Writing for New Media

Readings on current ethical and legal issues -- Let's chat!

2009-07-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

In addition to the readings on our schedule, here are links to three recent stories that pose interesting questions about legal and ethical issues affecting journalists. What is your take on these? This discussion will replace our class meeting of July 14. Leave your comments below and feel free to comment more than once during the week.

Judge Says Blogs Not Legitimate News Source; No Shield Protections

Restoring The Post's Credibility With Readers -- and Staff. Update: A Sponsorship Scandal at The Post was just published July 12.

Was Wikipedia correct to censor news of David Rohde's capture?

Blogger jailed in Anna Nicole Smith defamation suit

2009-06-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

The latest reminder that YOU are responsible for anything you post online, even on a professional news organization's site or someone else's blog:

A real estate agent in Houston who blogged about Anna Nicole Smith was jailed for contempt last week in a defamation case brought by the late Playboy model's mother.
Legal experts said bloggers are increasingly the targets of such litigation, which are testing the bounds of free speech.

Read the full story here.

Syllabus is now live

2009-05-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

The syllabus for our summer MCOM 407/507 is now live. Check it out. Please note that the schedule is a downloadable Word document with many clickable links in it. Because of the complexity of scheduling a hybrid version of the class, I found it hard to embed the schedule in an HTNL page without making things confusing for students.

Getting to know summer 407/507 students

2009-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'd like to start the semester by asking each of you to reply to this post and give us a sense of your level of Web and design skills. Have you taken Digital Publishing? Do you have a Web site, blog or Twitter account? You don't need to say a lot, but just enough for us to get a sense of where we are all starting from. Thanks!

Fall 2008 Critique Assignments

2008-09-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the schedule for the presentations beginning Sept. 17.

Sept. 17

Alyson Blimmel
In Cold Blood: A Legacy

Aja Jackson
Afro-Latin Americans

Oct. 1

Joycelyn Anthony
Cloning: How It Works

Oct. 8

Gboyinde Onijala
And a Song Shall Carry Them Home

Dani Holtzer
Churchill’s Speeches

Oct. 15

Erin Stasi
Super Volcano

Ryiesha Simms
Inside the Toughman

Oct. 22

Erica Plummer
Stoves for Guatemala

Melissa Deutsch
The Whale Hunt

Oct. 29

Jeff Koslovsky
Can You Spot the Threats?

Chris Cuno
Enron Blame Game

Nov. 5

Beth Schaffer
Spam Wars

Sarah Springfield
One Day of War

Nov. 12

Kaitlyn Hart
Budget Balancer

Marianne Riker
Ray of Hope

Nov. 19

Samantha Bolden
Smuggling Children

Shannon Minter
The shootings at Kirkwood City Hall

Dec. 3

Nicole Balzanna
Ground Zero Timeline

Jacob Verdis
Lebrew Jones and the Death of Micki Hall

More challenges for upcoming grads

2008-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Baltimore Sun reported this week some unsurprising but nonetheless not-good news: Graduates are going to find it tough to get jobs in the weak economy.

The article opens by noting how the class of 2008 began school in good economic times but leaves school in a recession:

That's depressing timing for Nikki Goh, who transferred from a school in Malaysia to Towson University two years ago because she believed the job opportunities here would be far better. When she graduates in May with a degree in mass communication, Goh, 22, will be heading back to Kuala Lumpur to regroup - and then to Britain to try to find work.

So ... you can become depressed or you can take to heart the advice we've been hearing over and over lately: Do everything you can to make yourself the BEST candidate for the job. If nothing's out there after graduation, consider a post-grad summer internship to give you added experience and contacts.

Our Trip to The Washington Post: A day to remember

2008-04-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Students and faculty who were lucky enough to make our cutoff for the trip to Washington on March 28 came back with lots of excitement and great ideas. I plan to do a full post (or more) on some of the great things Rob Curley showed us and talked about. In the meantime, I'll let some of the students do the talking via their blogs.

