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0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMarkBriggscontact@journalism20.
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0:HowtoSurviveandThrive"(2007).
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edu/oa_textbooks/2Journalism2.
0isaninitiativeofJ-Lab:TheInstituteforInteractiveJournalism,acenteroftheUniversityofMarylandPhilipMerrillCollegeofJournalism,andoftheKnightCitizenNewsNetwork,whichisfundedbytheJohnS.
andJamesL.
KnightFoundation.
JanSchaffer,EditorSteveFox,MichaelWilliams,CraigStone,ContributingEditorsDesign:WendyKelly,wlkdesign.
com2007MarkBriggsThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.
5License.
MMaarrkkBBrriiggggssMarkBriggsisarecoveringsportswriterwhodiscoveredwhattheInternetcoulddoforjournalismin1998andhasbeensharinghisenthusiasmwithwhomeverwilllisten(andsomewhowon't)eversince,contributingtotextbooks,seminarsandconferencesonthetopic.
HisdayjobisAssistantManagingEditorforInteractiveNewsatTheNewsTribuneinTacoma,Washington.
HehasservedasEditorofthenewstribune.
comsince2004,whenhewashiredasStrategyandContentManagerforInteractiveMedia.
HecametoTacomafromEverett,Washington,whereheledonlineoperationsatTheHeraldasContentManager,NewMediaTeamLeaderandNewMediaDirector.
Duringhisfouryearsthere,TheHeraldreceivedseveralregionalandnationalawardsforonlineinnovation.
Hehascontributedtotextbooks,seminarsandconferencesonnewmediaandjournalism,andsomeoftheprojectshehasledhavewonregionalandnationalawards.
In2002,BriggsreceivedtheJamesK.
BattenInnovatorAward,andprojectsheledatTheHeraldwonfirstplaceforinnovativeuseofthemediumin2003and2004.
Hehasamaster'sdegreeinjournalismfromtheUniversityofNorthCarolinaandabachelor'sdegreefromGonzagaUniversity.
HehasalsoservedasanadjunctprofessoratSeattleUniversity.
HelivesinTacomawithhiswife,sonanddaughter.
FundedbytheJohnS.
andJamesL.
KnightFoundationJournalism2.
0HowtoSurviveandThriveAdigitalliteracyguidefortheinformationageWrittenbyMarkBriggsForewordbyPhilMeyerEditedbyJanSchafferAninitiativeofJ-LabandtheKnightCitizenNewsNetwork"Canyousendanattachmentwithane-mailThenyouhavewhatittakestopublishablogwithpictures.
"—MarkBriggs2Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveJanSchafferandIfirstmetin2001,whenthenewspaperIwasworkingfor(theHeraldinEverett,Wash.
)wonagrantfromthePewCenterforCivicJournalismtoattemptaninteractive,clickablemapforaseriesofstoriesaboutwaterfrontdevel-opment.
Thankstohersupport,theprojectwasdevelopedandbecameaninstantsuccess.
Itwonnationaljournalismawardsandwasemulatedbyothernewsorgani-zations,but,mostimportant,ithelpedsteerthedirectionofwaterfrontdevelop-mentinEverett,givingthecommunitygreaterinputintoitslocalfuture.
Now,sixyearslater,sheisstillmakingthingshappenforjournalistsandcommu-nitiesasdirectorofJ-Lab.
WhilewewerehavingdinnerinSeattleinAprilof2006,ImentionedthetrainingseriesIhadlaunchedinthenewsroominTacoma.
Irememberherresponse:"Youshouldwriteabook.
"AndsoIdid.
Thankstoherskillfulediting,andthethoughtfulinputandformerwashington-post.
comeditorSteveFox,IhavecobbledtogetherwhatIhopeisausefulguideforworkingjournalistswhoarereadytoembracethedigitalage.
MuchcreditgoestothekeeneditingofAssociateProfessorMichaelI.
Williams,oftheUniversityofMaryland'sMerrillCollegeofJournalism,andJ-Lab'sCraigStone.
MycolleaguesatTheNewsTribunealsodeservethanks,forlettingmedoalittle"moonlighting"withthisproject,andforsupplyingthereal-worldexperiencesthatdrovethecontent.
CherylDell,DavidZeeck,KarenPeterson,BillHunter,ColeCosgrove,LauraGentry,JeffHendrickson,CraigSailor,RickArthur,MikeSando,andsomanyothershavemadethispossible,andcontinuetohelpmehelpevery-oneinthenewsroominthisongoingevolution.
Othersmartanddedicatedprofessionalswerekindenoughtooffertheirexpertisetotheproject,includingMindyMcAdams,KirstenKendrick,JoanneLisosky,RobWells,JessicaLuppino,MarilynPittman,KenSands,TomWolfe,HowardOwens,JohnCook,JonathanDube,andC.
MaxMagee.
Andnoneofthiswouldbepossiblewithouttheloveandsupportofmywife,Lori,andthepatienceofmychildren,SamandEllie,whileIchippedawayatthisoverseveralmonths.
-MarkBriggsAcknowledgments3Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive4Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveByPhilMeyerMostofthethingsthatIneededtoknowformyTwentiethCenturyjournalismcareerIlearnedinhighschool,andtheyarestillusefultoday:Touchtyping,writingasimpledeclarativesentence,respectforscientificmethodandtheBillofRights.
Myschoolwastoosmalltoofferaphotographycourse,soItaughtmyselfoutofalibrarybookandbyhelpingateachershootgroupphotosfortheyearbookwithapre-AnniversarySpeedGraphic.
ScientificmethodandtheBillofRightsare,ofcourse,eternal.
Thetechnologyofcommunicationisnot.
Myself-taughtdarkroomskillsareobsoletetoday,althoughtouchtypingandshoot-ingpictures(knowingwhentopushthebutton)arestillimpor-tant.
Meanwhile,thedigitalagehasbroughtforthacornucopiaofnewtools.
Tryingtoteachjour-nalismisfrustratingwhenneitherfacultynorstudentscanpredictwhichofthenewtechnicaltoolswillbeuseful,whatkindofspe-cialistswillbeneededtousethem,andhowthosespecialtieswillbemanaged.
Andyet,managementskillsmightbethekeytothefuture.
Astechnologybegetsspecializa-tion,wewillneedskilledman-agerstodirecttheoutputofallthosespecializedtaskstowardacoherentwhole.
Theoldadage,"Agoodreporterisgoodany-Scholar,researcherandteacherPhilipMeyeristheKnightChairinJournalismintheSchoolofJournalismandMassCommunicationattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill.
His1973book,"PrecisionJournalism,"waslistedbyJournalismQuarterlyasoneof35sig-nificantbooksofthe20thCenturyonjournalismandmasscommunication.
Thefourtheditionwaspublishedin2002.
Hismostrecentbookis"TheVanishingNewspaper:SavingJournalismintheInformationAge,"publishedin2004.
In1967,MeyerwasdetachedfromtheKnightRidderWashingtonBureautotheDetroitFreePresstoreportontheDetroitriot.
Hisapplica-tionofsocialscienceresearchmethods,learnedinHarvard'sNiemanFellowshipprogram,helpedthestaffwinthePulitzerPrizeforgenerallocalreporting.
KnightRidderlatermovedhimtocorporateheadquarterstoapplythosemethodstonewspa-permarketingandthedevelopmentofanearlyelectronicinformationservicecalledViewtron.
His1985book,"TheNewspaperSurvivalBook,"isbasedonthatwork.
Foreword5Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivewhere,"isnolongersoconvincing.
Weneedgoodreporterswhocanbringappro-priatetoolstobearonconstantlychangingsituations.
Inthisenvironment,journalistswhocandomorethanonethingwellwillbeindemand.
Economicsanddeadlinepressureswillensureit.
MarkBriggsistheassistantmanagingeditorforinteractivenewsattheTacomaNewsTribune.
Inthatjob,hecanseetheproblemupclose.
Althoughheholdstwojournalismdegrees,themostrecentin2000,hehadtoeducatehimselftousethecurrenttoolsofdigitalmedia.
Hequicklysawthathisjobwouldbeeasierifmoreofthepaper'sstaffhadworkableknowledgeofmoreofthetools.
Andsohewrotethisbook.
Youcanuseitlikeacookbook.
Therearerecipes,up-to-date,forallkindsofthingsdigital.
WhenIreadit,Ikeptwantingtostopandtrysomething,forinstance,settingupanRSSfeed,convert-ingmyoldaudiotapestoMP3files,andchangingmydefaultbrowsertoMozillaFirefox.
(Thereissomeironyhere,becausethisvolumeisarousingreaffirmationofthebookasaninformationretrievaldevice.
Itscontentcanbeaccessedinanyorder,connecttimeisfree,andyoucancarryittothecoffeeshop.
)Journalismschoolsarestrugglingthesedayswiththeissueofhowdeeplytoletstudentssinkintospecialties.
Thegatheringconsensusisthateveryoneshouldknowhowtodoonethingwellbutbeabletoworkatleastinthemarginsoftheothercrafts.
Butastechnologyandmediaeconomicspushustowardplatformconvergence,anewmodelemerges:Thejournalistwhoisajackofalltradesandmasterofnone,apersonwhocanwrite,shoot,edit,talk,andlookgoodoncam-erawithacompetencethatmightnotbegreatbutisgoodenough.
Agoodreporterwouldberedefinedasonewhoisgoodenoughinanymedium.
Ifthatpictureseemstoounlikely,wecanatleastbecertainthatversatilitywillberewarded.
Andbecausetechnologykeepschanging,journalismschoolsmightdobetteriftheywouldfocuslessonthecraftandconcentrateonbasictheoryofmasscommunicationanditseffects.
SuchaconcernforfirstprinciplesmightproducemorejournalistslikeMarkBriggs,whoknowhowtokeeponlearningandrevisingthecraftthroughouttheircareersand,ashedemonstrateswiththisvolume,helptheirpeerstolearn.
.
.
.
journalistswhocandomorethanonethingwellwillbeindemand.
"Inprintit'seasytofeelyouareatoddswithreadersbecausepeoplewillfindonelittlethingwrong.
Soasajournalistyougetdefensive.
Thereadersonablogchimeinandhelpyou.
Theywantyoutogetthestoryright.
"—BenMutzabaughUSAToday.
comBusinessTravelcolumnistIntroduction:ASmoothSeaNeverMadeaSkilledSailorChapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
Chapter2:Web2.
