Multimedia Journalism

Preview: The Twitterverse v0.9 by @BrianSolis & @Jess3

2009-09-07T22:46:00.001-04:00

Preview: The Twitterverse v0.9 by @BrianSolis & @Jess3
Originally uploaded by b_d_solis

One important chart.

2009-08-26T06:39:00.001-04:00

The 2009-2010 school year begins. Yay.

2009-08-23T18:39:00.001-04:00

Amazing experience being in a crowd so into the music and it all from a laptop.@

2009-08-23T18:30:00.001-04:00

How awesome.after teaching Girltalk for 2 years I'm seeing him and it is amazing!

2009-08-23T14:53:00.001-04:00

I've just added a new video at http://ping.fm/KQZ07

2009-08-23T14:46:00.001-04:00

@brooklyn for thepoolparty (google it). Hoping to see Girltalk. My student know thats good

2009-08-14T11:34:00.001-04:00

Remembering Woodstock today. No, I wasn't there. Best i could do was the movie.

2009-07-29T19:10:00.001-04:00

Getting ready to shoot a qik video from the middle of the Pamlico River. Pretty. Qik.com/krochmal

2009-07-28T10:01:00.001-04:00

Another Carolina morning. Cool before the heat of day hits. I'm in the SW part of the state heading east.

2009-07-27T19:28:00.001-04:00

Sitting in a restaurant in Birkdale Village near Charlotte - that new urbanism it looks like a village -- with apartments on the second floor.

2009-07-26T12:22:00.001-04:00

Going to live from a mountaintop in the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina. In about five minutes. DM any questions or just say hi

2009-07-24T09:05:00.001-04:00

Waking up in Shenandoah Valley. Got directions for the farmers' market. what's harvested?

2009-07-21T18:47:00.001-04:00

#sweetup talking to @sandraschubert who hosts wildwomannetwork.com. In the past she says . . .

2009-07-20T16:16:00.001-04:00

Listening to Walter Cronkite on tape react to the landing of the Eagle on the moon. 40 years aint a whole lot of time.

2009-07-16T19:27:00.001-04:00

In NYT building at an art exhibit with a few journos (folks with gadgets) and some arts folks. sketchbooks.

2009-07-15T12:32:00.001-04:00

on the Hofstra campus. Come see me.

2009-07-15T11:40:00.001-04:00

Went to New York Philharmonic in the Park. Cell service network overwhelmed. Glad no emergency. But could not coordinate a friend in 100k (?) crowd. :(

2009-07-13T18:24:00.001-04:00

@mogulette doing production. New edition of sociasl media week on youtube tk.

2009-07-13T17:34:00.001-04:00

Shooting video in central park.

2009-07-10T19:37:00.001-04:00

They are not visible now but looked like a red and white parasail with someone under it near gw bridge. May have been a trash bag?

2009-07-10T19:33:00.001-04:00

Check out my previos tweets. First is a tour of aqn art exihibit and the second is news. I think.

2009-07-10T10:38:00.001-04:00

I'm ending a love affair today. I gave. But got nothing in return but tsouris.

2009-07-09T22:20:00.001-04:00

Closing up with pizza at Grimaldi's. Long line for takeout or ear.in.

2009-07-09T21:56:00.001-04:00

Last q from srubenfeld on ethics. @ him for deets. 30

2009-07-09T21:41:00.001-04:00

Q should j schools continue to exist? Why not fold them into the rest of the uni? Cuny: learning a lot about a subject is important. Becomes too academic.

2009-07-09T21:38:00.001-04:00

Rosenthere is a possibility there is no model. There may be just the internet. We have to know that is a possibiklity.

2009-07-09T21:37:00.003-04:00

through ikt.

2009-07-09T21:37:00.001-04:00

Rosen gives a history of j biz plans. Change is happening. Editorial workers have tol learn how to create value. Flood of content. We still need to sort

2009-07-09T21:34:00.001-04:00

Rosen not clear how js will get paid. How did we get in this situation. Quotes shirky on dikstribution. Internet.

2009-07-09T21:30:00.001-04:00

Anderson: cultural aspect is under fire. Economic model is related. Citj is not the reason. Its the busikness model.

2009-07-09T21:28:00.001-04:00

QL how do i get paid. Celebrity twittering p.aid byh msn

2009-07-09T21:27:00.001-04:00

Shepard; more ways to present a story. Next three to five years will be a mess. Bujt optimistic.

2009-07-09T21:26:00.001-04:00

Open solurce has trouble covering day to day of bureaucracy. Need familiarity. Blogger can cover but every day of the year; anderson

2009-07-09T21:25:00.001-04:00

Rosen _ yhou just stay thbere and we will deliver the news. Now seeing logic of distributdd methods arfe breaking thbrough.

2009-07-09T21:24:00.001-04:00

What j projs lend to networking. They used to win pujlitzers. Anderson.

2009-07-09T20:00:00.001-04:00

@srubenfeld. Says 70 percent of last class have jobs. 10 percent are freelancing.

2009-07-09T19:59:00.001-04:00

Cuny dean talking about his j program: student want credentials and network. Faculty will go to bat for students.

2009-07-09T19:56:00.001-04:00

Enrollment is up, they want to be journalists. Traing across all tracks. Reeimagine journalism for a new age.

