it will only get better with the community contributing to this knowledge base. IN2.0 will truly be a gathering place for multimedia storytellers. It’s not just a place for professionals but also freelancers, students and citizen journalist. The site will go beyond the critiques. The site will go beyond collecting the blog postings into one space. Interactive Narratives will gather those storytellers that care about the high-standards of their narratives.

I agree with Andrew. IN is one of the best resources I’ve found for examples that I use constantly in classes and consulting work. And now that it’s back with the backing of the Online News Association, it’s worth visiting often.

Via PaidContent, the Center for Social Media at American University has published a “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video.”

More and more, video creation and sharing depend on the ability to use and circulate existing copyrighted work. Until now, that fact has been almost irrelevant in business and law, because broad distribution of nonprofessional video was relatively rare. Often people circulated their work within a small group of family and friends. But digital platforms make work far more public than it has ever been, and cultural habits and business models are developing. As practices spread and financial stakes are raised, the legal status of inserting copyrighted work into new work will become important for everyone.

Definitely worth a read as you deal with online video and what’s appropriate use.

Mindy McAdams posts a pointed reminder, in case you needed one, that people shouldn’t go into journalism for the money (complete with a nice graphic).

She also notes the financial troubles of the newspaper industry:

The newspaper business is in deep financial trouble right now — jobs are being eliminated continually. But there are still jobs out there for journalists with certain skills. You need to be savvy about what the jobs are, what the work entails.

Personally, I find it hard to get worked up about the deep financial trouble business, if only because most newspapers are still profitable. The “deep financial trouble” part is because they aren’t spitting out the same 20-30 percent profit margins Wall Street has been accustomed to. Layoffs and the assorted chicanery that newspaper execs have been rolling out over the past few years only make me angry at short-sighted management.

You want deep financial trouble, ask the airline industry, or General Motors, or Bear Stearns.

Image via WikipediaWe’ve finally reached the end of the Tim Russert hagiography on MSNBC and other major television networks, and Hal Boedeker rightly describes it as “one of the most embarrassing chapters in television journalism.” Indeed. While Russert’s death was untimely, and he was a media star, he received coverage normally reserved for heads of state and popes when they die.

Boedeker doesn’t just dissect the coverage, though. He offers some lessons that should be taught in J-schools. To wit:

1. Don’t lose perspective. On Friday, “NBC Nightly News” devoted its entire half-hour to Russert. The network ignored all the other news in the world. I thought Brian Williams would say, “Tim would want us to move to the news of the day.” Williams never did. That was a prelude to the days upon days coverage of Russert coverage on MSNBC. It was a misuse of a valuable platform — and dereliction of journalistic duty.

2. Journalists should remember it’s not about them. NBC has a bad habit of turning the news into a family album. The Russert coverage was the worst example yet. We, the journalists, are not the news. If we can’t keep perspective about ourselves, how can you trust us when we turn to other topics?

3. If you can’t hold it together, perhaps you shouldn’t go on the air. Chris Matthews actually seemed dazed on Wednesday’s “Hardball.”

And he offered this bizarre comment: “Do you think it’s an odd coincidence that ever since the bad news came Friday from the studio in Nebraska — we all heard about it in our own worlds — that nothing else seems to have happened. It just seems to have been a moment of — almost a moment of silence, politically for this to be marked, this tragedy.”

Actually, quite a lot has happened in that time: flooding in the Midwest, a deadly bombing in Baghdad, fighting in Afghanistan, the possibility of peace talks in the Mideast, talk of oil drilling off the U.S. coast. That last story could become the biggest this year in Florida.

All those stories have political repercussions. NBC, however, was too busy being self-referential and self-reverential.

There’s more that is worth the read. (via Romenesko)

Jim Killam videos a panel discussion of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association. here are the videos:

Part 1

Part 2

Here it is. I’m checking it out as we speak. Won’t ever pay for it, but it’s worth looking at it from a design perspective. As long as I’m here, I might as well mention that I actually like some of the ideas of the Times reader, but I can see no reason to pay for a software solution that will only work with one newspaper. Perhaps if the TR could display content from a package of newspapers, it would be worth something to me.

(previous coverage)

Pat Thornton is rapidly taking his place alongside Paul Conley as a one-person quote machine (TM). Today, he takes newspapers to task for vapid, shallow local coverage:

The irony is that the local reporting is where newspapers and journalists could be hitting home runs. Instead, we find decreasing amounts of good, local reporting. Journalists are being asked to do more with less — AKA produce shallower content.

I also see many papers with business, tech, health, living and other niche sections. The problem is other publications and Web sites cover those areas much more throughly. With CNET, TechCrunch, etc why would someone want to read shallow and cursory newspaper coverage of the tech industry? Business? Motley Fool, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, etc, etc have that covered.

