The "Best Headlines of the Year" Web page was a humorous and effective way of emphasizing the importance of coherent and concise headings. Headlines need to be introduce pertinent information and create a suitable transition into the rest of the story. Lines like "War Dims Hope for Peace" and "Couple Slain; Police suspect Homicide" fail miserably. These captions unnecessarily state the obvious and make lousy introductions to their respective articles.
The Headline "Police Begin to Campaign to Run Down Jay Walkers" is a much worse offender. To one reader this phrase will induce laughter. This is clearly a major problem. Headlines are supposed to pull readers into a story and make them want to find out more. If you write an excellent caption you have successfully drawn more eyes into your piece. Conversely, if you screw up the headline you lose your readers immediately. So, to one person this headline will read like a joke, and belittle the officer's attempts to thwart a crime. To another reader, this headline may convince them that their local police force is made up of crazed vigilantes out for blood.
"Teacher Strikes Idle Kids" poses another major problem. This instantly transforms a piece about a teacher's strike into a case about classroom abuse. Here, readers will go into the story expecting to read about a disgruntled math teacher, whipping kids with rulers, and wind up learning about educators picketing in the rain. This caption will pull in the wrong audience, and makes the educators look like perpetrators instead of the victims. The headline is the first chance you have to connect with a reader. You could win them over with a snappy pun, or make them lose faith in you as a writer with a jumbled mess of headline like this one.
I was pleased to hear Christian Hernandez commend the local tabloid writers for their clever headlines. As a student journalist, I'm constantly told that my silly headlines or witty puns detract from my story. The news media is notorious for blowing things out of proportion and taking things far too seriously. It seems like the media would rather instill fear into reader's hearts than put a smile on reader's faces. Nobody stopped Katie Couric when she decided to use scare tactics and transformed the piece into a psychological analysis of the NASA program. The main point behind her story seemed to be: "Watch out! It could happen again to you!" This approach is fine and dandy if the related material poses and actual threat to readers. But honestly, what astronauts are going to wear diapers and try to kidnap you. Perhaps if a story is truly this ridiculous and over-the-top an over-the-top headline fits perfectly. I'm tired of the news media spinning stories like this one into cautionary tales. The crazy astronaut woman doesn't even deserve a straight-laced, full-length piece. In this scenario the goofy headlines reign triumphant over the Couric's mega-serious, dismal coverage.
The bailout headlines are overloaded with action words like "kill," sink," "derail" and "convulse." I mean, I get it. These authors are using personification. They are giving life to an inanimate idea. But, for me it doesn't work. Surprisingly, the worst headline here is from the New York Times. The caption is incredibly lengthy at 11 words, and it has not one, but two awkward semicolons. To me, the best headline here was written by The Salt Lake Tribune. The other papers jumped on the "economy is going to hell" bandwagon, made their headlines too long, and stuffed them with those ridiculous action words. The Tribune kept it simple, avoided awful personification, and kept it a little lighthearted in a bleak time of economic uncertainty.
The Blagojevich article made it clear just how well headlines and photographs can work together. Some of these front pages are truly powerful. Perhaps the best example of this is the one word headline: "Shame."Below this caption is a picture of Blagojevich hiding in the backseat of his expensive car. These headlines also played out as a way for homestate journalists to vent out some of their anger and disillusion. Illinois is a state that has become synonymous with political corruption. Chicago overcomes allegations of shady politics for a brief moment by offering our country its new charismatic president. And then, BLAM! Chicago politics are once again tainted. Blagojevich cut Illinois moment of glory short with his greedy tactics. You can definitely see the anger and frustration in these simple, effective headlines.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ethical Journalism
There is virtually no difference in the rules featured within pages 12-18. Every single one of the 26 guidelines spells out one main idea. It should not accept bribes, invitations, gifts, promote material outside of reviews, or accept payments for favorable coverage. Basically, The Times should not do anything that jeopardizes its neutral standpoint. To somebody working at the actual paper, I imagine these rules would be quite beneficial and save them from a wide array of ethical dilemmas. To a casual reader, not every item in the list is worth reading. Grasping the big picture is sufficient for a student like myself. And the big picture is: The New York Times and its reporters must strive to be fair and unbiased in its coverage.