Annie Sullivan: "Overflowing with personality, Curley showed an impressive interactive slideshow of projects he has been part of in the past. Listening to him for 3 hours was like watching an exciting, educational, and downright comedic television show."

Ryan Reed: "On the way back to campus we all discussed what we learned from the day. I believe everyone was inspired to learn and do more when it comes to online journalism. As a senior graduating in May, the trip proved to be invaluable and I plan on taking what I learned with me wherever I may end up."

Heidi Greenleaf: "I now realize the significance of online journalism and the role it will play in the future of newspapers. Not only do I have to know how to write, take photos, blog, edit audio and video, but I also have to put all of these ideas together to create a multimedia package for whatever I’m writing about."

Noelle Ciara: "Annie, Danielle, and I are very inspired to start our own blog-type of website for TU students. There is so much that we’re missing out on and we’ve got big plans to change it. ;-)"

Update (April 8)
Two more students have posted on the trip:

Danielle Dyer: "Rob Curley jumps into all aspects of his job. No assignment is too small or unimportant. He truly makes you want to make every little, minuscule thing lavish and extravagant."

Jon Parr: "My teachers have been incredible in showing me what skills I'll need in the real world. But nothing could have prepared me for Rob Curley... nothing. A week later, my head is still reeling over what he showed us, what he taught us. This wasn't a field trip to the Washington Post, it was a few hours into Curley's mind."

Cutting edge multimedia

2008-04-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Rob Curley, our host at last week's Washington Post/WPNI tour, talked at length about the great things ahead for the Las Vegas Sun. On his Facebook page, he singles out a recent package, "Pace Is the New Peril," as one of those great things:

I have many friends who work at the Las Vegas Sun, and today's lead story on LasVegasSun.com about the recent construction deaths at the rising new resorts in that town is an amazing piece of what "newspaper" journalism should look like in 2008.

The text, the photos, the video, the interactive graphic and bios, and all of the auxiliary supporting documents make this an amazing piece of storytelling that works on so many levels. This is a textbook example of how traditional journalism and new-media journalism can work in tandem to serve a news organization's mission.

While the package is not likely to win any awards for its design, it is a great example of what today's journalist should aspire to. Bravo to the the Sun.

A new Sun rises

2008-02-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Baltimore Sun is closing its Baltimore County bureau, but that doesn't mean it's only scaling back. MediaLife Magazine reports that the Sun will be launching a new Web site and free paper this spring, both aimed at attracting young readers:

The new paper, to be called b, and an associated web site, bthesite.com, will come out on April 14. It will be aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds, and it will be distributed during the week in special newspaper boxes and places like coffee shops and bars. It will carry news, sports, opinion pieces and information on local entertainment. ... The timing of the announcement of this new venture is surprising, given that the Tribune Co. said earlier this month that it would undergo a huge round of cost cuts, including cutting 400 to 500 jobs across the various newspapers it owns.

Schedule for presentations (Spring 2008)

2008-02-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

2/13
Greg Stoops
The Whale Hunt

2/13
Jenna Standifer
Cloning: How It Works

2/20
Emily Tognocchi
One Day of War

2/20
Stacy Williams
Ground Zero Timeline

2/27
Elizabeth Malliakos
Spam Wars

2/27
Julia Conny
Supervolcano

3/5
Mark Fischer
The Enron Blame Game

3/5
Jewel McFadden
Was It Suicide?

3/12
Melissa Dockman
Afro-Latin Americans

3/12
Jon Parr
Can You Spot the Threats?

3/26
Rachel Thompson
Stoves for Guatemala

3/26
Jami Katz
And a Song Shall Carry Them Home

4/2
Anthony Fair
Inside the Toughman

4/2
Jack Cole
Islam in Europe

4/9
Heidi Greenleaf
National Geographic Explore the Human Heart

4/9
Megan Sharlow
In Cold Blood: A Legacy

4/16
Nicole Rossi
United Nations Multimedia

WashingtonPost.com wins three photography awards

2008-02-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

If you want to see some good photos and slideshows, you don't have to go farther than the WashingtonPost.com. Three of their photographers have won awards for their work:

Jahi Chikwendiu won the White House News Photographers Award for Photographer of the Year for his work on several series, including "'Continuous War': Cluster Bombs in South Lebanon" and his photographs of D.C. public schools. The WashingtonPost.com gallery of photos for the cluster bombs story also won first place in the Photography and Audio (narrated) category.

