Sunday, November 2, 2008

Good bye Online Journalism II

They say all good things must come to an end. Saturday marked the last day of my Online Journalism II class. My classmates and I stepped into the course with open minds, yet slightly intimidated by the new software we would learn. After watching our final group presentations, which was a presentation of our multimedia website, I saw how far we’ve come.

The most important lesson I have learned is how to combine multimedia elements to create great journalistic pieces. I have summed it up in this philosophy; use print to explain, use multimedia to show and use interactivities to demonstrate and explain.

My group created a website focusing on the buying process for first time home buyers. There were four major multimedia elements that we added to the site. We used text because it is the foundation for any journalistically sound piece. The text portion of the site shows off our writing and reporting skills. Like Chet Rhodes from the Washington Post reminded us, great websites are no substitute for sound journalism. A podcast served to be an effective element on our website. The podcast featured two lenders and a real estate agent. It is my personal belief that podcasting brings in the “human element”. I feel audio creates validity when accompanied with a text story; you are getting the information right from the source. Videos and narrated slideshows were the last two major elements used to engage our audience. The elements worked well to show the home-buying process over time.

My class mates and I are at the half-way point in our multimedia program. If we take only one concept with us from this program it will be that a great story can be told effectively in many platforms, and still be great journalism.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

At the Washington Post ....


What luck! My VCU classmates and I all became “official” employees at the Washington Post on Friday. Well, at least for ten minutes we were. As mock employees, we were able to participate in a video reporting training session that is usually given to Washington Post reporters.

Chet Rhodes, our host for the evening, gave the brief tutorial. Rhodes is the Assistant Managing News Editor at the washingtonpost.com. Though the concepts of the tutorial were basic, the skills he outlined were essential; especially for traditional print journalism looking to cross into the multimedia world.

There were a few skills that he presented in new ways that I would like share in this blog. One such unique idea was his formula for stand-ups. He believes that with this acronym you can’t go wrong:

WP – Who are we? (Washington Post)

WH – What happened?

WN – What next?

So by using this acronym as a guide, a Washington Post reporter what come up with a stand-up that would sound a little like this:



During my undergraduate broadcast journalism training, my professors drilled the “seven second rule” in our heads. That was the time limit for holding shots when shooting B-roll. Rhodes, however, recommended holding shots for the at least 30 seconds. He emphasized the importance of steady b-roll and urged us to only zoom or pan when not recording.

Of course, rules are meant to be broken. If you feel the urge to pan, Rhodes recommends holding the starting shot for seven seconds, panning slowly, and then holding the closing shot for seven seconds.

Though our “employment” was short-lived, our experience at the Washington Post will surely stay with us a lifetime.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Just be ethical ....

As a part of the Multimedia Journalism graduate program at VCU, we are required to take a course in media law and ethics. During a class discussion, one of my classmates asked if one can truly plagiarize ideas. As she put it, “it is possible for more than one person to have the same idea, is it not unfair to punish someone for having the same creative thought as someone else?” To answer her question our professor gave a local example.

Style Weekly and the Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) both decided to do stories about a candy making company that returned to the area. The Style Weekly article was written and published before the RTD began work on their article.

Trouble brewed after editors at Style Weekly began to compare the creative photography of the RTD to their own. There were two striking similarities. For one, both photographs displayed a stack of three candy pieces against a white background. Secondly, the headline for the Style Weekly article was “Sweet Return”, the headline for the RTD article was “A Sweet Return”.




When Style Weekly informed RTD of the resemblance, the RTD photographer was fired for plagiarism and for breaking the company’s code of ethics.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines ethics as the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession. To govern the practice of journalist, many media professionals turn to the Society of Professional Journalist code of ethics as a guideline. The code has four basic tenants:

1. Seek truth and report it
2. Minimize harm
3. Act independently
4. Be accountable

I applaud RTD for strictly enforcing ethical standards. If instances such as these were able to fall through the cracks, credibility would be lost. As journalist we must do everything to uphold the integrity of our profession.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Internet Savvy: Obama's Secret Weapon

The internet has been one of the key tools used to launch Barack Obama’s historic campaign. The internet has been used before in political campaigns but for Obama, using the web successfully was essential.

