Entertainment.

News. What do you think of when that word comes to mind?

Many people think of magazines, newspapers, television, radio. In all of these topics, there are different kinds of news which is shared.

There's hard news, which consist of big issues like murders, wars, politics, disasters, and other such things.

But then there is entertainment news. Brangelina. Teen Mom. Jersey Shore. Britney Spears. The list goes on.

Brought through venues like People, US Weekly, TMZ, or Oceanup. Although this is nothing like the hard news that comes from places like the New York Times, it is still news.

Because we make it news.

Without entertainment news, can you imagine how depressing our lives would be? The headlines on the magazines that you would find at the cash register would range from the government shutdown to the Libyan conflict to the earthquake in Japan.

All these issues are important. Much more important than Lady Gaga's new outfit. And there is not enough focus on these issues in our current state.

However without the lightheartedness of entertainment news, people would be in a constant state of worry and depression about the state of the world and their future.

At least with entertainment news they can feel better about themselves because they do not have to go through all of the drama that celebrities seem to go through.

Photo credit: via Creative Commons

Read more...

The Importance of the First Amendment

"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a governement, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Thomas Jefferson's words still resonate today, more than 200 years later. Newspapers and media are vital for our society and they are protected by many laws.

The most important one, also a creation of Jefferson, is the first amendment of the Constitution.

It is the third article of the Bill of Rights which proclaims the five freedoms of the citizens of the United States of America.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In Democratic countries, those rights have to be respected and they are protected by the Constitution or the major law of the state.

Journalists take a great advantage out of this amendment. Freedom of press is, for Jefferson, the beginning of liberty.

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

The media play such a role in the political life revolutions and contemporary state blows always begin by making media headquarters. Sometimes referred as fourth power, the press is often only extension of powers already in place.

Read more...

Covering Domestic Violence

Words are powerful symbols. They construct the way that we evaluate situations, and labels can drastically effect how we treat other people. They assist constructions of prejudice, and prejudice is directly linked to discrimination.

For journalists, words are the key tool on the job. When writing an article about a sensitive subject, like violence against women, words as symbols play an even more important role.

Words as symbols construct many of our relationships, and can encourage cycles of bad behavior. If issues of domestic violence are referred to frequently as "lover's quarrels," it can impact the way that readers view such issues in their own lives.

Victims reading these articles may come to understand the violence they experience as part of everyday life.

Even subtle descriptions of acts of violence can have a huge impact on the way that readers understand crime, and specifically acts of domestic violence. Unforunately, only 2 percent of the scholarship on journalism pretains to proper coverage of issues of violence.

The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence offers a downloadable PDF file for journalists who are covering issues of domestic violence. Though the file contains some information that is specific to Washington State, most of the tips are applicable to all journalists covering these issues.

The mission statement of the group is as follows: "Our hope is that the information in this guide will also help link journalists to domestic violence advocates in their community, who can be utilized as sources to improve coverage. By accurately covering domestic violence homicides and avoiding sources, questions and language that perpetuate myths, journalists can make a significant difference in helping the community understand how domestic violence can go
unchecked to the point of murder."

The file also offers helpful definitions of key terms, like domestic violence, victim, and abuser.

It is also careful to address key questions that infuse the conversation about domestic violence, such as why victims often stay in unhealthy relationships- the report states that "victims’ choices...are not the issue. The responsibility for domestic violence (as it is for other crimes) belongs solely to the abuser."

Unfortunately, the report points out, deaths that are the result of domestic violence are rarely covered as such. Additionally, sources for articles about domestic violence are rarely experts, as they undoubtedly should be.

The myths and misconceptions about domestic violence need to be addressed in full by our journalists. Since many people are much more likely to obtain information about domestic violence from their newspapers than from scholarly sources, journalists have a responsibility to accurately cover this problem.

If you find yourself in a position where you will be covering issues of domestic violence, please portray it accurately and as part of a larger body of issues- not an isolated occurence, or as something that many married couples experience and get over. Our journalists can make a huge impact on this social problem.