2009-07-09T19:55:00.001-04:00

Cuny will present some findings from Knight Foundation in August, business plans.

2009-07-09T19:51:00.001-04:00

Cuny gives a stipend of 3G to students for internships. They raised the funds.

2009-07-09T19:48:00.001-04:00

Good time to start a J school, Shepard says. Two thirds women 26 average age and forty pct minority,,

2009-07-09T19:45:00.001-04:00

Stephen Shepard of cuny speaking first. Opened three years ago.

2009-07-09T19:44:00.001-04:00

Medoia cicus on what is next for j schools. In a very cool space in Bk. dumbo

2009-07-09T19:00:00.001-04:00

Phone gps works, heading to 63 Pearl st. To listen to talk olf futgure of j schools.

2009-07-08T11:59:00.001-04:00

Filed entry of Hfstra students' online coverage of presidential debate into ONA contest in large student group category.

2009-07-07T19:18:00.001-04:00

Going offline. Be on campus tomorrow. Come seee me

2009-07-07T18:47:00.001-04:00

Missed the whole MJ memorial thing. Read all 18 pages of the NYT liveblog and that will do. Noted the song Morphine in MJ's song catalog.

2009-07-07T16:03:00.001-04:00

Sun showers in lower Manhattan, World on the NYC streets seems to be going on just fine.

2009-07-07T14:26:00.001-04:00

Apparently, New York's Chinatown is not mourning MJ. Walking around, listening to Thriller, and no sign of memorial.

2009-07-07T13:12:00.001-04:00

Chambers Street. Singing Elvis's ' you don't have to say you love me' cop laughs at me. Hey

2009-07-04T20:49:00.001-04:00

I'm blessed. New York is my mistress and I'm in love. Fireworks on the Hudson. I and NYC <3

2009-07-04T19:31:00.001-04:00

Sitting near west street and broome, facing north and hoping this is a good spot.

2009-07-04T19:26:00.001-04:00

Sitting overlooking Hudson. Sun is settling over New Jersey. You are my tonight.

2009-06-28T17:47:00.001-04:00

Enjoying beautiful howard beach subway station. Going to the manhattan end of the line at 207. New fares in effect.

2009-06-28T16:26:00.001-04:00

Wheels down nyc jfk and there is sunshine

011

2009-03-02T23:15:00.001-05:00

011
Originally uploaded by nikiafranklin

In the Snow

2009-03-02T23:08:00.001-05:00

DSCF1995
Originally uploaded by gehop83

Chinese Restaurant

2009-03-02T23:04:00.001-05:00

Chinese Restaurant
Originally uploaded by sara.alfarhan

D Phi E Conference

2009-03-02T23:00:00.001-05:00

D Phi E Conference
Originally uploaded by cbonina

The Procrastination

2009-03-02T22:57:00.001-05:00

The Procrastination
Originally uploaded by jaclyndetore

Jaclyn De Tore

Tofu Lasagna

2009-03-02T22:56:00.001-05:00

100_0099
Originally uploaded by danifrank1106

2008-04-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

2008-04-14T12:03:00.004-04:00

JRNL 80A
Final Projects at Deadline on April 14, 2008
Nassau News CMS Screen Grab taken at 12:04

2008-01-12T23:15:00.000-05:00

2007-06-22T00:29:00.001-04:00

While the summer break is on in academia, why not visit my tumblelog for a different kind of online reading experience?

2007-06-11T23:04:00.000-04:00

There are just over two months remaining until the beginning of the fall semester at Hofstra University.

Some 70 days until classes start.

I expect to have approximately 24 undergraduate and graduate journalism students there for my classes in online journalism.

For me, teaching this is an audacious challenge in a time of change and FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in our industry.

This week, I saw an acquaintance who told me of recently being laid off as a reporter for a prominent business publication. Rent, insurance, and the first job search since teenage years awaits.

This person is not alone, a lot of journalists are fearing becoming irrelevant and attempting to embrace multimedia skills, while traditional employment opportunities shrink.

And, the rise of citizen journalism begs the question: If anyone can publish whatever, whenever, do we really need journalists? I give you http://www.haitianite.com/, a grassroots' portal. I know one young correspondent for the site, he videos, he writes, he chats and texts and he Googles. He has passion for what he does. Is he a journalist?

We, as professional journalists, need to think we can continue to be relevant in the global conversation and continue to ask questions that need to be asked and try our best to seek and publish the truth and to engage the readers.

12 years ago, when I was interviewed to work at nytimes.com I was asked to talk about 'interactivity,' which I considered an important part of early web journalism. I must have answered that question correctly. I got the job.

The clincher question at today's job interview would likely still be about interactivity, but now it is under rubric of social and web 2.0. And, I think those that recognize this, on both sides of the desk, will find jobs available.

Online, change is constant, and a stream of digital twists can seem daunting.

But, that is what makes doing journalism in these times so much fun.

I'm hearing a lot of pain in the journalism business, the dead-tree kind, as it moves forward into a time of Internet first, and bottom's up, the world is flat and proprietary is dead sort of way.

Technology changes and new online applications blossom every quarter, enhancing the information available online for a journalist to use, as well as anyone else with a itch to scratch and an online connection.