0Chapter3:ToolsandToysChapter4:NewReportingMethodsChapter5:HowtoBlogChapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWebChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingChapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosChapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStoriesChapter10:BasicVideoEditingChapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-oversEpilogue:PuttingitAllTogetherAppendix:ScriptforHurricaneFamilyFeatureContents81125344152626980891001151211258Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveASmoothSeaNeverMadeaSkilledSailorThisisabookaboutpeople,nottechnology.
Sure,there'salotoftechnologyinthepagestofollow,butifyouboilitalldowntoitscore,itsessence,you'llfindpeopletryingtoextendanobleandgroundedcraftintoanewandunpredictablelandscape.
Andit'sthepeoplewhomatter,notthelatestsoftwareorWebsite.
Ifthepeopleinthisequationlearnhowmaketechnologyworkforthem,therestisjustdetails.
Asjournalists,weneedtochangeourpracticestoadapt,butnotourvalues.
We'relikesailorsintheEnglishproverbIchoseforthetitletothisintroduction:Noamountofwishingforareturntosmoothseaswillcalmthewateraroundus.
Tocarrythesailingmetaphorevenfurther:It'stimetotack.
It'stimetoturnthebowofourshipandmakethewindinthisnewseaworkforus,notagainstus.
We'llusethebestpracticesofotherworkingjournaliststopointtheway.
We'lldrawfromthegroundbreakingandinnovativeworkbeingdoneatnewspapers,radioandtelevisionstationsandWebsitesaroundtheU.
S.
Wecanlearnfromtheirexperiences.
AsBenjaminFranklinfamouslysaid,"Whenyou'refinishedchanging,you'refinished.
"ThefutureisnowThere'sneverbeenabettertimetobeajournalist.
Thatmightsoundoddconsid-eringhowmanynewspaperjournalistslosttheirjobssince2000(3,000),1buttherehasneverbeenatimethatofferedsomanypowerfulwaystotellstoriesandservereaderswithinformation.
Ifyoulovejournalism,youhavetolovehav-ingmoretoolsatyourdisposal,moreinteractionwithyouraudienceandtheneardisappearanceoftraditionalconstraintsoftimeandspace.
Introduction9Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveSure,timesaretoughonthebusinessside.
Ifyouthinkaboutprintnewsproducts—dailyandweeklynewspapersandmagazines—inmarketingterms,everyoneknowsabouttheseproductsandknowshowtousethem.
Asamarketer,that'sanenviablepositiontobeinwhentryingtosellsomething.
Yetsalesaredecliningeveryyear(oreverymonthatsomepublications).
WhyOnereasonisthatthedigitaleconomyhastransformedthatmarketplacefornewsandinformationfromoneofscarcitytooneofabundance(seeChrisAnderson's"TheLongTail"2).
Intoday'slandscapemanypeopledon'twanttopayafewpennieseverydayforaproducttheymaynotuseeverydayandtheyhavetodisposeofeveryday.
Butthisproductinallitsforms—journalism—isworthsaving.
Itcreatescom-munityonsomanylevels.
Anditcreatesmarketplacesthatareessentialtothecontinuingviabilityofentirecompanies.
Newspapershadavirtualmonopolyontheirmarketplacesfordecades.
That'sendingnowsothetrickistocreatenewmarketplacesbeforeoldonescompletelydisappear.
Notnecessarilytoreplacethemrightaway,buttocomplementandsupportthem.
"Nolongerarewepurelymediacompanies;wemustbecometechnologycompa-nies,too,andthatmeanswemustraiseourtechnologyIQtocompeteinadigi-tallytransformedworld,"MichaelRiley,formereditorofTheRoanoke(Va.
)Times,wroteintheDecember2006issueofNiemanReports.
"Abigpartofoursuccesswillbetiedintorethinkingwhattypeofpeoplewehire.
Thepremium,movingforward,willrestonattractingmoreinnovatorsintoourmidstandfindingwaystogivethemthefreedomandthebackingtheyneedtoexperimentandhelpmoveusintoanewrealminwhichwecanpreservethejournalismandmakearobustbusinessmodelwork.
"He'sright.
Weneednewanddifferentthinkinginnewsorganizationstosurviveandthriveinthisnewmedialandscape.
Butthatdoesn'thavetomeannewanddifferentpeople.
ThisinnovativethinkingcouldcomefromthesamesmartanddedicatedpeoplewhohavethrivedpracticingjournalismsincebeforetheInternetchangedthegame.
Youjustneedtoknowtherules,thetermsandthemotivation.
Introduction10Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveYoucandothisCanyoucutawordinyourcopyandpasteitintoadifferentlocationtohelpthesentenceflowThenyouhavewhatittakestoeditaudioandvideo.
Canyousendanattachmentwithane-mailThenyouhavewhatittakestopublishablogwithpictures.
Withalittlepracticeandexperience,digitaljournalismwillactuallysaveyoutime.
Talktoanynewspaperreporterswhohavesuccessfulblogsandaskthemifittakesmoretimeoutoftheirweekbecausethey'redoing"extra"work.
Theanswerlikelywillbe"no.
"HowcanthatbeTheblogturnsouttobeagreatorganizationaltoolforbeatreporters.
It'sanotebookkeptinthepublicspheresoreportersknowwhichtopicshave"juice,"helpingthemprioritizethesto-riestheyshouldworkon.
GofindsomeonewhoworksontheWebsiteforanewscompa-ny.
Askthemhowtheylearnedtodowhattheydo.
InalmostallcasesIwouldwagerthattheyareself-taught.
It'ssimplytheresultofwantingtolearnsomethingnew.
That'sthesecret:Ifyoutrulywanttolearnhowtododigitaljournalism,youwill.
Remember,thisisaboutpeople,nottechnology.
Thishandbookwillguideyoualongtheway,breakingdowneachskillandtechnologyintodigestiblelessonsthatwillbeimmediatelyusableforyouinyourwork.
Itisorganizedsoyoucanfocusononedisciplineatatime.
Itispractical,notconceptual.
Youwillbeabletoperformtheskillthesamedayyoureadaboutit.
Ithastobethatfast—thereisnotimetowaste.
Thefactis,ifyouworkinjournalism,youworkforanonlinenewsorganization—whetheryouwanttoornot.
Changeisinevitable.
Progressisoptional.
Thefutureisnow.
–MarkBriggs1AmericanSocietyofNewspaperEditors,NewsroomEmploymentCensus,2006.
Numbersareforpaid-circulationnewspapers.
2TheLongTail,Hyperion,July2005.
ChrisAndersoniseditor-in-chiefofWiredMagazine.
Changeisinevitable.
Progressisoptional.
Thefutureisnow.
Chapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
11Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
To"surviveandthrive"inthedigitalage,youneedtoknowthelayoftheland.
Herearesomeconceptsandtermstogiveyouthefoundationneededtotacklethefunstuff.
ThischapterwillalsodiscusshowtomakeRSS(ReallySimpleSyndication)technologyworkforyouwhilegivingyouanunderstandingofwhatitmeansforyourreaders.
Thisjourneytowardthenewbeginswiththebasics—andthismeanslearningthecharacteristicsoftheWeb.
Ajournalistmightaskwhyanyoneneedstoknowsomethingsoseeminglyarcaneasthecharacteristicsofacommunicationsmedium,butwhenyoudon'tknowhowagame—football,soccer,baseball—works,it'shardtoplayit.
Andifyoudon'tunderstandforeignwords,youcan'tspeakthelanguage.
–JaneEllenStevensteachesmultimediareportingattheGraduateSchoolofJournalismattheUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.
Chapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
12Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveIntroduction:Today'sspecialAcronymsoupGetreadytogodigital.
Thinkofthemanydifficultconceptsyouhavemasteredinyourreporting,yourphotographyoryourmanagement.
Technologyisnomorecomplexthangrowth-managementstandards,theopen-meetingsact,orcomputingtheearned-runaver-ageforapitcherinbaseball.
You'resmart—youjusthavetoopenyourmindtosomethingnew.
Ifyou'rereadingthis,you'vewonhalfthebattle.
Morethanhalf,actually.
OneofthebarriersthatpreventpeoplefrommoredeeplyunderstandinghowtheInternetandothertechnologiesworkistheslewofacronymsthatareused.
ThischapterwillbreakthoseapartanddefinethebasicconceptsoftechnologythatwillbehelpfultoyourdailyworklifenowthatyourworkincludesaWebsite.
Digitalinformation:Megabytes,gigabytesandterabytesIntheensuingchapters,youwilllearntocreateseveraltypesofdigitalfiles:Audiofiles,photographfilesandvideofiles.
Itisimportantthatyouunderstandhowto"weigh"thesefilessince,aswewillsoondiscuss,thelargerthefilesize,thelongerittakestodownloadovertheInternet.
Whenitcomesrightdowntoit,thiswholedigitalevolutioncanbeexplainedinbitsandbytes.
Abyteisaunitofmeasurefordigitalinformation.
AsinglebytecontainseightconsecutivebitsandiscapableofstoringasingleASCII(pro-nouncedas-kee)character.
TheAmericanStandardCodeforInformationInterchange(ASCII)firstpublishedastandardin1967.
Itdefinesthe95printablecharactersthatarethetextincom-putersandcommunicationsdevices.
Essentially,it'severythingonyourkeyboard:letters,numbersandbasicsymbolslike%and&.
Tomakeiteasiertotalkaboutalotofbytes,weuseprefixeslikekilo,megaandgiga,asinkilobyte,megabyteandgigabyte(alsoshortenedtoK,MandG,asinKB,MBandGB).
Thetableonthenextpageshowsthenumberofbytescontainedineach.
13Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveYoucanseeinthischartthatkiloisaboutathousand,megaisaboutamillion,gigaisaboutabillion,andsoon.
Sowhensomeonesays,"Thiscomputerhasa40gigharddrive,"thatmeanstheharddrivestores40gigabytes,orapproxi-mately40billionbytes.
Howcouldyoupossiblyneed40gigabytesofspaceWell,oneCDholds650megabytes,soitwon'ttakelongtofillthewholething,espe-ciallyifyouhavealotofmusicanddigitalphotographs.
Petabytedatabasesareactuallycommonthesedays,fromthePentagontosuchmajorretailersasSears,whousethemtostorecustomerdata.
NameAbbr.