Photo courtesy of WritingWhileBlack.com, via CreativeCommons.org.

Read more...

Types of Journalism

There are different types of journalism that are specific towards what they aim to cover.Below I have listed some examples of different types of journalism.

Fashion journalism: Is when all of the articles relate to the fashion industry. The main goal of fashion journalism is to cover the latest trends or to develop lifestyle articles.

News journalism: The goal of news journalism is to report news in a straight-forward manner that covers all the required facts. You do not want to add your opinion in, because news needs to be unbiased.

Celebrity journalism: This relates to all of the news and events concerning celebrities, whether they are an actor or actress or in the music, dance, sport, art, politics, etc. field.

Sports journalism: Just like the title, it requires reporting on sports. The journalist will report the accurate facts and statistics of the games. This also includes interviews with the players, coaches or fans.

Environmental journalism: This type of journalism focuses on issues concerning the environment and its protection and conversation.

There are many more different types of journalism and if you would like to know more check out the link.

Photo Credit Via Creative Commons

Read more...

Journalist Arriving on Facebook

On April 5th, Facebook announced a new Facebook page called "Journalist on Facebook" that is designed and dedicated to helping journalist use Facebook as a reporting tool.

Last fall Facebook announced a similar page called Facebook and Media. So, you think "Well, it's the same thing right?" Not exactly. Just as the title says the page Facebook for Media is geared towards just media.

On the other hand, Journalist on Facebook is all for and about the individual journalist. It's main existence is to help journalist use the power of Facebook for journalism.

It does this with Facebook-provided best practices and peer collaboration from a big community of journalism professionals.

It seems that Facebook took the time to make this page a worthwhile experience. They have polling and discussion options that will grow in activity, video interviews with top journalist, and even a registration tab to be notified of journalist meetups in local areas. They even give you a nice "Get Started" guide to help new journalist.

Now, it may be easy to assume journalist know how to use social media and if they're using Twitter they probably do, but this new way of using Facebook goes beyond Twitter and offers more opportunities for journalist in general.

This is just a great chance to learn from other journalist giving more innovation and great content to use. Journalist can promote their content, become even more independent, and accumulate their fan base.

In my opinion, this is just a win-win situation for everyone and especially for journalist. Some people believe that this is just Facebook finding a way to compete more with Twitter, but is that really a bad thing if they are?

What do you think? Is Facebook just doing this for competition? Can Facebook be a good resource for Journalist?

Photo Credit: iloubnan.info via Creative Commons

Read more...

Evolution of Journalism

It is no question that journalism has constantly been evolving ever since its beginning, mostly due to the creation of the internet.

Paul Bradshaw of the UK Press Gazette created a list of ten ways journalism has changed in just the past ten years alone. Here are a few of his findings:

1. Journalism evolved from a lecture to a conversation.
One change in journalism has been the increased involvement of the audience. Through the internet, audience members and viewers can now voice their opinion or comment on the works of journalists in a fast and easy way.

Before the internet, written letters were the only form of communication between the journalist and the reader. This form was very slow paced and often not affective.

2. Journalism led to the rise of the amateur.
Everyone became a newsreporter with the release of camcorders, mobile phone picture and video capabilities, blogs, and social networks. Often is the case where everyday, ordinary citizens capture live news rather than actual news reporters.

3. Really Simple Sindication
Before RSS, journalists had to constantly hunt through dozens of websites for updates. RSS now allows journalists to subscribe to dozens of news feeds that can be contained all in one central reader.

RSS also creates niche audiences, allowing readers to subscribe to specific newspaper sections or writers.

To check out the rest of Bradshaw's list, visit this link.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

Fox Reporter Argues With Religious Nut

In a recent news broadcast by Fox News, an interview got heated when a female news reporter got into an argument with a guest associated with the Westboro Baptist Church.

During the interview, the news reporter posed difficult questions to the Westboro representative. The questions were far from objective, and shed a bad light on the Westboro Baptist Church from the beginning.

Unlike most news reporters this journalist did not hide her opinions on the subject. This resulted in a heated debate between the two that presented strong opinions and bad language from the Westboro representative.