I’d suggest you read the whole thing, but I’d also like to throw up a softball solution for some of these issues. Perhaps it would require some paradigm shifting on the part of local journalists, but I wouldn’t suggest local newspapers abandon their business, tech, health, living niches.

When I started in journalism, one of my first jobs was as a features writer for the local daily. Before the days of 24/7 Internet access, we were the main local source for the AP Wire. Access to the AP wires was like a needle of information heroin for a news junkie. Some of my best stories were localized features about national “trend” stories.

I think that still can be the case. Business, health, lifestyles, tech, could just as easily be local strengths if covered correctly. Where are your local tech companies? Who’s doing business in a unique way? Why not local stories about off-shoring, Internet economics, or gas price crunches? What are the challenges facing your local health community? What are the options in your community? What are people doing - lifestyle-wise - in your area that sets it apart from the national scene?

Unfortunately, newspaper staffs are stretched thin. Pat’s right about that. But I don’t think you have to give up coverage of a particular “genre,” if you can re-tool and present something fresh, local and important to your readers. Don’t cede the niche, subdivide it. Thorough on a national scale does not equate to thorough on the local scale.

On the college campus, I think there’s still room for experimentation and expansion. Not enough students read TechCrunch or Motley Fool to make an impact. You can be the go-to place for health, business, lifestyles, and tech if you plug in to the Internets and find the local angle correctly.

Just as an example, you can take this weblog. I don’t have nearly the resources to cover all the innovations happening in media. But I do find material that is relevant to my audience - college media advisers and college journalists - and try to find the local angle. You think Michael Arrington and TechCrunch are going to do that? As if they had the time!

Of course, the challenge will be once you leave the college environment, you’ll have to explore and reinvent that niche in a new location for a new audience.

 UPDATE: Apparent casual confirmation of the move to the Sun here.

Twitter updates tell me that Rob Curley’s team at the Washington Post is leaving to go to work for the Las Vegas Sun. The story is a bit vague on whether Curley himself is leaving, with an awkward sentence construction:

Curley brought a team that had done groundbreaking hyperlocal work on newspaper Web sites in Lawrence and Topeka, Kan., and Naples, Fla. It is leaving The Post to do similar work at the Las Vegas Sun.

I doubt the Sun would hire the “team” without the “coach,” but stranger things have happened. Much of the recent LV Sun makeover has been at the hands of Curley “disciples” (I hate that term, but can’t come up with anything better).

Whatever the case, good luck to Rob and the crew as they follow their future.

Previous coverage: Curley ICM Interview

Via Daring Fireball, the announcement that the New York Times’ Times Reader will be launching this month for the Macintosh. Yes, for those of you keeping track, that’s about 18 months since the service came to the PC market (see previous coverage here, here, and here).

The new Mac-friendly reader (built on Microsoft’s Silverlight platform) will be free while it’s in beta, but after that, it’ll be $14.95 per month, free for print edition subscribers (for the same material you can get for FREE on the web, btw).

I’m sure I’ll download it and give it a try, but I honestly see little value in this for a non-subscriber who gets most of his news from the Web. I get more value from the Times’ daily e-mail digest right now.

David Cohn has been a prolific proponent of community or networked journalism. Additionally, he’s been a friend of college media, speaking at the 2006 New York CMA convention and offering to judge a category in the ICM contests. Recently, he won a Knight Challenge Grant for a project to fund journalistic reporting. I chatted with David via instant messaging last Friday. This is the edited transcript of that interview.

ICM: Okay, so first question: What’s been going on with you this year aside from the Knight grant, which we’ll talk about later?

Cohn: Sure. This has been a busy year. I finished at Columbia’s J-school and moved back to San Francisco. During that time, I’ve still been working with Jay on NewAssignment.net projects. The main two being BeatBlogging.org and OffTheBus.net. I’ve played a very small role in OTB and a more day-to-day role in beat blogging. I’ve also been working with the folks at NewsTrust.net as a contributing editor. That’s been the bulk of my time.

ICM: What have you learned about networked journalism and the “future of journalism” during this time?

Cohn: There is so much I’ve learned that it’s hard to boil it down. A few things.

1. People will always be more important than technology. We have amazing technological tools and one can do amazing things with them, but if the person wielding them doesn’t have the mind or skill set to use them for online organizing, which is essentially what networked journalism is “online organizing” - then the tools are useless. I don’t know what the future of journalism will look like, but I do believe it will be participatory in some form or other. It’s important to keep in mind that none of this is a science and it may never be. Clay Shirky recently used weather prediction as an example: We know what elements need to combine to create a storm, but we can never be 100% certain that a storm is coming until we feel the rain drops - that’s what building online communities is like - we have an idea of what elements are needed, but it’s still a guessing game. But we are in the early stages - so the best thing to do now is try.

ICM: So what’s been your greatest success over this year?

