I recently received this important memorandum, compliments of Heather Colvin, who runs "Heather's Blog" and thought I would comment on my experiences with "cooperative journalism":
MEMORANDUM
ATTN: All Journalists and Human Beings
SUBJECT: Working with other people actually pays off, especially in regards to journalism and even more especially in regards to Online Journalism.
Thank you and Best Regards,
Heather C.
I'm not sure what it is about this time of year, but everyone seems so stressed out (myself included). It seems like teachers forget that students are in four or five other classes beside their own. The semester is hitting its crucial point, and it has become time to rely on the help of others.
I'm not one to admit when I need help, but I've been learning through my online journalism class that convergence media means more than just converging forms of media, it also means converging minds. In working with my design team on my new website, I have found that two heads (and in this case three) are better than one.
Not only is this a good chance to learn about the positive effects of convergence, but also the negatives. With three people working on one project, there are three times as many chances for success. However, there are also three times as many chances for error. Conflicting ideas and competing egos also contribute to the struggle of group work.
Gaining knowledge on the dynamics of the relationship between journalist and designer is something that will most definitely help when it comes time to apply for a job. The better the journalist understands the designer, and vice-versa, the quicker, and smoother the creation of a final web product will be. I don't mean to ramble on about this, but like Heather said, working with others actually pays off. Thanks Heather, that is definitely a memo worth reading.
So in that spirit, I am off to a meeting with my designers....
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Lay your burden down...
On Thursday night, Sam Terilli, spoke with our Online Journalism class on defamation and copyright law. As a lawyer and professor, Terilli was able to offer personal insight as well as professional advice. He highlighted the Fair Use Doctrine and the Digital Millennium Rights Act of 2002.
My favorite topic in the first half of his discussion, which was on copyright law, was when he talked about Google Books. Google went to the libraries at major universities, copied some of their famous books, and uploaded them to the web. Rather than asking the rights holder for permission, they issued a general statement, telling them that they were going to do it, and the rights holder had to opt out if he/she didn't want to give Google the rights. By placing the burden on the rights holder, Google saved themselves a lot of time. But this brings up the question of if they legally had the right to go about obtaining books in that way.
In the second half of his talk, Terilli moved from copyright law to defamation. When I asked him who was responsible for the content printed on MiamiHerald.com's blogs, since it is printed under the Herald's banner, but is not necessarily seen by editors, we moved into an entire conversation about open forums and their rights. Terilli spoke of how Section 230 protected forums from being responsible for content written on their site. That is how AOL Bulletins and chat rooms have never gotten AOL into trouble. They individuals who post comments are responsible for their own content, and not the forum itself.
My favorite topic in the first half of his discussion, which was on copyright law, was when he talked about Google Books. Google went to the libraries at major universities, copied some of their famous books, and uploaded them to the web. Rather than asking the rights holder for permission, they issued a general statement, telling them that they were going to do it, and the rights holder had to opt out if he/she didn't want to give Google the rights. By placing the burden on the rights holder, Google saved themselves a lot of time. But this brings up the question of if they legally had the right to go about obtaining books in that way.
In the second half of his talk, Terilli moved from copyright law to defamation. When I asked him who was responsible for the content printed on MiamiHerald.com's blogs, since it is printed under the Herald's banner, but is not necessarily seen by editors, we moved into an entire conversation about open forums and their rights. Terilli spoke of how Section 230 protected forums from being responsible for content written on their site. That is how AOL Bulletins and chat rooms have never gotten AOL into trouble. They individuals who post comments are responsible for their own content, and not the forum itself.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
So where do we go from here?
Recently, the Project on Excellence in Journalism released the "State of the News Media 2008" report. They confirmed what anything with a pulse already knew, media is changing. Unlike most people though, they believe that this change is not necessarily for the best. One of the most significant findings in the report is that news is no longer a final information product.
"There is no single or finished news product anymore," the report says. "As news consumption becomes continual, more new effort is put into producing incremental updates, as brief as 40-character e-mails sent from reporters directly to consumers without editing."
The new report also hinted at some of the flaws of citizen journalism. The report focuses on citizen journalists as "gatekeepers," a title that was once held by mainstream media. "Rather than rejecting the 'gatekeeper' role of traditional journalism, for now citizen journalists and bloggers appear to be recreating it in other places," the report says.
On the contrary, the report mentioned how news organizations are narrowing their focus rather than expanding it. The report suggested that cites like Google News reward those organizations that report the same thing as everyone else.