Using the emerging tools of the Internet, and really cheap technology, my students Twittered, Tumblr'd, and blogged. They shot video with a $100 camera, wrote wikis, vlogged, critiqued, and published some serious hyperlocal, multimedia local journalism. They reported and published on deadline and were hugely productive.

Judge for yourself at http://hofstrajournalism80.blogspot.com, or at http://nassaunews.org/news.

If you want to read what I'm reading, go to krochmal.tumblr.com.

There you might read a pull quote attributed to Boyce Rensberger, the head of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at M.I.T., who told The New York Times: “I feel a little queasy encouraging young people into journalism. It’s such a precarious industry right now.”

I do hope Boyce Rensberger meant that he is encouraging young people into journalism, but with some consideration.

The Angel Jennings-bylined article, in The Times on June 11, reported a decrease in the number of applications of American journalists for the John S. Knight Fellowships Program at Stanford.

Some 83 Americans applied for the 12 one-year golden tickets to academe, down from 101 in 2006, and Jennings reported there were no applicants from The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and "some other large newspapers" and then asked experts if that might be due to uncertainty in the big organizations.

Apparently, there might be a risk of being out of sight, out of mind and journalists at the big orgs can not be seduced by a $55K stipend over 10 months, as well as a housing supplement, and health insurance supplement and $1K for books.

It's still a tremendous deal and hopefully journalists will give the Knight committee a lot more work to do next year.

2007-03-14T20:10:00.000-04:00

Mid-semester Update

This blogsite was originally planned to serve as an adjunct to the courses I teach in online journalism at Hofstra University. But, as those of us who work online know well, change is one constant in this field.

Today, my classes publish to a blog that I set up for that particular class. This semester, you can see the student-reporters' work at http://hofstrajournalism80.blogspot.com.

Previously, I would provide short abstracts of significant articles on this site, and ask my students to read and discuss, then write and analyze on what they had read. But, this process took too long to get the conversation going. Today, the students are assigned to go out and find articles that are to the point of what we are discussing in the classroom, and then write and analyze, then post to their blogger site. This shortens the cycle.

So, here, I am going to post articles that are of general interest to those in the field of multimedia journalism. Hopefully, my students will find them and read them (for extra credit, of course). Then again, I may just assign them.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism has just issued The State of the News Media 2007. This is a lengthy annual publication that should have a shelfmlife of more than a couple of months (things move fast in this medium).

ZDNet Asia publishes an interview with Howard Rheingold by Daniel Terdiman of CNET News.com. I interviewed Rheingold in 1999 when I was working with CMP Media's TechWeb. Back then, Rheingold advised online businesses seeking to tap into online communities to listen to the customer:

"You have to ask if you are prepared to reorganize your people and your resources in response to what people tell you [online]," Rheingold said. "If you don't respond, they will go away, and then you are turning away somebody who was a customer and wanted to participate in your business."

Good advice, always.

Today, Rheingold is seeking to learn video and how to navigate Second Life.

I've done the first, but the second, right now, has me stumped. I am totally indecisive over selecting my Second Life name. And, like I need something else to do? Anyway, today [cranky alert] we niche community with Web 2.0 and can say that Second Life is just a extremely sophisticated MUD that we recall from back in the early days of the Internet.

Back to important pieces published recently. From the Columbia Journalism Review, Robert Kuttner reports some optimism over the perceived fate of newspapers in his article, The Race.

Meantime, a frightening scenario -- at least to journalists -- in an article from the San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli who reports that a small Santa Rosa, Calif., television station has canned most of its news staff and instead will seek to replace its professionals with citizen-journalism submitted coverage. Payment? To be determined.

2007-01-29T21:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Journalism 80
Online Journalism
Spring 2007
T, Th 8:00-9:30 a.m.
122 Dempster Hall
Jan. 29, 2007 – May 19, 2007
Professor Mo Krochmal

You will need to obtain a G-mail account with the address of firstname.lastname@gmail.com
Introduction:

Welcome to a world where nothing remains constant, change is rapid, the future is unclear, and your opportunities are only limited by your imagination and your grasp of the basic building blocks of journalism.

This is an exciting time to learn about online journalism and one filled with opportunities as traditional mainstream news media grapples – some would say 'fumbles' -- with how to use the new tools and capabilities of the Internet and still fulfill its critical role in a free society and sustain itself as a viable business.

Journalism needs people who are undaunted by technology, comfortable with traditional values and ethics of the field, and willing to work around any obstacles to get the story and get it right. You may not get rich, or even have job security, but you will be performing a public service.

By your presence here, you are playing a part in building this medium. That is an amazing opportunity, and a serious one that requires determination and a disciplined work ethic.

Welcome pioneers.

What We Will Do

We will meet two times a week for a total of three hours over 15 weeks – that is just about equal to the hours a working journalist would average in just one working week, and a light one at that.

So, in order to do a good job to prepare you for this world, we have a lot of ground to cover.
The goal of this class is not to make you an HTML wizard, or a Photoshop guru, or even to make you a “plug-and-play” intern in some newspaper's web shop.

The goal of this course is to provide you with the intellectual tools you will need to make a meaningful contribution to an evolving field where the only constant is change. You are entering a dynamic and relentless environment that rewards a solid foundation in the basics of journalism – that is: solid writing, ruthless editing, “a nose for news,” reporting diligence, ethics and more – with the opportunity to use technology to innovate and create.