Many of these restrictions only apply to larger newspapers, like the Times, with prestigious reputations and readerships in the hundred thousands. For starters, my tiny online publication does not have free access to any of the museums in our town, we will never get any colossal trade discounts from General Motors, and our reporters have yet to receive any honorary degrees.
On the other hand, several of these rules should be adopted by every newspaper, in spite of its staff size or readership. Staff members clearly shouldn't accept gifts or discounts from individuals or companies. This may interfere with a news outlet's ability to perform their rigorous watchdog routine for the public. Reporters or editors may be tempted to overlook scandals or other unfavorable stories if a certain company has showered a newspaper in gifts. For me, the main point here comes at the end of rule 26. If a publication does turn down an expensive gift, a polite letter to the company should always explain the reasoning behind the gesture.
My friend's uncle works at my local paper. One year, an Italian restaurant surprised a handful of the paper's reporters with tickets to a 76ers playoff game. The reporters turned down the generous offer with little to no explanation for their actions. To this day, the restaurant ignores the reporters and often refuses to seat them for lunch. When the paper orders out from the tiny Italian bistro for lunch, the noodles are often undercooked and the portions of garlic bread are anything but generous. This may sound ridiculous, but it does serve to illustrate an important lesson. Businesses may be looking for favorable coverage or discounted advertising when they hand out gifts, but in certain situations the gift may be a healthy sign of generosity or friendship. So, always make sure to politely explain the reasons for declining a gift or invitation.
My online publication is a small operation. My staff writers probably won't be asked to offer blurbs for book sleeves or testimonials on national TV networks any time soon. This is a serious problem for larger papers who don't want their reporters widely expressing their personal views and opinions in a public setting. If a person's opinions are followed by "Staff writer at the New York Times" it might be perceived that the Times shares the individual's views on the issue. If a person in that situation publicly expresses their viewpoints, they need to somehow separate themselves from the Times, and note that their views are not shared by their respective newspaper.
This idea will be upheld at my onlie publicaton. As I said, networks like NBC and national Bestseller sleeves will not pose many problems for our small operation. But, I will make it abundantly clear that my staff must proceed all opinions on social networking sites or personal blogs, with a statement that their viewpoints are not shared by our online publication.
I also had some issue with rule number 56. Clearly, reporters writing reviews on automobiles must return $70,000 BMWs after testdriving them. But do music reviewers have to return albums after listening to the music? My guess is no, considering most albums fall under $25.
Many of these restrictions only apply to larger newspapers, like the Times, with prestigious reputations and readerships in the hundred thousands. For starters, my tiny online publication does not have free access to any of the museums in our town, we will never get any colossal trade discounts from General Motors, and our reporters have yet to receive any honorary degrees.
On the other hand, several of these rules should be adopted by every newspaper, in spite of its staff size or readership. Staff members clearly shouldn't accept gifts or discounts from individuals or companies. This may interfere with a news outlet's ability to perform their rigorous watchdog routine for the public. Reporters or editors may be tempted to overlook scandals or other unfavorable stories if a certain company has showered a newspaper in gifts. For me, the main point here comes at the end of rule 26. If a publication does turn down an expensive gift, a polite letter to the company should always explain the reasoning behind the gesture.
My friend's uncle works at my local paper. One year, an Italian restaurant surprised a handful of the paper's reporters with tickets to a 76ers playoff game. The reporters turned down the generous offer with little to no explanation for their actions. To this day, the restaurant ignores the reporters and often refuses to seat them for lunch. When the paper orders out from the tiny Italian bistro for lunch, the noodles are often undercooked and the portions of garlic bread are anything but generous. This may sound ridiculous, but it does serve to illustrate an important lesson. Businesses may be looking for favorable coverage or discounted advertising when they hand out gifts, but in certain situations the gift may be a healthy sign of generosity or friendship. So, always make sure to politely explain the reasons for declining a gift or invitation.
My online publication is a small operation. My staff writers probably won't be asked to offer blurbs for book sleeves or testimonials on national TV networks any time soon. This is a serious problem for larger papers who don't want their reporters widely expressing their personal views and opinions in a public setting. If a person's opinions are followed by "Staff writer at the New York Times" it might be perceived that the Times shares the individual's views on the issue. If a person in that situation publicly expresses their viewpoints, they need to somehow separate themselves from the Times, and note that their views are not shared by their respective newspaper.