He had little name recognition and needed the internet to quickly gather support and money. In fact, when Obama announced that he would be president his website was already fully developed and ready to go. It included on the functions that would allow supporters to meet form groups and of course, it has a tool for online donations.




During the primary season, the Obama campaign’s internet savvy gave Obama many advantages. First off, it was used as a networking to get more volunteers early off. This became very important in caucus states like Iowa. After each small victory, more donations came in which gave him an advantage over direct competitor Hillary Clinton in advertising time and space.

Obama’s campaign has also been able to capture youth support through social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. On the facebook website, Barack Obama has over two million listed supporters. John McCain has a little over 500 thousand supporters. Obama’s internet strategy has proven successful and will surely be used as a diagram for politicians in the future.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The National Press Club discusses the future of journalism

In the past ten years, the field of journalist has evolved. The online platform has changed how audiences retrieve news. On Monday October 6th, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Mass Communications and the National Press Club presented a panel discussion about the future of news media with the emergence of the new platform.

Panel members included:

Nancy Kent, news director at NBC 12

Reid Ashe, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Media General

Bob Sullivan, technology correspondent for msnbc.com

Jeff South, VCU School of Mass Communications associate professor

The hot topic during the discussion was the emergence of citizen journalism and free access to information. Like many industries in America, the field of journalism is taking a hit from economic pressures. These pressures and declining newspaper subscriptions has effected how and what stories are covered. Jeff South told the story of a journalist who had to pay for information about the cost of the new Segway’s used by the Richmond Police Department. He used this example to show how investigative pieces are being reported by bloggers because of costs.

Bob Sullivan encouraged students to blog but felt citizen reporting such as the I-Reports launched by CNN can potentionally pose real dangers to the industry. He believes that false reports by untrained reporters launched on web sites sponsored by news organizations can hurt the reputation of the supporting news service.

Nancy Kent believes legislation that puts limitations on the Freedom of Information Act poses a serious danger to society. The limitations placed on the act restricts the media's access to information. Kent said that citizens do not know that allowing corporations and government entities to disclose information permits these organizations to act in secrecy.

Reid Ashe said that citizens helping journalist is a trend that will not go away. However, he also believes that traditional journalism will not die. This view seemed satisfactory not only to Sullivan’s fellow panel members but also to the future journalists sitting in the audience.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Defamation and the online platform

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.

The First Amendment of the Constitution is a gift that mass communicators in America should never take for granted. With our freedom to freely communicate, there are law put into place to keep communicators from committing defamation. Defamation is an expression that tends to damage a person’s standing in the community through words that attack an individual’s character or professional abilities. There are two types of defamation: Libel which is written defamation and slander which is spoken defamation. Now that online platforms as means of communication has gained popularity, the United States judicial system has seen an abundance of cases regarding online defamation.

One such online defamation case that I recenly came across was Scheff vs. Bock (2006). Carey Bock hired Sue Scheff’s company to help get her kids out of a boarding school in Costa Rica. Scheff referred Bock over to a consultant to get her kids out. The consultant was successful, but apparently Bock was not satisfied with how Bock handled the situation. So to “get her back”, Bock posted defamatory comments on an online forum, calling Scheff a con artist, crook and fraud. So, Scheff sued and was awarded 11.3 million dollars!

This case must be used as a lesson to all mass communicators. Though the internet may be viewed as a more relaxed platform than traditional broadcast and print news, the same defamation laws apply. Many journalists maintain blogs, but it should never be used to propel personal attacks against people they disagree with.