The objective of the course is to polish your writing and reporting skills, to hone your understanding of the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press, and know how this medium is different.

You will have to understand the history of this emerging field and the personalities and issues shaping it as well as how this medium will be affected in a multicultural and multilingual global environment. Additionally, you will get practical experience in the ethical use and presentation of images and information and be able to explain the ethical principles that guide the decisions you make. You must demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently.

You will know how to write correctly and clearly for this medium.

You will also be able to critically evaluate your work, and that of others, including your colleagues, You will be able to do the math, and crunch the numbers. You will be able to critically examine new technologies and apply them where appropriate.

We will work at an extremely high level, classes will be interactive, and we will be proceeding on various tracks concurrently. You are expected to be well read in current events (read the daily editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsday, at the minimum) be aware of current events, and be prepared to always ask questions and contribute to the discussion.

For every hour spent in class, I will expect you to spend two hours outside.

Yes, we meet at 8 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. I'll be here and I expect you to be here on time, and to stay for the full class. Being late is being absent, and you will be marked that way. We have a lot to do and you will have daily, weekly and long-term assignments that require your presence. Pop quizzes, news quizzes and style quizzes can not be made up and an absence is not an excuse for not handing in work on time.

If you miss two classes, you will find yourself in a difficult position. Seriously. Yes, things happen like emergencies and medical absences. So, if you miss, you must bring a note from a doctor. If you miss too many classes, it is my responsibility to let the university know out of concern for your wellness. Miss three classes, and you fall one letter grade.

You are entering the newsroom of the future and will be forging lifetime bonds of friendship and trust. You are expected to conduct yourself professionally, and respectfully, towards your colleagues.

You are expected to bring to the table a grasp of grammar, style and punctuation and to turn in clean copy and to communicate professionally in whatever medium you are using (and that includes e-mail).

Accuracy

All articles must be accurate: Quotes must be exact, names must be spelled correctly, addresses should be accurate. Major errors in a piece will result in an F.

Integrity

"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." I like the simplicity of the honor code of the U.S. Military Academy. Do not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do. As journalists, we hold a trust in this society. We are looked upon to seek truth and serve the public. Let us work to uphold that trust. We do not take shortcuts. “I don't know,” is the just the beginning of the conversation.

Writing and reporting. This is the foundation of any type of journalistic endeavor. You must be able to come up with story ideas. You then must do the reporting, the writing, the editing, the re-writing, and then, and only then, the posting.

You will learn how to write and report for online presentation and and how to collect and produce multimedia and critically evaluate it and then use it in publication online. You will also evaluate the writing and reporting of your peers.

Teamwork and Deadlines: No matter what the medium, today's professional journalism requires the ability to work well with others – editors, artists, producers, photographers, videographers, audio engineers – and most importantly, with readers, who are empowered with the ability to fact-check your work and to respond well beyond the letters-to-the-editor page of the newspaper. Ask Dan Rather.

You will be working in teams and your success in this class will depend on your ability to integrate with each other, support each other, and meet deadlines.

In the real-time world of the Internet, scoops can be measured in milliseconds, putting a premium on the ability to accurately and quickly write and report, and then to turn around and do it all again. Deadlines count. In the newsroom, if you don't make your deadline, you don't keep your job. It's just that simple. So, know that deadlines count in this class too.

A skilled online journalist should: have innate multitasking ability, extreme attention to detail, fluent skills in multimedia and personal communication, comfort in working under the duress of extreme deadline pressure, be fearless and eager to deploy new technology, be able to work collaboratively in a team environment and successfully manage projects.

Additionally, an online journalist should understand the business/revenue issues of this medium and realize the value of understanding and cultivating diverse communities and encouraging user-generated content.

You will get experience in all of this as well as in evaluating news and online presentation, generating news story ideas, and, of course, in lots of writing and reporting. You will go off the campus for your reporting.

New media

You will learn how to write and report for Web, including the emerging channels of blogs, vlogs, and mobile. You will learn and practice the skills of writing headlines, captions, blurbs, voice-overs, and audio reports to create a click-compelling matrix of reporting that rises to the highest standards of ethical journalism and keeps the user engaged and interacting with the articles that will be assigned throughout the class. You will take photographs, collect audio and video, and generate graphics and perhaps even some animation.

The Business of Online Journalism

In this field, while respecting the traditional and inviolable ethical “wall” between editorial and business, you will still need to know about the financial fuel that powers your ability to conduct your journalism. We will look at the search for successful business models for online journalism, within traditional and start-up companies, and well in as solo efforts.

Each week, students will have required readings from the textbook, web research, editing and writing. The class meetings will include instructor lectures, deadline writing exercises, multimedia production, guest lectures and tests. But, this is not a class about somebody at the front reading, and you typing. The professor serves as a guide and a facilitator.

Assignments will be turned in electronically, via e-mail or posted in a website.

Students will earn points for attendance, and for contribution in class.

Required Texts:

Rich, Carole. Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method. Fifth Edition. Belmont, Calif., Wadsworth Publishing. 2006.

Norm Goldstein. The Associated Press Stylebook. New York, Associated Press. 2006.

Handouts, both electronic and hard copy.

Note: With the exception of the first class meeting, all assigned readings should be completed prior to each class meeting.