Also picking up awards:

The photo gallery "Struggle in Mississippi Delta," produced by Whitney Shefte with photography by Carol Guzy, won first place for Best Use of Photography.

The story "Crisis in Darfur Expands," by Travis Fox and Brian Cordyack, won first place in the Multimedia Package category.

Spring 2008 MCOM 407 students: Welcome !

2008-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

I realize classes don't start until next week, but I wanted to welcome you to MCOM 407 and get you started thinking about your semester project. The most important step for success in this class is coming up with a strong story idea early on, so I highly recommend you begin thinking now.

You will be working on a multipart multimedia story during the semester. AS you begin thinking about possible ideas, it's important to do a couple of things:

1) Look for a specific story idea, not just a general topic. For instance, "sports" is a general topic. "Special Olympics" is more focused. "How local coaches and Special Olympians are preparing for this year's events" is a story idea.

2) Make sure your idea is for a FEATURE story, not one or more news stories. The goal is not to write short accounts of events that happen during the semester but to create a coherent "big picture" story.

3) Start making a list of possible sources and consider how much access you will have to them. Many previous projects have failed because students tried to work with sources outside the area or sources that have limited availability. Stories dealing with minors or with people on the wrong side of the law are particularly tricky.

4) Think about multimedia possibilities. You will be combining words, photos, audio, video, animation, maps, slide shows and more to create your project. Make sure your topic lends itself to such rich multimedia.

5) Make a point of regularly checking this blog and some of the blogs listed on the online syllabus.

See you soon!

The new 5 W's and an H

2007-12-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

Paul Bradshaw has another thought-provoking post in his Online Journalism blog. This time around he asks:

Have you ever been to one of those meetings where there is a lot of talking - but no action? That’s what most news websites and blogs are like at the moment. One endless meeting.

Bradshaw suggests that online journalists go beyond that to connect with readers by employing "Five W's and a H that should come *after* every story." They are:

Who can I connect with?
What did the journalist read to write this?
Where did this happen?
When are events coming up that I need to be aware of?
Why should I care?
How can I make a difference?

Bradshaw followed up with a mock-up on how this would work. A fascinating idea that bears serious consideration.

Mashing up audio and database

2007-12-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

The New York Times created something unique in my experience when they combined audio clips and a database to tell the story of people wrongly convicted of crimes. The result is titled “Exonerated, Freed, and What Happened Then.” Notice the "Choose a category for comparison button."

Ready for a job?

2007-12-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

Mindy McAdams summarizes advice from Fiona Spruill, editor of the nytimes.com Web newsroom, in a Q&A at the Times site.

Journalists who can flourish in both the Web newsroom and the print newsroom today:

* Can package the news online.
* Can create original multimedia.
* Have solid journalism credentials.
* Have strong technical skills.

Journalists who expect to get a job will “walk in the door with”:

* A proficiency in Photoshop, HTML and blogging software.
* An understanding of Web publishing systems (content management systems).
* Experience in the production of multimedia — including the use of audio and video editing tools.

From still photos to video -- and beyond

2007-12-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

An article in the latest American Journalism Review looks at the spread of video on news Web sites. Perhaps most interesting is that not only are many still photographers making the change to video, but some are actually retiring their still cameras and grabbing frames from their HD video cameras.

While that news is mildly surprising, it is just one more step in the age of convergence -- and one more reminder that tomorrow's journalists need to be versatile. Towson professor Sandy Nichols reports on a recent class visit:

Mark Miller, News Director at WBAL-Radio, just spoke in my class and talked about this very phenomenon in radio news. His reporters are now carrying video cameras out in the field to capture video for the web, but also using the cameras for still shots for the web. They are all also carrying a computer to edit the video and clips, as well as record the voice-overs.