This idea will be upheld at my onlie publicaton. As I said, networks like NBC and national Bestseller sleeves will not pose many problems for our small operation. But, I will make it abundantly clear that my staff must proceed all opinions on social networking sites or personal blogs, with a statement that their viewpoints are not shared by our online publication.
I also had some issue with rule number 56. Clearly, reporters writing reviews on automobiles must return $70,000 BMWs after testdriving them. But do music reviewers have to return albums after listening to the music? My guess is no, considering most albums fall under $25.
Monday, March 23, 2009
March 25 Readings
The Code of Electronic Journalists is virtually identical to the code of ethics provided by the SPJ. Electronic journalists appear to be wordier. and feel the need to offer more subcategories in their noble code, but overall their message is entirely redundant. Journalists everywhere are supposed to seek the truth, strive to report information in an unbiased form, turn their backs to bribes, and earn the trust of their audience. Personally, I feel their is no need to distinguish between electronic journalists and print journalists. This additional code of ethics is unneccessary.
If only the guidelines for ethical visual and audio editing were actually followed by evening news shows. To be fair, these programs usually tend to rigorously follow the first three sets of guidelines. Very few positive things can be said about the way guideline number four is handled by newscasters. News teases are loaded with bias, falsehoods and the purposeful omission of certain facts. These teases often contain somber, haunting music. This music definitely manipulates an audience members perception of the story. These dark sounds undoubtedly introduce some bias into a news snippet and will certainly influence a viewer's opinion of the given information. Omission of information is cleverly used to draw readers into a story. There is little doubt that this technique is effective and engaging. The problem is this technique also skews the message of particular stories. This tool is sometimes used as a despicable scare tactic to freak out viewers, so in turn, they stay up and watch the 11 pm news. "What you don't know may kill you." "It could happen in your neighborhood next, more news at 11" These would make fantastic horror movie tag lines, but I don't think they should hold any respectable place in a news room.
Unlike the electronic journalists code of ethics, I felt the photojournalism ethics were worthwhile and a sensible addition to the long list of journalistic guidelines. I wholeheartedly agree that new technology can be a reader's best friend. With new programs limitations in photographs can be practically snuffed out. Glares and poor lighting can be fixed in order to save a majestic picture from the chop block and enhance an audience's reading experience. On the other hand, this new technology can also deceive readers and distort the truth. Wrinkles disappear from faces, entire objects are removed from images, dull colors unnaturally brighten, and women lose their identities as overzealous airbrushers make their human flesh look like shiny plastic. These tactics are used daily, and this is horrendous journalism. News organizations betray their readers with these seemingly minor touches or brush-ups. It's nice to see that Fred Showker took the time to expose some of these problems, and mark the differences between suitable edits and shameful manipulations in photojournalism.
I'm glad to see that other newspapers follow Showker's line of thinking, especially the Herald Tribune in Florida, which vigorously emphasized its position on the despicable nature of unjust photo treatments. I'm quite pleased to read that the Times-Union newspaper in Rochester has strongly deterred its reporters from recreating scenes to photograph. I have an awful little newspaper back home that stages shots, and asks for story subjects to recreate moments and poses. Most of all I'm happy to know that many of these newspapers have banned pictures of dead bodies from appearing in their publication. This is always a weighty, messy issue, and was covered extensively in my journalism ethics class last year. Casual readers gain virtually nothing from the image of a lifeless corpse, and family members only gain a lot of grief. In most cases there are far better ways to represent a story than with the image of a dead person.
If only the guidelines for ethical visual and audio editing were actually followed by evening news shows. To be fair, these programs usually tend to rigorously follow the first three sets of guidelines. Very few positive things can be said about the way guideline number four is handled by newscasters. News teases are loaded with bias, falsehoods and the purposeful omission of certain facts. These teases often contain somber, haunting music. This music definitely manipulates an audience members perception of the story. These dark sounds undoubtedly introduce some bias into a news snippet and will certainly influence a viewer's opinion of the given information. Omission of information is cleverly used to draw readers into a story. There is little doubt that this technique is effective and engaging. The problem is this technique also skews the message of particular stories. This tool is sometimes used as a despicable scare tactic to freak out viewers, so in turn, they stay up and watch the 11 pm news. "What you don't know may kill you." "It could happen in your neighborhood next, more news at 11" These would make fantastic horror movie tag lines, but I don't think they should hold any respectable place in a news room.
