Google map tip

Since a few people in class seemed to have trouble altering the coding on their Google maps so they displayed with the correct amount of zoom, I thought it would be helpful to explain what I did. I had to adjust mine several times before I figured it out, and it was pretty much the only time I ever felt like a computer genius, so here goes:

After you create your map, click on the 'link' button in the upper right corner:

Then, in the box that pops up, click 'customize and preview embedded map.'

A screen will appear where you can change the size and orientation of your map, and you'll notice that the coding in the box corrects itself whenever you make a change. This lets you zoom out on your map to show all your pinpoints (if you have a large area), or zoom in to show individual streets (if you have a small area).

I think Google maps can be a useful tool when writing for the Web. Since so many people already use it, readers won't feel uncomfortable with the technology. The interactive element also makes it especially good for Web writing, because it allows the reader to use the tool, rather than just look at it. Newspapers and magazines can have some well-constructed infographics, but many of these would not stand up to the Web.

For example, this infographic from the Christian Science Monitor story about the Libyan plane crash has a map and an illustration of the plane, all in one small space. The reader gets a lot of information, and the publication doesn't have to worry about taking up precious real estate in the ever-shrinking news hole. However, if they were to put this on the Web, there would need to be some sort of interactive element to draw in the reader.

My only problem with Google maps is that it can sometimes seem a little boring and pedestrian. Has anyone ever used any other programs to create maps or infographics for the Web?

Using Flash on Websites

When I think about fancy graphics being used on websites, I always assume they are using Abobe Flash. Anytime your computer doesn't have the latest Flash update, suddenly every page on the Web becomes inaccessible because you have to upgrade your Flash player. That's why I was really surprised when I found this article on The Online Journalism Review about whether or not web designers should continue using Flash on their websites. I assumed Flash was the standard.

It was interesting to learn from this article that the reason that Flash is beginning to get phased out is because mobile devices don't support Flash. Apparently the IPhone has never been able to run Flash because Adobe and Apple are in a disagreement and if you try to download Flash on a Droid, you just get a message that says in the first half of 2010, Flash will become available for the Droid. I hadn't realized that this was such an issue, but then when trying to browse the web from my phone I discovered how many websites I couldn't use because I didn't have Flash. With the huge expansion of people accessing the Web from their phones, this has to be a concern for web designers that millions of people can't use their sites and are going to go elsewhere for their news.

The author of the OJR article says that he is beginning to shift away from Flash to alternative design methods because he personally doesn't want to lose such a large percent of his readers. I think this is a really interesting issue that is going to move into the spotlight as more people begin to browse the Web on mobile devices and become more annoyed at the handicap they have because they can't look at sites that use Flash. On the other end, Adobe should be getting worried because companies are going to start moving away from Flash if it means allowing the mobile audience to view their sites.

Your Multimedia Stories

I'm linking below to your multimedia stories, which will live on our college server for five or six years -- so that assessment teams can review your work.

Our two graduate students, Tina Irgang and Linda Blachly, were required to do a bit more work on these stories than the undergrads.

Most of you also linked to the personal resume/clip packages you created early in the semester on wordpress.com. You linked to these pages in the copyright line of your multimedia story. So if you'd like to peruse each others' work, you should have links to do so for those personal pages, too.

Thanks for all your hard work this semester. You survived units on blogging, tweeting, Web page building and layout, basic photo and video shooting and editing, slide show and google map creation, headline writing and search engine optimization, copyright and libel. You'll be stronger journalists for it. Hopefully, this exposure will make you fearless in picking up and learning other new tools as they come along. And maybe you'll even be creating some of them!

All the best in your internships and jobs this summer! Please keep in touch!

Here are the story links:

Grad Students:

Linda Blachly's Bittersweet Reunion

Tina Irgang's 14th Street Project

Undergrads:

Naz Beyranvand's iTouch in the Classroom

Dana Cetrone's Great Oaks

Ben Slivnik's Chatroulette

Matt Wilson's Patuxent River cleanup

Sheila Kelly's Fresh Produce

Gabby LaVerghetta's Asian Activism

Tricia Smith's Pets and the Economy

Hibar Akhtar's Muslim Youth Competition

Whitney Taylor's UMD Water Polo

Matt Ford's German Beergarten

Caitlin O'Brien's Springtime Activities at UMD

Rachel Pryzgoda's UMD Police

The Frugal Traveler

I am obsessed with traveling. Absolutely obsessed (granted I can't do it as much as I would like.)But if any of you are as crazy about traveling as I am, you should check out this section of the New York Times travel area called "The Frugal Traveler." It is one of the best columns I have read, and everything he talks about is for those on a budget. Not only does he have Q&A's, but he has reviews, how-to's, and of course, multimedia. This morning when I was looking at it, he had a video up called "San Francisco Welcomes Frugal Baby." Beyond being the cutest thing in the world, it is a really good video with some great examples of shots where the frame is still as other objects move in and out. He has a shot of a street in San Francisco, with the cars bustling through, and on the other end of the spectrum, a fantastic shot of Venice with a gondola slowly floating through the frame. Although he has some shaky walking shots, it's offset by the wonderful baby shots as she toddles through the frames and up stairs and around corners. It's a really good example of some of the techniques we learned in class, as well as a great little piece to make you smile, because after all, who doesn't love babies? Hopefully you will check out the Frugal Traveler and like it as much as I do!