"Cable news, talk radio (and also blogs) tend to seize on top stories (often polarizing ones) and amplify them," the report says. "The Internet offers the promise of aggregating ever more sources, but its value still depends on what those originating sources are providing. Even as the media world has fragmented into more outlets and options, reporting resources have shrunk."
"There is no single or finished news product anymore," the report says. "As news consumption becomes continual, more new effort is put into producing incremental updates, as brief as 40-character e-mails sent from reporters directly to consumers without editing."
The new report also hinted at some of the flaws of citizen journalism. The report focuses on citizen journalists as "gatekeepers," a title that was once held by mainstream media. "Rather than rejecting the 'gatekeeper' role of traditional journalism, for now citizen journalists and bloggers appear to be recreating it in other places," the report says.
On the contrary, the report mentioned how news organizations are narrowing their focus rather than expanding it. The report suggested that cites like Google News reward those organizations that report the same thing as everyone else.
"Cable news, talk radio (and also blogs) tend to seize on top stories (often polarizing ones) and amplify them," the report says. "The Internet offers the promise of aggregating ever more sources, but its value still depends on what those originating sources are providing. Even as the media world has fragmented into more outlets and options, reporting resources have shrunk."
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Woke up this mornin'...
Recently, while watching an NBA basketball game, I began to think about how some players made it to the professional level. Not all these athletes could have been born with such ability. Most of them worked exceptionally hard, focusing on basketball, and working hard to perfect it. I then thought about my future as a journalist and realized that new media is forcing journalists to become multifaceted, and be professionals is several aspects, like a Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson. Will this eventually lead to a decline in the quality of writing? If print journalists are forced to spend more of their time learning other skills, and less time perfecting the writing/reporting aspect of their job, won't something have to suffer?
On a related note, the announcement that Brett Favre plans on retiring made me again think about new media, as I was awoken this morning by a text message from ESPN telling me of his intentions. This is just another example of how the media is trying to go out and find readers by making news even more accessible. The fact that I didn't have to any more than roll over in bed and pick up my phone to find out what today's top sport's story was, just shows how connected Americans are to the new media right now. So with Americans being this in touch with the news, shouldn't journalists be groomed to do the best reporting they can, rather than be a jack of all trades? The readers may think so, but news editors seem to disagree.
On a related note, the announcement that Brett Favre plans on retiring made me again think about new media, as I was awoken this morning by a text message from ESPN telling me of his intentions. This is just another example of how the media is trying to go out and find readers by making news even more accessible. The fact that I didn't have to any more than roll over in bed and pick up my phone to find out what today's top sport's story was, just shows how connected Americans are to the new media right now. So with Americans being this in touch with the news, shouldn't journalists be groomed to do the best reporting they can, rather than be a jack of all trades? The readers may think so, but news editors seem to disagree.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
New Blog!
This is just to let all of you know that I have just started a new blog, The Sports Authority. As the title indicates, it is about sports, both college and professional. I enjoy writing about sports so I have decided to keep this as a way of doing that in a more relaxed environment. I have included a link to it on the right. I hope you enjoy it and subscribe to it. Matt
Video killed the radio star....
On Thursday, Ricardo Lopez of The Miami Herald spoke to my Online Journalism class. He spoke mostly on video, and how we as journalists can add more to our story not only through good content but through proper execution of technical skills. Most journalists today only think in terms of final result, able to recreate interviews and get quotes over the phone. A video journalist, on the other hand, only gets once chance to get the content he/she needs, and must know what that is beforehand. Ricardo couldn't stress enough how important preparation was for a videographer. "Someone told me once," he said, referring to some of his favorite advice, "still photography you shoot with your heart; video you shoot with your mind."
After explaining the importance of video, Ricardo gave us advice on the importance of audio, the most important aspect of video, according to him. "Seventy percent of video is audio," he pointed out.
This crash course in video is a great way for us to prepare for our next endeavor as a class. Producing multimedia media packages is going to be new territory for most of us. However, the skills we are learning from speakers like Ricardo are only going to help us do better work, both in the classroom and after graduation.
After explaining the importance of video, Ricardo gave us advice on the importance of audio, the most important aspect of video, according to him. "Seventy percent of video is audio," he pointed out.
This crash course in video is a great way for us to prepare for our next endeavor as a class. Producing multimedia media packages is going to be new territory for most of us. However, the skills we are learning from speakers like Ricardo are only going to help us do better work, both in the classroom and after graduation.
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