That's just like your opinion, man....

In a recent article on Pajamas Media titled "The Power of New Media on the Presidency," blogger Steve Boriss tackled the issue of New Media and the effect it is having on this year’s election. Beside the obvious examples on how the vast amount of opinions being published are shaping American ideologies, Boriss makes a shocking, but very appropriate comparison to another point in history, when opinions from all angles were also being published.

"Once, America was served by an abundance of news outlets providing different opinions to different groups of the like-minded. That’s what French historian Alexis de Tocqueville saw in the early 1800’s when he marveled at how our 'Newspapers make associations, and associations make newspapers.' Before that, we lived in Thomas Jefferson’s America, noted for its unlimited and uninhibited free expression, lively debates in which ideas were attacked and defended, and a free people who thought for themselves rather than having 'the truth' as seen by elites imposed upon them."

-Steve Boriss, "The Power of Media on the Presidency"

I think that this is a great comparison and can be used to show Americans not to be scared of the vast amount of opinions available. If anything, they should be embraced, not as truth, but as a way of investigating and discovering more information on candidates.

For most of the 90's there was a stigma that the media had a liberal bias, but now with news shows, such as Hannity and Colmes, being accepted as opinion, there has been less talk of a bias media and young Americans are beginning to see a shift away from how their parents got news. They are starting to see media move towards this 19th century philosophy of opinion generated news.

Break on through....

On Thursday night, Dr. Michelle Seelig, who teaches web production at the University of Miami, taught our class how to make a simple website. I didn't think it was so simple as I sat at my computer and fumbled to start my own web bio. After just a few minutes, however, I began to breakthrough all the tech jargon and discovered that it wasn't as difficult as I was making it out to be. Also, the benefits of having your own web site greatly outweigh the few hours it takes to lay out the page.

When applying for a job, especially in journalism, it is very impressive to be able to tell an employer that you have a website, and even more so if you can claim to have created the site on your own. With links to my resume and all my published articles, a slide show that gives a look into my professional ambitions, and a video bio that allows employers to see a more personal look at who I am, a web page will definitely give me a leg up on the competition.

The final reason a web page is so important is because in the world of new media, it is important to employers that applicants be able to publish on the Internet, as well as gather video, audio, and photographic elements for stories. Being able to prove this before I even go into an interview could prove to be the ultimate difference between getting a job or not.

Headin' in the right direction...

Convergence journalism is on the rise. There is no doubt about that. So when we look to the top schools in the nation (Northwestern, Syracuse, and Columbia, among others), it is no surprise to see that they are on the cutting edge. Lorraine Branham, a finalist for the position of dean at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications (the other was UM's Sam Grogg), understands where journalism is heading and has done so in her work at the University of Texas at Austin.

"I put a special emphasis on making sure my students are getting the broad, multimedia training that everyone needs to be successful," Branham said about her work at Texas. She also spoke on the lack of initiative to move into new media at some of her former schools, including Temple University, the University of California at Berkley and the University of Texas.

"I saw the changes that were taking place in the industry, and I was concerned that they really were not considering what was taking place," Branham said.

After attending the Communications Week event on new media and reading this article from the Daily Orange, Syracuse's student paper, it is obvious that the University of Miami is on the right track with teaching convergence journalism and giving its students the chance to learn from professionals.

I'm a hustler, baby...

On Friday I attend a workshop and panel discussion on convergence media for part of University of Miami’s Communication Week. During the first half of the discussion we were given the chance to work with professionals and receive some very important advice. My group met with Will Payne, who works for CurrentTV, a new station that prides itself in airing user generated content and proving that young journalists deserve to have their voice heard.

I am really excited about where Current is taking new media. Allowing younger generations to produce their own packages and have them aired on television is something that truly takes vision. Will is a firm believer in there being many roads to success. He recognized how important internships are but also challenged students to go out and get their work published. There will also be many opportunities for young journalists to work in this new media, he affirmed.

Finally, since this new technology has only been available for a few years, younger generations are exhibiting great skill in producing their own news. Therefore, if we can capture the four components of content (character, information, movement, and conflict) according to Will, then we are ready.

“You need to be hustlers,” Will said. “You need to know how to get content to the people who want content.”

Print journalism heads 'Back to the Future'

"Increasingly, people know what happened the day before the day before."

Yesterday, L. Gordon Crovitz, former Wall Street Journal publisher and Dow Jones vice-president spoke at his alma mater, the University of Chicago, on the future of journalism. The bulk of his speech focused on how traditional newspapers utilize the full capacity of the Internet if they hope to maintain readers and increase profits. Crovitz continued by pointing out how few students actually read print versions of newspaper. Students prefer online news because of their comfort with the new technology and especially because of its timeliness. By the time they read something in a newspaper it is already old news because they saw it on the internet first.

The most interesting point he made was on the newspaper industry's need to use print media as a complement to the online edition. Crovitz pointed out that the Internet is generally best at providing up to date information while print editions are best for in-depth reporting. Newspapers must accept that they no longer serve the same role they did 10 years ago and stop trying to gain readership by giving readers the same coverage of events they’ve seen online.

Turn up the volume....

Little can be said to argue the importance of audio as a news medium. Radio was the first way news was allowed to reach its listeners instantaneously. With the invention of television, radio lost its place in the news industry, but now, with advancements in technology, audio is again becoming an increasingly important component of news telling. Last night, Allison Diaz, Miami Herald freelance photographer, spoke to our class on how to better capture audio and video and use one to compliment the other. This will prove helpful as audio is becoming a more convincing and useful medium.

Yesterday, Sree Sreenivasan, a journalism professor at Columbia, launched a blog talk radio show in which students could ask questions and Sreenivasan would respond through the audio blog. The first topic discussed was Facebook for Journalists. Sreenivasan talked on how students and journalists could use Facebook as a tool for reporting, networking, and publishing.

Using audio blogs like this allow for more people to have their voices heard and allow them to interact with others in a more immediate and personal setting than just message boards.

Read it and weep....

For most sports fans from the New England area, this was a sad weekend. It was the imperfect end to a perfect season. Online journalism's most influential impact was clearly visible this weekend. As soon as the game was over, there were thousands of reports all over the internet. From blogs to true news stories and even in the scrolling scores on different sports websites, there was no way to avoid hearing the results of the game.

One of the signs of the print news apocalypse appeared out of no where this weekend. When the game was over, in fact immediately after it was over, I received a text message from ESPN.com informing me of the outcome of the game and telling me to visit their website for more information. Having to go online and look up news is now too much effort for most Americans, and news is now sent out to masses, reversing the roles of the two. This is a great step for the journalism industry. Being able to send text message updates on scores and now even major world news allows sites to break stories and make sure their readers know where it came from.

I believe that in the future, with the continuing development of this type of technology and the ability for readers to only receive the news they want to hear, mobile news will eventually surpass, or perhaps work in conjunction with online outlets. This is definitely a step in the right direction, at least from the readers point of view.

We know what you viewed last summer...

Yesterday, Suzanne Levinson of The Miami Herald and themiamiherald.com had an infinite amount of advice for our class. The most intriguing thing she spoke on was about how well the newspapers know their online readers. New technology is allowing newspapers sites to follow the three most important aspects of site navigation: papage views, visits, and visitors. Newspapers are able to track what stories people are reading and how they navigate from page to page.

By usung this technology, newspapers are able to simplify the news reading process. They are also able to keep visitors on their site for a longer period of time. This is just another example of how the interactivity of he internet is allowing for the simplification of news reading.