LinkedIn success?

LinkedIn sounds great in theory, but I can't help but wonder, how much does it really help in the job search? I decided to do a little research (Note for Hiba: Through Google, not Bing!).

When I typed in "LinkedIn success stories," I found they actually existed. Nineteen whole search pages worth. Judging by the personal accounts that came up, LinkedIn seemed to be a useful tool for those already in the work force rather than those looking for entry-level positions. This obviously makes sense because they know more people. The more people you know, the better your chance for networking. I.e. The better your chance of finding a job.

One example of a success story was David T. Stevens, who after losing his job at a radio station, immediately changed his LinkedIn status to "I'm up for grabs, who wants me?" Within a week he had a new job as a program and event's manager.

However, in all of these accounts, the idea of "branding yourself" was the most important aspect. It could never hurt to do this too early, even if your credentials and network circle aren't as stellar as you'd like them to be.

Anyway, see the following blog for 10 Ways Journalists Can Use LinkedIn:

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/04/24/ten-ways-journalists-can-use-linkedin/

Also, if you are graduating and looking for entry-level positions see this link: http://www.onedayonejob.com/

Happy job hunting!

Bing!

Hi all. I don't know if you're anything like me- if you are, you're just one of those people who learns one thing, gets really good at it, and passes on all the alternatives to stay in your comfort zone.
If I don't make any sense, I'm talking specifically about search engines. I love Google- I learned how to use it eons ago, I probably use it a million times every day, and it works for me. So when all the buzz came around about Bing, I didn't think twice.
I was in a lab the other day and needed to search for something, so I immediately went to the little search bar in the upper right hand corner of the web page I was on. I'm so used to the search bar being for Google that I was really surprised when I hit enter and Bing delivered my results. It looked interesting, so I looked into it a bit. Bing, Microsoft's 'decision engine,'(they're very hard core about this distinction apparantly) is, after all, supposed to be the 'worthy competitor' to Google..

So I made a list of Bing's features that kind of stood out to me to give any of you diehard Google users a look..

Bing Features:
* Explorer Pane: This is a pane on the left-hand side where you can not only see your results organized into categories and related searches.
* Related Searches: A section that shows more organized and relevant results. It's supposed to be a better showcase than Google's.
* You can preview the content of the sites which show up as results from your search. This is supposed to help users weed out sites that don't pertain to what they're looking for.
* Preview a video without clicking on it simply by holding your mouse over it.
* Track and store your previous searches in your search history.


* Video Search: You can filter your search by length of video, resolution, etc..
* Image Search: Scrolling through images instead of flipping through lots of pages.
* Shopping Search: Sort results by price, brand, category, and even see reviews.
* Instant Answers:
o Math calculations
o Check flight status by typing in flight number (pretty cool!)
o Direct stock info

My opinion? Bing looks great, but way too super organized and hi-tech for me. I don't go lots of flights, and I don't have a lot of issues not finding what I'm looking for in my non-Bing searches now. Maybe in a few years I'll have to switch to Bing, but for now, I'm happy with Google.

News Media Topic: iGoogle = Personalized Homepage

I also found that iGoogle is a personalized homepage sponsored by Google. It allows you to check your email, weather, schedule, news, and any other information you want to access. For instance, today I inputed my birthday and was able to read my horoscope based on my day and year of birth. Also, I can input my daily schedule, so I can see it every day and make sure I don’t miss any appointments. But to access this personalized form of iGoogle, you must have a gmail account and create your own homepage with a colored theme, location, and interests. I find this iGoogle homepage very appealing to the daily Internet user because it has some many components that can be personalized to the user.

News Media Topic: Sport Team Creates Web Browser

I have recently come across a very interesting news media topic regarding new web browsers. For sports fans, this information might be appealing to you. The Liverpool Football Club has created a themed web browser for its for devoted sport fans. Its purpose to not only attract its followers, but to advertise its enterprise. To access this web browser, you have go to LiverpoolFC.TV under the subhead:Fans, you can click on LFC Browser to download it. This Liverpool sports team browser provides fans with updates, videos, news, tickets, and social networking sites. This web browser might be the first step for more sports teams to adverstise and appeal to their fans. But at the same time, it might add a degree of obsession for sports fans.

The survival of journalism

I read an excellent article today, As Journalism evolves, mission is strong, by Martin Kaiser, editor of the Journal Sentinel and president of the American Society of News Editors.

He made several great points about the future of journalism and how technology is changing our industry, but his charge to us as journalists, no matter how our profession is changing and evolving, is to "never lose sight of the values that got us here."

