Maybe it’s because I know the tactic well, having studied the art of a compelling, click-driven tweet in my journalism classes at Ohio University. Or maybe it’s because all these “9 things you never knew about leaving guacamole in the refrigerator” articles are starting to wear me down, as a news consumer.

Where are the stories that make me think? Where are the articles so long they blur the line between news and novella? Where is the journalism that’s journalism – and not cute GIFS of cats rolling around in confetti?

And I’m not the only one wondering.  

According to a recent article published on Re/Code – a fabulous, media-focused news source, I might add – Internet wanderers are starting to flock towards long-form, speciality content instead of the assumed clickbait publishers think we want.

A report from BuzzSumo, referenced in the article, claims that long-form articles (3,000–10,000 words) have a significantly higher share-rate than short-form articles (less than 1,000 words).

The author of the article, Joe Hyrkin (CEO of Issuu), also notes how the Internet has successfully fueled a “niche market” of information, where news consumers of varying age and interests find their own corner of the online world and like to linger there awhile.

“Clearly, vibrant subcultures are gaining major momentum online and offline,” Hyrkin writes. “The members of these communities crave content that is relevant, thoughtful and teaches them something new. They are hungry for content that dives deep and adds to their sophisticated knowledge base. For enthusiasts, ‘snackable’ is not enough.”

While, yes, I am one of those news consumers who prefers the long, in-depth review of a particular issue I’m interested in, I have a few hesitations about this “death of snackable content” claim.

Going back to the BuzzSumo survey: Since when did sharing clickbait prove whether you were reading clickbait? While posting a BuzzFeed quiz result is a nice addition to your Facebook feed every once in awhile, I’d wager that most people are selective about their clickbait share choices.

It looks more impressive to your audience or friend group if you share a thoughtful, long-form piece (even if you didn’t actually read it all the way through), instead of sharing every “Which Disney Princess Are You?” clickbait quiz you took.

And another observation, made by one of my brilliant journalism professors – and one I happen to agree with. Think of the motives of Hyrkin and why he might be making this argument about the death of clickbait content.

Issuu is an online magazine publisher’s platform, and magazine pieces are typically long-form features. Of course Hyrkin would be arguing (and hoping) for long-form content to be “in.” His company and livelihood depends on it!

Overall, I’m encouraged to hear that clickbait may be on the downward spiral, and niche, hobbyist-driven content may be on the rise. How refreshing would my Twitter feed be, without the constant threat of clickbait material, forever lurking in my timeline?

As the Internet redefines my generation’s “reading for pleasure,” I just hope it saves some long-form links for me.

Bethany N. Bella is studying journalism, anthropology, and geography at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Connect with her on Twitter @bethanynbella or browse her work at bethanybella.com.

The views expressed in this blog post are that of the author’s, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPJ Digital executive, the board and staff of the Society of Professional Journalists, or its members.

What’s black and white and white all over?

Answer: Most college newsrooms.

Here’s how some silly censors accidentally raised a serious issue…

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts school in central Connecticut, located about halfway between Hartford and New Haven. Its 3,300 students seldom make national headlines, but that changed last month.

Some or many students (it’s hard to tell) were furious when the campus newspaper printed an opinion column criticizing Black Lives Matter. The story spread when those students demanded the school defund the paper.

Instead, I offered to help those students launch their own newspaper if they’d stop attacking the one that’s been on campus for nearly 150 years. Alas, I never heard back.

Because Wesleyan activists are calling for censorship – and getting hammered for it even in liberally leaning media – they’ve already lost a much more subtle yet powerful argument…

College media suffers from diversity adversity. 

I’ve advised a student newspaper for 16 years and visited more than a dozen others, some for a day and others for a week. Here are four big reasons – there are many smaller ones – why Wesleyan protesters are wrong about the solution but right about the problem…

No other extra-curricular activity pays less per hour than the campus newspaper.

You work long and late hours on stressful deadlines – even longer and later if there’s breaking news. So it’s common for college journalists to lie on their time sheets, because most schools now cap student work hours to save money.

Meanwhile, tuition is skyrocketing. So the first diversity casualty is the least obvious to the untrained eye: class.

I’ve watched many talented writers, designers, and photographers reluctantly leave the newsroom so they can work in malls and restaurants. Those who stay rely on their well-off families to chip in more, or they simply decide to go deeper into debt.

Either way, you’ve instantly lost diversity.

Diversity in college media sucks, and it’s pro media’s fault.

Why burn all those hours and cash in a college newsroom when the likelihood of working in a professional newsroom dims by the day?

Legacy media are still laying off employees right now. Even if you land an entry-level journalism job, the salary will likely rival what you made working retail in college.

So it’s hard enough recruiting anyone to work at your campus newspaper, much less a representative sample of your student body.

Deadlines are the enemy of diversity.

College newspaper staffs not only have to publish a print edition, they also have to feed a website with fresh content. Ask student editors why they aren’t visiting classes or recruiting from campus organizations, and they usually answer, “When do I have time for that?”

College newspapers today are fretting about tactics and forgetting about strategy.

College journalists don’t write what they want to read.

When I critique campus newspapers, as I will next month at a college media convention in Austin, I ask the staffs if they enjoy and understand their own stories. Mostly, they say no – they’re bored with their own work.