SizeKiloK1,024MegaM1,048,576GigaG1,073,741,824TeraT1,099,511,627,776PetaP1,125,899,906,842,624ExaE1,152,921,504,606,846,976ZettaZ1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424YottaY1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176Source:MarshallBrain,"HowBitsandBytesWork,"April1,2000.
http://computer.
howstuffworks.
com/bytes3.
htm(January27,2007).
Thinkofitthisway:Apetabyteistheequivalentof250billionpagesoftext,enoughtofill20millionfour-drawerfilingcabinets.
Orimaginea2,000-mile-hightowerof1billiondiskettes.
SowhatdoesitmeanForstarters,youshouldneversendane-mailwithanattachmentlargerthan1MBoryouwillclogyourserverandtheserveroftheper-sonyou'resendingitto.
Andyoushouldespeciallyneversendane-mailwithalargeattachmentsuchasaphototoagrouplist.
Theserverwillhavetomakecopiesofyourlargefileforeveryoneonthedistributionlist.
(Instead,copyittoaUSBdrive,burnittoadiskoruploadittoanFTPserver.
Moreonthislater.
)Youshouldalsobegintorecognizehowlargethefiles(PDFsorvideoclips)arethatyoudownloadfromtheWeb.
Notehowlongittakestodownloadafilethatis500KBversusonethatis5MB.
It'spartofthedigitalliteracylessonyou'vebeguntolearn.
Chapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
14Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveThisisimportantforonlinepublishingbecausethespeedofanInternetconnec-tionplusthesizeofthefiletobedownloadeddetermineshowfastsomeonecandownloadyourcontent.
Ifit'sjusttext,likeanewsstory,it'sprobablyonlyafewKBandwilldownloadquickly,evenoveranold56Kdial-upmodem.
Note:The"56K"referstothetransferratepersecondofdigitalinformation.
Sodial-upuserswith56Kmodemscan'texpecttodownloadinformationovertheInternetfasterthan56KBpersecond.
HowtheInternetworksAsyouprobablyknow,theInternetreferstoaseriesofcomputersthatarecon-nectedandshareinformation.
AWebserverisaspecialtypeofcomputerthatstoresanddistributes/presentsinformationovertheInternet.
ButhowdoesitknowwhichinformationtoserveTheURL(uniformresourcelocator)orWebaddressisthekeyandisverysimilartohowyoureceivemailatyourhomeoroffice.
AlthoughyourecognizeaWebaddresslikewww.
yahoo.
com,Webserversknowthatlocationas209.
73.
186.
238.
That'stheIPaddress(IP=InternetProtocol),whichisaunique,numericidentityofaWebserverlocation.
AllWebaddresseshavecorrespondingIPaddressesthatcomputersrecognizebutpeopleneverwould.
Registeringadomainnamesecuresahuman-readableWebaddressandassociatesitwithanumericandcomputerfriendlyIPaddress.
Internetvs.
WorldWideWeb:Contrarytopopularbelief,thesetwotermsdonotmeanthesamething.
TheInternetreferstothenetworkofconnectedcomputersthatshareinformation.
TheWorldWideWebreferstoawayofaccessinginforma-tionthroughtheInternetusingthehypertexttransferprotocol(HTTP)andWebbrowsers.
Itdoesnotincludeotherprotocolssuchase-mail,instantmessagingandfiletransfer(FTP).
AboutWebbrowsersTheWebbrowseristhetoolthatpeopleusetoaccessovertheInternetinforma-tionthatispublishedaspartoftheWorldWideWeb.
ItissoftwarethatyouknowasInternetExplorer,SafariorFirefoxanditdoesthreeimportantthings:1.
Itsearchesandfindsinformation.
2.
Itretrievesinformationandbringsitbacktoyou.
3.
Itrenderstheinformationfordisplayonyourcomputer.
15Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveWhenabrowserretrievesaWebpageandbringsitbacktoyou,itmakesacopyofthevariouspiecesthatmakeupthatparticularWebpageandstoresthosefilesonyourcomputer.
Thisiscalledthecache.
ThecacheisatemporarystorageofallthefilesyoudownloadduringyourWebbrowsing.
Youcanadjustthesettingsonthecacheinyourbrowsertostorealit-tleoralotofthesetemporaryfiles.
It'sagoodideatoclearyourcacheregularlytohelpyourbrowserrunefficiently.
Italsodeletesunneededtemporaryfilesfromyourcomputer,whichhelpsyourentiresystemrunbetter.
Managingyourbrowser'scache:Firefox2.
0:Toclearthecache,selectToolsthenClearPrivateData.
Tolimitthesizeofthecache,selectToolsthenOptionsandclickontheNetworktab.
Safari:ClickonSafariinthetopmenu,thenselectEmptyCache.
InternetExplorer7:Toclearthecache,selectTools,thenInternetOptions.
ClicktheAdvancedtab.
ScrolldowntoSecurityandcheck"EmptyTemporaryInternetFilesfolderwhenbrowserisclosed.
"TomakesurethebrowserisshowingthemostupdatedfilesforaWebpage,usetheRefreshbutton(orhitF5onyourkeyboard).
ThistellsthebrowsertogobacktotheWebserverandgetnewcopiesofallthefilesthatmakeupthatparticularWebpage.
AfinalnoteaboutWebbrowsers:Ifyouhaven'ttriedanewWebbrowserlately,youshould.
Theseprogramsareconstantlyupdatedandimproved.
EspeciallyrecommendedistheFirefoxbrowser,whichisafreedownload.
Itwasdevelopedasanopen-sourceprojectandattheendof2006wasbeingusedbyalmostone-thirdofInternetusers.
That'squitearemarkablefeatgiventheadvantageMicrosoft'sInternetExplorerhas.
(It'spreloadedonallWindowsmachines—92percentofthemarket—andissetasthedefaultbrowser.
)ThesearetherefreshbuttonsforFirefox,SafariandInternetExplorer7and6.
Chapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
Plug-insandextensionsModernWebbrowserscandisplaymorethanjusttextandgraphicsbutusuallyneedtheaidofplug-insorextensions.
Popularadd-onsincludeAdobeAcrobatReader(forPDFs),Flash(foranimation),andmediaplayerssuchasQuickTime,WindowsMediaPlayerandRealPlayer.
RSSreadersandfeedsHowtomakeRSSfeedsworkforyou:Ifyou'veeverreceivedane-mail"NewsAlert"fromGoogleorYahoo!
onasearchtermthatyousetup,youunderstandthedepthofinformationavailableontheWebandtheneedforsmarttechnologytohelpyoutrackit.
E-mail,however,isnotanefficienttoolfortrackingdozensorevenhundredsoftopics.
RSScandoit,though,andhelpyoutrackthatmanytopicswiththeclickofamouse.
"RSSisanimportantwayoftrackingwhatmultiplepeoplearesayingaboutacertainsubject,"saidJohnCook,abusinessreporterfortheSeattlePost-Intelligencer.
"Also,anumberofthecompaniesItrackkeepblogs,soputtingtheirfeedsintomyRSSreaderisonewaytostayuponwhattheyaredoing.
Withsomuchbeingwrittenthesedays,thisisonewaytotrackwhatisgoingon.
""RSSfeedsmakeitpossibletoconsumefarmoreinformationatafasterpacethanwouldotherwisebepossibleforthehumanbrain,"MarshallKirkpatrickwroteonhisblog(www.
marshallk.
com).
Kirkpatrickisawell-knowntechnologybloggerwhousesRSStokeeptrackofdailytechnologydevelopments"withoutbreakingasweat.
"RSSbasicsRSSstandsforReallySimpleSyndication,whichisagreatnamebecausetheconceptisjustthat:Reallysimple.
ItallowsyoutosubscribetoaninformationfeedthatgetsdelivereddirectlytoyourRSSreaderorWebbrowser.
SoinsteadofvisitingseveraldifferentWebpageseachdayorperformingthesameWebsearch-esoverandover,youcansetupRSSfeedstodoitforyou.
WhyRSSRSSisstillemergingasatoolforInternetusers.
Sinceit'safreesub-scription,Webpublishers—newssitesespecially—loveitfortheconsistentdeliveryofcontent.
It'salsopartofagrowingmovementawayfromconsumingWebcontentbyfirstgoingtoahomepage.
Someindustryfiguressuggestthat3016Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveto40percentoftraffictonewsWebsitesbeginsonanarticlepage,notthehomepage.
RSSispartofthereasonforthat.
(SearchesonGoogleandYahoo!
areabiggerreason,ofcourse.
)SomeRSSfeedsonlygivethereaderthefirstparagraphofanarticleandforceausertovisitthehost'sWebpagefortherest.
ThisprotectsaWebsite'strafficnum-bersandad-servingopportunities,butitcanfrustratereadersandiscountertotheideaofmakingitaseasyaspossiblefortheaudiencetoreadyourmaterial.
WhentheLosAngelesTimesannouncedamajorreorganizationinJanuary2007,itmadeRSStechnologyafocalpointforhowitplannedtoemphasizepublishingdigitallyfirstandfortheprintedpapersecond.
TheannouncementfollowedasimilarmovebyGannettin2006.
"Wearerebuildingourbusinesstoreflecthowreaders,usersandadvertisersareusingmediatoday,"DavidHiller,publisherandCEOoftheTimes,saidinastate-ment.
"Peoplechoosedifferentplatformsandproductstomeettheirvaryingnewsandinformationneedsthroughouttheday,andwearepositioningtheTimestobetherewhentheyturntous.
"Withtheannouncement,thecompanylaunchedanewversionofitsflagshipWebsite:MyLATimes.
com.
ThesiteusesRSSfeedstodelivercontentdirectlytocom-puterusersbasedontheirinterests.
ItissimilartothepersonalizedhomepagesofferedbyYahoo!
andGoogleforyears.
MyLATimes,anRSS-basedpersonalizedWebpage.
17Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
"Ourphilosophygoingforwardis,'BreakitontheWeb,expandonitinprint,'"saidTimeseditorJimO'Shea.
"Wehavetochangewhatwearedoingonline,andalsoinprint,tobetterengagereadersanduserswhocanchooseeverydayamongmyriadsourcesfortheirnewsandinformation.
"HowdoesRSSworkWhenyousubscribetoRSSfeeds,youcreateaconvenient,one-stopinformationshoptailoredtoyourneedsandinterests.
SettingupafeedissimilartobookmarkingaWebsite,butit'smuchmoreefficientandpowerful.
Andit'sreallyeasytogetgoing.
Here'show:1.
Selectareader.
2.
Findafeed.
3.
Addittoyourreader.
