Tag: online journalism

Pulitzer Prize-winning panel for Comm Week

Planning is in full swing for Communication Week 2008, which will take place Feb. 16-23. One of the events is a panel of Pulitzer Prize winners that almost boggles the mind.

The following people are planned to participate (from Bob Radziewicz, who has been on four Pulitzer-winning teams himself):

Madeleine Blais: won for feature writing at The Miami Herald in 1980;

Mirta Ojito: won as part of The New York Times‘ race in America series in 2000;

Michael Sallah: investigations editor at The Herald who won for investigative reporting at the Toledo Blade in 2004 and who directed Debbie Cenziper on last year’s local news winner on the “House of Lies” series;

Joe Oglesby: editorial page editor from The Herald who wrote most of the editorials about the detention of Haitian boat people that won in 1982;

Jim Morin: Herald cartoonist who won in 1996 for editorial cartoons.

The organizers are also trying to bring a photography winner and hope to have political and governmental reporter Michael Putney, from Miami’s ABC affiliate WPLG, act as emcee. (see update below on emcee)

Job and internship panel
I have organized a panel on jobs and internships, which will take place Feb. 19 at 12:30 p.m. in Studio A.

The event will feature Rick Hirsch (managing editor for multimedia at The Miami Herald), Michelle Morgante (assistant Forida bureau chief at the AP) and Kathy Pellegrino (recruitment editor at the Sun-Sentinel).

Each participant, who does internship recruiting for his/her respective organization, will meet one-on-one with students after the discussion.

UPDATE, Feb. 8: The emcee for the Pulitzer panel will be Miami Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal.

UPDATE, Feb. 12: AP photographer Al Diaz has been confirmed as the sixth panel member.

An open story meeting? Let’s do it!

Yoni Greenbaum recently wrote about how TMZ.com conducts their story meetings: OPEN.

I don’t think this is radical at all, I think this is logical. Why haven’t we been doing this all along?

His Your newsroom could learn something from TMZ… No, really post explains,

“For those of you who watch the very popular television version of the “entertainment news, celebrity gossip and Hollywood rumors” website TMZ.com, you will know that their meetings are done in the open with seemingly broad participation. Editor and founder Harvey Levin stands at the front of the room and users a clear board to note stories that the show will be using. There is a free exchange as the individual staffers (or are they editors?) offer their story ideas.”

Greenbaum says near the end,

“Build the budget from those in attendance, editors can speak for staffers not in attendance, staffers can offer their own ideas based on what they’re working on or what they know is going on. Encourage that free exchange. I think you’ll find that the meeting will boost morale, encourage collaboration and even increase productivity.”

He also includes the following video about The New York Times‘ new integrated newsroom.

I completely agree with the idea. As I commented on Greenbaum’s post, it hits at the “two heads are better than one” cliche. As news editor last year I encouraged reporters to contribute story ideas in our meetings and come by the office on deadline days (Sundays and Wednesdays). As editor in chief this year I still encourage staffers to visit.

I would not say our twice-weekly staff meetings have been closed in past (any staff member is allowed to sit in or be in the office and some designers who are around sometimes do), but we have never before sent out a mass e-mail inviting staffers. But now, I will invite all of The Miami Hurricane‘s staffers to the next meeting and see how it works.

Our small newsroom may not be able to hold everyone, but we’ll see what happens.

Weigh in: Will you try this for your next story meeting?

Even more links for student journalists

One of the new adds to my Google Reader is Pat Thornton’s The Journalism Iconoclast blog. Here are some great posts.

My advice for j-students who want to make a difference (and get a job)

Build a digital résumé and make yourself stand out

Summer reading list

Give your bloggers the tools to succeed

From me (shameless, I know):
Top Ten List of Tips for Journalism Students – The Linchpen

Random business-related link
MediaShift . Digging Deeper::In Digital Age, Journalism Students Need Business, Entrepreneurial Skills | PBS

Wednesday’s career advice from Poynter…and an NPR tidbit

Originally written: Jan. 30 at 10:23 P.M.

As I’ve said before, Poynter Online is a great resource for journalists. I read Joe Grimm’s “Ask the Recruiter” column every weekday and Colleen Eddy‘s “Colleen on Careers” every week.

I found both of today’s editions particularly interesting and relevant to student journalists:

Ask the Recruiter – Starting a Professional Web Site?

Colleen on Careers – Asking For the Moon in Online Job Ads

Also from Poynter, in last night’s the E-Media Tidbits, is a great j-school-related article:

E-Media Tidbits – J-School: The Right Tools Teach the Right Mindset

Weigh in: Do you have a personal or professional Web site?

Update, 11:45 A.M.: I was listening to NPR‘s “Talk of the Nation” podcast when I wrote this first part of this post. A few minutes later there was an interesting conversation about the jobs and the workplace.

Check out the podcast for Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 46:48.

Below is an excellent quote from U.S. News and World Report‘s contributing editor for careers, Marty Nemko. Nemko said the following (at 1:05:58 in the podcast) in response to a caller who said he always asks, “Why should I work for you?” at the end of a job interview:

“A job interview should not be an interrogation, it should be a kind of first date where both of your are trying to check out whether you are right for each other and whether you should go steady. And I think that is very empowering of the worker, and an appropriate empowerment of the worker. Those kinds of questions suffuse through the interview both confidence as well as you’re going to get a better sense of whether you are going to fit.”

Epilogue, Jan. 31 at 2:06 A.M.: Why did it take so long to post this? Well, I couldn’t find out Nemko’s name before I had to go into Wednesday deadline mode. Now that we’ve finished, I just replayed part of the podcast to find out his full name and check it online.

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?