So why do they cover boring Student Senate meetings with boring writing and boring photos? “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” they tell me. “That’s what we’re taught.”

When I suggest they skip a meeting to tackle big topics like race, they say they don’t want to sacrifice their incremental coverage. But if you want to recruit a diverse staff, you have to cover diverse topics.

Smarter journalists than me have contemplated newsroom diversity.

But I have two simple suggestions for college newspaper staffs.

First, fearlessly report on race and class.

I live in South Florida, where middle-class white people don’t dominate like in other places. Yet our student newspaper rarely delves into these topics. On our campus, Haitian students often complain that African-American students disrespect them, while Puerto Rican students say the same about Cuban students (and even professors). Why? It’s a fascinating story that’s never been written.

I’ve visited private universities with a mix of wealthy and impoverished students – and sometimes they end up dating. Those relationships seldom last. Why? Another fascinating tale to tell.

If you peer into the sociology of your peers, you’ll signal to your readers that you see more than yourselves in your stories.

These aren’t multi-cultural puff pieces, either. So you might screw up the reporting. If so, you’ll publish all the critical letters to the editor and meet with all the pissed-off readers – because that’s what the best pro media outlets do.

“That sounds dangerous,” a college journalist once told me. I replied: It certainly is. But it’s safer than ignoring those topics. When your coverage of race and class consists of nothing but hastily written op-ed pieces, well, that’s a perilous way to live.

And that leads to this…

Second, make journalism fun again.

SPJ’s most diverse training program over the past decade isn’t a diversity program at all.

It’s called Will Write For Food. We recruit college journalists from around the country to visit a Florida homeless shelter that runs the nation’s second-largest shelter newspaper. Over Labor Day weekend, those 20-25 students take it over, working nonstop to publish a paper that’s sold on street corners around the state.

Because it’s stressful and chaotic, sturdy students apply from as far away as Alaska. We never know their race, sexual orientation, or economic status. Yet historically, straight white men represent only 2-5 members of each class.

Here’s an example from 2013: Out of 21 students, three were African American, three were Hispanic, two were Asian American, and two were white guys.

Why? Because as a boring white guy myself, I don’t choose the staff. The alumni from previous classes do. And since Will Write For Food is enticing to edgy students, they choose successors with the same values they possess. They seldom know anything about the applicants’ personal traits (although some mention wisps of it in their cover letters).

College editors don’t need to send their staffs into homeless shelters, they just need to make their papers a little more challenging. If they do that, they might attract more challenging staffers.

Twitter is said to be introducing a product to expand its 140 character limit, according to reports. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons under CC license)

A report emerged today that Twitter is to expand its 140 character limit, by way of a new product. According to a report from the tech news site Recode, the product would allow long form content to be published to the social network.

Twitter hasn’t unveiled any plans officially, but multiple sources with the social network told Recode that the product has the support of interim CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey and his team have been trying to fix user growth issues that were at the helm of its recent quarterly earnings. Twitter celebrates its tenth birthday next year, so if the network confirms that this product is going ahead, it may pay off in the long run for its investors and users.

For the media industry however, the news of this product presents a two-fold scenario – first, it is likely to set to compete with Facebook which has more characters to work with as well as the ability to publish long form content through Instant Articles. This may put more users off Facebook and may send more to content journalists and news organizations are promoting on Twitter.

The second is the issue of audience engagement and journalism on Twitter. With this product becoming available, there will likely be opportunities to do more when it comes to breaking news in addition to other pieces. Journalists can experiment more with Twitter and help create elements of a story that can be fresh and inviting, that allow their coverage of a particular beat or event to be distinct.

This news also comes ahead of the launch of Project Lightning, currently likely to be at the end of the year, so this may lead to new ways into how news organizations can retain and attract users of the social network.

Although very little is known about the product, it is likely to warrant a significant evaluation of a newsroom’s social strategy, and may put Twitter above other social networks. If this does indeed go ahead, it will signal not just a win for Twitter on its user growth problems, but for news organizations too, not just for content, but for engaging new audiences.

For now, however, we must wait, and see what’s in store. Perhaps, the new year may present new ideas for newsrooms, and another unique chapter in Twitter’s relationship with the journalism community.

Alex Veeneman, a Chicago based SPJ member, is SPJ’s Community Coordinator and is a contributing blogger to the SPJ blog network on British media issues and social media’s role in the future of journalism.

Outside of SPJ, Veeneman is Co-Student Life Editor and a contributing writer for Kettle Magazine, an online publication in the UK. You can interact with Veeneman on Twitter here.

The views expressed in this blog post unless otherwise specified are that of the author’s, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPJ Digital community, the board and staff of the Society of Professional Journalists, or its members.

The author wrote on the trends from the view of Kettle Magazine editors. (Photo: Red Chilli Publishing Ltd.)

One trend that has been present as of late in the US is the rise of women studying journalism. However, this trend does not apply just here, but also in the UK, where recent research from the university application charity UCAS showed more women were studying journalism compared to men. This trend also comes in Britain as more women are taking places at university courses.

Despite that, there is a similarity between the two countries – more men are getting jobs, an issue cited in research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. What does this research mean when it comes to the transition from degree to employment?