Selectareader:ThereareessentiallytwotypesofRSSreaderstochoosefrom.
Web-basedreadersthatyouaccessbyloggingintoaspecificWebpage,orstand-alonesoftwareprogramsthatyoudownloadtoyourcomputerandthenlaunch.
TounderstandthedifferencebetweenWeb-basedreadersandstand-aloneversions,thinkofhavingaHotmailaccountthatallowsyoutocheckyoure-mailfromanycomputer(withInternetaccess)comparedtousingOutlookorEntourage,whichyoucanonlyuseonyourcomputer.
Web-basedreaders:PersonalizedhomepagesprovidedbyYahoo!
andGoogle(amongothers)useRSSfeedstobuildaWebpagewithlinkstotheinformationyouchoose.
It'seasytodowithouteverknowinghowRSSactuallyworks.
Simplygotomy.
yahoo.
comorwww.
google.
com/ig,signupforanaccountandselecttheinformationyou'dliketoreceiveautomatically,thenarrangethefeedsonyourpagethewayyouwantthemtoappear.
(Youcanmovethemaroundbysimplyclickinganddraggingtheboxes.
)Eachtimeyoureturn,thelinkswillbeupdat-edautomaticallywiththelatestinformationfromthoseWebsites.
AMyYahoo!
startpagewithRSSfeedsselectedfromYahoo'smenu.
18Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveStand-alonereaders:TherearedozensoffreelydownloadableRSSreadersthatactlikeWebbrowsers.
Yousetupyourfeedsandthenlaunchthesoftwareeachtimeyouwanttoaccesstheinformation.
Onebenefittostand-alonereadersistheabilitytodownloadfeedswhenyouhaveInternetaccessandthenreadthemwhenyoudon't(onanairplaneortrain,forexample).
SomepopularoptionstoconsiderincludeNetNewsWire,NewsGator,Pluck,FeedDemonandSharpReader.
Becauseoftheirfolderstructures,stand-aloneRSSreaderslikeNetNewsWire(fortheMac)andSharpReader(Windows)workwell.
Youcansetupfoldersandsubfoldersaccordingtotheimportanceofthetopics.
Thesoftwarewilltellyouhowmanyitems(newandtotal)areineachfoldersoyoucanquicklyglancethroughthelisttofindanynewitems.
Itlooksandactsalotlikeastandarde-mailprogram.
AscreenshotofRSSfeedsorganizedinfoldersusingSharpReader.
Youwillprobablyfindthatthemorefeedsyouadd,themoreyouwilldiscoverasyoufollowlinksinblogpostsandnewsarticles.
Ifyoudon'tfindanythinginterestingaboutafeedafewdaysaftersubscribingtoit,simplydeleteit.
Bestofbothworlds:Netvibes,PageFlakesandtheGoogleReaderarealsogoodoptionsifyouwantthefunctionalityofstand-alonesoftware(thefolderstruc-ture)withtheconvenienceofaccessonmultiplecomputers.
NOTE:Tofindanyofthesoftwarementionedabove,simplyrunasearchonGoogleorYahoo!
forthename.
19Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
Findafeed:LocatealinktoRSSontheWebsitewiththecontentyouwanttoreceiveautomatically.
Often,alittleorangeiconwillsignaltheavailabilityofRSS.
MostnewsWebsiteshaveanindexpagewithdozensoffeedsavailable.
Ontherightisapartiallistoffeedsavailableonwashingtonpost.
com.
ClickonthelinktoobtaintheRSSURL,whichyouwillseeinthe"address"fieldofyourbrowser.
SimplycopythisURLandfol-lowtheinstructionsforyourparticularnewsreadertosubscribe.
IfyouclicktosubscribetoHowardKurtz'sMediaNotes,youwillbetakentoapagewiththefollowingWebaddress:http://www.
washingtonpost.
com/wp-dyn/rss/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401283.
xmlModernWebbrowserssuchasFirefoxandInternetExplorerwillrecognizeaURLthatendswith"xml"andautomaticallytakeyoutoapagethatallowsyoutoquicklyaddthefeedtoyourreader.
Here'swhatthatpagelookslikeinFirefox:20Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveRSSiconsWhatshouldyousubscribetoSectionsonnewsWebsitesthataretargetedtoyourinterestorbeat.
Anyblogthatdiscussesatopicofinterest(notsomuchforwhatthebloggersays,butforthelinksheorshefinds).
Blogsbycompaniesyoucover.
WebsearchessuchasGoogleNewsAlertsonterms,namesofpeopleandcompaniesthatyouwanttotrack.
ContentfromyourownWebsitethatisworthtracking,suchasmostpopularstoriesorletterstotheeditor.
AddingaWebsearchtoanRSSreaderisalsoeasy.
1.
Performthenewssearch(inGoogleNewsorYahoo!
News).
2.
ClickontheRSSiconorlinkonthefirstresultspage(seearrowonscreenshotbelow).
3.
CopyandpastetheURLintotheWebaddresswindowonyourRSSprogram.
4.
HitSubscribe.
NOTE:IfyouhaveFirefox2.
0orInternetExplorer7youcanskipstep3andselectyourRSSreaderfromthedropdownmenuandclickonthe"Subscribe"button.
InstantmessagingDoyouIMIfnot,maybeyoushould.
Whileitisfamousasthebastionofteensandpre-teens,thismethodofcommunicationisalsoincrediblyeffectivefororganizationswherelotsoffolksworkinthesamebuilding,butnotgeographicallycloseenoughtospeaktooneanother.
21Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
Severaltimeseachday,thereisaquestionorcommentyouwouldmaketosome-oneifthatpersonwerestandingnexttoyourdesk,butitdoesn'tquitemeritaphonecallorane-mail.
(You'rerespectfulofothersandonlysende-mailthatisimportanttoavoidclutteringyourcolleagues'inboxes.
)That'swhereIMcomesin.
It'sinformal,quick,efficientandactuallykindoffun.
Ofcourse,thatalsopresentsproblemsforemployers.
Somestaffershavefounditeasytochit-chatoverIM.
Asaresult,someemployershaveaddedtrackingsoft-waretocaptureIMexchangesonthecompanyservers,meaningyoushouldn'twriteanythingonIMyouwouldn'tsayinpublic.
Afewcompaniesnowprohibititsuseduetocontinuedabuse,socheckwithyourInformationSystemsdepartment.
Still,usingIMwillalsogiveyouadditionalexperiencewithyournewdigitallife.
Usedproperly,itwilladdefficiencytoyouroperation.
Youwillalsoexperiencethecultureofemoti-cons(thelittlegraphicsmileys)andtextshortcutsthatarenowcommonplaceamongyounger,tech-savvyusers.
Togetstarted,useiChatifyou'reontheMac(it'salreadyinstalled)orTrillianforWindows(afreedownload).
SetupanaccountwithAOLorMSNandaskothersinyourbuildingfortheir"handles.
"(Ahandleisanicknamethatchatsoftwareusesforidentification;youselectyourhandleduringyouraccountsetup.
)Builda"buddieslist"andyou'llnowbeabletoseewho'sonlinewheneveryoulaunchyourchatprogram.
FileTransferProtocolAsimpleprocessformovingthosebigfilesthate-mailcan'thandleiscalledFileTransferProtocol(FTP).
Therearedozensoffreesoftwareprogramsavailabletoexecutethetask.
Digitalaudioandvideo—andsomePDFandPowerPointfiles—canexceed1MBinsize.
Somevideofilesevenexceed1GB.
It'snotagoodideatotransferfileslargerthan1MBwithe-mailsincemostnetworkserversarenotcapableofhandlingthem.
(Third-partye-mailprogramssuchasGmailhandlethemprettywell,however.
)ThebestwaytomoveabigfilebetweencomputersiswithafreeFTPprogram.
FileZilla,CoffeeCupandAceareFTPprogramsI'veusedsuccessfullyontheWindowsplatform.
FortheMac,Fetch,CuteFTPorCyberduckwilldothetrick.
22Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMarkBriggs'buddieslist.
Or,ifFirefoxisyourbrowser(anditreallyshouldbe),youcandownloadtheFireFTPplug-inandaddFTPcapabilitytoyourcurrentbrowser.
NOTE:TheFirefoxbrowserbyMozillaisusedby31%ofInternetusers(asofFebruary2007)1andhaserasedthedominanceofInternetExplorerbecauseofitsintuitiveuserinterface,efficientpageloading,tabbedbrowsingandcopiousfreeplug-insthatallowforeasycustomization.
Ifyouhaven'tswitchedtoFirefoxyet,Irecommendgivingitatry.
WhenwouldyouuseFTPUseitifyouhaveshotsomephotosorvideoorrecord-edsomeaudioandyouwanttopublishitonlineonyourWebsitewiththestoryyouareworkingon.
Allyouneedtotransferalargefile(orfiles)overtheInternet,besidessomefreesoftware,istheaccountinformationoftheserverwhereyouwanttosendthefile.
IfyouarehopingtouploadalargefiletoyourWebserver,gettheaccountinformationfromyourWebstaff.
Itwilllooklikethis:Accountname:NewspaperFTP(thisisoptional—somethingyoucreateforyourself)Host:ftp.
newspaper.
comLogin:crazyfilesPassword:!
secretstuff%MostFTPprogramssavetheinformationthefirsttimeyouenteritsoyou'llbeabletoeasilyreturnandsendadditionalfileswithoneortwoclicks.
ThesetupformostFTPprogramsisthesame:Afolderlayoutontheleftsideoftheinterfacethatreflectsthefilestructureofyourcomputer,andafolderlayoutontherightsidethatreflectsthefilestructureoftheFTPserver.
Navigatetothefolderwhereyouwanttocopythetargetfile(ifthatfolderisnotalreadyvisible),thenfindthefileinyourfilestructure,clickanddragitacross.
It'sthateasy.
NOTE:Tofindanyoftheservicesmentionedabove,simplyrunasearchonGoogleorYahoo!
forthename.
23Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTheinterfaceforthefreeFileZillaFTPprogram.
Chapter1:FTP,MB,RSS,ohMy!
SummaryIfyoumaketheefforttoaddRSSandchattoyourdailydigitallife,youwillquicklyincreaseyourdigitalliteracy.
Whileitmaynothaveadirecteffectonyournextassignment,itwillopenupanotherworldforyouthatwillcertainlypaydividendsinthenearfuture.
Assignment:1.
Startinstantmessaging.
2.
SetupRSSfeeds.