Watching this as someone that is strongly disgusted by what the Westboro Baptist Church does, I was all for what the interviewer was saying.

However, from a journalistic prospective, this was a very dangerous move on the reporter's part. Entering into a strongly worded argument and inserting personal opinion in a news broadcast is risky.

Although I applaud her for what she did, I hope she didn't lose her job over the incident.

Photo Credit: k763 on Flickr.com via Creative Commons

Read more...

The Right Cue

Creating a video blog can become challenging for many people based on how unnatural it feels. Fortunately, there is a new program that was recently created called CuePrompter.

The CuePrompter program is an online teleprompter that allows you to copy and paste your script into your computer. Once doing so, the Cueprompter takes over and allows you to feel like the television reporter you have always wanted to be.

The great thing about Cueprompter is that it gives more assistance to the user by letting you set your script and talking points. Doing so allows things to run smoother since it is on a teleprompter, rather than in essay format in a Word document.

Another beneficial aspect of the Cueprompter is that it allows you to control the speed of how fast the text scrolls across your screen. This can improve people’s speaking skills because it can help us slow down our pace if we speak too fast or speed up our pace if we speak too slow.

CuePrompter also allows you to pick the font, color and size. This will come in hand for those of you who have trouble seeing because it allows you to adjust it to your specific personal needs.

This program can also come into play for interviews, conference calls and any other situation that you need help speaking in front of people.

The best part about this is that it is free!

Photo Credit: Creativecommons

Read more...

Earn From Your Blog

Out of the tens of thousands of blogs out there, as a beginner, yours probably doesn't stand out among the most known ones. To make yours stand out there are a few things every blogger should know.

Online, there are thousands upon thousands of blogs with the same content. If you're wanting your blog to stand out, do not write about the same topics; it will probably just get lost in the flood of them. Here are some helpful tips to point you in the direction of succesful, money-earning blogging.

1. Quality and Focused Content is the biggest factor in which your blog is evaluated. Do not borrow commonly used articles/content and refer to other blogs or sites. Do borrow methods in which they use. This means styles or templates.

2. You must know what your end-used is searching for. They come to your blog for a reason, and what is it exactly? Most of the time, the best blogs are the personal ones rather than commercial. Personal ones can be more touching, like diaries or personal experiences.

3. Confidence is key. Your blog must provide confidence and hope to visitors so that you can turn them into loyal readers or subscribers in a short span of time.

4. Proof. Writing your blog like a commercial one without proof may upset your readers. Try to write your personal experience including some main aspects in the ways you adopted, the mistakes you committed, the sources you referred to, etc... This can increase your readers and even your page rank.

Unlike other blogs, personal blogs make readers believe that the blog is completely true and it is solely for them. Creating this feeling in the readers mind is not a simple task. But if you follow the tips above then you are already on your way to success.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons.

Read more...

Keeping them Honest

An article recently posted at Suite101 posed an interesting question: How can media and news outlets report the truth when they depend on sponsors that keep them in business being happy?

The point is that any news organization's decision regarding what stories to run or who to investigate will take into account how those investigations or stories might affect the groups giving them millions of dollars.

This is especially true in a modern setting when print media needs every bit of revenue anyone will throw at it. Organizations can no longer just decide to drop a sponsor for the sake of reporting the truth.

Because of all this financial pressure companies are able to do more than just keep the media from covering something: it can actually dictate what the media covers. This whole situation is even more complicated because of the wide outreach many conglomerates have, one large company really controlling dozens of others that have a wide range of interests and ventures.

The question is how can journalists still maintain a commitment to the truth with all of these outside influences "pressuring" them to say one thing or another? Without a significant change in the nature of journalism, the best anyone can hope for now is that no one is corrupt and that a PR-damaging story doesn't surface about someone barely related to a sponsor.

Photo Credit: pbutke via Creative Commons

Read more...

Taking Care Of Business

With the sun shining and the busy time of finals approaching, many college students are feeling a lack of time to complete everything.