Recently, Kettle Magazine, the publication to which I work for, did a Women’s season, devoting 4 weeks to women’s issues and portrayals. I wrote a piece on how the issue plays out among Kettle’s 28 editors, 23 of whom are women, indicative of current educational trends and against the culture of the industry.

Indeed, research cited by the Epigram student newspaper of the University of Bristol in England showed that 64 percent of student publications in the UK have a female editor or co-editors where one is female.

In addition, the chairs of the Student Publication Association in this and the previous academic year are women – Jem Collins for 2015-16, and Sophie Davis for 2014-15. For the record, Kettle is a member publication of the SPA, and I hold a personal membership. Collins did not respond to requests for an interview for this blog post.

Yet, What I found among my colleagues was while the concern of sexism was present, the main focus was on the journalism. However, women can play a role in changing the norm, as my colleague Kealie Mardell said in the piece.

However, my colleague Rebecca Parker says it’s quite the opposite when it comes to women entering the industry in the UK. Parker was able to find a job almost immediately after finishing her degree at Canterbury Christ Church University, and says it’s all down to being proactive.

“It’s just in a state of flux at current,” Parker said in an email interview with SPJ. “The issue of the decline in print meant that there were a lack of job prospects, however as the media moves in sync with the digital age, more job opportunities are becoming available.”

Parker notes however there are still some issues, but they can be solved.

“It is merely an individual’s motivation and drive that will allow them to succeed, regardless of gender. I do acknowledge that women are not equal in terms of pay and this needs to be addressed accordingly in the form of campaigns, however women can only achieve this by what they’re already doing – working hard and being proactive.”

It is unclear in light of these trends what the response will be as far as the media industry is concerned in London and across the UK. However, these trends raise the question of should there be change in Britain, would other countries, like the US, follow?

For the moment, the ball is in the industry’s court.

Alex Veeneman, a Chicago based SPJ member, is SPJ’s Community Coordinator and is a contributing blogger to the SPJ blog network on British media issues and social media’s role in the future of journalism.

Outside of SPJ, Veeneman is Co-Student Life Editor and a contributing writer for Kettle Magazine, an online publication in the UK. You can interact with Veeneman on Twitter here.

The views expressed in this blog post unless otherwise specified are that of the author’s, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPJ International Journalism Community, the board and staff of the Society of Professional Journalists, or its members.

Here are some of the highlights and action items from that meeting:

Committee Chairs. In keeping with the tradition started by Dana Neuts in 2014, I voluntarily submitted my slate of committee chairs for board approval and they were accepted unanimously:

Awards & Honors Committee

Chair: Andy Schotz

By-Laws Committee

Chair: Bob Becker

Diversity Committee

Chair: April Bethea

Ethics Committee

Chair: Andrew Seaman

Freedom of Information

Chair: Jonathan Anderson

Journalism Education

Chair: Butler Cain

Legal Defense Fund

Chair: Hagit Limor

Membership Committee

Chair: Robyn Sekula

Nominations

Chair: Dana Neuts

Resolutions

Chair: Sonny Albarado

Executive Committee. Bill McCloskey and Joe Radske were the directors elected to the executive committee.

SDX Board. Seven people were appointed and ratified as SPJ’s reps to the Sigma Delta Chi foundation board of directors: Paul Fletcher, Lynn Walsh, Rebecca Baker, Dana Neuts, Sue Kopen-Katcef, Bill McCloskey and Patti Newberry.

SDX Officers. The board ratified the election of new SDX foundation board officers to one-year terms: Irwin Gratz, vice president; Hagit Limor, secretary; and Howard Dubin, treasurer. SDX board president Robert Leger is in the middle of a two-year term.

Finance Committee. Bill McCloskey and Eddye Gallagher will continue to serve on the SPJ Finance Committee.

A New Community. The Community Journalists Community was approved and becomes SPJ’s sixth community. Al Cross will lead the new group.

Gaming Awards Proposal. Michael Koretzky proposed that SPJ provide, on a one-year, experimental basis, a series of gaming journalism awards. Michael will work with and through the Awards committee, chaired by Andy Schotz, in developing his proposal.

Wells Key Selection. The officers voluntarily adopted the Wells Key selection process that was to begin in 2016, with the full Executive Committee making the pick instead of only the officers. Sue Porter was this year’s honoree.

Convention Improvements. In a post mortem of EIJ15 and looking ahead to EIJ16 in New Orleans, the board touched on the following topics:

• Governance meetings. A motion to provide notice of governance meetings, such as board meetings, both in print and convention signage passed unanimously.

• A request to put resolutions likely to spark discussion and debate will be heard first next year, ahead of congratulatory resolutions and others likely to pass in a block.

• President-elect Lynn Walsh will serve as SPJ’s point person in development of EIJ16 programming and will coordinate with Scott Leadingham and the team deciding programs for next year.

ACEJMC. Steve Geimann served for many years as SPJ’s rep on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. The 2015 convention passed a resolution directing the board to continue to support an SPJ rep on ACEJMC by paying his/her dues and expenses to attend two meetings. Sonny Albarado has agreed to serve as our rep.

Director Elections. With Rebecca Baker’s election to Secretary-Treasurer, the Region 1 director seat is now open. SPJ HQ will begin publicizing the opening and solicit candidates; we will hold a board call in October to name an RD for that region. We will be following the same procedure for Region 7 after the turn of the year; Rob McLean has moved to New York and will serve until February.