"The best journalists will always be, first and foremost, storytellers -- telling stories that uncover new information and shine a light where there was once darkness. All the technology in the world won't change that."

He ended with the following statement:

"What matters is the survival of journalism ... reported journalism ... evidence-based journalism ... journalism that tells the truth, with an ethnical foundation and connectedness to the communities it serves."

And that, my friends, is what will ultimately set us apart from all the "chatter" on the Internet.

Google Reader - Play

I am Google obsessed and am subscribed to so many services that they have. A new one that I am getting into is Google Reader - Play. If you have ever used the website Stumble Upon then you are already familiar with the format. Reader Play browses the Internet for you. It directs you to random websites. It allows you to "star" or share different websites. If you "star" enough websites, it catches on and recognizes what kind of material you are interested in seeing on the Internet.

It uses the same technology that Google Reader does in generating the websites it directs you to. Also, if you already have a Google Reader account, it lets you share the websites you find interesting with other people. It also connects to your Google Buzz account.

I am a little disappointed that it seems to be a rip-off of Stumble Upon, but I am sure that Google will make theirs more impressive somehow. Especially since Google is so prevalent on the Internet, I am sure that it will have access to more websites than other similar programs. Reader Play gives all sorts of information from funny pictures, to interesting editorials and online magazine articles.

Banners 001

If you missed our session on basic banner creation, I'm attaching notes here as a .pdf:

USA Today

Hi everyone,

I'm still looking for a ride to USA Today next Wednesday. Does anyone have a seat left in their car? If so, please comment on here or shoot me an e-mail at tina.irgang@gmail.com. Thanks!

Tina

Tweeting on Twitter

Today we'll be using Twitter to send out news.

First log in, and sign in.

When you get to the "What are you doing" screen, you'll type updates in 140 characters or less (yes, this is like lead or headline writing), leaving room for others to forward this discussion stream: #UMDJschool. The #slug goes at the end of your note. Leave a space before you type it.

Please remember that the world can see your remarks. So be accurate and fair.

To follow other "tweets" from this discussion, open up another browser window and go to: http://search.twitter.com/

Type in #UMDJschool, and all the comments for this thread will display.

Hit "refresh" periodically to see new comments.

This technology is useful journalistically to find story ideas and sources, to send out links on your published stories (and thus promote your stories) and to send out quick updates from the field on an unfolding story.

Screen shots to illustrate your final blog analysis

Screen shots, or screen grabs, can be done in less than a minute, using the Print Scrn button on the top right side of a PC key board and Photoshop. Simply pull up the page you want to work with, hit Print Scrn, open up Photoshop, hit File/New/OK, then Edit/paste, to pull in your image. Edit the image in Photoshop as you would other images, saving it as a .gif, which would then be uploadable to a blog or Web site. About.com has a video tutorial on this, if you'd prefer to watch it done before trying it. Here's the link: http://video.about.com/graphicssoft/WinXPScreenshot-mov.--8z.htm.

Going to USATODAY on April 28

On April 28, we'll be heading to USAToday.com for a newsroom tour and talk, beginning at 1:45 p.m. We'll talk with staffers about storytelling, story presentation and reader interaction. You will be given assigned questions to answer about the visit; your typed responses will count as an in-class grade, and will be due at the start of our last class. If you'd like, we could pre-arrange for carpools. We'll end the session at 3:15 p.m., to allow driving time before your next class. Our host will be Josh Hatch, interactives director of USAToday.

Please review the site carefully before the trip!

The office is in Northern Virginia, a stone's throw from Tyson's Corner II, and about 25 miles from here. Here's the address:
7950 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22108-0605

Here are directions from google maps, from Route 1 in College Park:

* Merge onto CAPITAL BELTWAY/ I-495 W toward NORTHERN VIRGINIA/ BETHESDA.
Go about 20 miles.
* Merge onto CHAIN BRIDGE RD/ VA-123 S via exit number 46A toward TYSONS CORNER/ VIENNA. Go about .50 mile.

* Turn RIGHT onto TYSONS BLVD. Go .3 mile.


* Turn right at Westbranch Dr. Go .5 mile.

Take 2nd right onto JONES BRANCH DR. Go 364 feet.


Tips for parking: Just before the main building, you’ll see flag poles and a guard shack on your right. Pull in to show your ID to the guard, and park where he directs you.

Then come in to the lobby to the security desk. I have supplied the guards with all of your names, so they’ll be expecting you. I'll be there, too.

Two Not So Adept Headlines and A Good Headline

While searching for bad headlines, I came upon two that struck me as being poorly worded. The first “The Most Awsomest Thing Ever,” written in Time, doesn’t seem to do justice to the credbility and statue of a respected organization such as Time Magazine Online. Proper use of words for headlines is key towards attracting a readers interest, and this headline glorifies the use of slang instead of using proper language to inform its readers. Even though I believe the intent of the author was to be “silly,” and to match the headline with the subject matter of the article, I still believe that the headline should be worded properly and avoid the use of slang terminology.
The other headline that I found that made me read it twice was, “Ohio executes murderer of teen,” by CNN. I think the word choice and placement of this headline did not flow very well. I think the “of” in the headline makes the reader pause and reread the entire headline. If I would have rewritten this headline it would be, “Ohio executes teen murderer” because it flows better and has the same meaning. I also think if you take out “of” and place teen before murderer, it makes it a more powerful headline and matches the tone of the article more.

