Chapter Summaries for “Journalism Next”
Chapter 1 – “We Are All Web Workers Now”:
It is no secret that more than ever, people are using the Internet. Most of us have been since grade school. And there is no sign that the web will every stop being used. As simple as it may sound to use the web, but it is more complex than we like to think.
When using the Internet, you must use what is called a browser. You know these as Internet Explorer, FireFox and Safari just to name a few. These browsers allow their users to view websites and search engines. A search engine is an online data base. You can type in different search words or topics and the search engine will fine web sites about the topic you wish to search.
Some search engines are:
Once on a web site, you will be able to access different information. Some web sites will have an RSS Feed. An RSS Feed is a graphic on a web site that has links inside it that update often and sometimes daily. For example, you can see the RSS Feed for Rolling Stone to the right on this page.
A link is another web site that a website will suggest you visit and therefore links you to other web sites.
You can also create your own web site. Web sites are written in codes. On the code is written, is turns into graphics and the web site is ready to be used.
Chapter 9 – “Data-Driven Journalism and Digitizing Your Life”:
Journalism has evolved overtime. Journalism is no longer confined to ink and paper. News can be received via television, but it can also now be accessed by the masses online. Now more than ever, if you want to be a journalist, you must know how to use the Internet to get your stories out there. It is also a must for journalist to have the contents of their computer organized. However, knowing the content of your computer is important for anyone using one.
It is very import to keep your emails organized. It can be very confusing having upwards of one hundred or more emails in your inbox at one time. You can create folders for the different types of emails you receive. These folders can be for your work, school or personal emails. You can also organize your email address. You can bloke emails you done want and only receive the ones that you do. It saves time and frustration.
You can organize other things on your computer as well. You can create calendars to keep schedules in order, you can create address books, create folders for pictures, videos and documents. You can also create spread sheets.
Keeping your computer organized may sound boring and time consuming. However, you can also organize more interesting things such as maps. There are programs that allow you to create maps of different place. You can us a map you’ve created to organize a trip or you can create if for fun.
Chapter 2 – “Advanced Blogging”:
Just because you’re not a journalist doesn’t mean you can’t write about the news. Many people all over the world have begun the keep blogs. Blogs are short writings that are kept updated on a regular bases by it’s blogger. Blogs can be about any subject such as weather, sports, politics, or personal reasons such as a weight loss progress.
For journalist, blogs can be a very quick way to upload a story. In the news world, the faster information can be past on to the masses, the better. Not only can a journalist upload text to their blog, but they can upload picture, video and RSS Feeds. It is all about getting the news to it’s consumers in the most efficient way possible.
Some blogging websites that are available are:
FYI: WordPress is what this site and blog was created on.
Chapter 4 – “Microblogging–Write Small, Think Big”:
As in chapter 2, this chapter is also about blogs. As was said in chapter 2, blogs are kept short. However, when microblogging, you must make your posts even shorter than a regular blog post.
One web site you can create a microblog on is Twitter. You can only post 140 character (a.k.a letters, spaces and symbols) into each post at a maximum. You still post what you would post in a longer blog such as politics, sports, personal stories, etc. It is just a must shorter way of doing it.
You can also upload video and photos to a microblog just as you can to a regular blog. One the these web sites is Tumblr. Here, you can post a sentence or two telling the reader what the video will be about or information about the picture.
Similarly, FriendFeed is another multimedia microblog. On this web page, which works much like Tumblr, you can post like you can Twitter. Think of it as Twitter and Tumblr in one.
It can be very fun to have a microblog. It helps you to keep friends and family. It can also up you to keep up with the world and what’s happening in it. Blogging is just one of many ways to use the wonderful tool that is the Internet.
Chapter 5 – “Going Mobile”:
Now, more than ever, cell phones can me used for more that just making calls. Cell phones have many different tools. These tools can be used for fun, of course. However, now more than ever, these tools can be used in very practical ways to advance yourself as a journalist.
