TweetReporters ought to be learning Web skills for self-preservation and for the betterment of the community. But if that’s not enough, how about getting better story assignments? That was my experience during the Pennsylvania primaries, when I was often dispatched to some of the bigger events in the state. And believe me, I’m no ace …
TweetThis will be an unusually confrontational post for me. That said, Yoni Greenbaum was right on yesterday in pointing out a significant problem in some of the journalists fighting the good fight online: But, and this might just be because of whom I read, the loudest are the bloggers who complain the most about the …
Online journalists: Lose the smugness, win a few converts Read More »
TweetA little past 9 a.m. today, a long fleet of truckers roared down the central business area of Harrisburg, all incessantly honking their horns. Some had signs taped outside their windows, revealing that they were protesting gas prices at the Capitol. Interesting story, as anyone who lives or has an office downtown surely has heard …
When protesters are outside, Twitter beats local newspaper site Read More »
TweetKeep your hand down, Steve Boriss. I know your answer is “zero.” This question struck me when I read the fond adieu that the blogger at Left of Centre wrote to Adam Smeltz, a Centre Daily Times reporter and long-time friend of mine who recently accepted a job at the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. The anonymous …
TweetA lot of the most spirited arguments for social media are often made in places where there’s already a tech-savvy audience built in. Yet in a place like Harrisburg, Pa., which is home to the country’s 86th-biggest newspaper and the No. 41 television market, there are a total of nine people on Twitter who have …
How do journalists grow social networking in a small(er) town? Read More »
TweetThere was a great piece of investigative reporting the other day by Dena Pauling in the Centre Daily Times, my hometown newspaper and former employer. It revealed mold problems in a local high school, and how the school’s administration failed to notify the public about it. It also prints the outright denials by school officials …
Newspapers need to better explain the ‘Why’ in investigative reporting Read More »
TweetThis does. So our photographer wouldn’t have to try to juggle his still and video cameras, I volunteered to shoot some video. I didn’t say I’d be good at it, I just said I’d try it. I clearly had no idea what I was doing. My favorite moment came when a friendly videographer there said …
What happens when newspaper reporters with no training try to shoot video Read More »
TweetMark Cuban’s consistently thought-provoking Blog Maverick had a doozy yesterday. He wrote about the situation that arose when he realized that one of the Dallas Morning News writers who was covering the team was — gasp! — a blogger. When he discovered this, he tried to revoke his credentials: Not because I don’t want this …
Sorry Mark Cuban: A blogger is not a blogger is not a blogger Read More »
TweetAs one of the 13 reporters in Jay Rosen and David Cohn‘s beatblogging.org project, I’ve read a lot of response to the concept. The Journalism Iconoclast is behind the concept, calling you an idiot if you’re a sports reporter who isn’t on the train. In a comment on one of Cohn’s posts on Wired Journalists, …
Why I’m beatblogging: It helps the print product, too Read More »
TweetIf you’ve never read Moneyball, do it. Even if you’re not a baseball fan — if you’re reading it correctly, it’s more of a business book than a baseball book. The book in a rough summary: The Oakland A’s are a low-budget Major League Baseball team trying to compete with teams that have much, much …
How bloggers are Moneyballing newspapers into competitive balance Read More »