Note 2: There will be a number of unannounced quizzes on the reading, asking you to work with ideas from that day's assignment, or to put ideas from that reading into a context developed earlier in the term.

The overall course score will be assigned based on the following criteria:

Class Participation and attendance -- 25 percent
Assignments -- 20 percent
Quizzes, grammar, punctuation, style – 10 percent
Final Project -- 45 percent

All of your work will be edited and you will have the chance to rewrite the assignments but you will not receive letter grades on your reporting/writing assignments. This is a non-graded, coaching approach that is designed to let you concentrate on your skills, not your grades. At midterm and at the end of the semester, we will meet and look at your work, which will be graded at those times. You will receive grades on style quizzes, pop quizzes and class work. At mid-semester, you will turn in a self-evaluation, detailing your progress, what you have learned and your goals for the remainder of the semester.

Grade criteria
A = Outstanding work with excellent content, ideas, writing, reporting and style. Shows leadership, innovation, participation, support.
B = Very good work. Minor changes required.
C = Average. Requires substantial changes such as additional reporting, major rewriting and correction of numerous style errors
D = Poor. Fundamental problems in the assignment.
F = Unacceptable – late, inaccurate, incomprehensible, factual errors or misspelled names. Plagiarism is an automatic F.

Standards

Every article you do for this class must be original for this class. No repurposing of other work. You are encouraged to submit work done for this class for publication elsewhere, but not to take a piece written for another publication and turn it in for credit here. Also, all work assigned will be posted online.

No use of art that you have not produced. If you don't own it, or haven't received specific permission to use it, it's not acceptable for use.

Every piece you turn in will follow these standard forms:

Byline: By Joseph Pulitzer (joe@pulitzer.com)
Date:
Class: JRN 80
Professor: Mo Krochmal

In an e-mail, subject lines will be simple: Assignment and Date. All pieces will be posted. In a notebook, you will keep a hard copy of the assignment, the edits, and any rewrites. Newer work will go after previous work. Get an e-mail and a phone number for all sources. This information must be included in your notebook and e-mailed to me with every assignment.

On your assignments, basic grammatical spelling and style errors will be indicated. You will be expected to discover what you did incorrectly using the style guide and/or other resources.
Headlines will follow New York Times style (mixing uppercase and lowercase) and will be judged as strictly as the writing that follows. All work will have a headline that is compelling, and grammatically correct.

Articles will have a lede, a nut and a kicker. All will include appropriate and specific links. Multimedia will be captioned, people will be identified, photogs/videographers/creators will be credited.

No unidentified sources unless approved by the professor.

The Schedule:
The semester will be divided into three parts. In the first part, consisting of the first six classes, we will get up to speed and build a knowledge base. The highlight of this first segment will be a vlog project. You will report, write and produce a 2-minute scripted vlog with video and stills for presentation on February 15.

The second segment of the class, ending on March 27, will include lectures and tutorials, as well as live-blog coverage of our classes, produced by you, and a collaborative multimedia-journalism news blog, again produced by you. We will discuss these projects.

The third segment, and final project, will be to produce an edition of Nassau News to be published at NassauNews.org. You will divide into teams and cover a beat or area. A student editor will be selected to manage the project and the organization. Final deadline for that is May 10. We will publish on May 15 of finals week.

-- Week No. 1
Class 1. Introduction, Background, and Some Work.

We will start off first by covering the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We will also learn about each other, and examine the history of online journalism, moving into the present, and then looking toward the future of the craft. You will take a short test to gauge your facility with AP style and grammar.
Assignment: You will prepare a story pitch for your vlog news project, a 2-minute news report on a subject of your choice. The subject you pitch should be focused, simple and achievable in the time you have to do it and should include multimedia elements. Your pitch should reflect some research into the topic – explaining why is it newsworthy and why you can do this successfully. The pitch should be quick – really no longer than 30 seconds, really.

Class 2. Nuts and Bolts

In this class, we will go over HTML, CSS, Javascript, and students will create a personal online site to host their class work. We will create the sites and discuss how we will use them in the classroom. We will also cover the elements of writing short, including captions, blurbs, headlines, and leads. You will make your vlog story pitches, with the hope of getting approval to move forward with the reporting. You get approval, you get more time to do the reporting.

You will read the following and then, for the next class, write a 250-word assessment and reaction to the assigned articles that will include at least two questions for discussion:
Rich, Ch. 12, “Web Journalism”

“Ten Toes in the Multimedia Waters” Rick Edmonds, PoynterOnline

"Who killed the newspaper?" The Economist, Aug. 24, 2006

"Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists" New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann
2006 Online Journalism Awards – Finalists

-- Week No. 2
Class 3.

Zeroing in on your vlog topic. This class begins with a discussion of the readings. Students will then report on their progress with the reporting for the vlogs. Assignments returned. In-class deadline exercise: Students will locate a press release on their topic of interest and re-write it for a news article.
Reading Assignment: Rich, Ch. 17, “Beat Reporting”

Writing assignment: select five websites associated with network broadcast news shows and write a paragraph on each, critically evaluating the multimedia elements used in the reporting, providing links for readers to follow in order to see the specific work. E-mail to instructor before class. Remember your standards – a lede, a nut, and a kicker.