Unlike the electronic journalists code of ethics, I felt the photojournalism ethics were worthwhile and a sensible addition to the long list of journalistic guidelines. I wholeheartedly agree that new technology can be a reader's best friend. With new programs limitations in photographs can be practically snuffed out. Glares and poor lighting can be fixed in order to save a majestic picture from the chop block and enhance an audience's reading experience. On the other hand, this new technology can also deceive readers and distort the truth. Wrinkles disappear from faces, entire objects are removed from images, dull colors unnaturally brighten, and women lose their identities as overzealous airbrushers make their human flesh look like shiny plastic. These tactics are used daily, and this is horrendous journalism. News organizations betray their readers with these seemingly minor touches or brush-ups. It's nice to see that Fred Showker took the time to expose some of these problems, and mark the differences between suitable edits and shameful manipulations in photojournalism.
I'm glad to see that other newspapers follow Showker's line of thinking, especially the Herald Tribune in Florida, which vigorously emphasized its position on the despicable nature of unjust photo treatments. I'm quite pleased to read that the Times-Union newspaper in Rochester has strongly deterred its reporters from recreating scenes to photograph. I have an awful little newspaper back home that stages shots, and asks for story subjects to recreate moments and poses. Most of all I'm happy to know that many of these newspapers have banned pictures of dead bodies from appearing in their publication. This is always a weighty, messy issue, and was covered extensively in my journalism ethics class last year. Casual readers gain virtually nothing from the image of a lifeless corpse, and family members only gain a lot of grief. In most cases there are far better ways to represent a story than with the image of a dead person.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Online News Site
I pulled a lot of great ideas for my online newspaper from the "Redesigned Newspapers" article. I really like how the Chicago Tribune tried to engage readers with their new design. Editor Jonathon Berlin detailed how reporters are going to directly address and reply to reader comments in feature stories. Reporters are going to up the conversation level between themselves and their audience. This is going to help the Tribune create warmer feelings of personal investment within readers. As Berlin said, readers respected and trusted The Tribune, but there was an emotional disconnect amongst readers. The audience did not feel overly attached to the newspaper. By having reporters address the questions and concerns of the audience in news articles, the level of engagement and personal involvement will certainly escalate. My news site will use similar tactics and often address or comment on readers' concerns in our articles. We will also ask our audience to critique our design in the same vein as The Tribune. This is a brilliant way to get excellent feedback, see if a design works, find out if a layout is practical, and let the audience know that their input is treasured and respected.
My site will also take a few cues from The Hartford Courant. Like The Courant, we will never get stuck in our ways or find ourselves to comfortable to usher in change. Many newspapers fail because they are too stubborn to adapt to modern times. The Courant showed off its flexibility and adaptability by completely revamping their newspaper's layout. They did the unthinkable and flipped the newspaper trademark nameplate on its side. This move seems inconsequential, but to me it shows that the Courant is heading into the future, and refusing to be bogged down by tradition or complacency. The Courant also cleverly added a "dot-com" to the end of their nameplate. I think this was an excellent way to introduce fixed newspaper readers to a larger world of information. I have older relatives in Connecticut who start every morning off with coffee and a peruse through The Hartford Courant. They refused to surf the Web for news stories. My great-uncle used to say he trusted the printed word more than the electronic one, and besides he'd just spill his coffee on the keyboard anyway. But then, he noticed his trusted Courant included a "dot-com" at the tail of their nameplate. The man is still reluctant to surf the web with a hot drink in hand, but he does look at the Courant site from time to time to get more in depth coverage of stories. My site will have to use tactics like the Courant in oder to find successful ways to adopt new inexperienced web readers.
We will also take some pointers from the Oklahoman newspaper. I loved how their paper used a wide array of colors to attract a reader's attention. We will use something like this on my site in order to focus readers on particular stories and even lead them from one article to another.