One headline that I liked was “Impact of War,” because it matched the tone and subject of the article. The headline is clear, concise,and powerful. As a reader I was drawn to the story immediately due to the short and powerful meaning. Also I can tell by the headline that the article is feature story and has stories about people affected by our current war. Therefore I feel the headline matched the contents and tone of the story.

Great multimedia piece on 9:30 Club

This feature from the Washington Post's website demonstrates why the internet is such a powerful reporting tool.

The feature I've linked to is a package about Washington's famous 9:30 Club, one of the country's most celebrated venues for rock concerts. The reason the feature is so impressive is because it includes nearly every possible form of reporting: audio, video, photos, text and interactivity.

The link will take you directly to a video of a typical concert night at 9:30 -- it shows the lines, the performers, the stage, the crowds and the people working there. It is backed by the sound of live music, which is an effective tool to hold the viewer's attention and also to give viewers a sense of what kind of music you could expect to see on a given night. At the top of the story, there is an easily navigable collection of photos that serves essentially as a timeline of the club's history. If you click on one of the photos, you can read text about milestone performances or significant events in the 9:30 Club's storied history. There are write-ups by the authors of this package, but there also are transcriptions from interviews as well, providing a balanced and unique means of relaying information. Some of the interviews are amazing for music nerds like me: stories about Will Smith, Prince, The Police all performing (or trying to perform) at the 9:30 club despite it having notorious rat problems and being too small for most big-time acts to accommodate fans.

Packages like this are so much less static than simple text stories or even photo/video slideshows. Future generations of reporters (read: us) should take note of bundles like these and aim to duplicate them. For interested readers/viewers, a simple text story or audio clip just isn't enough. Journalism on the internet is quickly changing, perhaps even evolving, to become more artistic, more creative, and more inclusive. While a bit daunting, packages like this do show us the future, don't you think?

AP Style changes to website

I saw a status update on Facebook saying that AP style "gave in" and changed Web site to website, so I did a google search and found this. The update will be published in the new edition of the Stylebook, which is being released next month, and it was changed today for the online version. I was curious to see what the rest of the class thought about the change? Is it necessary? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I know I've gotten marks on assignments for writing website, rather than the old form, Web site, because it is commonly written as one word. If you do a google search for "Web site," it will say "Did you mean website?" When I say "website," I think of it as one word, one thing that generalizes a bunch of possibilities, not a proper noun referring to one thing that should be capitalized. I like the change, although as a broadcast journalist, it does not affect me as much. I think the print journalists (who are much more accustomed to writing Web site) will have a much different opinion than I do.

Another aspect of the change I wanted to address is how will it affect other words that contain "Web?" The new listing says, "Also, webcam, webcast and webmaster. But as a short form and in terms with separate words, the Web, Web page and Web feed." I would assume that if the word is not specifically listed here, like website, webcam, webcast and webmaster, then it should be Web blank. Would this be correct? What are other examples, not given in the post, of words that could be unclear? Do you think that eventually, all of the words will change to webpage, webfeed, etc.?

One good and one not-so-great headline

Surprisingly for a publication which originated in print, WashingtonPost.com generally does a very good job of writing suitable headlines for the web.
For its home page and various section pages, the post tends to write brief, attention-grabbing heads. Its story pages usually carry longer headlines which include the terms a reader would plug into a search engine when he or she looks for the story.
A case in point is the April 14 Metro page headline "Tea Time" which leads the reader to a story about tax day protests. The story page carries a much longer headline which reads "Tea party activists protest high taxes, excessive government spending in D.C." - thus hitting all the relevant terms anyone could possibly want to plug into a search engine.

Again surprisingly, web-only publication Slate.com is extremely prone to cutesy headlines familiar from print. Case in point: "Nebraska feels your fetus' pain," the headline for a story about a new abortion-related state law in Nebraska. Apart from "Nebraska," that headline does not contain any of the relevant search terms. Thus, while it will definitely grab the attention of a reader already on the site, it is unlikely to show up at the top of a potential reader's search results.

Sounds like a loser to me

As Linda pointed out in her post, headlines that are too cutesy or rely on puns (no matter how clever) just are not suited for the Web. When a headline appears as a link with very little (or none) of the story's text beneath it, that headline should be clear and concise enough that the reader knows what that story is about.

This was not the case with a headline I found on Salon.com today; "Heads bankers win, tails we lose." This cute but foggy headline appeared on the News page of Salon's site. The sad part is, when you click for the full story, the headline that appears is "Banks, bankers and the new political economy"-- so much better, right? It may be a little general, and not nearly as adorably snarky, but it lets you know what the story will be about. The wise choice would have been to have the cutesy headline after the click. That way, they get to use it, and more people might actually click the link since they know what the topic of the story is.