Class 4. Introduction to Video

Reading Assignment:

What works in online video news

VJ Article

Week No. 3

Class 5. Final touches made on vlogs

Students will become familiar with digital photography, learning how to take successful mug shots, action shots, and scenic post cards, and then how to write captions for them, and then to create photo packages.

Reading Assignment:

Rich, Ch. 1, “Changing Concepts of the News”
Writing assignment: Select five non mainstream-media blogs or vlogs. Evaluate for reliability of content, multimedia usage (if any), and interactivity. Distribute to colleagues.

Class 6. Presentation of vlogs
Reading Assignment:
Resources for Web Workers, Mindy McAdams, University of Florida.

Week No. 4 Next segment begins.

Class 7. Begin second section of class by peer review of vlogs and creation of a real-time class blog, and a collaborative class blog. For the first, a different student each class will document the class in real-time, getting experience in covering a meeting in real time. For the second, students will research and contribute abstracts and links of timely news articles on multimedia journalism, with one student serving as editor, making decisions on play, editing and posting of abstracts to get experience in managing an online news operation that publishes on Thursday. These blogs will continue throughout the semester and each student will have one turn at the wheel.

Class 8. Ethics. We will discuss and role-play real ethical situations.

Reading Assignment:
The New York Times. Ethical Journalism: A Handbook of Values and Practices for the News and Editorial Departments, 2004

The Associated Press Statement of News Values and Principles

Writing Assignment: Create your personal journalism ethics guideline

Week No. 5 Research and Data

Class 9. Students will learn how to locate data and information beyond what is available from a Google search. This class will concentrate on databases, hard-copy data and non-traditional sources of data.
Reading Assignment: Rich, Ch. 19, “Statistical Stories,” pp 387-392.

Writing Assignment: Create an 250-word article using statistics relevant to your beat. E-mail to instructor

Class 10. We will discuss how to collect, organize and present data.
Students will learn how to relate statistical data to geography, and learn how map mashups might be appropriate and useful to their reporting.

Week No. 6 Halfway point

Class 11. I will meet individually with students to discuss progress

Class 12. Maps and visual information

Week No. 7 Wikis and Communities

Class 13. How journalism is using wikis

Class 14. The concept of community – how to create it online, and how to cover a community.
Week No. 8 Diversity

Class 15. Multiculturalism and economics

Class 16. A Multilingual Web and Machines

Week No. 9 Final Project Segment Begins

Class 17. Speakers will brief class on the Nassau County communities Nassau News covers.

Class 18. Students will organize into six teams of three and decide topics and roles.

Week No. 10 The reporting begins

Class 19. Students will make story pitches
Reading Assignments: “Flash journalism: Professional practice today” Online Journalism Review, Mindy McAdams

Class 20. Progress reports

Week No. 11

Class 21. Storyboards due for reporting

Class 22. Rough drafts due

Week No. 12

Class 23. Progress reports
Reading Assignment: The Business of Online Journalism, Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.

Writing Assignment: Select 10 keywords from your beat, Google them and determine who has bought them. Then consider an advertising plan using those keywords to create revenue for your website.

Class 24. Production of final drafts

Week No. 13

Class 25. Presentation of final drafts.

Class 26. Publishing of Nassau News section, with final edits.

So, that's the plan. Please know that this is a road map. In our journey, we may veer off the road in response to your needs.

We are going to do a lot, and you will be able to do it. Just hang in, come to class, and do the work. I am available to you, after class and online. Ask for help, and do it before your deadline.
Also, remember that in this medium, you have a community. Ask for advice.

This anecdote from the blog of Jeff Jarvis, posted Jan. 25:

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, told what he called a random story — it’s a perfect tale for the medium and the age — about empowering collaboration. His sophomore year at Harvard, while starting his company, he failed to study at all for one of his courses; he didn’t even go to class. So days before the final, he pulled all the pictures he needed to analyze off the web and put them up on a page online with boxes underneath. He emailed the class and said he’d put up a study guide. Sure enough, in moments, the students filled in their essential knowledge on the art. Zuckerberg got an A. And the prof told him that the grades in the class improved 10 percent over previous years.

So, be innovative, collaborate, know the rules – the do's, the don'ts and the dilemmas.

This is a very exciting time. There are not many opportunities to help build something and that is what we are doing. Let's get going.

2006-11-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Class of '08

Introducing the completed websites of the master's-degree candidates enrolled in Professor Mo Krochmal's JRN 215, Online Journalism, Hofstra University, Fall 2006:

The World of Sports and Steroids, by Charles Geier
HPV and Men, by Shermella Bartholomew
Theater in the Small, by Samantha Fernbach
Retire Away or Stay Away, by Richard Bambrick
Will There Be a Seventh War? by Janelle Hraiki

Nov. 16 reading assignment:

2006-11-02T12:43:00.000-05:00

Next week's readings:

Talk to the Editor: Lawrie Miflin, editor, Television and Video, The New York Times.

2006-10-26T12:13:00.000-04:00

Next week's readings:

Doonesbury's War, By Gene Weingarten, Oct. 22, 2006. Washington Post Magazine.
Q&A with Gene Weingarten.
Librarians are the New Napoleons, By Roger Warner, Oct. 16, 2006. CMS Wire.
Lawsuit Award a Warning to Blogs, By Kara Rowland, Oct. 12, 2006, The Washington Times.