What can the UN do for press freedom?

Bottom line: Not much, but it can make some nice statements.

Responding to an upsurge in media killings, particularly of journalists working in conflict zones, the UN has prioritized the issue of journalists’ safety in recent years. In 2012, UNESCO, the UN agency charged with defending press freedom, launched a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. The following year, the General Assembly passed a resolution to create an International Day to End Impunity for crimes against journalists, marked each year on November 2.

In July 2013, Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the Associated Press, become the first ever journalist to address the Security Council. She noted, “Most journalists who die today are not caught in some wartime crossfire, they are murdered just because of what they do. And those murders are rarely ever solved; the killers rarely ever punished.” Last May, the Security Council passed a historic resolution reaffirming the international legal protections for journalists covering armed conflict. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon regularly condemns the killing of journalists, and calls on member states to take action.

All of these measures are important, and have tremendous symbolic value. But it is difficult to point to concrete advances in response to UN action. In fact, the level of violence against journalists has increased in recent years, and imprisonment of journalists around the world has reached record levels. Recent high-profile cases—including the conviction of three Al Jazeera reporters in Egypt; the ongoing imprisonment of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian in Iran; and the seven-and-a-half-year sentence handed down to renowned investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova in Azerbaijan—demonstrate that when it comes to imprisoning journalists, repressive governments are increasingly unresponsive to international pressure.

Simon argues journalists, diplomats and other human rights defenders need to use the occasion of the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, when leaders from around the world come to New York to argue for more action to protect journalists in their home countries.

Over the years, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which I head, has used the General Assembly to secure commitments from a number of heads of state, including former President Vicente Fox of Mexico, who agreed to appoint a special prosecutor for crimes against journalists, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who committed during a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations to receive a CPJ delegation in Ankara.

Simon says this one-on-one approach should not let the United Nations, itself, off the hook, but it appears to the only way — for now — to get things done.

He argues journalists should demand accountability from the leaders who speak a the UNGA for their violations of press freedom. By just reporting the speeches and not looking at the records of the speakers, journalists become accomplices in efforts to whitewash media repression.

Yes, Congress submitted the U.S. Constitution on this day in 1787 to states for ratification. We all know how that turned out.

But Sept. 28 also is important for another reason: It’s International Right to Know Day, a worldwide event aimed at promoting open government laws and highlighting why they matter. The day commemorates the anniversary of when freedom of information groups from around the globe formed an international coalition called the FOI Advocates Network, of which SPJ is a member.

The network turns 13 years old this year.

Despite that impressive achievement — and unlike ratification of the Constitution, a historical event — the story of the public’s right to know is still being written: Laws governing disclosure of government-held information change and evolve, and there is a constant tug of war over access to public records and proceedings at all levels of government.

Journalists play a key role in that story — we have an ethical duty to do so! — and International Right to Know Day is another opportunity to make a difference.

Here’s how:

• On Monday, Sept. 28, journalists and FOI advocates can commemorate International Right to Know Day by showcasing the impact of open government laws on social media.
• To that end, journalists should highlight stories made possible because of open government laws. Did a public records request reveal important information for a story? Did that story effect some kind of change? Did you successfully challenge improper government secrecy? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you have a social media post to share!
• Use hash tags #FOISuccess and #IRTKD2015. On Twitter, the handle @FOIAnet also can be referenced.
• Post stories on the FOIAnet Facebook, too.

Jonathan Anderson is chair of the Society’s Freedom of Information Committee.

Guest blogger: Elle Toussi

Nearly one in three working Americans is an independent worker. Wow! That statistic from the Freelancers Union website can make you stop in your tracks and take a moment to reflect.  Looking at just the United States, that is an extensive number of people who are deciding to be independent and they come from all walks of life and industries.

Making the decision to go freelance can be a daunting and scary decision to make. Will I have stability? What about healthcare? What happens with my retirement? My 401k? There are lots of questions to address. For those here in the Freelance Community at SPJ you already know the importance of one very important element in the world of freelance: network.

Being a freelancer can be a very lonely process, so making sure to be a member of organizations that create a community within your industry or craft is important. These groups help foster support. I have found that to be key.

One group that has helped is the Freelancers Union. I’ve taken on the task to be a co-leader for their monthly Spark events in Los Angeles. This is where they host a monthly gathering of freelancers and as they say, “Learn stuff. Find your spark.” On the first Wednesday of every month there is a new topic to be explored and Spark events take place in over 18 cities nationwide.

It’s always important to weigh the benefits of joining another organization or group, but let’s see if I can break it down for you.

It’s Free. Yes, you heard that right. To be a member of the Freelancers Union comes with no cost. No annual payment. Just simply join the network and like every organization or group… you get what you give. So really be active and participate in all the organization has to offer.

Benefits. Trying to navigate through health, dental, disability, life and liability insurance can be overwhelming. The Union has figured a way to make sure no independent worker is left behind when it comes to these important benefits. You too can figure out a way to save for retirement and you can get help with the process.

Network. Take a moment once a month to gather with fellow freelancers at a local Spark Workshop event where you can network and learn. You never know when you will connect with someone that will create a lasting friendship or a possible work collaboration. There is nothing more important than your network, especially as a freelancer.