Headline Wanted

I do my news analyses on the Jerusalem Post, and while looking for a new story to look at I came across this headline: Olmert 'wanted' posters for investigation?

Someone tell me, did he want some posters for an investigation? Even though the "wanted" is in quotes it still doesn't make sense in the sentence. He himself didn't want posters, the police are simply using them for an investigation.

A better course of action would probably have been to say "Police use Olmert wanted posters for investigation" or maybe not even have Olmert in it. Maybe even not use the wanted and just say "Olmert posters". The wanted just makes the whole thing sound weird.

Also why is there a question mark at the end? The story is saying they are trying to find out who made the posters, not who Olmert is!

A not-so-adept headline for the Web

I know this headline writer at the Bowie Blade-News, so when I had to find an example of a not-so-adept online headline, I knew where to look!

The headline reads: "There's lots to 'spell-abrate' at Tulip Grove"

Obviously, "spell-abrate" is a play on words, meaning "celebrate."

According to Foust ("Online Journalism," p. 135), "cute" headlines, ones that use wordplay, tend to fall flat online. While this headline is very cute, I agree that it falls flat online, especially when online headlines need to be more literal for search engine optimization.

This headline writer taught me a thing or two over the years about headline writing; now I can share with him about online headline writing!

Citizen journalism site gives voice to underreported countries

I was intrigued to discover All Voices, a relatively new "citizen media" newswire service (started in 2008) looking to expand into 30 countries that it believes aren't getting enough coverage from traditional media.

According to Mathew Ingram's article, "Citizen Journalism Startup Plans Global Expansion," the Web site has grown by over 400 percent in the past year and now has 337,000 contributors in 180 countries generating 4 million unique visits per month.

What a wonderful way to put citizen journalism to use. In the United States, we suffer from information overload on a multitude of topics ranging from Tiger Woods to Michael Jackson. How nice to put these information-gathering resources to use in a more positive way so people in other countries--such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt and China--can be informed on topics that affect their lives.

As an unedited and unfiltered open-media reporting form, Allvoices has established a "Report Credibility Rating System" indicating the trustworthiness of the story, which readers find useful when sorting through uncensored media reports.

Upon analyzing the design of the Web site, I think the site should move its "Images of the Day" up to the top of the home page, since they are larger. I guess the 4 million people who look at the site each month aren't too put off by the design, however.

Headlines: The bad, the good, and the ugly

A headline's goal should be to capture the tone and meaning of the story.

This headline from Sunday's Washington Post does neither: Johnnie-Mid seminar breaks social impasse in Annapolis. Huh? Based on that headline alone, that story could have been about a million different things. My best guess that was I was about to learn about the middle parts of a guy named Johnnie who held a miraculous summit to overcome the austere social rules governing Annapolis.

As it turns out, the story was about none of those things — thankfully. I read on to discover a delightful tradition, where students from St. John's College and the Naval Academy — two polar opposite schools that sit blocks apart — gather for an annual summit to discuss a book. This year they read Anton Checkov's "Gooseberries."

As for a good headline, I like this one from The (Baltimore) Sun: "Late-inning collapse dooms Orioles in 5-2 loss" It's search engine friendly and tells you precisely what's happening in the story.

Finally, this headline, which I found on a journalism web site is truly ugly: "Governor swears in legislature."

Story ideas just got easier and blogging just got harder

So I've spent the past 10 minutes trying to figure out how to post a comment on Gabby's blog post, but Blogger simply isn't co-operating. I'm repeatedly getting a bit-something-other error, and in a not-so-rare moment of Internet ineptitude have no idea what to do about it.

But without further adieu, Gabby's post "Sourcing just got easier" reminded me of my favorite use of Facebook: story idea mining. I've never used my Facebook status for sourcing (though obviously I should start). However, I have often looked to my friends' statuses to inspire story ideas. Sometimes, I just look upon them hoping that they'll spark a semi-related thought that will lead me to something newsworthy. Sometimes, Facebook statuses can inspire stories directly.

I have a friend who wrote a story on the upside of social networking after he peered upon a friends' status about a lost iPod. Within hours, a friend replied to the status, letting the gril know where she left her prized possession. At first, this story surprised me. Then, I found out the girl has something like 2,000 Facebook friends. The story that resulted was great because it flew in the face of conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom says if you have too many online friends, you can't truly be friends with all of them. Somehow, it should seem phony to have too many friends online. And yet, this story showed that having a lot of Facebook friends has a practical upside.

In any case, speaking of Facebook statuses, mine right now: "Can't function Blogger. Anyone have tips?"

Sourcing just got easier

During the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that an increasing number of my fellow journalism majors have been posting Facebook statuses about story assignments. One student asked to hear from political conservatives on campus, and another wanted to talk to students who are studying abroad.