I was glad to hear that more journalism students are receiving visual training in the article about Karl Gude. Web users decide if they want to stay on a page mere seconds after navigating to a site. If a site is heavy on verbal explanations and light on gripping graphics, chances are the majority of readers are going to click away from the site. My site will use exhilarating graphics, like the one presented in the article, to pull readers into a story. The visuals will not only attract more readers but also completely transform a story. Gude's article about the coffee shop robbery would have been an average run of the mill piece without those stunning pictures. The design added another element to the piece and placed reader inside Sparty's shop. This technique will most definitely appeal to readers who are more visually oriented. The visuals make the piece come alive and let a reader know what happened in a way a textual explanation never could.
My site will also follow Wagener's advice and condense the size of our headlines. She uses two Hurricane Katrina related headlines to show the sheer power of a single word. Too often headlines appear clunky or try to include too much information. It is not the headline's duty to reveal numerous facts, figures or a wealth of data. Most importantly, a headline must draw a reader into a piece. These headlines are most effective when they coincide with a presented photograph. When done effectively, the words and picture alone can tell a story that touches a reader more than the actual article itself. Short phrases or single words can have far more impact than entire paragraphs. Wagener offers examples like "Heartbreaking," "No mercy" and "Help Us, Please." These are all words and phrases that try to connect with readers at a human level. They pack a weighty emotional punch. My news site will try to cut down on lengthy headlines where possible, in favor of this type of short, powerful speech.
I think Wagener is absolutely right in saying that most readers desire a compact, easy-to-read format, whether they're reading a newspaper or using a laptop. I particularly like her comment on how the Internet could seemingly provide an infinite amount of information per page. I have often thought of this myself. A news web page could be as long or as wide as an editor wanted. A news team could cram an endless amount of information in a seemingly endless amount of space. However, when this comes to mind, I think of the New York Times web page. That site has an abundance of links and information buried at the bottom of the page. It takes eons to reach that information. It comes after a list of Top Stories, World News, National News, Business News and Entertainment coverage. My friends, family and I rarely make it anywhere near that information. We get distracted by stories at the top of the page, or at the middle of the page, or in between the top and the middle of the page. Simply put, the Times has too much information in too little space. They need to spread it out and adopt a thinner, shorter page that models itself after a traditional newspaper. As Wagener addressed the tabloid issue, she did so on a compact page that had thin columns and easy-to-follow information. My news site will present a thin, practical news page, that is not overloaded with text or bogged down by too much space.
I think Wagener did a nice job debunking most of the editing myths in the last assigned article. I particularly agree with the section on picture captions. Over spring-break I read my local newspaper daily. My eye was consistently drawn to intriguing photos. The problem was there were very few captions. In one case the people in the picture were not labeled. It was a photograph of a drunk-driver and a crash victim. The picture featured two-head on shots of the individuals involved. I honestly could not tell who had been killed and who had done the killing. I'm sure the family of the victim was incredibly distressed by the omission of a caption. Now, this case may be more sever than others, but to prevent any possible confusion, my news site will always offer an informative caption below or to the side of our photographs.
To be honest, I did not agree with the debunking of Wagener's first myth. I firmly believe a page looks better and is more approachable if the subject in a picture is pointing at or looking towards the text. I think the page with George Bush would look much better if the column on the left was moved to the right hand side. This would leave Bush pointing at the text, and not clumsily looking away from the information.
I was in class on Friday the 6th and did not have to post on the last article.
My site will also take a few cues from The Hartford Courant. Like The Courant, we will never get stuck in our ways or find ourselves to comfortable to usher in change. Many newspapers fail because they are too stubborn to adapt to modern times. The Courant showed off its flexibility and adaptability by completely revamping their newspaper's layout. They did the unthinkable and flipped the newspaper trademark nameplate on its side. This move seems inconsequential, but to me it shows that the Courant is heading into the future, and refusing to be bogged down by tradition or complacency. The Courant also cleverly added a "dot-com" to the end of their nameplate. I think this was an excellent way to introduce fixed newspaper readers to a larger world of information. I have older relatives in Connecticut who start every morning off with coffee and a peruse through The Hartford Courant. They refused to surf the Web for news stories. My great-uncle used to say he trusted the printed word more than the electronic one, and besides he'd just spill his coffee on the keyboard anyway. But then, he noticed his trusted Courant included a "dot-com" at the tail of their nameplate. The man is still reluctant to surf the web with a hot drink in hand, but he does look at the Courant site from time to time to get more in depth coverage of stories. My site will have to use tactics like the Courant in oder to find successful ways to adopt new inexperienced web readers.