Discounts. Independent workers with the Freelancers Union can take part in special discounts from companies, products, co-working places and much more.

Resources. You need help creating a contract? That’s great, you can create a custom contract with the Union here. You need help with taxes? That is definitely something to take into consideration when going freelance and the step-by-steps are available on the website. For example these tax-saving tips here. The blog is also a great place to look up different topics and tips & tricks. Chances are there is something you need help with and there is something already posted that can help you.

Don’t just take my word for it. October 7^th is the next Spark Event covering, “Make Your Contract Your Best Business Ally.” Sign up to an event near you and check out to see what all the fuss is about. You might find yourself inspired and going every month.

Elle Toussi is an innovative cross-platform journalist, with more than four years of experience reporting on the film industry, the Middle East and all matters pertaining to Southern California. She has trained under the guidance and mentorship of award-winning journalists at CNN, NBC Los Angeles, KTLA, Screen International and USA Today. She has also freelanced for National Geographic Channels.

Currently bi-coastal, she plans to continue her coverage of Middle Eastern affairs after her time in Jordan where she was immersed in the Syrian refugee situation in 2014. It even inspired the creation of her non-profit, In One Minute, where she plans to use the power of mobile technology and philanthropy to meet specific needs of women around the world. The non-profit organization provides stories of women by giving them a platform to tell their story. Helping one woman at a time, one minute at a time. 

Toussi is an Iranian-American born and raised in Southern California. Her passion for covering Middle Eastern matters and the role of immigrants in the Southern California region is inspired and largely due to her upbringing by her hardworking immigrant parents that relocated to California many years ago. She currently contributes to CBS Local, AXS online and has contributed to Screen International and Examiner. Stay tuned for her latest work on elletoussi.com. 

ONA’s website features a tool that allows people to add specific “building blocks” to a group of fundamental principles that should apply to all journalists. The build-your-own approach is meant to create unique codes for people and organizations.

The project “recognizes that no single ethics code can reflect the needs of everyone in our widely varied profession,” according to ONA’s website. “We believe the best hope for convincing all journalists to adopt and live by an ethics code is to give them ownership and flexibility in creating one.”

There are obviously differences between the approaches of ONA and the Society, which continues to endorse a single document of abiding principles as its ethical code. However, comparing the two approaches is a futile exercise.

The committee responsible for revising the Society’s Code of Ethics was conscious of the fact that it should represent journalism presented in any media: print, broadcast and digital. From the small newspaper without a Twitter account or website to the Huffington Post, the Society’s Code needs to provide guidance.

To accomplish its goal, the committee avoided language specific to any media. After all, journalism is essentially unchanged since the dawn of time: something happens and people tell each other about that something. Journalists now just tell people about events in different ways.

Also, the Society’s Code “is not a set of rules, rather a guide that encourages all who engage in journalism to take responsibility for the information they provide, regardless of medium,” according to the document.

ONA, on the other hand, took a much different approach by allowing people and organizations to create very specific codes. The project is reminiscent of a common project employed by college journalism professors, who often encourage their students to create personal ethical codes.

The ONA approach also mirrors that of large news organizations that create unique ethical codes. Those organizations include the New York Times, NPR, Reuters and AP.

What’s interesting is that many of the people who worked on ONA’s project also helped last year to revise the Society’s Code. The common origin shows there is room in the world for both codes from ONA and the Society – along with the dozens of codes from other journalism and news organizations.

In general, every person – whether he or she is a journalist or not – has an innate sense of right and wrong that will not be perfectly captured by an ethical code. What’s wonderful is that there are more and more resources to provide people with guidance as they wrestle with the unique challenges of being a journalist.

Andrew M. Seaman is the chair of the Society’s Ethics Committee. He’s also a journalist in New York.

Excellence in Journalism 2015 (EIJ15), the big SPJ journalism conference that took place in Orlando, Fla., last weekend, offered several opportunities for freelancers to meet each other and share their stories.

There was much to absorb – too much, perhaps, in just three days devoted to learning how to be better at what we do while also making connections with other journalists and doing the business of the three sponsoring organizations: SPJ, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Here are a few quick observations:

• Freelancers were everywhere! Whether we call ourselves “independent journalists” or something else, there are more of us every year, and our numbers are increasing in all forms of journalism.
• The blurring lines between delivery media seem to be making it easier for us to step out of our print/broadcast/digital boxes. For the most part, we are all doing the same thing – telling stories to audiences that need, want, or enjoy hearing them. So are employed journalists – and whether the producer is independent or on staff is less important than it was in the past.
• Freelancers continue to seek each other out. We are becoming less fearful of “the competition” – each other! – and beginning to realize that the challenges we face are not unique. We have much to learn from each other.
• While we face obstacles that employed journalists may not come up against – primarily on the business side – we are not alone in experiencing upheaval in our work world. The way news and features are generated and disseminated is in turmoil for our entire profession, leaving everyone unsettled.

I left EIJ15 with several vexing questions. Most troubling to me, for independent journalists, are these two:

• How can we best respond to publishers’ increasing demands that we bear the liability not only for our work but also for theirs?
• How can we bring some rationality to the jumbled marketplace in which we now do business, to make it easier for freelancers to connect with publishers willing to pay for our services according to the quality they are seeking, and the effort required to produce that quality?

