Is it just me or is it a crock of shit that all the celebrities from Hollywood want us to donate to Haiti? Yea, some of them have donated and really mean well, but Hollywood could financially support Haiti and then some without any of our help.  Listen, I’m all for helping others out in a time of need and I feel terribly sorry for all those people down there….but when it is all said and done, the Hollywood elite will continue to live in luxury while my sorry ass will try and make ends meat.

Hello all!

As another semester winds down, I thought it would be appropriate to leave you with an example of a great portfolio.  Yes, this is mostly for my classmates in JRN 301, but I think everyone can take something from this.  However, I might be slightly biased in my opinion because the link I am providing is to my cousin’s portfolio.  Search for his name, Jeff Ebner or check him out here at: http://jeffebner.com/

Since many of us will eventually go out into the working-world, what better way to learn than by example.  Anyone that is interested in photo or video journalism could learn from my cousin.  Even if we don’t have any interest in becoming one of those occupations, we can all appreciate the value of quality work.  Yes, I am promoting someone I know, but I am happy to do it.  And I’m pretty sure anyone that takes a look won’t regret it either.

Side note….anyone that clicks the link to Jeff’s blog can notice a strikingly handsome fellow in his Dec. 7th post.

I saw this in today’s New York Post and thought it was worth mentioning:

Suri Roth is a former techer who started The Current Event, a weekly newspaper, 10 years ago.  The purpose of the paper was to better educate her students who were interested in news events around the world.  She produced the first paper on her desktop computer and made photocopies for other teachers to hand out in school.

The paper has been such a success that it now has 45,000 subscribers in some 300 schools across 18 states.  Staffing includes 12 writers, editors, and artists on the payroll and most importantly, her privately owned paper is profitable.

So dont tell Suri Roth that print is dead!  Journalism just has to find the right niche for the demograpic they serve.

I wanted to restate my position just in case I wasn’t articulate in my presentation today.  A lot can happen in five years…..actually alot can happen in a year!  But will the main newspapers fade away?  Absolutely not.  There will no doubt be changes in the industry.  Some will be subtle, others not so much.  But it is the passion and the integrity that drives journalists to report on the stories that matter to us and to them, which will enable the industry to survive.  Can you charge for online content?  Sure, but you better be damn sure that no one can steal your work and post it for free. 

In the age of the internet, it is tough for media outlets to decide whether to charge for their content.   The Wall Street Journal is a perfect example of where the decision can be easily made.  They produce a product/service that has established themselves as the “go to” paper for financials.  There really isn’t any comparable outlet in terms of quality and quantity in what they produce.

Take that example and then look at New York Times.  Sure, the quality and the quantity of what they produce is sound, but do I really want to pay for an online article if I know I can get it for free elsewhere (this is assuming that NYT starts charging for online content).  Lets see…..I can go to Newsday, The Daily News, The New York Post or any other outlet if I dont mind the change in quality.

Yea, I’m curious if Tiger Woods is cheating on his wife, but not to the extent that the media is…geesh.

I really do believe that not for profit models will succeed in the future because the reporting will be an effect of a desire to report, not earn a paycheck.  Couple that with some niche journalism and VOILA, you’ll see an increase in the amount of readership by those people who are actually interested in what an outlet might be reporting.

However, this is only good and dandy if you remember to embrace the aspect of business in your model.  Rosenblum is right when he says give them what they want.  It is important to report on the ideas that normally wouldn’t be popular or in demand, but it shouldn’t be a headline if it causes no one use your outlet as a source for information.  Give them what they want first, but then also include the less popular stories as some might be inclined to actually read them.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now, but I keep forgetting.

Much of the cable news is commentary because they have 24 hours to fill.  But news channels on broadcast networks don’t have that luxury so they must cram in their news in shorter periods of time.  As a consumer, there are reasons that dictate which channels I choose to watch.  But if I want commentary, I go to the cable networks and  if it’s hard news I want, I go to the broadcast networks right?  Well, not so much anymore and here’s the 31,634,848,747,873,103,983 reason why traditional journalism is failing.  It’s because they are trying to emulate the cable networks, but are supposed to remain objective and the public doesn’t like it.

On tonight’s CBS news at 6pm, Chris Wragge said something that I thought was funny, but realized that he was actually providing commentary on a clip.  The clip was showing a gingerbread Whitehouse with a miniature edible representation of bo (the first dog) guarding the front door.  As the clip was ending, Wragge said, “Well, at least someone is guarding the door.”  What he was referring to was the Secret Service slip up that allowed an uninvited couple to crash the state dinner held recently.  Now, I can let this slide because of the nature of the story, but I see and hear this all the time from today’s journalists.  Journalists seem to be interjecting throughout the presentation of the news when they shouldn’t be.  What happened to being objective?!!!!  Let me decide what I want, just give me the facts.  Don’t pamper me with your opinions and tell me how good Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie look together.

Oh yea, isn’t that the whole reason Lou Dobbs got fired?  I’m not defending him, but double standards should not exist.

Lately, I’ve been bombarded with commercials for this product called Flip Video.  The device is a small camcorder that can produce high-definition quality video.  It seems to be very prevalent as of late and I thought to myself, maybe this is part of the new model for journalism.  Like I’ve said before, technology will be shaping the future of journalism whether we like it or not.  But it is important for prospective journalists to embrace and adapt to the new technology, just as journalists did with the radio and television.

I envision journalists-in-training to be able to use devices like this because of their size.  And because of this, there might be more investigative journalists who are able to go under the radar and record news events.  This also might lead to the public being more skeptical of journalists in the future.  We will have to wait and see what happens next.

 

Assume you are planning to become a journalist. Where do you see yourself fitting into “the new media ecosystem”? What kind of job would you look for if you were graduating in December?

Knowing the type of person that I am, I feel that I would excel in an environment in which I was able to debate with others.  Maybe having my own column online or to write for a forum.

My passion is for aviation, hence the photo in my banner.  If I could, my future job would pertain to that industry.  Some have suggested that I could write as an aviation expert for some publication.  If my prediction that journalism moves towards niches and specialized reporting, I would most certainly fit the mold as an aviation buff.  Many times I find articles dealing with aviation inaccurate or misinforming.  I would hope to better explain those situations in the future so that the average person could understand how two pilots could overshoot an airport…etc.

It is important to have a uniform brand.

A better yellow pages online can be the future of journalism?

Online allows for less operational costs (not going to argue there)

A blog has become known as “people who write content online” (but can these people be seen as credible too?)

Hoping to put patch.com in less-wealthy areas because those people need it just as much as the wealthy communities

Okay, but from a business standpoint…..Do you have the ability to actually operate in less wealthy communities without the revenue normally generated from wealthy communities?  This is, after all, how patch.com started right?

The future of journalism is in the business aspect of the working world.

Journalism is frightened of business.

No one is going to create the architecture for the future.  It is up to us to create it.

I think Rosenblum was funny during his presentation, but very right.  Church and state  are no more because it’s too hard to survive.  Like I’ve said in previous posts, we need someone from outside the industry to reinvent the future or else the quality of journalism will die.

Mr. Farnham,

I  think hyper-local news is the way to go for future journalism.  Would you classify patch.com as such, and if not what would it be?

I know this was presented by our last speaker, but where do you honestly see the journalism industry five, ten years from now?

How do you get people hooked on something like patch?

Where does most of your revenue come from?