Earlier today I decided to try out the tactic for myself. I needed sources for a trend story. So I posted a status asking if anyone had contacts with a connection to Teach for America. Surely out of the hundreds of friends, relatives, and acquaintances I have on Facebook, a few would help me out.

An hour and a half later, I had three sources. After two more hours, I had three more.

Not only had people sent me the names of potential sources, one friend even sent me the link to a charity event that will benefit Teach for America.

I realized that Facebook is a more powerful tool than I had previously realized. Users display networks, groups, fan pages, personal interests and upcoming events. Any of these elements might provide valuable information for stories. Tracking down preliminary sources is no harder than logging in and doing some investigating.

Have any of you used your status to recruit sources? Do you know of other Facebook-related reporting techniques?

Putting new knowledge to use!

When I first graduated from the University of Maryland with my journalism degree in 1979, I remember taking my layout and editing notes with me when I started my first job as the editor of The GAO Watchdog, which is now a Podcast series.

Unlike a lot of other college-level classes, I've always found that journalism professors shared practical information that we students can take directly into our profession, no matter how old we are.

This class is no different. Even though I've been in the business for a long time, and have worked in books, magazines and newspapers, I am already putting to use my newfound knowledge right away.

Here's the short list:

1. I have been challenged by doing a much better job about posting corrections and clarifications online. Like a lot of old-school editors, I fell into the trap of correcting the print edition but "just changing the content" on the Web site and calling it a day.

2. When verifying facts, I am much more aware of which sites I visit to gather credible information.

3. I had to go into the backend of our newspaper's Web site and change HTML coding. Can you believe this? I remember being asked to do this last fall and I was so indignant about it ("It's not my job," I remember saying to my publisher). I am slowly getting over being so intimidated by it all.

4. I have been tasked with improving the look of our Web site for The Sentinel, which currently has a staff of four. By analyzing the site for USA TODAY, I now see how far we have to go. Unfortunately, this is a challenge due to our small staff and limited resources, but now I see the wonderfully exciting possibilities.

5. I will be putting my newfound skills on multimedia presentations and slide shows to good use very soon!

I have to admit that I am being stretched every single day but learning new things is wonderfully exciting, even though it takes a little while for the newfound knowledge to sink in.

Slideshow on Chilean earthquake on USA Today's Web site

I liked the 75-photo slide show on the earthquake in Chile. The URL is:
http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/8.8-earthquake-strikes-Chile/G1470

I thought this slide show worked well because all the photos displayed emotion and gave the reader a sense of the devastation of an 8.8 earthquake.

The first shot was an overall shot showing the massive numbers of families in temporary housing. A shot of volunteers rebuilding homes gave the reader a sense of hope in spite of the suffering. Other shots that were dramatic were of a crying boy getting a vaccination, a volunteer feeding an elderly man and the remnants of a circus. These photos told a story of the suffering the people are experiencing now under a backdrop of happier times, and pointing toward recovery and hope of better times to come.

Tina Irgang: A great slide show

The Washington Post ran a story today (March 31) about a young woman from Michigan who wrote a letter to the president and actually got a letter back. The story itself is excellent, tracking the letter's progress and giving some insight into the protagonist's life.

Online, it goes with a slide show that complements it perfectly. While the print version limits itself mostly to past events in the woman's life as described in her letter, the slide show gives us a much better idea of her current day-to-day routine. We follow her as she takes care of her children, attends a community college class and goes door-to-door to sell cosmetics. A transitional photo shows a White House employee at work - the very person who vets letters and decides which ones actually make it to the president. The final pictures show the president reading a letter to himself, reading it to others and finally responding to it. Thus, the slide show retraces the journey described in the story (the woman's life, her letter, the mail analyst and finally the president and his pen) while giving us some additional detail that the story was unable to provide.

You can find the slide show here.

Strong Slide Shows

We used the tool Soundslides today to create a quick slide show.

Please look on professional news sites and, as a comment to this post, add a link to one you particularly liked. Be sure to say what's good about it!

The three P's of the news consumer

The three P's: That's how I remember the most significant findings in the latest Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism report on Americans' relationship with news in this multi-platform media environment.

According to the report, news is becoming:

• Portable: 33 percent of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
• Personalized: 28 percent of Internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
• Participatory: 37 percent of Internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Another interesting finding: Among those who get news online, 75 percent get news forwarded through e-mail or posts on social networking sites and 52 percent share links to news with others via those means.

Are we really going forward with a world without newspapers? It appears so. Where does that leave us? Are we really going to be able to make money in this profession or is journalism becoming an amateur thing that people mostly do in their spare time? I hope someone is working on a new business model pretty quickly.

Can you afford to live on a reporter's salary?

I am the managing editor of The Prince George's Sentinel, a small weekly community newspaper (2o,000 circulation and shrinking) in a suburb of Washington, D.C. When I say "small," I mean we have a newsroom staff of four: one reporter, one production manager, one employee who works three days per week in production and two days in sales, and me. No receptionist to answer the phones, no typists to compile community notices and the police blotter, no proofreaders, no copyeditors, no page designers. It's all me. I do it all, except for covering stories (although I have been known to write one here and there, plus a column).