We will also take some pointers from the Oklahoman newspaper. I loved how their paper used a wide array of colors to attract a reader's attention. We will use something like this on my site in order to focus readers on particular stories and even lead them from one article to another.
I was glad to hear that more journalism students are receiving visual training in the article about Karl Gude. Web users decide if they want to stay on a page mere seconds after navigating to a site. If a site is heavy on verbal explanations and light on gripping graphics, chances are the majority of readers are going to click away from the site. My site will use exhilarating graphics, like the one presented in the article, to pull readers into a story. The visuals will not only attract more readers but also completely transform a story. Gude's article about the coffee shop robbery would have been an average run of the mill piece without those stunning pictures. The design added another element to the piece and placed reader inside Sparty's shop. This technique will most definitely appeal to readers who are more visually oriented. The visuals make the piece come alive and let a reader know what happened in a way a textual explanation never could.
My site will also follow Wagener's advice and condense the size of our headlines. She uses two Hurricane Katrina related headlines to show the sheer power of a single word. Too often headlines appear clunky or try to include too much information. It is not the headline's duty to reveal numerous facts, figures or a wealth of data. Most importantly, a headline must draw a reader into a piece. These headlines are most effective when they coincide with a presented photograph. When done effectively, the words and picture alone can tell a story that touches a reader more than the actual article itself. Short phrases or single words can have far more impact than entire paragraphs. Wagener offers examples like "Heartbreaking," "No mercy" and "Help Us, Please." These are all words and phrases that try to connect with readers at a human level. They pack a weighty emotional punch. My news site will try to cut down on lengthy headlines where possible, in favor of this type of short, powerful speech.
I think Wagener is absolutely right in saying that most readers desire a compact, easy-to-read format, whether they're reading a newspaper or using a laptop. I particularly like her comment on how the Internet could seemingly provide an infinite amount of information per page. I have often thought of this myself. A news web page could be as long or as wide as an editor wanted. A news team could cram an endless amount of information in a seemingly endless amount of space. However, when this comes to mind, I think of the New York Times web page. That site has an abundance of links and information buried at the bottom of the page. It takes eons to reach that information. It comes after a list of Top Stories, World News, National News, Business News and Entertainment coverage. My friends, family and I rarely make it anywhere near that information. We get distracted by stories at the top of the page, or at the middle of the page, or in between the top and the middle of the page. Simply put, the Times has too much information in too little space. They need to spread it out and adopt a thinner, shorter page that models itself after a traditional newspaper. As Wagener addressed the tabloid issue, she did so on a compact page that had thin columns and easy-to-follow information. My news site will present a thin, practical news page, that is not overloaded with text or bogged down by too much space.
I think Wagener did a nice job debunking most of the editing myths in the last assigned article. I particularly agree with the section on picture captions. Over spring-break I read my local newspaper daily. My eye was consistently drawn to intriguing photos. The problem was there were very few captions. In one case the people in the picture were not labeled. It was a photograph of a drunk-driver and a crash victim. The picture featured two-head on shots of the individuals involved. I honestly could not tell who had been killed and who had done the killing. I'm sure the family of the victim was incredibly distressed by the omission of a caption. Now, this case may be more sever than others, but to prevent any possible confusion, my news site will always offer an informative caption below or to the side of our photographs.
To be honest, I did not agree with the debunking of Wagener's first myth. I firmly believe a page looks better and is more approachable if the subject in a picture is pointing at or looking towards the text. I think the page with George Bush would look much better if the column on the left was moved to the right hand side. This would leave Bush pointing at the text, and not clumsily looking away from the information.
I was in class on Friday the 6th and did not have to post on the last article.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
My Online Publication
My publication is going to focus on the very content Joe Mathews laments is missing from the new LA Times. My staff is going to hone in on hyperlocal stories, so Mathews won't be able to spend an entire article whining about our paper. My reporters will tackle the issues he says are missing in his beloved Times, (small neighborhood stories, transportation issues, local law enforcement dilemmas, etc.) The Internet will also give me a chance to gag readers' complaints before they appear. Mathews went on and on about all the missing news opportunities with a condensed staff. Yes, my staff is going to be quite small, too. In fact, we will employ far fewer employees than the Times. However, as I discussed in my last blog entry, my publication will be able to link to many of the stories we did not get a chance to personally cover. This should appease Mathews.