Cohn: Well, with BeatBlogging it’s about small success. In a strange way - just getting a non-web journalist to sign up for twitter and then a month later telling you how they use it and it makes their job better/easier is a big success. With OffTheBus.net - the Mayhill scoop was huge and talking with Amanda Michel, who runs OffTheBus.net, I think we did the right thing by running it. And while the Mayhill thing was a big note worthy happening - I’m still more moved and happy with the personal changes. A lot of what I do is “consulting” - although I hate that word. And it’s nice that when you work with someone to get them on the web they finally see the power and what it has to offer.

ICM: You mention the Mahill scoop. Any regrets with the way that turned out?

Cohn: No. There are lots of alternatives, none of which I like: Imagine if we didn’t run it - but then later somebody found out we did have that information and consciously didn’t run it. Not to mention - I could imagine a situation where that same information could have been leaked on YouTube. Think back to the macaca moment. The fact is - there is no “off the record” anymore unless you say the words.

ICM: Cool. So what have you learned this year that will benefit student journalists … I mean, a lot of people have jumped on the “multimedia” bandwagon, but you’ve stayed in the more esoteric area of journalism. How can that help college media?

Cohn: That’s very true ie: digital storytelling versus community management. I have some digital storytelling skills - but I’m no ace.

The main thing I’ve learned - which I think applies to people who are great digital storytellers or people who want to stay on the community side of things, which can be described as esoteric I suppose. It is possible to make your career outside of mainstream news organizations. Wether you are Brian Storm or Michel Tippet - who to me represent digital storytelling and networked journalism very well - it’s possible to make your own career still. So far I haven’t worked for a MAJOR news organization. The largest company I’ve worked for was Wired.com - and that was before they were owned by Conde Nast. The point is: Follow your passions - do what you are good at and just DO IT. I know it’s becoming cliche - but that’s because there is truth to it.

Don’t get disheartened. Journalism needs smart people - so you will be in demand.

ICM: okay, so tell me a little about your Knight grant, and how that relates to what you’ve been doing recently.

Cohn: Sure. The Knight grant is for Spot.us - which is community funded reporting. I’ve been working mostly on the content side of networked journalism but I always wondered how it could be sustainable. Spot.us is still participatory journalism - but the participation from the public is by donating money. It’s very similar to Kiva.org or DonorsChoose which have raised millions of dollars for their causes. It’s also a chance for freelance journalists to get paid while building out their portfolio - while doing what they do best: reporting.

ICM: What has been the response so far for your proposal? I know Len Witt got a lot of negative reaction to his idea of “representative journalism”

Cohn: So far I’ve only gotten positive reactions - but I think that’s because those with negative reactions haven’t confronted me. I am told that my proposal was the most contentious of all the winners. From what I understand all the web judges loved it and all the journalist readers didn’t. But I am anticipating the negative reactions and I have responses - both verbally and in the site. I am building the site keeping their concerns in mind.

ICM: So what are your goals for the site?

Cohn: Short term goals: Just have a proof of concept. It’s unknown whether people will be willing to put 10-25$ down for journalism. I think they will if the pitch is right. So - in the beginning I’m just going to focus on getting a few good stories funded and published. It will focus on the SF Bay Area at first. Ideally - if it’s successful after the first year we will expand to other cities. What I’m building is a platform that any journalist can use.

But it’s going to be small steps to get there.

ICM: Bringing it back to our core audience, how can college journalists learn from this?

Cohn: A few things.

1. Apply for the Knight grant. Seriously. Four of the other winners were undergraduate college students.

2. Once you are done with college, if journalism is something you want to persue Spot.us is a tool that might be useful for getting started. There are others too.

3. If you have a cool idea - share it. That’s what I did and it worked out. Len Witt, who you mentioned earlier, had a similar idea and blogged it - and then somebody gave him 51k to make it happen. Share your entrepreneurial ideas and you never know what might happen.

ICM: What are your plans for this year: just work on spot.us, or other projects?
Cohn: Yes, Spot.us is going to be where I put the lions share of my time. I’m not going to disappear from NewAssignment.net or NewsTrust, but I am going to take a serious back seat. In some ways this is an extension of what I’ve learned at NewAssignment.net.

ICM: Are you seeing a change in the way journalists embrace the Internet? Are the “wars” over? Is this a good thing for college journalists as they work on their campus media outlets?

Cohn: I do think the war is over. There is still a sense of panic though. The industry isn’t going to die - but it is going to re-invent itself. That’s a good thing for students. The belief that it was going to be a battle is over - now it’s about learning to adapt and that’s where young recent grads can come in and really shake things up. Again I’ll point to the college students who won this year. One of them was telling me he wanted to apply to Columbia’s J-school. I love Columbia but I was telling him not to. As I see it - if he can leave UCLA having revamped his university’s CMS - he can walk into any organization he wants. So while working on your college media outlet - see what you can do there to embrace the internet. It’s a great opportunity to experiment.