So, you can imagine my predicament when my one reporter gave her notice a few weeks ago and announced she couldn't live on the $20,000 per year salary. This reporter was a 15-year veteran in journalism and was hired a year ago because she wanted to "stay in journalism." In fact, she said at the time she felt lucky to land a newspaper job. But now her marital situation has changed and she is forced to support herself. But she can't do it on what this paper pays reporters.

Doesn't sound like an attractive place to work, does it?

So, I put a job posting on Journalismjobs.com last Tuesday. I did this eight years ago when I was working for Philip Merrill at Capital Gazette Newspapers and got about four responses. This time, resumes started popping into my inbox within 10 minutes after the posting went live. By Thursday, I had 60 resumes. They came from as far away as California and Michigan. They were willing to relocate here. Honestly, for a $20,000 job?

On Friday, I pared the resumes down to 16 and e-mailed the job seekers and told them more about the job: we were small, we didn't get raises, the $20,000 per year salary is non-negotiable.

Guess what? Nearly all of them still wanted to come to work for $20,000. Why? Because they've been out of work for six months to a year and have been solely freelancing. To them, $20,000 is at least a steady paycheck. However, most of them told me they need to keep their freelance gigs.

Since we're working on our resumes, I'd like to highly suggest you have something more than reporting on your resumes. Make sure you have some type of specialty, or expertise, and make sure to keep up with technology. After you've graduated, make sure you keep current in your field and have a variety of interests. It could make a big difference one day.

Tutorials on Wordpress and Godaddy.com

Class, instructor Sean Mussenden has kindly created tutorials to help with setting up accounts on godaddy.com, and with using tools and widgets on wordpress.com.

Here are links to the tutorials:


GoDaddy Primer: http://seanmussenden.org/2009/08/30/setting-up-your-own-web-site/

Wordpress Tutorial: http://seanmussenden.org/2009/08/30/introduction-to-wordpress/

'Isn't it Amazing What a Little Woman Can Accomplish?'

My beloved friend and mentor, Vera Foster Rollo, 85, passed away this month. My wish is that everyone crosses paths with someone who has influenced their life in a very special way. For me it happened in 1988.
I first met Vera Rollo at a Prince George’s Writers meeting. From the beginning, I was intrigued by this smart but whimsical woman. We began talking and became fast friends. I was a stay-at-home mom at the time with a journalism degree that I hadn’t used in eight years and I wanted to keep up my writing skills. Vera offered me a chance to do some editing, proofreading and marketing for her publishing company, Maryland Historical Press.
I was always intrigued by this funny little lady who had such a “can do” spirit about her. The more I got to know her, I discovered she didn’t possess any greater journalistic skill than me, but what she did possess was a wonderfully optimistic look at life, and she was successful and happy doing what she loved.
So, for several years, after I dropped off my kids at school, I went to her house and worked on some book projects with her around her dining room table, sipping tea, and taking in the wonderful view of her lovely backyard in Lanham. Of course, we were always surrounded by dogs.
It was a little bit of heaven slipped into my week of chasing after children and other demands of motherhood. Together we worked on such titles as “Who is Uncle Sam?,” “The American Flag,” “Bill Clinton: Eyes on the Future,” “Presidents and Their Pets,” and “Burt Rutan: Eyes on the Future.” Project after project, Vera would say, “Isn’t it amazing what two little women can accomplish?”
I remember asking her how Maryland Historical Press got started and she told me the story about how her son Mike came home from school and said they didn’t have a textbook to learn about Maryland history, so she decided to write one. Then she couldn’t sell it because she didn’t have a degree. So, she got one. When she couldn’t find a publisher, Vera declared: “Like the Little Red Hen, I dug my heels in and said, then I’ll do it myself!” So Maryland Historical Press was born.
Vera showed me that, yes, I can do anything I put my mind to and can have fun along the way. She never seemed to dwell on negatives but always put a positive spin on life. When I would say, “Wow, the unemployment rate is 10 percent. She would say, “yes, but look at it this way: 90 percent of the people have a job.”
What Vera showed me was the way she led her life: Keep your outlook positive. No matter what, you can accomplish whatever you set out to do. She always cheered me on and made me feel like I could do anything.
So, it’s no surprise that, 20 years later, when I was presented with an opportunity to start up my own travel magazine, Trips & Getaways, I thought about Vera. When I called her to ask her advice, she again cheered me on. Yes, I could do it!
Like Maryland Historical Press, Trips & Getaways never made it into the Fortune 500, but I’ve been able to carve out a little piece of the market for me. And most of all, to take great joy in my profession. I often sit back and think about how much fun we had working together around her dining room table. After all, Vera taught me that you don’t have to make a million to be happy and successful in life.
I feel very blessed to have this lovely lady’s indomitable spirit touch my life. This past January, I decided to go back to school to get my graduate degree in journalism to keep myself current in the ever-changing world of the new media. Sometimes, I think, can I really do this? Then I remember attending Vera’s graduation party when she got her Ph.D. at age 60, and I think, yes I can.
Today, others seem to be inspired that this newspaper’s managing editor has the courage to start graduate school, and that I have a travel publishing company. Well, I tell them: “Isn’t it amazing what a little woman can accomplish?”