However, if a student wants to receive good grades for the end of the term, he/she must decide to prioritize what is most important to get accomplishments completed. With teachers piling on the papers, tests, stories, and quizzes, many students feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish these goals.

Journalist students are not allowed many opportunities to get off track. To be involved in journalism, a person is constantly reporting, advertising, and researching for the next story he/she will deliver. How can a person maintain his/her focus consistent.

One good tip for students is to take advantage of writing lists. Lists benefit journalist students especially because writing a list of daily plans, homework, and meetings is a great way helping to manage his/her time. Seeing a schedule planned out for when there is free time to study or relax helps students know when to fit homework and other events in.

Another good tip is to not cram everything in at once. Whether it's allowing time to go for a run to clear the mind or watching a television show, taking small breaks in between tasks allows a person to tackle assignments with fresh eyes and a clear head.

One last tip is to remember to get enough sleep at night. Although it's the end of the year and people want to spend time with classmates, getting the right amount of sleep at night allows students to feel alert and more energetic throughout long days rather than simply going through the motions.

While receiving a lot of pressure from teachers, coaches, parents, and peers, students must remember that staying calm and balancing time evenly is the best solution to helping stay focused.

Although a person may feel frustrated, panic can take over a person's life and put him/her under additional unneeded stress.

Finishing the school year off with good grades and completed tasks can allow a person to feel great. Living a healthy lifestyle of rest and maintaining focus can allow a person to prevent stress.

So whenever you're feeling down in the dumps and like it's impossible to finish, always remember to take a deep breath and smile.

Photo Credit: Technical Significance via Creative Commons.

Read more...

Five Myths about the Future of Journalism

Online news consumption is becoming more popular through technological advances. There has been major talk amongst individuals about the future of journalism.

A major issue we face is what information is true and what is false. Below, are five myths that have been discussed amongst the journalism world.

1.Traditional views of media are losing audience

- This is not true because individuals are consuming the same traditional newspaper providers. The only change is that they are consuming the information online instead of through the source of a newspaper.

2.Online news will be okay as soon as advertising catches up

- Online advertising received the most profit last year. The problem with this is that the money doesn't go to the news industry or journalists, it pays the search engines.

3.Content will always be the winner

- It has been common in the past for a newspaper who has given the public the most current information is naturally the most popular. Since technology is on the rise the demographics of individuals are becoming more popular.

By the use of demographics, technology can determine what consumers are interested in through the way they access the web. Certain products can be determined based on the websites that consumers visit.

4.Newspapers around the world are declining

- Increased literacy rates are increasing newspaper consumption. Countries such as Egypt and Lebanon are facing higher newspaper consumption due to more literate people.

5.The solution is to focus on local news

- Local advertising companies are not putting their information online which means that newspapers can't generate revenue from this source. Another influence is the significantly low amount of dollars local newspapers generate.

Online media is becoming more popular, but this does not mean that journalism is going to becoming insignificant. The news industry still needs journalists to go out there and supply the public with a good story, whether it is online or through a hand copy of the newspaper.

PhotoCredit:Creativecommons.com

Read more...

Manage Your Social Media

Social Media plays a vital role in our lives today along with e-commerce businesses. Managing one social media account can be a full-time job let alone managing multiple social media pages.

However, there are services that can help you manage all of your social media on one site.

HootSuite is a site that lets you update Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WordPress. It allows you to schedule posts, and it keeps track of your visitors. HootSuite is perfect for larger companies.

TweetDeck is an app that allows you to update Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google Buzz and Foursquare. It makes all of your contacts available from each social network. Scheduling posts is another benefit of TweetDeck.

One great site for small businesses with social networks is Ping.fm. It's a site that can run 30 social networks including: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and Foursquare. You are able to schedule posts and update your social media accounts.

Scheduling posts is one thing that is common among these three sites. People seem to enjoy that benefit of these sites. With how busy people are these days it comes in handy to be able to schedule your updates.

Photo Credit: CrunchBase via Creative Commons

Read more...

Stop The Nonsense!

Think about the headlines you've seen recently. What were they about?

