Anita McBride
McBride talked about her work with the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council and other programs like the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) that help women in those countries involve themselves in the political process or other male-dominated aspects that they’ve been denied from.
MEPI
“No one can imagine the repression and brutality they faced…” McBride said about Afghan women, “They honestly don’t want to be seen as victims…”
I was really happy I asked McBride a question and her answers were very honest. Many people in my class were nervous about asking questions and I was, too. I’m normally not interested in political journalism but this conference has made me want to try it out.
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Mark Stencel
Mark Stencel came to speak to my class:
- Doesn’t use the term new media because he’s been working with it for 16 years
- Gave us an intro on NPR.
- Showed us his blog
- NPR’s national audience on the radio is growing when may other outlets are losing theirs. They’re doing a lot of experimenting with trying to find the right way to tell a story to their audience.
- But their problem is a lack of online audience. They hired a lot of print journalists to do site.
- Social media is one way they are trying to reach out to followers
- Ethics are important to think about now so when you’re confronted with something then you know what to do.
Currently, I am creating one for my Pop Culture Journalism class with a partner from an AVT class. This post was interesting because it showed what a good infographic looks like.
I actually thought the infographic that was posted was a little too busy. But it was visually appealing.
Infographic
Here’s a rough draft of my charticle with the AVT student, Ngan:
Social media allows brands to interact with consumers.
Mandy Jenkins had some interesting tips.
Here are my thoughts on them:
- Responding — I know you’re always supposed to respond. I hadn’t really thought about direct messaging someone other than getting their contact information. Although this is kind of difficult when doing it just because you’re shy about talking to them because in order to direct message someone, you have to follow them.
- News tips — I knew that after you get a tip from someone you should verify it with them and re-tweeting it afterwards.
- Ask for help — Asking your followers for media about a scene works if you have a large audience. I don’t really have one. Sometimes this has worked for me, especially when it was a current issue like when I was researching DC Fashion Week or GMU football.
- Be thankful — Give credit when credit is due. You can do this on social media sites and within your story or multimedia.
- Questions — It makes sense to respond as quickly as possible since everyone expects instant contact. It’d be polite to tell them if you were finding someone to answer their question.
- Criticism — I didn’t think you should always address it, even to say if you are passing it on but it makes sense. So does not getting into fights and going offline if it goes to far.
- Corrections — I was surprised at how you should correct a factual error in a tweet. Instead of deleting the tweet, you should correct it in a follow-up tweet.
- Start the conversation — Asking questions to your followers sounds a little silly if you feel like you have none but adding a hashtag can help people find it.
- Responses — I didn’t think of re-tweeting a good response with a link with what it’s about it.
Steve Buttry
He said he’d use some examples from his blog post from the previous time he talked to Klein’s class. He said he’d also use some new examples.
He started with examples using maps as a gateway for storytelling. He used StarTribune.com’s 13 Seconds in August which was about the 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River. Then he showed Des Moines Register’s Parkersburg tornado map. Both of these stories used maps in order to present the stories, videos and pictures. Lastly, he showed us The Times-Picayune’s Last Chance, which was about Louisiana’s disappearing coastline.
Buttry showed us how satellite photographs were used in The New York Times’ Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami to show all of the destruction.
He also showed us President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address by David Bergman which Gigapan images of the Inaugural address. People can zoom in and see themselves in the picture. The Glastotag idea at The Glastonbury Festival 2010.
He mentioned Storify and using it in a hard news story. Like when TBD’s Dave Jamieson’s “Snow wreaks havoc on D.C., Virginia, Maryland roads” story.
Twitter has helped Buttry “become a better writer” and even helped his ego due to all of the user interaction.
With all the technologies out there, most of us are feeling a little nervous when trying to implement them. This was obvious by most of the questions that were asked. Buttry said it’s good to feel that way and a sign that you should jump on it.
He says to always be curious despite any barriers. Whether they’d be language or fear,
“Ask a question, however difficult it may be,” said Buttry.