He showed the class several examples of stories on their Web site, emphasizing the importance of multimedia storytelling to an industry that has traditionally relied on sound to tell stories. He's spoken every semester since I've arrived at Towson, but this is the first time he's made such a strong statement. "If you want to be successful in radio now," he said, "you MUST know how to work across platforms."

Imagining the Future of Newspapers

2007-11-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

The Newspaper Association of America has asked 22 people on the cutting edge of journalism to imagine what the future of newspapers will be like. Their answers -- some of which imagine "newspapers" will exist in the future -- are in a blog on the site. It's very thought-provoking reading about the future you are likely to inhabit.

Photos of the Year

2007-11-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

Editor and Publisher magazine offers a gallery of the winning entries in its latest Photo of the Year competition. If you want to see what strong photojournalism looks like, spend some time with these.

2007 Online Journalism Award Winners

2007-11-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post a list of the 2007 OJA winners. It's here, but unfortunately, no links are included.

The good news is that links were included in the list of finalists.

From CNN: Tips for better audio, video and photos

2007-11-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

CNN offers several tips and links to resources for people who want to submit work to the cable giant. But the same tips can help you become a better multimedia journalist.

Great way to add audio to your modules and podcasts

2007-11-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

Want to easily add a professional-looking audio player to an online project? Head to
BooMP3.

It's free audio hosting. Once you upload the audio, the site gives you the code to insert a link and a player into your blog, which looks like this: http://ravensfanatic.blogspot.com/

(Thanks to Stacy Spaulding for the tip!)

Laptop thefts and data backups

2007-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

During the fall 2007 semester, two students in my Writing for New Media class had their laptops stolen, one from a dorm room and the other from Cook Library. Make sure that if you use a laptop, yours is not the next to go: Don't leave it lying around anywhere out of your sight.

In the second case, the student's only backup was a flash drive that was in the laptop. That points to a critical lesson I was taught some time ago. For anything important that you are doing, you should keep your work in at least three places, one of which should be physical media (CD or DVD). I would recommend backing up your work at least once a day to CD or DVD or uploading it to Tiger or another FTP site (if you use Comcast or Verizon at home, you get free storage through them; otherwise, there are more than 100 online file storage services available, most for free).

Lessons for the day: NEVER leave your laptop out of your sight and ALWAYS keep a backup of important files somewhere other than with your laptop.

Fighting back against copyright infringement claims

2007-11-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

It's not news that the big media companies are cracking down on copyrighted material being posted to YouTube and other online sites. But what is news is that some people are calling the media companies on their actions. An interesting Washington Post article reports on an increase in challenges against so-called "takedown notices.

Get some attention for your blog

2007-11-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

In "Be More Than a Blip in the Blogosphere," Washington Post writer Dan Zak offers 10 tips for building an audience for your blog. All are good, and No. 1 might just sound familiar:

TELL STORIES RATHER THAN STICKING SOLELY TO LINKS OR PHOTOS. "Unless you're Perez Hilton or the peeps at TMZ or the Superficial, [links and photos] won't keep people coming back," says North Bethesda resident Melissa Jordan, 42, of Church of the Big Sky ( http://www.merujo.blogspot.com). Make stories compelling and, most of all, relatable.

So what are you waiting for? You're doing the work; you might as well get the readers.

Great new idea for working on the go

2007-10-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to colleague Stacy Spaulding for the tip on PortableApps. The site offers a wide range of software applications (free or shareware) that can be loaded onto a USB flash drive. As the site notes:

Now you can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. Use them on any Windows computer. All without leaving any personal data behind.

Applications include some class favorites, such as Filezilla, the Firefox browser and Audacity. You might also want to check into Kompozer, a free HTML editor (like Dreamweaver) and GIMP (offers many of the features of PhotoShop).