3.
Signupforane-mailnewsletter.
4.
CreateaNewsAlertatGoogleorYahoo!
5.
FTPalargefiletoyourWebserver.
24Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive1W3Schools,Web-buildingtutorialsite,February,2007.
www.
w3schools.
com/browsers/browsers_stats.
aspChapter2:Web2.
0ThischapterdeliversabasicoverviewofthenewtechnologiesandWebsites—suchasMySpace,Flickr,OhmyNews,Wikipediaanddel.
icio.
us—thathavechangedthewaypeopleconsumenewsandinformationandwhatitmeansfornewspapers.
WelcometoWeb2.
0Theterm"Web2.
0"referstoWebsitesthatgetatleastsomeoftheirvaluefromtheactionsofusers.
Oftentheconceptiscomparedandcontrastedto"Web1.
0,"aretrofittedtermdescribingtheconstructandlimitationsunderwhichmuchofthecurrentWebwasconstructed,withtheconceptofhomepages,intrusiveserv-icessuchasopt-outmarketingandbarrierstositecontentsuchasregistration.
The"oldWeb"wasn'tallbad,ofcourse.
Traditionalmediaorganizationsandbrick-and-mortarbusinessesbuiltsturdyifunspectacularWebsitesthatdidn'tgoawaywiththedot-comboom.
Theyexperimentedwithnewwaystoreachaudiencesandcustomersandmany,likee-mailnewslettersandAmazon'scustomization,stillthrivetoday.
Theseattemptsatinnovationlaidthegroundworkforasecondroundofexperimentationthatwasmoreopenandattemptedtoharnessthepoweroftheuser.
"Changestartsattheedges.
That'swherepeople—ourreadersandviewers—probenewpractices.
That'salsowheretheiremergingcultureisforming,acultureinwhichtheylookatmediafromadifferentperspective,"FrancisPisani1wroteintheDecember2006issueofNiemanReports.
"Andsojournalists'newthinkingneedstobeginattheperiphery,wherechangecomesquicklyamongtheyoungergenerationofusers,andalotmoreslowlyforus.
Tomorrow'spotentialreadersareChapter2:Web2.
025Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter2:Web2.
026Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveusingtheWebinwayswecanhardlyimagine,andifwewanttoremainsignificantforthem,weneedtounderstandhow.
Yetnewsorganizationshavebeenalltooslowtonoticemovementinplacesthatareawayfromwhathasbeentheircenter.
"Web2.
0isallaboutopenness,organizationandcommunityIt'sallaboutopen—open-sourcesoftwareallowinguserscontrolandflexibility,openstandardstoallownewcreation.
Webpublishersarecreatingplatformsinsteadofcontent.
Usersarecreat-ingthecontent.
Thisisthemove-mentthatledTimemagazinetodeclare"You"asthePersonoftheYear,explaining,"In2006,theWorldWideWebbecameatoolforbringingtogetherthesmallcontri-butionsofmillionsofpeopleandmakingthemmatter.
"JournalistsknowWikipedia.
MosthaveseenMySpace,thoughtheymightloatheit.
They'vesurelyseensomethinghystericalonYouTube,evenifitwasaStephenColbertpiece.
AndeBayisoldhatbynow.
Thesesites,betterthanmost,illus-tratethepowerofWeb2.
0,especiallyforordinaryWebusers.
TheyarepoweredbyoneorbothofthebasictenetsofthisnewerafortheInternet:Websitesthatarenolongerisolatedinformationsiloswithone-waycommuni-cationchannels(onetomany)butrathersourcesofcontentandfunctionality,thusbecomingcomputingplatformsservingWebapplicationstoendusers.
TakeMySpace.
ItsucceedswhereGeoCitiesfailedbecauseit'seasyforuserstopostaudioandphotos,keepablogandhavevisitorsfreelycommentonthecontenttofurthertheflowofcommunication.
Theonce-popularGeoCities,meanwhile,alloweduserstocreatestatichomepagesfortheircontentwithnointeractivityoradditionalfunctionality.
AnapproachofcreatinganddistributingWebcontentthatischaracterizedbyopencommunication,decentralizationofauthority,freedomtoshareandre-use,andtheideaof"themarketasaconversation"(manytomany).
Inthe1.
0model,aWebpublisher(whetheranewssiteorapersonalsiteonGeoCities)woulduploadcontenttoaWebsiteformanyotherstoreadandtheWebpublishersarecreatingplatformsinsteadofcontent.
27Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivecommunicationtransactionwouldendthere.
The2.
0modelnotonlyallowsthose"manyothers"tocommentandaddtothecontentpostedbythepub-lisher,butthey—theaudience—canalsoaddoriginalcontentthemselves.
BydesigningWebsoftwarethatusescommunityinputandinteractionasitscon-tent,sitessuchasWikipedia,MySpace,YouTubeandFlickrcreatedsophisticatedwarehousesofcontent—withoutcreatinganycontentatall.
Itisstillcreation,ofcourse,butanupside-downmodelforcreationwhencomparedtothetradition-almethodsanyoneover30hasgrownupwith.
Google,meanwhile,changedtheeconomicsaroundadvertisingwithouteverhiringasalesrepandpoweredthebusinesssideoftheequationformuchofWeb2.
0.
Let'stakeacloserlookateachofthesephenomena:Googleneedsnointroduc-tiontojournaliststhankstoitsmarveloussearchengine.
Butthecompanydidn'tmakemoneyoffthemil-lionsofdailysearchqueriesuntilitlaunchedAdSensein2003.
Withthisnewpro-gram(inspiredbyanexistingcompanycalledOverture),Googleallowedcommuni-tymemberstosetthepriceforadstheycouldplaceonthesitewithaself-serv-iceapplication.
AnadvertiserpicksakeywordorsearchtermandtellsthesystemhowmuchitwillpayifaGoogleuserclicksonitsads.
Whenauserperformsasearchwiththatsearchterm,theadvertiser'sadappears.
Iftheuserclicksonit,thenGooglechargestheadvertiser.
Toextendthescaleofpay-per-clickadvertising,Googlecreatedasys-temsoallcontentpublisherscouldruntheGoogleadsontheirsites.
Soinsteadofsearchterms,theGooglerobots(computerprogramsthatcontinually"crawl"theWeb,indexingthecontent)scanthetext.
.
.
sitessuchasYouTubecreatedsophisticatedwarehousesofcontent—withoutcreatinganycontentatall.
GoogleadsfromMiamiHeraldWebsitehomepage,Dec.
19,2006.
Chapter2:Web2.
028Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveofacontentpageanddisplayadsthatarekeyedtomatchanyoftheprominenttermsonthepage.
Ifauseronanaffiliatesiteclicksonanad,Google(again)chargestheadvertiserandthenkicksanunspecifiedpercentagetothepublisherofthatsite.
In2005,Googlereportedmorethan$6billioninadvertisingrevenues(source:http://investor.
google.
com).
Oneyearlater,thecompanybrokethe$10billionmarkfor2006adrevenue.
Allthiswithouthiringasinglesalesrep.
JournalistsalsoloveGoogleMaps,whichisagreatexampleofWeb2.
0,becauseanyonecanusethecodetocreatenewservicesbasedonthemaps.
Forexample,journalist/computerprogrammerAdrianHolovatytookafeedfromtheChicagoPoliceDepartmentandcombineditwithGoogleMapstoproducetheaward-win-ningsitechicagocrime.
org.
OtherWebsiteshavemappedcheapestgasprices,freewirelessInternethotspots,barsandrestaurantswithhappyhoursandmore(seeGoogleMapsManiaathttp://googlemapsmania.
blogspot.
com/).
ThisopennesscontrastsgreatlywithcompaniessuchasMicrosoftandAOLthatdominatedtheageofWeb1.
0,whereeverythingwasproprietaryandcontrolled.
Microsoft'sMapPoint,forexample,hitthemarketafewyearsbeforeGoogleMaps.
Butsinceitwasdevelopedwithoutopenaccess(youcouldn'tuseitwithoutaWindowsmachineanditwasn'tfree),programmersdidnotrushtobuildtoolswithit.
"TheWebnaturallyhasacertaingrain,andGoogleisalignedwithit,"authorPaulGraham2wroteandwasquotedin"TheLongTail"byChrisAnderson.
"That'swhytheirsuccessseemssoeffortless.
They'resailingwiththewind,insteadofsittingbecalmedprayingforabusinessmodel,liketheprintmedia,ortryingtotackupwindbysuingtheircustomers,likeMicrosoftandtherecordlabels.
"In2006,MySpacebecamethemostpopularWebsiteontheplanetintermsofpageviews.
Thesiteclaimsmorethan100millionusers(asofSeptember2006)andservednearly39billionpageviewsinNovember,accordingtocomScoreNetworks.
NewsCorp.
purchasedthesitein2005for$580million.
Byregisteringandfillingoutprofiles,userscreatethecontent.
Theyuse"blurbs,""interests"and"details"sectionstopresenttheironlinepersona,andcommuni-catewithblogs,photos,videoandcomments.
Teensandtwenty-somethingsflockedtothesitealmostimmediately.
Whileitgavethemaneasywaytocom-municatewithoneanother,italsohasdrawncriticismasahavenforpedophilesandsexualabusers,creatingfearandangstamongparentsandcreatinganotherareaforthelegalcommunitytomonitor.
Thatsaid,ithasalsogrownintoaneffectivemarketingtoolformusicians,filmmakers,comediansandsmallbusinessessuchasbarsandnightclubs.
YouTubewasfoundedbythreeformeremployeesofPayPal,theonlinebankingandpaymentfirmthatpowersmuchofthecommerceoneBay.
YouTubelaunchedinFebruary2005andquicklybecameoneofthemostpopularsitesontheWeb,growingfastereventhanMySpace.
Itssloganis"BroadcastYourself,"whichisexactlywhatmillionsofpeoplehavedone,sharinghomemoviesandamateurfilmswithwhoeverwillwatch.
Plus,videoblogging(on-cameracommentary)hastakenoffwiththehelpofYouTube.
Thedownsideforthesiteisthatmanypeoplehaveuploadedotherpeople'scontent.
TVnetworksclaimedcopyrightinfringe-ment,andsomeofYouTube'smostpopularclipshavebeenremoved,includingaskitcalled"LazySunday"from"SaturdayMySpace.
comhomepage.
YouTube.
com"MostViewed"videospage.
29Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter2:Web2.
0NightLive.