2006-10-18T23:27:00.000-04:00

Next week's readings:

10 Journalism Tips For Bloggers, Podcasters & Other E-Writers

Oprah Winfrey, Amanda Congdon and the New Golden Age of the Cross-Country Road Trip

Battle brewing over Internet access for blind Web surfers

Ask.com Takes Search Engine To Phones

Business embraces Web 2.0

This week's classwork:

Editing your sites:

Check templates. We are using white backgrounds with black type -- they are easy to read and don't distract from your content.

Upload profiles and profile photographs

Insert a list of links to websites related to your blog. These will be inserted on the right hand side of your template. Go to this Blogger page for directions on how to do this.

Insert your first posting, using the Blogger dashboard. We will review formatting.

Register your blog with Sitemeter service, available at http://www.sitemeter.com/, so you can start measuring your traffic.

Ping your blog. I like the Pingoat service at http://www.pingoat.com/
Also, register with FeedBlitz, at http://www.feedblitz.com/ to allow for e-mail notification when you add new posts.

And, if you would like to get some business cards made, vistaprint.com will print 250 cards for just the price of shipping.

2006-10-12T13:43:00.000-04:00

Next week's reading assignments:

Proceedings of the 2006 meeting of the Online News Association
YouTube Community Worried by Google Deal. By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press, Oct. 11, 2006
Yahoo Hurting While Google Healthier Than Ever. By Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Watch. Oct. 11, 2006
Lord of the Lies: Aleksey Vayner Outdoes Himself. IvyGate

MSNBC Names Web Execs.
L.A. Times' defining moment. David Olive, The Toronto Star, Oct. 10, 2006
Big Media vs. Blogs: Longing for the Good Ol' Days

2006-10-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

Next week's readings:

Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites Laura Parker, USA TODAY
Counting the Errors of Modern Journalism Brian Doherty, Cato Institute
The New Precision Journalism, Philip Meyer
Finding Data on the Internet, Robert Niles website

2006-09-28T12:06:00.000-04:00

Next week's readings:

Video stories put newspapers on a whole new page Sept. 24, 2006. Nick Madigan, The Baltimore Sun.
Going full circle to push boundaries at Guardian Unlimited Sept. 23, 2006.
Emily Bell, The Guardian (UK).
To maximize online revenue, newspapers must synchronize department Sept. 26, 2006. Jodie Hopperton, The Editor's Weblog.
UK: Financial Times to introduce multimedia newsroom Sept. 25, 2006. The Editor's Weblog.
Syndicate this! Linking old media to new March 27, 2006. Stephen Bryant, Online Journalism Review.

2006-09-21T13:17:00.000-04:00

Next week's web readings:

Technology Law Roundup Sept. 20, 2006. Struan Robertson. Times Online.

Reuters Announces $100,000 Grant for NewAssignment.net Sept. 20, 2006.

What’s good on the Web? Sept. 19, 2006. Frank Barnako. MarketWatch

2006 Knight-Batten Award Winners Advance Discovery, Participation, Transparency

New $5M fund for experiments in community journalism Sept. 18, 2006

A Defining Moment For Tribune Sept. 20, 2006. Stan Simpson. The Hartford Courant.

Putting the "Izz" Back into Journalism Sept. 19, 2006. Gary Moskowitz, WireTap.

Budding reporters sell out journalism for a wedding photo discount, but don’t get it Sept. 19, 2006.Shane Johnson. Salt Lake City Weekly.

2006-09-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006

Next week's readings:

News21 Produces Investigative Reports, But Can Universities Think Different? Aug. 30, 2006. Mark Glaser, Mediashift, PBS

Citizen Journalism Not About 'Amateurs' or 'Pros' Sept. 5, 2006. Interview with OhmyNews citizen reporter Ronda Hauben

Online-News: Have We Come Far Enough? July 26, 2006. Steve Outing, Editor & Publisher

Beyond the integrated newsroom Sept. 13, 2006. Oliver Luft, Online Journalism News

Telegraph reinvents the wheel Sept. 10, 2006, Peter Preston, Guardian Unlimited

Traditional values of journalism guide new media decisions Sept. 10, 2006. Melanie Sill, The News & Observer.

2006-08-18T17:01:00.000-04:00

Journalism 215
Journalism on the Web
Hofstra University
Media Studies and Public Relations

Introduction:

This course covers online journalism -- a relatively new and rapidly evolving part of a traditional craft. It's an exciting time to be a journalist and one filled with opportunities as traditional mainstream news media grapples with how to use the new tools and capabilities of the Internet and still fulfill its traditional role in a free society.

We meet 15 times for two hours – less than an average working week. We will work at a high level, classes will be interactive, and we will be proceeding on various tracks concurrently. You are expected to have done the reading, be aware of current events, and be prepared to ask questions and contribute to the discussion. For every hour in class, I expect you to spend two hours outside. So, class is two hours a week, you can be expected to work an additional four hours each week, at minimum.

This course is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to be able to critically evaluate and know how to effectively apply a broad and ever-changing array of digital tools to enhance the traditional methods of journalism.

This is not a tools course, but a journalism course. Students will work to master the traditional journalistic skills of clear writing, thorough reporting and editing, and will learn how to apply those core skills to a creative and ethical use of multimedia, producing news articles that are suitable for publication.

