Tag: Blog

Journalists aren’t just reporters

This is in response to Ducks go quack, quack, cows go moo — SOJo: Student of Online Journalism by Megan Taylor

I agree with Megan, Pat and Chris.

If someone says: “An online journalist or designer (also called a visual journalist) is somehow less of a journalist because…” that is ignorant and demonstrates a lack of understanding about what journalism is. It’s amazing that people–journalists in particular–are still stuck in a very narrow mindset.

Journalism is basically storytelling, and there are many ways to tell a story: in a newspaper, in a magazine, on a Web site, in a book, through video (TV and Web), through audio (radio and Web), etc. and through forms that have not even been invented yet.

It’s difficult to understand a story (written, aural or visual) if it’s not organized well, the same way it’s hard to read a page if it’s not designed well, watch a video if it’s poorly edited or listen to a podcast if the segments aren’t in order.

Different types of journalists tell stories in different kinds of ways. It’s that simple.

Weigh in: What do you think?

Links to other class blogs

Here is a list of links to the other student blogs from my CNJ 442 Online Journalism class:

dontcountyourchickensbeforetheyhatch.blogspot.com
establishthis.blogspot.com


Weigh in: Comment on the blogs to get conversations started.

Update, Jan. 31 at 10:08 P.M.: Per a suggestion by Anna Haynes in a comment, here is a Google Reader public page for the class.

How to…use FeedBurner

I have been asked to do a tutorial post for my online journalism classmates on how to use FeedBurner, so here it goes!

Step 1 – Register
Go to FeedBurner.com and click “Register” in the upper righthand corner to create an account:


Step 2 – Add
Enter your blog address or an existing feed. With Blogger (the platform we’re using for class), find your feed by clicking this link at the bottom your blog posts that says: “Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).”


Step 3 – Burn
Enter a title for your feed and complete the feed address, such as with your name or blog title:


Step 4 – Integrate
Integrate your new feed with your blog. For those in class, look at the Blogger section and select “Redirect your Blogger feed to your FeedBurner feed.”


Step 5 – Publicize
To publish a chicklet, click the “Publicize” tab in your FeedBurner account. Select the one you would like to add. For class, I would recommend including the default RSS feed icon and then adding Google and Yahoo later.


Once you select the chicklet you want, scroll to the bottom where it says “Use as a widget in” and click the drop-down menu to select the type of blog you use. For class, select Blogger and confirm it as a new page element. Another option is to copy the provided code into your blog.

Other information

  • “Analyze” is the most useful tab in your FeedBurner account. Explore the contents to see essentially any bit of information you could possibly imagine regarding your feed, such as how many subscribers you have and how many hits your feed has.
  • FeedBurner Help Center’s explanation. (added Jan. 31, 11:39 a.m.)

Questions: Please feel free to ask questions by commenting.

Weigh in: What did you think of this tutorial? It’s my first, so be brutal.

Dave Barry for president! (Yes, of the United States)

Dave is back and running again! He had been on the sidelines for a little while, covering the New Hampshire primaries and doing a presidential Q&A online, but now he’s in the thick of it for real.

Check out the campaign video and be sure stop over at Dave’s blog.

Dave Barry ’08
“It’s Time We Demanded Less”

UPDATE: Another video related to Dave’s run:

Howard Owens on the roles of modern journalism

Howard Owens always offers good insight. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call him the Journalism Listmaster (2008 objectives for today’s non-wired journalist).

Here is his latest list, on the Six roles, or job duties, of modern journalism:

  • The Ethical Role
  • The Guide/Filter Role
  • The Understanding and Context Role
  • The Conversation Leader Role
  • The Aggregator Role
  • The Straight News Role

I particularly like the following, which hits on the potential value of having a greater number of reporters and editors blogging:

“I know many really, really smart reporters and editors. These people should have blogs, and they should serve readers better by taking the news of the day and putting it in context, combing articles for the tidbits that need to be weaved together to make a bigger whole, and explaining what it all means.”