"InJuneof2006,however,NBCreversedfieldandpartneredwithYouTubetoestablishanofficialchannelonthesitethatwilldisplaypromotionalclipsfromitsshows.
Withhundredsofthousandsofvideoclipsonitssite,YouTube'sWeb2.
0struc-turehelpsvisitorsfindcompellingcontentquickly.
UserscanchoosefromMostRecent,TopRated,MostViewedandMostDiscussed,whichconvenientlyallowssomeonetofindthenexttruebuzzclip.
InOctober2006,GooglepurchasedYouTubefor$1.
6billionworthofstock.
Flickr,whichlaunchedinFebruary2004,wasdevel-opedbyLudicorp,aVancouver-basedcompany.
Oneyearlater,Yahoo!
boughtthephoto-sharingWebsitebuthasdonelit-tletointegrateitintoitsmassiveportal.
Flickrismorethanaplacetosharepersonalphoto-graphs.
It'salsoacommu-nityplatformthatusestagstopoweritsorganiza-tionandmakesphotosofspecifictopicseasytofind.
Italsohasslickfunctionalityforbloggers,whocanstorephotosonthesiteanddisplaythemontheirblogswithafewsimpleclicks.
Tagsandfolksonomy:NewwaystoorganizecontentParticipantsintheWeb2.
0revolutionusetagstocatalogcontentthattheycre-ateorjustfind.
Tagsareinformallychosenandnotpartofsomeformallydefinedclassificationscheme.
Thisiscalledafolksonomyandcontrastswithataxonomysincethestructureisdefinedbytheusersandisconstantlychanging.
BloggersusetagsthatcanbetracedinsearchengineslikeTechnoratiandIceRocket.
PhotographersusetagstoorganizephotographsonphotositeslikeFlickr.
Webbrowsersusetagstoshareappropriatesiteswithotherswhohavesimi-larinterestsondel.
icio.
us.
EvenGmail,Google'se-mailservice,allowscategoriza-tionbytags.
Flickr.
comallowsyoutosearchbysubjecttags,suchasarchitecture.
30Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAtagcloudisanautomaticwayforaWebsitetodis-playitstags,givingmoreprominencetopopularity.
Computercodegeneratesatagcloudanddisplaysthemorepopulartagswithalargerfontsotheaudiencequicklyseeswhichtaghasthemostactivityorcontentassociatedwithit.
CanyouDiggitWeb2.
0lovesthewisdomofthecrowdandfewsitesillustratethatbetterthanDigg.
AlongwiththevenerablegeeksiteSlashdotandnewcomersRedditandNewsvine,thesenewssitesrelyonreaderstosubmitandpromotearticlesfromotherWebsites.
Sothesites—whilewidelyconsideredtobenewssources(allbutNewsvineconcentrateontechnology)—actuallypublishnonews.
Diggusersfindinterestingcontentelsewhereonline,thensubmitthelinksandsum-mariesonDiggforconsideration,thenotherDiggusers"vote"forstoriestheylikebygivingthemDiggs.
IfastorygetsenoughDiggs,itendsuponthefrontpageofthesite.
TheDiggeffectcanbeseenonmanymainstreamnewssitesthathaveaddedalistofthemostread,moste-mailedormostprintedstoriestotheirWebsites.
Whiletheyclearlyaren'treadytosurrenderallnewsjudg-menttothecrowd,mostWebeditorsrec-ognizethere'spowerinwhatothershavefoundinterestingonthesiteinsteadofsolelyrelyingontheirmoretradition-alviewofwhat'snews.
TagcloudfromFlickr.
comonJan.
31,2007.
Digg.
com'sNewspage.
31Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter2:Web2.
032Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveWhatdoesthismeanforjournalismReadersarenolongerpassivereceiversofourmessages.
Theycreate,shareandcomment.
AndtheyexpecttodoitonnewsWebsites,too.
JayRosen,journalismprofessoratNewYorkUniversityandauthorofthePressThinkblog,hascoinedtheconceptof"ThePeopleFormerlyKnownAsTheAudience.
"(Toreadmoreaboutit,Google"TPFKATA.
")Thisrecognitionofthefundamentalchangeinhowmessagesarereceivedfrommainstreamnewsorgani-zationsturnsonitsheadthelessonmostofuslearnedthefirstdayinCommunications101:Wesend,theyreceive.
Thisideahasalsocometobeknownas"newsisaconversation,notalecture.
"Itisimportanttorecognizethechangeinyouraudience.
Theywanttopartici-pate,sohelpthem.
Manytraditionalnewsorganizationsincludee-maillinksonnewsstoriestomakeiteasyforreaderstocontactthereporterandaskquestionsorcommentonstories.
Somehavetakenthenextstepandallowreaderstocom-mentdirectlyonthestoryonlineforalltosee.
Ifyouhavetheopportunity,readthecommentspostedonyourstoriesandwritetothosewhodeserveit.
Beproactiveinseekingfeedbackonstoriesbeforetheyarepublished.
Itcanbeassimpleaspostinga"calltoreaders"inthenewspaperorasadvancedasassemblingane-maillistofgoodtargets.
Forexample,ifyoucovereducation,buildalistofteachersandadministratorsandsende-mailblastswhenyouneedgeneralcommentsforastory(moreonthislater).
Evenifyou'renotreadytocollaboratewithyourreadersonreportingandwriting,youcantakeadvantageofWeb2.
0technology.
Sitesthatemploytagging,forexample,areusefulinreportingonnichetopics(del.
icio.
uschiefamongthem).
Usethemtoorganizeyoursearchesandtoseewhatothertagsrelatedtoyourbeatarepopular.
Don'tknowwherethisisheadingPartofthedifficultyfortraditionaljournalistsisthatwe'renotverygoodatmov-ingforwardwhenwedon'tknowwherewe'regoing.
Nooneknowshowallofthisisultimatelygoingtochangewhatwedoorwhatopportunitiesthisnewmodelpresentsforus.
Buttheonlywaywe'llbeabletotakeadvantageisifwe'reawareofthetechnologiesandactivelyparticipateinthechanginglandscape.
"RSSandtaggingaretoolsIusetotrackandobtaininformationinamoretimelymanner,"saidJohnCook,abusinessreporterfortheSeattlePost-Intelligencer.
"Sointhatway,theyarehelpfultomeinpublishinginformationquicklyonline.
"Assignment:TakepartintherevolutionTounderstandfullyhowWeb2.
0works,youneedtousethesesites.
Openaccountsatallofthemandtestdrivetheservicestheyoffer.
Eachoftheseassignmentsshouldtakeyoulessthanahalfhour.
Ifyoudooneperday,you'llgetthroughallfourstepsinaweek.
1.
UploadphotosandapplytagstothematFlickr.
2.
FindahandfulofWebsitesthatareinterestingtoyouandtagthemondel.
icio.
us.
3.
VisitTechnoratiandbrowseblogcontentusingtags.
4.
VisitDigg,Slashdot,RedditandNewsvineandcomparethenewsstoriesyoufindtherewithyourregularnewssources.
1FrancisPisani,"JournalismandWeb2.
0,"NiemanReports,December2006.
FrancisPisaniisafree-lancebloggerandcolumnistcoveringinformationtechnologyandnewmediaintheSanFranciscoBayareaforseveralEuropeanandLatinAmericannewspapers.
2Anderson,TheLongTail,page70.
PaulGrahamisapopularauthorandLispprogrammerwhowrote"HackersandPainters:BigIdeasfromtheComputerAge.
"33Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter3:ToolsandToysChapter3:ToolsandToysTheTreo,theBlackBerryandtheiPodhaveforeveralteredthewayouraudiencesaccessmedia.
Inthischapter,learnhowpeopleareusingthesetoysandotherstoaccessyourcontentandhowtomakeyourcontentmoreaccessibletothem.
IntroductionAsdisruptiveasWebsiteshavebeentothetraditionalpublishingandbroadcast-ingmodel,weain'tseennothin'yet.
Thedigitallandscapeisawashinchange.
Beforeyoulearnthebasicskillsthatwillallowyoutoparticipateinthedigitalrevolution,it'simportantforyoutolookatthelayofthelandthroughabroadlens.
Newandevolvingtechnologyandgadgetshavechanged—andwillcontinuetochange—themarketsthatnewsoperationsareaimingtoserve.
Iwillstartwithinformationaboutsometoolsyoushouldbeusingandthendiscusstoolsyoushouldunderstandthatothersareusing.
Noteveryonewantstowatchmoviesontheircellphones,buttherearesomeverysimpletoolsandpracticesyoushouldadoptasyoubecomedigitallyliterate.
ToolsyoushouldbeusingVanitysearching:Ifyou'reinapositiontohireothers,youhavealmostcertainlyaddedGoogleandYahoo!
tothescreeningprocess.
ConductingaWebsearchofaprospectivejobcandidateisacommonstepintheearlysortingprocessandtheresultscanberevealing.
A2006surveyconductedbyCareerBuilderfoundthat,of34Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivehiringmanagerswhousedWebsearchestoresearchjobcandidates,51percenthaveeliminatedacandidatebasedonwhattheyfound.
IftheysearchedasocialnetworkingsitelikeMySpaceorFacebook,theresultsweremoreominous:63percentdidnothirethepersonbasedonwhattheyfound.
1WhatdoesthismeanforyouBeforeyouapplyforanewjob,dosomevanitysearchinginbothGoogleandYahoo!
Makesuretherearen'tanycompromisingphotosorinappropriatematerial.
Andifyou'rearecentcollegegrad,bettercheckMySpaceandFacebook,too.
Justbecauseyou'veneverpostedapictureofsomewildtimesatapartydoesn'tmeanthatnooneelsehas.
(Ifyoufindsomething,hopefullyyoucancontactthe"friend"whoposteditandaskthatitberemoved.
)Flashdrivesandmemorycards:RememberfloppydisksYouprobablyhaveastackofthemathomeorwork,yetyouneverusethemanymore.
That'sbecausetheyholdsuchasmallamountofdata—1.
4MB—thatthey'rejustnotpracti-cal.
Thinkaboutitthisway:Afloppydiskcouldholdone,maybetwo,digitalphotos.
Today'sdigitallandscapereliesonsmalldeviceswithhugeamountsofstorage.
USBflashdrives(fortext)andmemorycardslikecompactflash(CF)orsecuredigital(SD)(fordigitalphotosoraddedgamememory)canstorehundredsorthousandsofmegabytes.