The goverment almost shutting down or an update on the troops? How about any celebrities-tattoos,weddings,babies and arrests?

What I've seen is a celebrity getting a new tattoo and I don't care. In the end that nonsense doesn't matter.

I have a sorority sister who is married to someone in the navy. She was worried about what would happen if her husband didn't get paid.

That is something newsworthy. It seems there is a large group of journalists out there who report on nonsense.

How many of us can say we know what was in the agreement late Friday night?

Yet we know about the lives of people on the Real Housewives franchise, Jersey Shore or the Teen Mom series.

Does that really matter? No. Journalists have the unique position to impact people's lives and instead of doing so positively the do this stupidly.

For any journalists and aspiring journalists out there please think about what you are going to report on, you can shape what people see, make it relevant.

Photo Credit: Hulu.com

Read more...

How to Interview

Interviews are one of the most important parts to journalism. Without interviews journalists stories become less reliable, and that is something that people look for when they read news articles. Some journalists come by this journalism task naturally, while others will never get used to the task of giving an interview.

Many journalists struggle with their first time interviews for many reasons. They may struggle with asking personal questions, or might have a hard time with speaking with strangers. For whatever the reason there is good news for the journalists who struggle with this journalism trait. There is good news though, there are basic techniques that you can practice in order to become more comfortable with giving an interview while becoming better at the task as well.

These are the following keys to a successful interview:

1. Come prepared
Bring the necessary tools such as notepad and a recorder to take notes. Make sure you do research on the the idea of your story, so that you understand the basic terms. Brainstorm the questions that you want to ask the interview before the actual interview.

2. Maintain control
It's important to get great quotes, but if the person you're interviewing starts talking off subject don't be afraid to steer them back in the right direction.

3. Stay natural
Stay loose so that you are easy to talk to. One of the most important things is to make sure that you you make eye contact, because nothing makes a source more nervous then a reporter staring down at their notebook the entire interview.

4. Have a good introduction and a great end to the interview
In the beginning don't jump into asking questions immediately, because if you talk a little before hand it will allow the source to feel like they can open up to you. If those sources feel comfortable like that you will be able to get some quality quotes. When ending an interview make sure that your source has nothing else to say about the subject. Before you part make sure that any questions you have about the interview are answered so when you are writing the story you don't have questions about your notes.

With these tips on how to do the best interview you are sure to do a great interview, and most importantly have no worries of doing any less then a great interview.





Photo credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

New York Times Paywall

As everyone knows, The New York Times paywall went into place for online content March 28th.

Recently, I gave a group presentation on the paywall activation. One thing that really stands out to me is that the cheapest option for The New York Times readers is to get a print subscription. If someone has a print subscription the online access is still free. So why not go with that option?

When talking to fellow classmates about the online costs, it seemed like an overwhelming majority of the students wouldn't pay for online access. And not only to The New York Times, but to any print newspaper or magazine they might read.

Our generation and others expect news to be free, so most people are not willing to pay for it. If publications impose paywalls, that will send the average person elsewhere to where they can still get it free.

Not only were students close-minded about the idea of having to pay for online content, they also said they wouldn't pay for Facebook. This surprised me, but they had good logic behind it. If no one was on Facebook anymore because they were unwilling to pay, then why stay on Facebook if no friends are?

In my opinion paywalls at most publications will not work. Publications like the Wall Street Journal have been able to enforce paywalls since they have material not found elsewhere, and a dedicated following.

Newspapers like USA Today, The New York Times, or other national newspapers may have trouble with paywalls, but I am looking forward to see how this pans out.

Photo Credit: New York Times via Creative Commons

Read more...

Voice to Text

A new article on Technology Review discussed the upcoming Google Chrome browser version that will be able to translate voice into text entirely on the Internet.

The article notes that there are still many problems getting the software to work reliably and not turn sentences into random jumbles of letters, but the browser is also in its early beta stage where bugs are ironed out and refinements are made.