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The Cloud
Some examples:
- Backpack
- Zoho
- MS Office Suite (Outlook, etc)
- Dropbox
- Basecamp
Databases are helpful in for news organizations because they allow their readers to have easy access to certain material. Charticles are also another way to please data-hungry readers. Readers like to see the trends and the information can allow journalists to see trends they might have missed.
Maps and spreadsheets are also helpful for many of the same reasons.
MS Office
Camera
Video storytelling was the concept of this chapter. Now anyone can use the digital equipment around them to create video storytelling, it just takes a lot of practice. Thanks to YouTube, the quality of the video doesn’t have to be very high. What’s important is authenticity.
The most entertaining videos get re-posted over and over. The New York Times’ David Pogue creates videos to follow this entertaining format. However, they are also very high quality.
Just as entertaining is Walt Mossberg’s videos for “The Wall Street Journal”.
Tips for video storytelling:
- Be comfortable with the equipment before you start.
- Pick the right approach for the project — breaking news/highlight clips or documentary-style.
- Organize your story in a storyboard, if possible.
- Take a variety of shots but not at the same time.
- Prepare before you interview (pick the right environment, pre-write questions, etc.).
- Don’t buy more camera than you need.
- Give your best material and keep it short.
- Avoid zooming in and out to get shots, instead hold the shot for 15 seconds then stop recording. Record after you have adjusted to the next shot.
- Wireless mics can help when capturing interviews, built-in mics are good for environmental sound.
- The editing process can be helpful because you see what you need to improve on and if you need to reorganize.
- Many computer already come with preloaded video editing software but you can always buy more,
- Certain sites, like YouTube, will compress your video and then post it.
- FTP sites allow you to email larger files.
- Viral distribution is a goal, sites like tubemogul help to spread your videos.
Video Editing
Teaching Online Journalism
Finding the story is the reminder this post intends for its readers.
“I think that in the process of teaching them reporting, we may kill their instinct for finding and telling real stories,” McAdams said on her post.
I agree with her statement. I know some journalism students are just too worried about getting all the facts right. That’s all they end up focusing on.
We’re taught to get the story, but not necessarily how to evaluate if it is actually a story. Many times once we’re given an assignment we say we don’t have any ideas for stories. I suppose since today the world is so fast-paced, we don’t take time to think about what’s really there.
News
Dan Rather
Rather commented on his 50-plus-years in journalism, a career that includes coverage on pivotal American news events such as the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, the Civil Rights Movement and September 11, 2001.
Tips to young journalists from Rather:
- “Curiosity, relentless determination and the ability to write well and quickly [makes a good reporter].”
- “Nothing matters at the moment but the story you’ll have time for your emotions later on.”
- “American journalism needs, in many ways, a spine transplant. We’ve lost some of the grit in our gut, we’ve lost some of our courage.”
- “[American Journalism should be] part of a system of checks and balances on power, not to be just a conduit for what power says is happening.”
- Social media can be good and bad. It can help against dictatorships but it can also be used by those governments.
- Keep facts and fiction separated, especially with the vast amount of information that comes out from social media.
- There isn’t a business model for online journalism but the old model isn’t working.
Tucker Carlson, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, also joined the conference. “The best journalism is tough and it pays no regard to authority and it does not suck up to power,” Carlson said.
Tucker Carlson
Carlson also pointed out something that all journalists should keep in mind.
“Journalism is not complicated,” said Carlson. “It’s a process of finding out what happened and repeating it to your viewers, listeners or readers. It’s a trait, not a profession.”
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Comments
Responding to comments can help journalists seem transparent but many journalists are reluctant to do so because some comments are personal attacks.
Angry Comments
One journalist — Doug Feaver, former editor at washingtonpost.com, has created a blog, dot.comments, on the Washington Post’s website that responds to reader comments. Some of the site has even been a resource for articles.
Participating in the conversation helps journalists to stay technologically up-to-date and allows them to have access to more sources. But journalism standards and values need should be upheld online and in social media. Many journalists are creating blogs or Facebook pages to respond to reader comments.
There are even some online journalism social networks:
Many online news sites have rules regarding social media. These often include:
- Setting guidelines for participants
- Being careful who you expand your network to
- Monitoring offensive posts
- Knowing legal responsibilities
- Correcting errors
Social Networking Sites