Tag: University of Miami

CommTogether right now, over…journalism

I’m a student in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, but you would think that the various journalism programs (print, broadcast and visual) speak different languages sometimes from the lack of collaboration that is present.

Yes, there have been several notable successes — and I’ve been lucky to be in three classes this year that focus on convergence (In-depth reporting for convergent media, online journalism and interactive storytelling) — but the level of cooperation is still not where it should be.

I kept all this is mind while devising a new final project for my CNJ 442 online journalism class, after the first plan regarding the new TheMiamiHurricane.com didn’t work out a planned.

The result is a social networking site the class is developing using Ning:

CommTogether

The general idea came to me one night as I was chatting online with Hurricane Visuals Editor Will Wooten (check out his recent site redesign). Regarding the group name, which I love, credit goes to Kiersten Schmidt.

Here are details from the CNJ 442 proposal that I drafted and the class helped refine:

Goals

  • Bring together in one forum the three journalism programs at the University of Miami School of Communication: print, broadcast and visual
  • Recruit students, faculty, staff, alumni and prospective students
  • Begin a conversation about the future of school’s journalism programs
  • Conceptualize collaborative projects for classes, students, media outlets, etc.
  • Take ideas and turn them into reality

Elements

  • Profile pages: students, faculty, administrators
  • Groups: programs, classes, projects, media
  • Feeds: blogs, news, etc.
  • Photos and videos
  • Blogs: internal
  • Comments

Action plan

  • Discuss and decide on name for group (complete)
  • Create network (complete)
  • Create profile pages (complete)
  • Create groups within network: programs, classes, media, organizations, etc.
  • Invite/recruit students, professors, administrators, staff, alumni and prospective students (in progress)
  • Table in the SoC courtyard
  • Solicit ideas from everyone regarding the future of curriculum, organizations
  • Conceptualize possible collaboration projects, way to converge
  • Maintain the discussion
  • Continue to recruit new group members

UPDATE: I forgot one very important reason for this site:

Students should have a voice in the development of curriculum.

Weigh in: Any suggestions/ideas for this site?

In my mind I’m going to Carolina

And so the music-themed posts continue tonight…

I’ll be traveling to Columbia, S.C. for the SPJ region three conference in a few hours. This will be my third regional conference in as many years, at which I represent the University of Miami campus chapter and The Miami Hurricane.

Region three includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Are you going? Let me know in a comment or via e-mail, greglinch[at]gmail.com.

Also, I’ll be at Duke next week for the Next Newsroom conference. Drop me a line if you’ll be there.

I love being a student and being able to travel to these conferences for free!

Stay tuned: I’ll have my laptop there to liveblog and post general thoughts during both conferences. I will also have my video and still cameras.

Also, be sure to look for my Twitter updates during the conference — and in general.

Weigh in: Would a tripod count against me as one of my two carry-on items? D’oh!

New media reporting panel

New media reporting panel

Watch the live Web cast: Live Web cast

Panelists:
Suzanne Levinson — Miami Herald, director of site operations
Phil Lewis — Naples Daily News, editor & vice president of editorial
Ricardo Lopez — Miami Herald, visual journalist
Brent McDonald — New York Times, visual journalist
Will Payne — Current TV, College Outreach

Phil Lewis has been at the Daily News for 30 years. The dynamic started to greatly change when they hired Rob Curley (now at Washington Post).

“We blew up our newsroom and we took a third our newsroom and said, ‘You’re the print side,'” Lewis said. “We took two-thirds and said you’re our new media newsroom and everything you do goes to the Web first.”

Suzanne Levinson became involved with The Herald’s Web site in 1996.

“They felt so lucky to have an experienced journalist that knew HTML [to some extent].”

But their path has been different than the Daily News.

“We didn’t have a Rob Curley; we needed a Rob Curley,” she said, explaining that it was basically her and a few others on the online side advocating.

She said the tipping point for The Herald was when they realized ad revenue and circulation would continue to decline.

“Be willing to learn new things and be aware of the changing landscape,” she said as advice to students.

The new mindset of The Herald: “We all have open minds. It’s a change in the way they look at things, but they are all just journalists.”

Ricardo Lopez began with photography but evolved as a visual journalist. He learned new tools and began working with video and Web.

Will Payne is a part the newest outlet represented on the panel, Current TV. He discussed how their dynamic is different from traditional media.

Brent McDonald, of the New York Times, has a background in documentary film and was part of the Times’ multimedia pilot program in November 2005.

Discussing video journalism:
“It’s still a frontier and we’re still playing with how stories can be told. It’s still a collaborative process.”

New media workshop

New media reporting workshop

Ricardo Lopez, Miami Herald

Will Payne, Current TV

Brent McDonald, New York Times

We’re going to break into groups now. I’ll be back with an update later.

UPDATE, 12:11 P.M.: I was in Brent McDonald’s group. He showed us his camera (a $6,000 Panasonic HD) and related gear. He also talked about techniques and what to look out in terms of lighting, sound and settings.