The coming year promises to be interesting. Perhaps we will begin to see the road ahead before EIJ16. See you all in New Orleans!

Hazel Becker is a freelance journalist and publications consultant in Washington, D.C. She produces and edits business stories primarily in the areas of taxation, insurance, and personal finance. 

Thai printers refuse to publish New York Times edition over article about king

Roy Greenslade at The Guardian has a wonderful piece on how this episode shows the difficulties in promoting press freedom around the world.

Thai ban on New York Times shows difficulty of exporting press freedom

Strict lèse-majesté laws in Thailand crimimalise those who are adjudged to have defamed or insulted members of the royal family.

So a factual front-page NY Times article reporting that 87-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej is in declining health and that the succession is in doubt was deemed too sensitive to allow to appear in print.

Thailand’s ministry of information has form in terms of censorship. It has blocked blogs and news websites, including Mail Online, for articles that refer to the colourful private life of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, who has been divorced and/or separated (no-one is sure which) from three wives.

Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in lèse-majesté convictions. But they are hardly new. In 2002, a local distributor of the The Economist withheld its publication because it made an “inappropriate” reference to the monarchy.

The  Times made it clear the decision not to publish came from the local printer and was not endorsed by the Times.

Basic information about the leadership of a country is considered standard fare in countries with free press, but not so much in other places.

We already know how news about the health of Chinese government leaders is treated like a state secret. (The Soviet Union was the same way, in the bad old days of the Cold War.)

Now a printer in Thailand is taking its reverence for its king to an extreme illogical point by not publishing a newspaper that has factual information about the health of the monarch. And, let us not even go into the whole restrictions on free speech that lèse-majesté imposes on the Thai people and visitors to Thailand.

The lesson here is to be open minded and look for the unusual.

Today this can also be applied to looking for connections between international and local events.

Maybe local reporters may not be missing out on history, but they could be missing out on excellent stories by not digging deeper into local immigrant communities or economic connections with the rest of the world. (And again, I am not talking about Chinese-made products in the local Wal-Mart or the local Hyundi dealership sales.)

Many American companies are owned by foreign companies. Here is an excellent list: Ten Classic American Brands That Are Foreign-Owned

What they did not mention was how IBM sold off their computer operations to the Chinese company Lenovo. Or how Ben & Jerry’s is really owned by Unilever out of the UK or how a Chinese company now owns the AMC movie theater chain.

Yep, there are a lot of local-global connections, all that is needed is some imagination and willingness to look beyond the surface.

First published at Journalism, Journalists and the World

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JOHN SYKES JR. – Sonny Albarado

SPJ presidents seldom ride off into the sunset after their terms end. Let’s tip our (cowboy) hats to all of them. One of our former presidents is Sonny Albarado, who preceded Dave Cuillier as president. We will use Sonny as an example. This might be most fitting as the annual Excellence in Journalism Conference is just about to start.

Membership Committee Chairperson Robyn Davis Sekula notes Sonny now takes charge of our elections and all of the resolutions voted on by the delegates, a tireless job that’s largely unrecognized. He works a lot behind the scenes and is very responsive. Current President Dana Neuts probably will continue working tirelessly at similar things once Paul Fletcher succeeds her at the EIJ Conference this month. So this report on Member of the Month is a salute to many people!

Here is what Sonny has to say for himself:

Since the end of my SPJ presidency, I’ve stayed actively involved by serving on the FOI Committee, chairing the Nominations Committee for two years and chairing the Resolutions Committee. As nominations chair, I enjoy searching for SPJ members who exhibit leadership potential and getting them to run for national office.

I’m also in the middle of a 3-year term on the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation board.

And I’m a member of the Arkansas Pro Chapter board.

I make myself available to any SPJ member who calls for advice or assistance.

In addition to my SPJ activities, I serve as chair of the First Amendment Committee of the Associated Press Media Editors, and I serve on the Arkansas Freedom of Information Coalition.

My “day” job at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette entails supervising three reporters who do investigative reporting or cover key topics, such as health care reform, juvenile justice, local courts and campaign finance.

I’ve been at the D-G eight years. I served as interim city editor for about 18 months when we were between permanent city editors, a period that roughly coincided with my SPJ presidency.

Do you know an outstanding SPJ volunteer? Nominate that person for Volunteer of the Month by contacting Susan Stevens, Membership Committee member, at Susanstevens@aol.com. Please tell us briefly why you are nominating the person and why your nominee is worthy of recognition. Nominations are due the 5th of each month and announced by the 15th.

Many thanks to Nina Totenberg at NPR for her interview with  Supreme Court Stephen Breyer on the connections between the rest of the world and the United States. (Law Beyond Our Borders: Justice Breyer Is On A Mission)

“I began to understand the important divisions in the world are not on the basis of race or nationality or country or where you live,” Breyer said. “They are really between people who believe in a rule of law as a way of deciding significant issues and those who do not believe in a rule of law — who believe in force.”

In the following years, he began noticing that the Supreme Court docket was very different from when he first became a justice in 1994. Instead of just a handful of cases involving the interdependence of law in this and other countries, he estimates that the cases involving foreign law now have grown to as much as a fifth of the docket.

Just as Main Street USA is linked with factories in China and banks in England and companies in Brazil**, so too are many of our laws. This is just one more example of why local journalists need to be curious about how local events are directly affected by global events.