And,likemosttechnology,thepricesonthesedeviceshavedroppedprecipitouslysincetheyhitthemainstream.
A1GBflashdrivecostasmuchas$100in2004.
In2006,thesamedrivecostaslittleas$19.
Asaresult,asmanyas150millionflashdriveswereexpectedtobesoldin2006.
WhatdoesthismeanforyouIfyouworkwithtext,youcanfeasiblybackupallyourdocumentsonaflashdriveeverytimeyoulogoffyourcomputer.
It'squickandeasyand,asthesayinggoes,therearetwokindsofcomputerusers:Thosewhobackuptheirdata,andthosewhowill.
Anotherusefulapplicationforflashdrivesisthetransferoflargefiles.
Ifyouhavephotosorahonkin'PDFthatyouwanttosendtosomeoneinthenewsroom,givethee-mailserverarestandcopyittoaflashdrive.
Therecipientcandown-35Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveA256MBflashdrive;256MBand512MBCompactFlash(CF)cards.
Chapter3:ToolsandToysloaditinafewsecondsandyourITdepartmentwillthankyoufornotcloggingtheserverwithseveralMBsofanattachment.
Flashdriveshaveabrightfuture,too.
InSeptember2006,theUSBFlashDriveAllianceannounceditwillendorseanewgenerationof"smart"drivesthatwillallowuserstorunactiveprogramsfromflashdrives.
Soinadditiontodocumentandimagestorage,thenewflashdriveswillhaveyourWebbrowserwithallyourbookmarks,yourinstantmessagingprogramwithallyourbuddies,yourgamesandmore,allencryptedtokeepitsafe.
Sowhereveryouareintheworld,youcoulduseanycomputeranditwouldbejustlikeusingtheoneatyourhomeoroffice.
Mobile2.
0NowthatyouunderstandalittlemoreaboutWeb2.
0—andyou'rereadingaboutJournalism2.
0—it'stimetointroduceMobile2.
0.
Thenextgenerationofwirelessconnectivitytomobilephoneswillallowregularcellphones,smartphones,BlackBerriesandotherdevicestoconnecttotheInternetviaahigh-speednetwork.
Datawilltransferasmuchas10timesfaster,accordingtosomereports,whichwillmakevideo,music,gamesande-mailcon-venienttoanyone,anywhere.
Ineffect,thisislikegoingfromadial-upInternetconnectiontoahigh-speedhookupliketheoneyouhaveatwork.
Evenbeforethethirdgeneration(commonlyreferredtoas3G)saturatesthemar-ket,mobiledeliveryisagreatopportunityforlocalpublishersandbroadcasters.
Calendarlistings,sportsscores,newsandweatherupdatesareallwithintheregularoperationofmostlocalnewspublishingoperations.
Deliveringthemtomobilephonesandotherportabledevicesisthenextlogicalstep.
Lookatthemarket:Thereare200millionmobilephoneusersintheU.
S.
and70percentareWeb-enabled;35percentofthosewhohavetheWeboptionare"regular"users.
TheWeatherChannelhas4.
8millionpayingsubscribersamonthforitsmobileservice.
ABC/Disneyhas2millionsubscribersat$15amonthdeliveringringtones,voicetones,wallpapersandvideoclips.
36Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveYoushouldbeawarethatdozensofcompaniesareworkinghardtomakewhatishappeningnowobsolete,sotopreviewthepromiseofanyofthesetechnologieswouldbelikepredictingthefuture.
Someofthesenewtechnologieswillgaincrit-icalmassandchangetheworldofcommunications,but,ifIknewwhichones,Iwouldbeaventurecapitalistinsteadofajournalist.
WhatdoesthismeanforyouThepushforimmediacywillcontinueasnewsoperationsmasterbreakingnewsonaWebsiteandmovetopresentbreakingnewsonmobiledevices.
Italsomeansabroadeningofthescopeofinformationthatwillbeconsideredworthyofanimmediateupdate,meaningalltypesofinformationandnews(sports,business,entertainment)willbepartofthemobileequation.
iPod:Theslim,sleek,800-poundgorillaOnegadgetthathasalreadychangedthemedialand-scapeistheAppleiPod.
BydescribingthecapabilitiesandusesoftheiPodhere,ImeantoincludeanyoftheMP3playersonthemarketwithvideocapability.
NootherdevicehaschangedthemedialandscapelikeApple'splayerandiTunesstores.
AsofNovember2006,Applehadsoldnearly60mil-lioniPodsinthefive-yearlifeofthegadget,with36millionsalesinthepast12months.
AccordingtoPiperJaffray&Co.
researchreleasedinOctober2006,theiPodowns79percentofthemarketsharefordigitalmediaplayers.
Andtalkaboutayouthmarket.
OtherPiperJaffrayresearchonteenagersfoundthat72percentownanMP3playerand79percentofthosespecificallyownaniPod.
Almosthalfofthe1,000studentssurveyedexpecttobuyanewmediaplayerwithinayear,and76percentofthoseprefertheiPod.
Somemainstreammediacompaniesarerespondingtothisgrowingmarket.
InSeptember2006,ABCNewsbegancreatingadaily15-minutenewscast,separatefrom"ABCWorldNews,"frequentlyusingthesameanchor,CharlesGibson.
The"WorldNewsWebcast"isavailablethroughtheWebsiteat3p.
m.
ETandreadytodownloadoniTunesaboutanhourlater.
Thereweremorethan5milliondown-loadsinbothSeptemberandOctober,2006.
37Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTheAppleiPodfamily.
Chapter3:ToolsandToysNewspaperssuchastheRoanokeTimesinVirginiaandtheNaplesDailyNewsinFloridabegan"vodcasting"in2006.
EachpaperhasbuiltastudioforrecordingandproducingvideosegmentsandeachismakingthoseshowsavailablefordownloadtoaniPodorviewableontheWebsite.
NationalPublicRadio,meanwhile,servesmorethan6milliondownloadsofitspodcastseachmonth.
WhatdoesthismeanforyouEverynewsorganizationislikelytotryaddingvideotoitsmixverysoon(ifithasn'talready).
Ifyoucanbeanearlyadopterandfindawaytoincorporatevideointoyourbeatoryourspecialty,youwillhavealeguponthecompetition.
'Other'wirelessSomepeopleactuallystillconnecttothewirelessInternetwithalaptopcomputer.
OK,that'sbeingtooflip,sincelaptopsarestilltheprimaryvehicleforpeopletousewiththeInternet,butwhenyouseewhat'shappeningwithiPodsandcellphones,it'seasytoforget.
HittingacoffeeshopwithyourlaptopandpayingafewbuckstoconnecttotheInternetisoneofthemostpopularwaystoworkwirelesslythesedays.
Butthatbusinessmodeldoesn'tlookpromising.
Independentcoffeeshops,restaurants,cardealers,rock-climbinggymsandallsortsofothersmallbusinessesnowofferfreeWi-Fiaccess,too.
Andthefieldisonlygettingmorecrowded.
ManycitiesareworkingonmunicipalWi-FisystemstobringfreewirelessInternetaccesstoaconcentratedarealikeadowntown.
Specialcardsprovidedbythemajorcellphonecompaniesinsertintomostlap-topsandallowwirelessconnectiontotheInternetfromanywherethere'scellphonecoverage.
Userspayforthecard—usuallylessthan$100—thenpayamonthlyservicefeeforunlimitedconnectivity.
Anewservice,calledEV-DO,offersbroadband-likespeeds.
AcompanycalledClearwire,foundedbyCraigMcCaw,whobuiltoneofthefirstcellphonecompanies,islaunchinginseveralU.
S.
cities.
Itoffersstandardwirelessserviceoraspecialmodem-likedevicethatcanbepluggedintoalap-topordesktopcomputerformorereliableserviceatahigherspeed.
Theideaisthatyoucouldpayforoneservicethatwouldgowithyouanywhere,soClearwirewouldbeyourproviderathome,atthelocalcoffeeshop,orwherever.
Youwouldusethisexternalmodemtoconnectathomeortakeitintocoffee38Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveshopanduseitinsteadofpayingsixbucksforaT-Mobilehook-up.
It'slikehavingyourhomeInternetconnectionanywhere.
WhatdoesthismeanforyouTheonlineaudienceservedbybreaking-newsupdatesthroughoutthedaywillcontinuetogrow.
Thoughtofasthe"at-work"audienceformuchofthedigitalage,potentialreadersofnewsupdateswillgrowaswirelessInternetservicebecomesfreeandubiquitous.
CombinedwithMobile2.
0gadgetsandservicesandthecontinuedmainstreamadoptionofdownloadedmaterialoniPods,theopportunitiesfornewscompaniestoreachcustomersdigi-tallywillcontinuetoexplode.
Getyour"mojo"on:Theincreasingadoptionofmobilecommunicationtechnolo-gynotonlychangesthewayaudiencesreceivethenews,butalsoopensupnewwaystoreportit.
Mobilejournalists—or"mojos"—arebecomingmorecommonatTVnewsstationsandevenpoppingupatnewspapers.
Alsoknownasbackpackjournalists,thesemultidimensionaldynamoscancarryanassortmentoftoolsintothefieldtoreportthenewsinafullymultimediamanner.
AlaptopwithwirelessInternetconnection,avideocamera(thatalsoshootsstillphotos)andanaudiorecorderarethebasicpiecesofequipmentthatallowjournaliststoproducenewsstoriesorblogposts,photos,video,oraudioforastory.
Yahoo!
'sKevinSitesisthebest-knownbackpackjournalistworkingtoday.
Sitestraveledtowar-torncountriesaroundtheworldtotellthestoriesofthosemostaffectedbycalamity,andhisregularfeature,InTheHotZone,onYahoo!
Newsclaimed2millionreadersaweekin2006.
TheNews-PressinFortMyers,Fla.
,meanwhile,dispatchedseveral"mojos"intothefieldeverydaytoreporthyperlocalnewsclosetohome.
Thesenewerareportershavenodesksandrarelyaspecificassignmentoutsideofageographicalareatovisit.
Theydrivearoundtheirareaandperformamodernversionofthat"oldshoeleatherreporting.
"Theyalsodomarketing,handingoutflierstoedu-catepeopleaboutthenewsorganization'sonlineservices.
FrankAhrensofTheWashingtonPostprofiledtheNews-PressmojosinDecember2006(andshotthisphotoofKevinMyroninhiscar).