I did manage to pull one good idea from Mathews' painfully nostalgic trip down memory lane. My staff will have to include several bilingual reporters like Connie Kang. This will allow my publication to tackle a wider array of issues, and include interviews with individuals who often get overlooked in the media.
The ideas I presented last week about a subscription service should soothe Peter Osnos worries about the bleak future of news. I did enjoy the comparison Osnos made between America's failing banks and crumbling newspapers. The government springs into action to save dying banks and the troubled auto-industry, as our nation's newspaper wither away without any assistance. The future of the newspaper now falls in the hands of advertisers and generous readers who wish to subscribe or make contributions. If users have a strong desire to read well-produced news content and directly interact with reporters, my publication should succeed. As I mentioned before, for a set annual rate, my online publication will offer access to thousands of archives, and an opportunity for readers to suggest future stories.
For me, the main idea that stuck out of David Folkenflik's article was the overall sense of community that can be established by a trusted local paper. My publication will do everything it can to earn our readers' trust and respect. We need to connect with our audience and cover the smaller stories that other publications will skip over. We need to report on local basketball stories and address educational concerns at local elementary schools. These issues would never be covered in the New York Times or on the CNN network. Our whole town might not even make the national news unless it caught on fire or made contact with alien invaders. Still, we need to let this town know that their stories and problems are as important to our paper as they are to the community. We will cover local meetings and sporting events with the same vigor and intensity we would use to cover a deadly wildfire on the West Coast.We need to reach out to our local readers and let them know they have a voice. We must let our users know that they are both seen and heard and that no story is too small. Our reporters will attend school-board meetings and occupy the bleachers at all local sporting events. We will connect with the community, because we will become part of the community. In doing so, our readers will want to wake up and drink coffee while perusing our news site.
I did manage to pull one good idea from Mathews' painfully nostalgic trip down memory lane. My staff will have to include several bilingual reporters like Connie Kang. This will allow my publication to tackle a wider array of issues, and include interviews with individuals who often get overlooked in the media.
The ideas I presented last week about a subscription service should soothe Peter Osnos worries about the bleak future of news. I did enjoy the comparison Osnos made between America's failing banks and crumbling newspapers. The government springs into action to save dying banks and the troubled auto-industry, as our nation's newspaper wither away without any assistance. The future of the newspaper now falls in the hands of advertisers and generous readers who wish to subscribe or make contributions. If users have a strong desire to read well-produced news content and directly interact with reporters, my publication should succeed. As I mentioned before, for a set annual rate, my online publication will offer access to thousands of archives, and an opportunity for readers to suggest future stories.
For me, the main idea that stuck out of David Folkenflik's article was the overall sense of community that can be established by a trusted local paper. My publication will do everything it can to earn our readers' trust and respect. We need to connect with our audience and cover the smaller stories that other publications will skip over. We need to report on local basketball stories and address educational concerns at local elementary schools. These issues would never be covered in the New York Times or on the CNN network. Our whole town might not even make the national news unless it caught on fire or made contact with alien invaders. Still, we need to let this town know that their stories and problems are as important to our paper as they are to the community. We will cover local meetings and sporting events with the same vigor and intensity we would use to cover a deadly wildfire on the West Coast.We need to reach out to our local readers and let them know they have a voice. We must let our users know that they are both seen and heard and that no story is too small. Our reporters will attend school-board meetings and occupy the bleachers at all local sporting events. We will connect with the community, because we will become part of the community. In doing so, our readers will want to wake up and drink coffee while perusing our news site.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
New Online Publication
My start-up online news publication will certainly have a smaller budget than the New York Times or CNN.com. In order to overcome our lack of cash, and compete with these news giants, my publication will adopt a plan similar to the one laid out by Spot.US. We will call upon our readership to donate money to support our news site. No user would be willing to send a single dime for a story that was already covered by the Times or any other larger publication. So, like Spot.US, we will use this money to focus our efforts on stories that have been ignored by other sites. It is our idea that people will jump at the opportunity to donate money to fund a story that is important to them. Unlike Spot.US, users will not be donating money for every story they want to see in print. Spot.US has a policy where they ask for approximately $25 to aid a journalist to report on a single story. My publication finds this procedure far too risky and potentially upsetting to certain users. What happens when a reader donates money and is unsatisfied with the final piece? What happens when a contributor feels a piece is too brief or did not go into adequate detail? In an attempt to snuff out complaints and problems before they arise, my publication has come up with a different approach to gathering funds. Our site will be free for all web users to access. However, in order to have any input into what stories get reported on, a user must pay a $60 annual membership. After donating this annual fee the user will be free to post on our bulletin board where subscribers will be asked to leave messages for our staff. Subscribed users will be able to leave story leads and other ideas on this bulletin board.