The applications for journalists in all of this are endless. Many phones already have considerable support for voice commands and recognition, but an actual web browser capable of doing so means that any access to the Internet means a journalist can dictate entire portions of a story or notes on the fly.

Reporters might not have to glance down when taking notes and can instead focus all of their attention on the events happening in front of them. Computers might be able to transpose speeches for them.

At any rate, technology like this can be a real game changer for everyone involved, and journalists will have to keep an eye open to make sure it doesn't take them by surprise.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

Two British Journalists Suspected of Phone Hacking

Two tabloid journalists suspected of phone hacking were released on bail last night.

Neville Thurlbeck, chief reporter for the tabloid newspaper News of the World, was questioned voluntarily at Kingston police station.

Ian Edmondson, former news editor of the same paper, was questioned separately at Wimbledon police station. Neither man has been charged.

The two men are accused of illegally intercepting voice mail messages left on cell phones. The two men allegedly were involved in a large scheme to tap into cell phones of movie stars, professional athletes and other celebrities, even including the royal family.

Another former reporter for the paper has already served jail time for accessing messages left by Prince William and Prince Harry.

The entire case has been embarrassing to both the British police and the government.

News International, publisher of the News of the World, said, "we will not tolerate wrongdoing and continue to cooperate fully with police."

Celebrities who claim that their cell phones have been hacked include Sienna Miller and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. The News of the World is currently the subject of several breach-of-privacy lawsuits.

Photo credit: CreativeCommons.org

Read more...

World Press Freedom Day

Considering the recent conflicts in the Middle East and in Northern Africa, and considering all of the journalists who have been restricted, had their rights confiscated or lost their lives, World Press Freedom Day this year is a significant event.

May 3 is the date, and you can expect to see papers across the world commemorating the special day. A special bundle of editorials and other news material will be made available from WAN-IFRA, or the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

According to Editor's Web Blog, the material's function is "to remind readers of the central role a free press plays in democracy and in economic, cultural, social and political development."

The slogan for this year's event is "Silence Kills Democracy but a Free Press Talks." The words ring out with a special importance this year.

The website for the WAN-IFRA is filled with other ideas for newspapers who want to join in the efforts to remind people everywhere of what the press allows democracies to accomplish.

This year, there has been a special challenge issued to newspapers worldwide. The WAN-IFRA has asked newspapers to run the first page of their papers without any text, showing only white space to demonstrate what the world would be missing without free press.

If you unwrap your newspaper on May 3 and are shocked to see no text, remember what it symbolizes. Without news resources and journalists to give the content, the world would be very different- and inarguably worse off.

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Link at Blogspot.com, via CreativeCommons.org.

Read more...

Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, including journalists too. Although some mistakes may seem minor, they are all important because you can learn from them in the end.

The worst mistake that a journalist can make is to spell names wrong in some peoples opinions. Irene Epstein asks, "How would you like it if the newspaper misspelled your name?" She follows this rule so close to heart that if one of her students misspells a name they get 0 for that assignment. Another mistake with names is mixing up the names.

The next big mistake is to misquote someone. It is important to get what they say correct, especially since it is worth quoting in the first place.

Another mistake is mixing up the facts. Although, it may seem like a minor detail it could make or break the story.

The last common error I am going to bring up is AP Style Book errors. Typing email instead of e-mail or not capitalizing or capitalizing a word.

The most important part of making a mistake is correcting it as soon as you know it is wrong. This will keep you a crediable and respected journalist.

"Mistakes are part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." -Al Franken "Oh, the Things I Know" 2002

Photo Credit Via: Creative Commons

Read more...

Come One, Come All!

Have you ever wanted to connect with other journalists? Have you ever wondered why social media has not yet embraced this idea? Worry no more.

According to a report from Mashable, the use of Facebook in the newsroom is no longer obsolete. The page, Facebook for Journalists, allows media-driven people to connect with others in a way which no other site as done before. Although the number of journalists on Facebook isn't monumentally dominant, this page allows those who want to connect with other writers and broadcasters do just that.