You are expected to have a grasp of grammar, style and punctuation and to turn in clean copy. That means after writing, print it out, edit it, and make corrections to your digital copy, turning on edit track.

This course will provide theoretical background, professional instruction and evaluated practice in those judgments and skills. Emphasis will be placed on:

Writing and reporting. Students will learn how to write and report professionally and effectively and how to collect and produce multimedia and critically evaluate it for publication online.

Teamwork and Deadlines: No matter what the medium, today's professional journalism requires the ability to work well with others – editors, artists, producers, photographers, videographers, audio engineers – and most importantly, with readers, who are empowered with the ability to fact-check your work and to respond well beyond the letters-to-the-editor page of the newspaper. Ask Dan Rather.

You will be working in teams and your success in this class will depend on your ability to integrate with each other, support each other, and meet deadlines.

In the real-time world of the Internet, scoops can be measured in milliseconds, putting a premium on the ability to accurately and quickly write and report, and then to turn around and do it all again. Deadlines count. If you don't make your deadline, you don't keep your job. It's just that simple. So, know that deadlines count in this class too.

New media

Students will first learn how to write and report for Web, and then for the emerging channels of blogs, vlogs, and mobile. Students will learn and practice the skills of writing headlines, captions, blurbs, voice-overs, and audio reports to create a click-compelling matrix of reporting that rises to the highest standards of ethical journalism and keeps the user engaged and interacting with the main articles that will be assigned throughout the class. Students will take photographs, collect audio and audio, and create graphics and animation.

The Business of Online Journalism

In this field, while respecting the traditional and inviolable ethical “wall” between editorial and business, students will still need to know about the financial fuel that powers their ability to conduct their journalism. We will look at the search for a successful business model for online journalism, within traditional and startup companies, and well in as solo efforts.

Each week, students will have required readings from the textbook, web research, and writing. The class meetings will include instructor lectures, guest lectures, deadline writing exercises, multimedia production and tests.

Assignments will be turned in electronically, via e-mail or posted in a website.

Students will earn points for attendance, and for contribution in class.

Required Texts:

Rich, Carole. Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method. Fifth Edition. Belmont, Calif., Wadsworth Publishing. 2006.

Norm Goldstein. The Associated Press Stylebook. New York, Associated Press. 2006.

Handouts, both electronic and hard copy.

Note: With the exception of the first class meeting, all assigned readings should be completed prior to each class meeting.

Note 2: There will be a number of unannounced quizzes on the reading, asking you to work with ideas from that day's assignment, or to put ideas from that reading into a context developed earlier in the term.

The overall course score will be assigned based on the following criteria:
Class Participation and attendance -- 20 percent
Assignments -- 20 percent
Quizzes, grammar, punctuation, style -- 15 percent
Project -- 45 percent

The Schedule:

Week 1. Introduction, background, history.
We will start off by learning about each other, and then examining the history of online journalism, moving into the present, and then looking toward the future of the craft.

Reading assignment:

Rich, Ch. 12, “Web Journalism”
“Ten Toes in the Multimedia Waters” Rick Edmonds, PoynterOnline
"Who killed the newspaper?" The Economist, Aug. 24, 2006
"Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists" New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann
"A new Internet network brewing" Chicago Tribune
"Craigslist Traffic Surges" MediaPost
2006 Online Journalism Awards -- Finalists

Writing assignment:

Select five online newspaper segments in either health or business and write a paragraph on each, critically evaluating the multimedia elements used in the reporting, with links. E-mail to instructor before next class meets.

Week 2. Zeroing in on a Topic
Quiz on readings. Discussion of readings. Assignments returned. Students will select a reporting topic that they will explore for the remainder of the semester, culminating in a multimedia website. In-class exercise: Students will locate a press release on their topic of interest and re-write it for a news article.

Reading Assignment:

Writing assignment:

Week 3. Setting up your Sites

With reporting topic selected, students will be grouped into teams and will begin planning their reporting while targeting appropriate multimedia elements to be included on their website project. In-class assignment: Students will write a deadline meta-article, with links to supporting articles.

Reading Assignment:

Writing assignment:

Week 4. Acquiring contextual data.
Students will learn how to locate data and information beyond what is available from a Google search. This class will concentrate on databases, hard-copy data and non-traditional sources of data.

Discussion of previous week's assignment.

Reading Assignment:

Writing Assignment:

Week 5. Introduction to Photography and Graphics
Students will learn how to produce a graphic from the data used for the previous week's writing assignment. Additionally, an in-class workshop on using Flash software.

Reading Assignments:

“Flash journalism: Professional practice today”

Writing Assignments: TBD

Week 6. Digital Photojournalism
Students will become familiar with digital photography, learning how to take successful mug shots, action shots, and scenic post cards, and then how to write captions for them, and then to create photo packages.

Reading Assignment:

website

Writing Assignment:

Week 7. Mapping and Maps
Students will learn how to relate statistical data to geography, and learn how map mashups might be appropriate and useful to their reporting.

Reading Assignment:

Mapping a revolution with 'mashups'

Writing Assignment:

Week 8. Introduction to Podcasts, and Audio

Reading Assignment:

Resources for Web Workers

Writing Assignment:

Week 9. The Business of Online Journalism

Reading Assignment:

The Business of Online Journalism

Writing Assignment:

Week 10. Introduction to Video