Tag: Journalism

The discussion gets more interesting: Blogging about blogging, part deux

No, this is not a repeat post; this is “The Empire Strikes Back” version (sort of) to my last post, Blogging about blogging.

In that previous entry I linked to a March 12 post — and a great follow-up — by Howard Owens of GateHouse Media. With the first post, Owens responded to Dallas Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban‘s explanation (March 10) of why he banned bloggers in the Mavs locker room.

Here are some of Cuban’s comments from a March 13 post that came a day after Owens’ remarks, most likely aimed at the general response to his March 10 announcement:

  • “…newspapers having ‘bloggers’ is easily one of the many bad decisions that newspapers have made over the past 10 years.”
  • “Never, ever, ever consider something that any literate human being with Internet access can create in under 5 minutes to be a product or service that can in any way differentiate your business.” [My reaction: really?]
  • “A blog is a blog is a blog is a blog.”
  • “if I were marketing for them [The New York Times], I would be doing everything I could to send the message that ‘The NY Times does not have blogs, we have Real Time Reports from the most qualified reporters in the world.’ “

I comprehend his point regarding the Real Time Reports title, but this idea still seems contradictory to his “a blog is a blog is a blog” statement.

The Times’ Saul Hansell responded earlier this evening with What I’ve Learned as a Blogger for The New York Times. Here are some of his points:

  • “I’d say that blog is the name of a format for information and opinion that is roughly analogous to ‘column’ or ‘newsletter.’ The format itself doesn’t tell you whether the content is pedestrian or inflammatory, impressionistic or deeply researched.”
  • “…blogs are part of a conversation”
  • “…blogs can be a great extension to articles reported initially for the newspaper”
  • “One of the traditions of this place is an aversion to euphemisms. So call it whatever you want, but if it links like a blog, and is open like a blog, and interacts like a blog, then it is a blog.”

These are all right on the mark, as is one of Owens’ concluding remarks, which came before Cuba’s more recent post: “So Cuban sells bloggers short, sadly.”

Weigh in: What do you think of all these opinions? With whom do you agree?

Tips on doing Web video from Ricardo Lopez

Listen below to excerpts of advice Miami Herald visual journalist Ricardo Lopez (left) gave my online journalism class on Feb. 28.

I captured the audio with my Olympus DS-30 using a lav. The photo is from the new media panel during Comm Week. Will Payne, from Current TV, is on the right.

More good advice from Mindy McAdams

A great post from Mindy McAdams:

What every journalism student needs to know (now)

It’s a good summary of the fundamentals and skills student journalists/journalism students should know. The most important thing, as Mindy notes, is storytelling — something that my online journalism professor, Chris Delboni, also emphasizes.

Ricardo Lopez discusses video with online journalism class

Ricard Lopez, a Miami Herald visual journalist, gave a presentation to my online journalism class about video Thursday evening. He was joined by Candace Barbot, a photojournalist convert to video.

Ricardo last spoke at UM during Communication Week, leading one of the new media workshops and participating in the new media panel. Check out advice he and other panelists gave students here.

See examples of his work and be sure to check out Chicken Busters, which is everyone’s favorite.


Political World: Hope vs. Reality in Campaign 08 (WeMedia)

From the WeMedia site:

Political World | Hype vs. Reality in Campaign 08
It’s supposed to be the YouTube-MySpace-power-to-the-people campaign. So why are online political junkies so frustrated with what they’ve seen so far?

Session Chair: Brian Reich, author, Media Rules!

LIVEBLOG

12:04 a.m.

Schatz: You have a lot more out there in terms of media and it’s harder for candidates to switch off. More people are asking questions and sometimes the candidates slip up and actually answer the question.

Washburn: The Register saw that people were using traditional means to learn about the campaigns, such as watching a debate on TV or going to an event to meet candidates face-to-face.

Wojtkowiak (12:11 a.m.): Mentioned Will.i.am video on YouTube and the influence of such social media.

Della Volpe (12:18 p.m.): “I think the real innovation is connecting the online with the offline.”

Schatz (12:24 p.m.): I think we see a lot more innovation this time because of the number of candidates. Examples include Dodd, though it didn’t translate to votes. Also Ron Paul, whose supporters are very Web savvy and have helped him raise millions of dollars.

She noted how campaigns are limited in their outlook because they only last the life of the campaign cycle.

Geanuracos: Thinks we’ll more innovation going forward.

Reich (12:28 a.m.):

Wojtkowiak: It’s important to keep the conversation going and keep the audience involved by letting them as questions.

Washburn: She’s interesting to see what we’ve learned from this cycle. Also, how to create stories around smaller races–keep things local.

Geanuracos: Stop thinking about people as someone to talk to in the moment and then forget about them. Your campaign never stops.

Della Volpe: What are you going to do to continue the involvement?

Miller: More openness, transparency will build more trust and allay concerns of trust and special interest role. Public sees information as an antidote to corruption.

Schatz: Techniques to build communities will happen a lot more on the local level.

Silberman: Move from treating voters like fans to let them have value roles in campaigns, i.e. have jobs not just donors.

Reich: We should do that in policy as well.