The growth of the world's leading social network in the world of journalism was only a matter of time. Everything in media has to adapt nowadays in order to stay successful. The advantages Facebook presents in the news world are great. It can be a landmine of sources, it can help you share your story, fill a reporter's toolbox with new opportunities, and can be distributed in newer ways in which the original forms could not.

Using this new venture can help us all as media students tremendously. The power of networking, to me, is very undersold to college kids like us. If all of us "like" the Journalists on Facebook page, it may open brand new doors that we may never have imagined. I ask that you do go like the page and explore it, because if you love journalism as much as I do, then you'll appreciate what this newbie can do for your vocation as well.

Photo Credit: Alter-Eco via Creative Commons

Read more...

Some Tips for Future Journalists

So seeing as we are all in BNR together, we are technically all journalism students.

I have been thinking recently about some ways that we could improve our chances of getting a job once out of college, and I ran across this article with a list of tips on how to improve our future success.

The main tip I took from this article is to utilize campus opportunities. This includes everything from on-campus media to internships to talking to professors and upper classmen.

By joining on-campus media, it will give you a chance to get hands-on experience before being tossed out into the professional world, which can give you a boost in the job market over those who did not get involved in on-campus media.

Internships can also help boost your status in the job market, and they can help you create a network, which is another essential part of being a future journalist.

Networking can be enhanced by getting to know your professors and upper classmen as well. By learning from the experience of those who have already been through the media and been involved with it can be very helpful to learning how to do and how not to do things in the future.

The other tip that I found very essential is to have an open mind. Without a willingness to learn new things, especially such things as how to use new media, you are much less likely tobe successful than if you immerse yourself in new media.

For more tips, and more in-depth discussion of the tips that I have mentioned, be sure to visit the article posted above.

Photo credit: via Creative Commons

Read more...

Social Media and Journalism

Nowadays, our society is full of technologies that help people to communicate with each other. The entire world is linked by what we call social media.

Some people and especially journalists consider social media as a source and use them to write stories.

But are social media legitimate sources to journalists?

It is fine for journalists to use social media to spread the information, but journalists should not use social media to find news or at least they have to be really careful during their process.

In journalism, there are six basics sources that can be find through social media

-Newsmakers: people who cause a story to happen

-Spokespeople: people who represents other people

-Experts: specialist in one or several fields that are related to the story

-Official records

-Reference material: online or library sources

-Ordinary people

The last source is the one journalists should be wary.

Indeed, anyone can create a fake story simply to attract attention. That is one power of social media: create a buzz to reach popularity.

It is easily understandable that journalism will become more and more dependent on social media, just as society became dependent of them.

News companies create social websites where people can chat and comment the news.

This is a revolution created by the emergence of the Internet and the tendency people have to use social media everyday for everything.

One day Twitter, Facebook and other social media will be considered as real sources to journalists. They are media after all.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons via Creativecommons.org

Read more...

Edit Efficiently

After working hard on an article, the last thing you want to do is edit your story right away. Editing is viewed as a challenging task at times because not all of us know right from wrong. Therefore, I am going to share with you some tips about how to make editing more efficient.

1.The story arc matters. It is important that you make sure you catch the viewers’ attention instantly. Make the information you are sharing appealing throughout the whole article so you don’t lose your viewers’ interest.

2.Numbers need to be specific. Using the statement “about” never clearly clarifies what you are trying to say. Therefore, be specific with your numbers so your explanation of your statistic is defined clearly.

3.Give attributions. “According to” is not a good statement to use because it is not supportive with your information. Instead, it makes readers hesitant about whether or not you are stating an actual fact. If you do use the words “according to” make sure that the company or person you name after is a known source.

4.Link to sources. When explaining a study that has shown a certain statistic, you should insert a URL address in the article, or at the end. This will then allow people to see the actual statement you are trying to explain to them.

5.Presentation/organization matters. Little random facts that are similar to the topic you are discussing in the article, but not very relevant to it should be mentioned in a sidebar of the article. Do not try to force everything to go together in one piece. Organization allows the reader to follow along easily and not get frustrated with all the clutter.

Photo Credit: CreativeCommons.org

Read more...