As Josh Korr says, online publications cannot take the endless resources around them for granted. These sites can't just be a basic rehash of what appears in a newspaper or magazine. These web pages need to have videos, interactive options, and most importantly helpful links. Korr addresses the fact that online users rarely want incredibly long, dry pieces overflowing with facts and figures. Deploying reporters overseas or across the country is quite pricey. And, as I said before, my publication does not have a deep wallet. With this in mind, we must note that a subscription to the AP is also expensive, and may be a budgetary concern. One of my ideas is to concentrate mainly on hyperlocal reporting. We will deploy the majority of our reporters to cover local stories. But, we shall not forget the larger picture, and we absolutely will not neglect to report on important national or international news. Our idea is to provide a basic, inexpensive synopsis of major breaking stories that we cannot extensively report on. We will then feature dozens of links at the end of our brief synopsis. The links will send users to other publications or even blogs that cover the information we cannot obtain ourselves. This will save us money, still inform our users, and provide a greater readership to gifted bloggers. It will also definitely appease the young adults mentioned in Jim Kennedy's article. These users want reliable, thorough coverage of stories. They do not want snappy sound-bytes or snippets of useless information. We will provide our users with the extensive coverage they crave. We may not be able to do justice to every story by ourselves, but we will link to other sites that offer the vital information we lack.
Our local reporting will closely mirror the journalism done by Jame Gannon at the Rappahannock Voice online paper. We are aware that our task will be time-consuming, exceedingly demanding and offer very little financial reward. At the same time it is refreshing to be a small online publication for these reasons. We will have no ties to any companies and no loyalties to anyone else but our readers. For these reasons, we will be able to expose touchy stories, in the same way the Voice broke the story about the Inn in Little Washington. On a side note, our dot com name will let readers know we are an online news publication. It will be far more obvious than www.rappvoice.com, which sounds like some kind of hip-hop chatroom.
As Josh Korr says, online publications cannot take the endless resources around them for granted. These sites can't just be a basic rehash of what appears in a newspaper or magazine. These web pages need to have videos, interactive options, and most importantly helpful links. Korr addresses the fact that online users rarely want incredibly long, dry pieces overflowing with facts and figures. Deploying reporters overseas or across the country is quite pricey. And, as I said before, my publication does not have a deep wallet. With this in mind, we must note that a subscription to the AP is also expensive, and may be a budgetary concern. One of my ideas is to concentrate mainly on hyperlocal reporting. We will deploy the majority of our reporters to cover local stories. But, we shall not forget the larger picture, and we absolutely will not neglect to report on important national or international news. Our idea is to provide a basic, inexpensive synopsis of major breaking stories that we cannot extensively report on. We will then feature dozens of links at the end of our brief synopsis. The links will send users to other publications or even blogs that cover the information we cannot obtain ourselves. This will save us money, still inform our users, and provide a greater readership to gifted bloggers. It will also definitely appease the young adults mentioned in Jim Kennedy's article. These users want reliable, thorough coverage of stories. They do not want snappy sound-bytes or snippets of useless information. We will provide our users with the extensive coverage they crave. We may not be able to do justice to every story by ourselves, but we will link to other sites that offer the vital information we lack.
Our local reporting will closely mirror the journalism done by Jame Gannon at the Rappahannock Voice online paper. We are aware that our task will be time-consuming, exceedingly demanding and offer very little financial reward. At the same time it is refreshing to be a small online publication for these reasons. We will have no ties to any companies and no loyalties to anyone else but our readers. For these reasons, we will be able to expose touchy stories, in the same way the Voice broke the story about the Inn in Little Washington. On a side note, our dot com name will let readers know we are an online news publication. It will be far more obvious than www.rappvoice.com, which sounds like some kind of hip-hop chatroom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)