Below is a YouTube clip that explains how to avoid online defamation.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

CNN and Convergence

Never before in the history of political campaigns has voters played such a pivotal role in the presidential election process. This new role was made possible by various multimedia tools available online. During the democratic primaries, CNN held the first ever CNN/YouTube debate. During this debate, the candidates answered questions directly from voters via YouTube. According to YouTube, the candidates answered 39 questions from the 3000 received. The questions were sometimes personal, comical and heartfelt. Most importantly, it gave the candidates the chance to look beyond their campaign and into the eyes and heads of those voting for them. Some believe these YouTubers stole the spotlight and asked the questions “real” people wanted to know, in place of political jargon that most often feels this debate.



I believe CNN seized the popularity of citizen involvement. During the RNC, protestors rallied and CNN were able to keep up with the protestors’ plight by subscribing to the twitter account of many of the organizations protesting. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer read the “tweets” on the air.

CNN also encourages citizens to report their thoughts on the political campaign through what they call I reporters. This past weekend CNN contributor Roland Martin hosted “What they didn’t say at the debate”, a show focused on the plight of middle class Americans. The show featured some of CNN’s top I–Reporters. Instead of shunning the work of bloggers CNN is taking advantage of the new medium and using it to create a convergent brand.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Continuous News Desk Strategies - Guest Speaker Peter Howard

As you know, I am a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University studying Multimedia Journalism. This past weekend Peter Howard, Vice President of Interactive Design at Media General, came to discuss continuous news desk strategies. The purpose of the presentation was to introduce the class to newsroom web strategies. Howard brought valuable information that I felt necessary to share in this blog. Continuous news is just not just breaking news; it’s how to help readers get through the day by producing engaging relevant news and information. A continuous news website is big on utility, which includes features that show traffic, weather and upcoming event updates.

To build an effect continuous news site, it is important to know your audience. Howard showed a diagram created by AR&D Media 2.0 that portrayed the hourly website views for news sites. The diagram showed that views rise at 6 am and decline at 5pm. This led me to conclude that most people, who view news websites, view them at work. This creates a time crunch for the viewer who more than likely is just trying to get a “quick peek” in between work duties. News sites must accommodate this audience by making the headlines clear and concise, videos short, and by making the overall site easy to navigate. TBO.com was given as example of a news site that utilizes these principles.

Below is also an interesting online video, produced by a sports reporter at NBC 17. Howard showed this video as an example of one creates online buzz do to hyper localizing ( It's all about knowing your audience!).

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hurricane Katrina and Multimedia Coverage



Hurricane Katrina changed the way many news organizations report hurricane activity. Because of the damage that Katrina caused coupled with the outcry from the general public, multimedia journalists have taken a new approach to how they report the storms.

Days after Katrina hit, CNN created a special multimedia web page dedicated to the victims of the storm. A slideshow telling the story of a 72 year old man who lost everything headlines the page. Under the slideshow is a link to an interactive graph that shows what facilities are available to citizens still in New Orleans. This was not only a great way to keep citizens informed, but was also a way to make volunteer groups aware of the current need in the area.

On the storm’s anniversary the network shows the progress of the New Orleans and Biloxi’s revitalization through video, interactive maps and slideshows.

They also allow citizen journalist they are calling “I-Reporters” to post video blogs about the progress of their city.



The I-Reporters also give testimonials about the toll Katrina has taken on their life and on the lives of those around them.

The most interesting slideshow I have encountered regarding Katrina was created by a reporter at the Washington post. The slideshow was narrated by a young girl whose family was displaced by Katrina. The slideshow incorporates both still photos and video.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

My Podcast on Podcast Use!

Three reasons why I feel podcast could enhance an education:

1. All or part of a class lecture can be posted online for students to use as a study aid. This will help students to supplement any class notes with information that they may have missed

2. It can be used for supplemental information. If there are students who have a particular need in a subject area but class time is not permitting to address that need, students can access the podcast. This will free up time for teachers and help lagging students catch up with their peers

3. Teachers can teach students to produce podcast on their own. Not only to use as a way to enhance any multimedia presentation, but to also teach students that they have a voice that deserves to be heard.