Google Buzz

A few days ago, I decided to finally try Buzz.

Like so many new and shiny things, it was really exciting at first. I could comment back and forth on random trends and topics with my closest friends, without worrying about a crowd of Facebook friends or Twitter followers looking in - people I'd met once, if ever.

But once the excitement wore off, I started to ask myself: what does Buzz really have to add to the already overcrowded social media scene? It feels an awful lot like Gmail Chat, except slower and more cumbersome. It doesn't have the journalistic merits of Twitter (ability to spread news to a large number of followers in a very short time) - at least not yet. And, unlike Facebook, there's little to keep you interested once you're done posting. And then there's the privacy concerns Google has only now started to address.

If I'm overlooking an important redeeming feature here, feel free to point it out to me. For now, I'll stick with Twitter.

After two back-to-back blizzards, I finally get it. After 12 years of working for weekly community newspapers, and my own travel magazine, I have to admit I am a print diehard. But, over the past year, I have witnessed the demise of 67 newspapers. Even two magazines that I've been affiliated with have ceased their print products. I am finally getting how this new age of media really is about delivering the message in a different way, not just shoveling content from the printed page to a Web site.

At the beginning of 2009, I was definitely intrigued by how many businesses were joining in the chatter of the social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. By the summer, I joined in the chatter -- not sure why, but knowing I had to be part of it.

Now I get it. Last week, due to the forecasted blizzard to begin Tuesday afternoon, I pushed to finish up my newspaper, The Prince George's Sentinel, before the snow started. I met our print deadline and put the content on the Web before the first flake fell late Tuesday afternoon. In the past, that would have been good enough. In the past, I would have called it a week and begun to think about the next week's issue.

However, this time, I found myself snowbound and logging into my computer remotely nearly five or six times per day. In the past, I would have spent a lot of time on the phone with our freelance reporters and photographers to send in photos and story ideas for the next issue.

This time, I actually realized what engaging your audience meant. I invited our online audience and social media followers and friends to send in photos and comments. I found our readers, at the ready, to send in their comments and photos. Boom! Stories, comments and photos were uploaded to the site within minutes. We were in this together! Our readers didn't have to wait to read about it and see our photos a week later.

Then, as I kept a watch on the TV news and the press releases from the governor's office about various things, I updated the Web site on a regular basis, including up-to-the minute photos. It was exciting.

Yes, I finally get it. Unfortunately, our office staff has shrunk so much that most of this work falls on me. But, that's OK. I'm ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive in the profession I love.

Writer steps aside to let others tell their own remarkable stories

When I was in seventh grade, I went on a field trip to the Washington Post. As soon as I walked into the newsroom, I was hooked. This is what I wanted to do -- to be part of a giant news organization that cranked out news for the public. I wanted to give a voice to the people who needed to be heard.

Since I've been in the newspaper industry for 12 years, I have done just that. Even though I never worked for the Post, I have worked for two community newspapers to give a voice to many people who wanted to tell their story to their neighbors.

One notable series of articles I did was on a family going through a very dark journey as their very young son was diagnosed with leukemia. After I told their story in the local newspaper, the community rallied behind them and saw them through the next several years, through two remissions and -- finally -- a bone marrow transplant, which thankfully cured this remarkable young man. I felt very privileged to be part of this family's life and to be able to use my writing skills to give this family a voice and tell their inspiring story.

Since then, I have had the privilege of meeting so many interesting and diverse people to tell others about their challenges and victories. And I do mean it was a privilege. But now, as the new age of media ushered in under our noses, it looks like I will have to step aside and let the people tell their own stories.

Now, using the Internet, people of all ages and backgrounds can tell their own stories through blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. Their voices are being heard by thousands of people with the click of a mouse. Their Internet community can rally behind them -- even though there they may be many miles separating them.

For me, this new year began with the news that my good friend and mentor, Vera Foster Rollo, had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At 85, she decided to face the end stage of her life with the same dignity in which she lived. A writer, editor, publisher and pilot, this truly remarkable woman's family was able to share her legacy and the valiant way she ended her time here on Earth with her family, friends, and people who have never even met her, across the miles, through a blog provided by the local hospice.

Even though I shall mourn the loss of being one of a privileged few to be able to tell others about ordinary people who do extraordinary things, I now feel privileged to be part of a wider network of people from around the world. I enjoy reading your stories and sharing them with my friends, and I am willing to move over to make room for you.

My only question is: How can I make a living now?

Welcome new class!

Looking forward to engaging with you electronically as well as in class. Please use this class blog to post thoughtful comments on new-media topics in the news. You're required to start at least one thread, as well as to comment on others' posts.