If you are at a news worthy event, whether it be planned or breaking news, you can report it from your cell phone. Most cell phones have a camera in them. Some can take just photos but others are able to shoot video as well. If you are at a scene that is news worthy, just pull out your cell phone and start taking pictures or shooting footage. You can then send it to persons in you phone’s address book or even upload it to the internet via a blog or a video web site such as Youtube. If you happen to not have a camera in your cell phone, you can send text messages to your contacts about what you are seeing and hearing.
If you happen to have your laptop with you, you can send out by text what you are seeing or hearing via a blog or a microblog. It can be a very fast way to report the news.
Some web sites you can upload news videos to are:
Chapter 6 – “Visual Storytelling with Photographs”:
When writing a story, it is good to remember that words are not the only medium that can convey you message. As stated in Chapter 5, you can use video and photos to tell the story along with text. However, sometimes, a story only needs it’s images in order to convey it’s meaning to the reader.
Taking a picture does not have to be as simple as taking a quick snap shot. You can practice taking pictures in different types of lights, take them with the flash on different levels of brightness as well as leaving the flash on.
You can also practice taking pictures with you’re camara’s zoom feature(s). You can zoom in very close up on an object to see how the details of the object come out verses taking the photo from far away.
Once you have taking your pictures, you can upload them to your computer. There are photo editing programs that can be purchased for you computer. Two are Photoshop and Soundslides. These programs will allow to add effects to your photos such as shape, color, and text.
You can also create slide shows on you computer of your photos. A slide show is like a video, but with picture. You can set hope fast or slow you want each picture to appear. You can also set the slide show to music.
There are web sites you can upload your photos to as well. One such site is Flickr.
Chapter 3 – “Crowned-Powered Collaboration”:
As several chapters have previously talked about, blogging can be a fast and easy way to upload news worthy stories to the web. With this in mind, it is now time to introduce you to yet another type of blogging.
Beatblogging. Yes, this may sound like an odd type of blogging, but as BeatBlogging puts is, beat blogs are blogs that stay consitisant with it’s topics. It can be part of a larger blog and/or web site. It can also stand alone as it’s own web site or blog.
With beat blogging, you can blog about anything that you wish. If you’re into sports, you can link a sports journalist’s blogs and stories to your beat blog. If you are into music, you can link a recording artist’s blog or news feed to your beat blog as well.
Some examples of link journalism are:
Some beat blogs take the form of a local community page. These sites allow you to veiw events and other community news. For example, there is Neighborsgo which is Dallas based and Mycommunitynow which is Milwaukee based. Try to find one for your community. I’m sure you’ll find one!
Chapter 10 – “Managing News as a Conversation”:
As many of these chapters have talked about, there are many ways to be involved in the news as a journalist and even for those who are not journalists. This chapter goes along the same lines.
You can be a part of a news event even if you are not reporting the event. You can follow news stories on web sites such as CNN and MSNBC daily. These news sites allow their users to leave comments about the stories on the site. By leaving a comment on these stories, you are actively participating in the news.
You can also join a social networking site. A social networking site is just as it sounds. You can socialize with friends, family, and also follow news on these sites. You can comment on news stories as well as discuss them with friends and family. Some social networking sites are:
You can also create a niche social networking site. A niche social networking site is a social networking site that allows it’s users to discuss topics that they are interested in and allows them to find other users that share the same interests. One such site is Ning.
Chapter 11 – Building a Digital Audience for News:
As a consumer of news, it is very important to understand how news web sites work. The more you understand how to navigate these web sites, the better you will receive the news you want to see. To find out how a news web site works, look around on it. Look at each of the sections of the web site and see what kind of news they have to offer. See if the site and the links fit you and the news you want to know.
You can also try searching for news web sites under key words in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. For example, you can type in “new york news” and see if The New York Times comes up as a search result. You can also see what social media channels link to news sites.
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