Friday, September 5, 2008

News Minute

News minute highlights:

- Tropical Storm Hannah
- Oldest gorilla in activity
- Art in the Alley revitalizes Shockhoe Bottom

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Palin creates online buzz!

Over the last few days many faithful republicans have made themselves freely available to the media to explain why Sarah Palin is qualified to be Vice President of the United States.

Before the official announcement, many republicans (and most of the United States for that matter) had no idea who Palin was. Yet, the McCain camp is claiming that Palin is indeed the most famous governor in the United States!



There are also those who say that John McCain’s shock appeal is apart of his "maverick" style. But, with an economy in recession and troops in Iraq, do we have time for a potential president to play rebel?

No matter how you feel about McCain’s decision, one thing is for sure: bloggers and traditional media sites are having a field day. CNN’s Jack Cafferty wrote a blog about McCain’s decision and asked readers to respond. In less than two hours there were over eleven thousand posts.



Many left wing bloggers are praising McCain’s decision.

Surprised?

Well, its not because they agree with the decision but because they believe that McCain’s VP choice might have handed the presidential election over to Obama.

MyDD blogger “desmoinesdem” wrapped up the Democratic sentiment in one statement:

If today is John McCain's birthday, why did he give us a present?

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Public Servant?

It was a rare moment on the Obama campaign. Three black men and two white women began interrupted Obama’s campaign speech in St Petersburg, Florida. The group held up a sign and began to yell “What about the black community”.



In protest of the group’s heckling, the audience began to yell. “Yes we can.” (Yes, we can what?)After calming down the audience Obama asked the group to wait till the end and he will address their concerns. A campaign worker then went over and took the sign (which I believe was totally wrong) and Obama with his Mr. Grinch like grin started his speech again.

During question and answer time the men were allowed to speak about their concerns. They charged Obama with ignoring critical issues that has affected the black community like Hurricane Katrina and the killing of Sean Bell. Obama then began to defend his position by stating that he immediately sent out statements regarding these issues.

The hecklers were not pleased and said he ignored the issues. Obama responded by telling the young man that he does not like the way he handled the situations then maybe he need to run for office.

A democracy is by the people and for the people. Or so they say .... If the people feel there needs are not being met they have every right to confront the people that have been put in place to serve the people. For Obama to tell the guy “if you don’t like the way I handled it them maybe you should run” was WRONG! We live in a state where public servants are here to serve their ego and own personal gain.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Meet the McCain Women ... all of them ....

So we've all seen numerous photos of the McCain women. This photo was featured in People magazine. To the left you see Cindy McCain and in the middle and to the right you see John McCain’s mother Roberta and oldest daughter Meghan.




Again here is another photo of the women together as one big happy family when featured on ABC news.



But where is Bridget? …

Bridget who? Well I’m glad you asked …

Bridget was adopted by Presidential hopeful John McCain and his wife Cindy McCain in 1993 when Bridget was 10 weeks old.



Cindy was visiting a Bangladesh orphanage with Mother Teresa and other medical personnel when Cindy met Bridget. Mother Teresa convinced Cindy to take Bridget back with her to the U.S. to receive medical care. When Cindy returned to the U.S. with Bridget in tow, she told John, “Say hello to your new little daughter.”


So why isn’t Bridget featured in any pictures or even mentioned on the campaign trail? Could they be afraid of any racial scrutiny that Bridget may be subjected to? Are they indeed proud to show young Bridget as apart of their family?

Bridget McCain did a recent interview with Scholastic News Online, a publication for kids and by kids in the article Bridget says she rather be at home enjoying high school and her friends. With all the drama that political candidates’ children endure, then McCain may have had the right idea in mind … may have ……

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Satire or Tasteless?


The New Yorker calls it satire ... Many call it plain disgusting.