**Just in case you were wondering: Budweiser is owned by a Brazilian company. So people who enjoy a cold Bud while watching a game, you are also helping the Brazilian economy.

One of the primary targets of the Chinese government’s hostility is also one of the country’s greatest human rights success stories in recent years: an independent and increasingly vocal civil society. In the face of risks ranging from arbitrary detention, torture, harassment of family members, and being disappeared, members of these groups have pushed for urgently needed transparency at national and local levels. It is these individuals who have reported courageously on official wrongdoing. It is this community that has provided legal counsel, and public health services, and spearheaded campaigns against discrimination and for the rights of diverse groups, ranging from ethnic or religious minorities to persons with disabilities.

The letter continued:

A number of non-governmental organizations have been forced to shut their doors as a result of legally baseless official harassment; writers and journalists are being silenced through spurious charges and prosecutions…

The history of the Chinese government’s animosity to free press and independent journalism is well documented.

• Uneasy Silence Follows Journalist’s Arrest

• China’s campaign against bloggers

• China plays games with journalism visas

• China’s Censorship: It’s not just on the Internet

• Now Reuters is being blocked in China

The China Media Project in Hong Kong is a great source for more information. Likewise, the China Media Bulletin at Freedom House is another excellent way to keep up to date with China.

Flickr/Ed Uthman (http://bit.ly/1KHZL70)

Few actions are more offensive than educational institutions stomping on the First Amendment rights of students.

Those breaches include the all-too-frequent contamination of student media by administrators and marketing officials.

Butler University, a private school in Indianapolis, recently removed and replaced the faculty adviser of its student newspaper with one of the institution’s spokesmen, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ).

While the reason for her removal wasn’t explained, Loni McKown told the news organization she believes it’s due to accidentally forwarding a confidential email to the paper’s student editor. McKown remains on the faculty of the university, but was told termination is possible if she advises students working for the paper, according to the IBJ.

Regardless of the reason for McKown’s removal, Butler University should be ashamed and embarrassed for replacing her with its own spokesman. There are obvious lines in what is and is not acceptable in journalism, and one must wonder whether the people making decisions for Butler University’s school newspaper and journalism school understand those very basic principles.

Educational institutions are small ecosystems that mimic the larger world. The administration and its student government are the politicians of that system, and the student media is its proverbial fourth estate. No U.S. citizen should accept the government restraining the press, and that should not stop at the grounds of any educational institution.

Student media at educational institutions serve two very important purposes. The first purpose is to inform the university community about events – both good and bad – impacting their lives. The second purpose is to train students who will someday go on to become journalists and news consumers. People should question an intuition’s motives and value if it ever tries to disturb either of those missions.

In this case, the IBJ writes that the Butler University spokesman appointed as the new adviser offers an impressive resume that includes decades of experience at one of the U.S.’s great newspapers and a year serving as the school newspaper’s public editor. Still, would the average person feel comfortable with one of President Obama’s press secretaries editing the New York Times?

Student media are the laboratories for many of the U.S.’s future journalists, who are the torchbearers of public enlightenment. The Society of Professional Journalists firmly states in its Code of Ethics that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.  If people allow the education and training of the country’s future journalists to be compromised, they are taking a sledgehammer to one of the tenets of democracy.

Andrew M. Seaman is the chair of the Society’s ethics committee.

As a freelancer writer, I spend a lot of time working alone, so I’m often curious about how other freelancers do things and whether I am going about my writing tasks the “right” way. It’s a feeling I’ve heard others express, and I imagine many of us share this concern when we don’t have coworkers in the traditional sense or editors nearby to consult. Perhaps this bit of doubt is magnified for me, as my academic background is in subjects other than journalism, and much of what I’ve learned about the field has been self-taught.

I’ve been surprised to learn sometimes in conversations with other freelance writers that some of them don’t record their interviews with sources. My guess is this decision is based on individual time management needs. After all, if you record the interview, then you have to sit through it all over again afterward when you play back the recording. While every writer should certainly do what works best for them, I think there are many good reasons to record an interview – with permission, of course.

I would find it almost impossible to get long quotes verbatim without use of a recording. Even with the benefit of a recording, it’s not unusual to have to listen repeatedly to hear all the words. While a careful paraphrase is suitable in some cases, other times it’s necessary to state information in the form of a direct quote, so you must transcribe each word as it was said.

Aside from quotes, there are a number of additional details that enhance a story that I would miss or forget without having a recording. It’s been a revelation to me to identify how many interesting details I pick up on when I listen to a recording – details overlooked in my original note-taking. Accessing those details can make for a richer story.

I’ve also noticed characteristics of my own interviewing style I would like to adjust from listening to recordings. It can help me eliminate distracting habits or affectations of speech. When I was in graduate school studying counseling, the professors occasionally had students record ourselves interacting with clients at our internship sites and reviewed the tapes with us. It improved our skills as counselors.

Last but not least, recording interviews may serve a protective purpose for the freelance writer, since freelancers may not have the backing of their publication the way staff writers do, in the unfortunate event there is ever a challenge raised to published material.

In summary, while it may be faster not to record interviews and listen to them later, skipping that important step could be a significant omission. I take my digital recorder with me to interviews, asking my interviewees, “Is it OK with you if I record our conversation to help me with my notes?” Most have been understanding and quickly agreed to let me record them. In fact, I believe people are reassured when they see you are making an earnest effort to get the facts right.

