Looking back to look foward

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

by Peter Merchlewitz

As many of you know, the media world is in a transition age, changing from newspapers and newscasts, to the Internet and streaming video to get our news nowadays. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we should forget all that we learn as news reporters from using an older medium.
In John McIntyre's You Don't Say, McIntyre interviews 2 of his colleagues from the American Copy Editors Society, Doug Fisher and David Sullivan, and their thoughts about mixing old and new reporting to get a desired outcome.

"Professor Fisher’s frustration:

[A]s I have gone around making a presentation on how to use new digital tools to stay connected, the response in some newsrooms and at conferences has been tepid at best in many cases and downright hostile in others (along the lines of how am I supposed to do my job with all this, to which I often have wanted to respond, this is going to be your job, dammit)."

"Mr. Sullivan’s frustration:

Too many journalists think the reader's pleasure is irrelevant, that the reader picks up the newspaper either to be instructed or to sit in awe of the literary talent being presented in it. In short, too many journalists are too full of themselves to succeed in the 21st century, when a newspaper needs to focus on what its readers want, since the readers' choices of what to do with their time seem limitless. That is the challenge for young journalists of the 21st century, who I hope will save us all."

So the challenge is twofold. We have to master the new technologies, both to acquire useful information and to convey it in the form in which readers prefer to receive it, and we have to do some hard thinking about who those readers are and what they are interested in reading.

Read more...

College newspapers online

By: Callie McBroom

MediaShift reports that some college campuses have come a long way in going online. Still many others have a long way yet to go.

Bob Bergland, a professor at Missouri Western State University, found that 36 percent of a random sample of college newspapers had no web presence at all.

Online journalism can be problematic for college newspapers because of lack of funding. Additionally, campus readership of the printed product remains high compared to industry standards.

Another problem for college papers is an ever-changing staff. Student journalists graduate quite frequently, and new ones take their place. These replacements might not have the same skills as a graduating journalist.

MediaShift references San Francisco State University, University of Washington, and Eastern Illinois University as examples of good online formats.

This story leads to the question, "How far away is the Simpsonian from going online?"

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MVP? No, Give Them An Oscar

By: Kelsey Knutson


It's nothing new to see all-star athletes give all-star performances - acting performances. 

According to a New York Times article NBA stars put on high quality acting performances on the court. Driving to the basket and letting out yelps and screams, trying to get the attention of officials. 

The game's biggest stars are among some of the names being thrown around by officials for Oscar performances - Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James

According to Bernie Fryer, former NBA player and official that now oversees officiating in the league said, "Anytime anybody goes to the hoop they yell or scream."

Players say that trying to get the call to go their way is just a part of the game. However, many officials are getting tired of it and the players are just setting a bad example for younger kids. 

These NBA stars are just finding another reason for publicity and the media is feeding into it. The sports industry has always been in line with the entertainment industry, and the whole business feeds around the media coverage. 

The show is getting old and nobody even cares anymore - so they need to stop doing it. 

The game needs to be about the game, about the competition, and about winning. Not about the press coverage and you're image. 

Keyon Dooling, a point guard in the NBA had this to say, "It used to show that you were being aggressive. Now, its more so that you can get a foul. If you're a good player and you yell, that'll get you a whistle. But if you're an average player - you need to pick your body up and get back on defense."

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Broadcaster trampled getting the story

By: Erin Floro

 

The frenzy and excitement at the conclusion of a recent college football game nearly cost Bob Brooks his life.  Fans trampled the Cedar Rapids radio announcer after Iowa upset third-ranked Penn State in Iowa City after a last second field goal.

 

The 81-year-old Brooks has been in broadcasting for 67 years and says this is the first time something like this has happened to him.

 

After being helped back on his feet, he made his way to the locker room.  After all, he had some interviewing to do.

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Listening in

By Kellie Green

People are always interested in the news no matter how they get it. In class we have been working on radio reporting our news instead of the newspaper format. Is live recordings of news going to take over print version?

When ever you are online reading an article you usually see the symbol that looks like a little microphone next to the text. Usually that is the recording of the text so that people can hear it.
While browsing through the The New York Times online I came across more than a hand full of these just on the first page.

Live recording is very important to have for people who have troubles reading but it seems that no one wants to read anymore. People are watching TV or listening to the radio instead of reading about the news.

It may seem that internet is taking away from newspapers, which in a post I did previously I said I believed, but now I think that TV, radio and internet are going to push newspapers out of the way. People would rather hear they news now instead of read it.

Read more...

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