This week's cover of the New Yorker shows the Obama’s in the oval office: Barack Obama in traditional Muslim attire and Michelle Obama rocking a 1960’s afro, wearing boots and carrying an assault rifle. An American flag is burning in the fire place and a picture of Osama Bin Laden hangs neatly on the wall.

Both the Obama and McCain political camps agree that the cover is tasteless.

The magazine, however, says the magazine is satire and that the cover “combines a number of fantastical images about the Obama’s and shows them for the distortions they are”. The also add that satire is apart of what they do.

Some agree with magazine.

The Huffington Post says the magazine pokes fun at ignorance and opens up a forum of discussion.

We do indeed have freedom of speech but in the spirit of fairness the New Yorker should design a cover that pokes fun of the McCain camp. If they want to poke fun at stereotypes show McCain sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by an over made-up Cindy as he breaths deeply in an oxygen tank.

There is indeed a fine line between good satire and flat out tasteless mockery.

This TV shirt sold on the streets by a TV shirt vendor is a clear example of when “joking” goes too far. Holding the shirt is an angry protester.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Jesse Jackson's " Nutty" Comment

“I can just rip his _____ off". I know you've heard about the comments by now so you can fill in the blank. In fact on Anderson Cooper 360, the clip was played 4 times in one hour. Yes, everyone one agrees that his words chosen showed lack of taste.




However I feel that it is important to look past word usage, vulgar or not, and look at what Jesse Jackson was saying. Does Barack Obama indeed speak down to black people?

The issue stemmed from Barack Obama comments on Father's Day in African American church where he addressed the ever increasing problem of father abandonment within the African American community. Jesse Jackson believes that if Barack Obama addresses issues in the black community, then issues in the white community need to also be addressed, Latino community and so forth when he speaks to those groups. When addresses others why are African Americans given messages of condemnation when others are given a message of hope and change. Is this an unfair analysis of Obama?

Opponents of this view of Obama say that Jackson’s comments were made from pure jealousy. Though I do not know the motivation of Obama’s words it hard to deduce that from a two sentences made about Obama. However, these opponents do make a valid point regarding the speech made by Barack on father’s day. They ask: If Obama is not the right person to address the issue of single mothers due to father abandonment within the black community than who is? Why ignore an oozing sore? Everyone sees it and ignoring the problem will not make it go away.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Can YOU be president?


Last Sunday General Wesley Clark, Obama’s military advisor said that McCain’s military experience did not qualify him to be president.

"Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,"

In response Senator McCain’s campaign called Clarks remarks as sad and represents the lowest form of politics. They also called the comment an attack on McCain’s military experience and war record.


Of course, in the fashion of good politics, Obama responded to the McCain camp with a well-crafted made in front a cheering Missouri crowd.

“… No one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters of both sides .We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period."

Obama’s attempt to clear the air did not stop some democrats from protesting the attack on General Clark. They feel there is nothing wrong with what was said.

McCain backers found no peace with Obama’s words and asked what Obama has done to qualify him as president of the United States

So what qualifies a person to become president of the United States of America?

No it’s not wealth or an Ivy league education … which many Americans might quickly assume if leaning on the credentials of our last few presidents ….

Here’s the answer:
1. Age- must be at least 35 years old
2. Citizenship- Must be a natural born United States citizen
3. Residency- must have lived in one of the 50 states for 14 years


So both sides need to give it a rest. Both McCain and Obama meet the qualifications ….

Does anyone other than me think the qualification list needs to be revised?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Will the real “Christian” presidential nominee please stand up!

It does not matter who you talk or what region of the United States you go, everyone agrees that Bush won the 2004 election because of evangelical Christians. Issues like abortion and gay marriage took precedence over the war in Iraq and our failing economy. Though Bush promised a conservative approach to these issues,little has been done in his two terms to promote or propel the Christian cause.