Once, after an article appeared in the newspaper, one of the people I’d spoken with for the story emailed a thank-you note: “All the facts were correct, all the names spelled right, all the quotes were accurate … ,” he wrote. That’s just about the highest compliment I could have hoped to receive.

Hope Yancey is a freelance writer in Charlotte, N.C. She participates in SPJ’s Freelance Community. Follow her on Twitter @Hope_Yancey.

A recent post at Journalism, Journalists and the World discusses how a soccer match between the US national men’s team and the Peruvian national team could have been a good excuse to look at the Peruvian community in the Washington, DC area.

Using Sports To Make A Global Connection

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved music and writing — and for me, music journalism is a great way to combine these passions. This venture, though, has proven to be more difficult than I had initially thought, due to the current state of the job market and the fact that music journalism is always fighting to remain relevant. Plus, it’s no secret that music journalists don’t exactly rake in the big bucks.

Nevertheless, I’ve tried to keep this dream within reach by doing what I can to get my foot in the door, networking with whomever will give me the time of day. One of these doors opened via tweet from Oregonian music critic David Greenwald. The tweet called out to any current or aspiring music writers to join a Facebook group he moderates wherein writers discuss freelancing trends, tips and struggles.

I requested access and shortly thereafter was accepted into the group, free to roam through posts dating back to February of this year from a mix of freelancers, staff writers and editors of publications like Rolling Stone, Spin and the Wall Street Journal along with blogs like Noisey, Consequence of Sound and MTV Iggy.

The purpose of the group, as Greenwald explicitly states, is “for sharing advice, information, contacts and industry grousing. NOT for arguing about music.” The latter requirement left me skeptical, knowing firsthand how argumentative music critics can be. But as far as I can tell, everyone within the group has honored this standard and they have stuck to talking shop, providing insight and discussing the ins and outs of the industry.

Since joining the group, all kinds of questions have been posed and answered by members, whose experiences run the gamut.

Someone might want to know, ‘what is the best way to go about pitching an editor? If you have an interview lined up, ‘is it better to write the piece and then pitch it or vice versa? If I’ve written a piece based on an interview but still have unused sound bites, is it considered poor etiquette to use the remainder of the interview for a different article?’

The questions come from writers of all variations, beginners to veterans — all of which are treated earnestly and answered honestly.

The group is meant to serve as a community of resources to help one another pursue the same two passions they have in common. It has served as a less network-y form of networking — a sort of informal, ongoing conversation among a group. It has proven to be a great learning experience in the weeks that I’ve been a member.

Some editors have encouraged newer writers to send them recently published pieces while others have offered up assignments and even posted job openings.

This supportive nature is encouraging to me as I was struggling to find opportunities. Not only has this group given me ideas on different directions to take, it has offered the opportunity to submit pieces and build a rapport with others in the business — and all thanks to a bunch of complete strangers who give of their expertise freely.

Even if I weren’t already passionate about music writing, it would probably still inspire me to pursue it just as a result of the supportive nature of this small community. And now that I have access to this wealth of resources, I feel like I’m better equipped to move forward and continue on this path. So, I invite others to find similar virtual groups that can help provide moral support and practical advice.

Anthony Iverson is a publicist by day but a journo at heart. He formerly wrote for the High Plains Reader, Fargo’s only alternative weekly, and currently works as an assistant account executive at Weber Shandwick and a section editor at l’etoile Magazine while living in Minneapolis. An aspiring freelance writer, Iverson’s interests mainly lie in covering culture, politics, sports and his one true love: music.

Twitter will turn 10 next March. I’d like to hear from you about its future for journalists. (Image: Flickr user Anthony Quintano under CC)

This post was updated on September 8, 2015 to reflect a modified research line of inquiry.

Next March, Twitter will celebrate its tenth birthday – a significant occasion for the social network known for its influence on the modern culture of journalism. To mark that occasion, I am researching a piece for an upcoming issue of the Society’s magazine, Quill, marking the forthcoming event, and its influence.

Yet, alongside that, as part of my research, I’m hoping to ask a bigger question – what do you, the journalist, see Twitter when it comes to telling a story? Ultimately, how has the social network influenced how your story comes together?

If you’re a journalist and regularly use Twitter as part of your newsgathering work, or if you oversee social media efforts for your newsroom, I’d like to hear from you. I’m hoping to incorporate the views of SPJ members as well as other industry voices.

Please email me your thoughts – you can reach me at alex.veeneman01[AT]gmail dot com (its written that way to reduce the amount of spam I receive). In addition, if you’re comfortable with me publishing your thoughts on Twitter journalism, please indicate so in your email. I may contact you for a follow up interview. Remember, items may be edited for publication.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important subject.

Alex Veeneman, a Chicago based SPJ member and founder of SPJ Digital, is a contributing blogger to Net Worked and SPJ’s community coordinator. He is also Co-Student Life editor and contributing writer for Kettle Magazine, an online publication in the UK. You can interact with Veeneman on Twitter here.

The views expressed in this blog post are that of the author’s unless otherwise indicated, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPJ Digital executive, the board and staff of the Society of Professional Journalists, or its members.