Entering a new season with the 2008 election quickly approaching the Christian agenda does not seem to be on the forefront. Why is that? Could it be that Christians feel disappointed with what has occurred in America and are clinging on to the “change for America” message that all the candidates seem to promise? Or could it be that there is a new generation of Christians who don’t see the issues of old (gay marriage, abortion, prayer in schools) as important. Before getting to deep into this.. Let’s first define what a Christian is. With the abundance of denominations and belief systems within Christiandome, who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong. How can “Christians” stand for anything if they are divided?

Obama has made headlines recently for making references to the bible in a 2006 speech. Many Christian leaders found the comments offensive.
Obama: "Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy?" Obama asked in the speech. "Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?

He also called Jesus' Sermon on the Mount "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our Defense Department would survive its application."

In response James Dobson, Focus on the Family founder, and evangelical leader said this:

"He oughta read the Bible. He is deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview."

Some Christians, in response to Dobson’s’ comments created this website;

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/
asking Christians everywhere that agree with Obama to sign the petition stating that James Dobson does not represent their view.

Obama also had this to say in response to Dobson’s comments:

"Any notion that I was distorting the Bible in that speech, I think anyone would be hard pressed to make that argument"

No matter what denomination you are the basis of Christian theology is the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

“ I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me” John 14:6
Obama told the Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani, that he believes there are many ways to God. Is it fair for him to call himself a Christian with this belief? Why does he not call himself a Universalist?

Many African Americans have supported Obama making generous contributions to his campaign. This includes religious leaders within the black community. Bishop T.D Jakes, for example, recently endorsed Obama.

Is it hypocritical to endorse Obama and his liberal stance when in 2004 evangelicals voted for Bush to stand up against the same issues that Obama supports? Will black church leaders change their views or will Obama’s blackness cover the “sin”?

What it means to be a Christian in America has become very vague in today’s society. But then again has it ever been clear?


Saturday, June 21, 2008

Are the Candidates bringing SEXY back?



While some presidential candidate supports argue over which candidate has the right plan to change the country; others are arguing over who the “sexiest” candidate or ex-candidate is. In fact all out war has broken out in the blogosphere over the issue.
Barack Obama has gained rock star status in some places, women screaming and oohing and aaahing every time he takes his jacket off. John McCain has women dedicated to showing that he’s a hottie. Hillary Clinton was in the limelight for some time after she showed a little bit of cleavage.
The question remains: Is the deep infatuation among their admirers genuine? Or are these bloggers and you-tubers just wanting attention? The official/ unofficial Obama girl got tons of media attention over the "I got a crush on Obama Video.” I wouldn’t doubt that from the gig, the inspiring actress had job offers thrown her way. Would these hopeless “romantics” have endless for these individuals if they were their local mail man or dump truck driver? Of course, infatuation with presidents is nothing. Ronald Reagan and JFK was the apple of many American’s eye. Even Alexander Hamilton has a group on facebook dedicated to college girls who absolutely adore the $10 bill model.
If the presidency was based on looks only forget Obama and McCain … Mario Lopez has my vote!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Why? Oh Why Michelle? Please don't say it ... No!


After months of campaigning for her husband, Michelle Obama made a comment that not only costed her husband votes in the democratic primaries, but also created the perfect play ground for you-tubers and bloggers.

"Hope is making a comeback and, let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change."

Michelle Obama has since done several interviews explaining her comments, trying to convince the masses that she indeed loves and cherishes the country that has given her so much. However this has done little to keep the blogs from being written and videos being posted about her “unpatriotic” ways.

John McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, used the comment as the perfect opportunity to show her patriotism.

Many republicans jumped on the patriotic boat and began to create videos showing their “American Pride”.

Barack Obama has had his own “unpatriotic" drama. Claims have been made that he refused to say the pledge of Allegiance at an event. He also been questioned about how often he wears an American flag pin.

Though these issues will not fix the economy or provide solutions in regards to our international relations; it sure to take first stage during this general election campaign.

So Michelle, for your comments either intentional or not, you get this week's "Why oh Why did I say that " award.

Do you believe Michelle Obama is Proud to be an American?