"Theirguidingprinciple:Acon-stantlyupdatedstreamofintenselylocal,freshWebcon-tent—regardlessofitstraditionalnewsvalue—iskey39Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter3:ToolsandToystobuildingonlineandnewspaperreadership.
"Mojosarestillanexperiment,butifnothingelse,theyshowhowflexible—andmobile—journalistsinthefuturecanbewhenitcomestocoveringandreportingnews.
Assignment:1.
Talktoothersabouttheirtoys:Askhowtheyusetheircellphones,theiriPods,andtheirwirelessInternet.
Askthemiftheyknowpeoplewhousethesetechnologiesininterestingways.
Tounderstandthisnewworld,youshouldbeabletoconverseinit.
2.
Seewhatyoucando:HaveyoutriedtogetnewsonyourmobilephoneHaveyoudownloadedapodcasttoyourcomputerorMP3playerTryit.
1CareerBuilder.
comIndustryTrends,2006Surveys:"OneinfourhiringmanagershaveusedInternetsearchenginestoscreenjobcandidates,"Oct.
26,2006.
http://www.
careerbuilder.
com/Share/AboutUs/IndustryTrends.
aspxarchiveyear=200640Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter4:NewReportingMethodsReporters,editorsandphotographersallstoredatadigitally.
Evenifit'sjustyourlistofcontacts,learntomanageyourdataelectronicallytomaximizeitsusefulnessinthefuture.
Andopenupyourreportingtoharnessthepowerofthepublic.
IntroductionPhilMeyerbeganhis1991book,"TheNewPrecisionJournalism,"anupdatedversionofhisseminalworkintroducingreporterstosocialsciencemethods,withanobservationthatseemsevenmoreprescienttoday:"Ifyouareajournalist,orthinkingofbecomingone,youmayhavealreadynoticedthis:Theyareraisingtheanteonwhatittakestobeajournalist.
"1Whiletheanteisbeingraised,resourcesseemtobeevaporating.
Decreasingcir-culationandadvertisingrevenuesareleadingmanagementtoaskmoreandmorefromtheirreportingandeditingstaffs.
HowdoyoudelivermoreEmbracetech-nologyandusethepowerofthepeopletohelpwithyourreportinglegwork.
Itmakesnewsgatheringmuchmoreefficientifyoucanjumpstarttheprocessoffindingbackground,data,sourcesandexperts.
Tomeettheincreasingdemandsofeditors,reportersneedtobecomeasefficientaspossible.
Throughtheuseoftechnologyandamoreopenapproachtogather-inginformation,reporters,photographersandeditorscanleveragetheirtalentfornewsgatheringandnewsjudgmentwithoutsacrificingtheirvalues.
Capturingkey-strokestobuildusefuldatabases(calendars,births,deaths,scores)andusingnewreportingmethodssuchascrowdsourcinganddistributedreportingarebecomingthefocusformoreandmoreU.
S.
newsrooms.
Chapter4:NewReportingMethods41Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter4:NewReportingMethodsJournalistsaregenerallysuspiciousofnewreportingmethods.
OK,thisisactuallyoneoftheslowestprofessionstoembracechange.
Afewdecadesago,reporterswereunsureaboutusingquotesinanewsstorythatcameoverthetelephone,thatnewfangledgadget.
Inthe1990s,thesamereservationssurfacedwhenreportersbeganusinge-mail.
Today,despitetheadvancesbeingmadeonnewsWebsites,thereremainsageneraldisdainforthenewmediumbymany"tradi-tional"journalistsandalongingforthegoodolddaysbeforeafragmentedmedialandscapemadethejobofcapturingtheaudience'sattentionsodemanding.
Today,everythingfromblogstoreadercommentsonanewsWebsitearesparkingdebateandcausingtraditionaliststosoundmanywarnings.
Butifyoucutthroughtherhetoricyou'llfindunprecedentedopportunitiestodobetterjournalismbyembrac-ingtechnologyandtrans-parency—twoessentialqualitiesforamplifyingtheimportantworkofjournalisminthedigitalage.
SpreadsheetsandstoringdataIfyouareareporterandyoudon'tthinkyou'requitereadyforblogging,RSSfeeds,audioandvideo,youshouldapplythepoweroftechnologytoyourcurrentendeavors.
Inshort,youcanbecomeabetter,moreefficientreporteroreditorsimplybytradingsomeofthepaper-basedinformationstoragesystemsyou'recurrentlyusingandgoingdigital.
Stopusingpaper:IfyouarestillusingaRolodexwithlittlewhitecardstokeepyourcontactlist—STOP!
Thisantiquatedmethodisrobbingyouofprecioustimewheneveryouneedtoaccessacontactandispreventingyoufromstoringmorepertinentdataoneachofyourcontacts.
Learntousethecontactsfunctioninyoure-mailprogram(OutlookorEntourage,forexample)or,betteryet,aspread-sheetprogramlikeExcelorGoogle'sfreeprogram(http://docs.
google.
com/).
42Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive.
.
.
ifyoucutthroughtherhetoricyou'llfindunprecedentedopportunitiestodobetterjournalismbyembracingtechnology.
Fieldeddataisabeautifulthing:Whenyousetupaspreadsheettocompilelists(suchascontacts),alwaystrytoincludeasmanyfieldsaspossible.
Fieldeddataisthekeytosortingefficientlyandbeingabletogroupitems.
MikeSando,theNationalFootballLeaguereporteratTheNewsTribuneinTacoma,Wash.
,usesfieldeddataaswellasanyone.
HetrackseverystatofeverygamehecoversinExcelandthensortsthedatatoanswervirtuallyanyquestion,andpoststheresultsonhisblog.
Forexample,belowisananalysisoftheSeattleSeahawks'performanceonthirddownatonepointduringthe2006season.
Sandositswithdozensoffootballwriterseachweekwhocoverthesamegameshedoes.
Whiletheyusepenandpaperandelaborategridstotrackthegame'sproceedings(orworse,relyontheteams'mediahandouts),Sandobuildsspread-sheets(onhislaptopcomputer)withimportantdataaseachplayoccurs.
Hiscolleagues,meanwhile,arecreatingatemporaryresourcethatwillhelpthemwriteagamestorybutwillbeoflittleuseastheseasonprogresses.
43Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMoreexamples:Forotherkindsofsampledatafilesthatmightbeusefulinnewsreporting,gotohttp://powerreporting.
com/files/index.
html.
Chapter4:NewReportingMethodsHere'showanotherexampleofdatacollection,sortedintoafieldedspreadsheet,becomesapowerfuldisplayofinformation.
ThisonechartsgrocerypricesinChicagosuburbs.
Wheredatacanthrive:SomenewspapersaremakingtheirWebsites"datadesti-nations,"andwelltheyshould.
Computer-assistedreportinghasbeenaroundfordecadesbut,restrictedtothenewspaperformat,itcan'trealizeitsfullpotential.
OntheWebitcansing,withdepth,customization,searchabilityandalongshelf-life.
USATodayrealizedthisyearsagowhenitbeganloadingthesalariesofprofessionalbaseball,football,basketballandhockeyplayersintosearchabledatabases(www.
usatoday.
com/sports/salaries/index.
htm).
Othernewspapers,suchastheLouisvilleCourier-Journal,collecttheirdatabasesinoneareaontheirWebsites(www.
courierjournal.
com/apps/pbcs.
dll/sectioncategory=data).
44Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveEvanstonJewel0.
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99LocationChainbananas1Lbplumtomatoes1LbDoleBlendsItalianmix,10oz.
bagHeinzTomatoKetchup,24oz.
Skippycreamypeanutbutter,40oz.
jarKraftMacandCheese,ABCs5.
5-oz.
Your'so-calleddigitallife'Ifyourcompanydoesn'tprovideaslick,simple-to-usetoolforcapturingnotes,listsandcalendaritems,useafreeWebservicelikeBackpack(backpackit.
com).
Thiswillenableyoutomanageyourtimebyaddingmeetingsandappointmentstoacalendarwhilesimultaneouslymanagingato-dolist.
YoucanaccessitfromanywhereviatheWebandevenshareitwithothersinyournewsroom.
Anelec-tronicsystemlikethisisbetterthanpaperbecauseit'seasytoeditandmodifylists,changetheorderorpriority,andstoreyourcalendaritemsandlistsasanarchive.
Ifyoucan,useadatabase:AttheVenturaCountyStar,HowardOwensbuiltadatabasefornewssourcesandsetitupsothatallthereporterscouldshareitovertheWeb.
"Allsourceinformationwasstoredthereandwasaccessiblebytheentirenewsroom,"Owenssaid.
Manynewsroomshavesetupsimilardatabases,butnotenoughofthem.
Ideally,itwouldstoreasourcenameandcontactinformation,backgroundinformationandthefilenameandlocationofamugshotifoneexists.
Itshouldcontainper-sonalinformationsuchasbirthday(foragepurposes),spouse,children,titleandaffiliation.
Affiliations(school,business,agency)canbestoredinaseparatetablesotheycouldbeenteredonceandrelatedtoasource.
Thenanyoneinthenewsroomcansearchbyname,specialtyoragency.
Asmorejournalistsgodigitalitwillmakeiteasiertoshareinformation.
DerekWillisofTheWashingtonPostwroteinthefirstofhisseriesofessaysonhisblog"humblytitledFixingJournalism":"Canyouimagineanotherinformation-basedbusinessthatpermitteditsemployeestobuildwallsaroundtheirinformationCanyouimagineitsucceedingtoday"(Readtheentireseriesatwww.
thescoop.
org/thefix.
)Thinkofalltheinformationthatpassesthroughanewsorganizationeveryday.
Nowthinkhowlittleofitisaccessibletothosewhoworkthere,ormoreimpor-tantly,tothepublicwhowouldliketoaccessit.
Thisisaproblemfornewsorganizationsgoingforward.
Anditneedstobefixednow.
Youcanstartbystoringyourinformationelectronicallyandpushingfordata-sharingtoolslikeinternalwikisandshareddatabases.
Eventcalendarsaretheobviousplacetostartinyournewsroom.
IfstaffersarestillenteringeacheventbytypingitintoaWorddocument,youhaveaproblem.
Ifyouhadadatabase,suchinformationasvenuename,addressandphonenum-45Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter4:NewReportingMethodsberwouldonlyhavetobeenteredonce,therebycuttingtheworkload(andthechancefortypos).
Therearemanyotheropportunitieswherekeystrokingisbeingrepeatedyearafteryearinflatfilesthataren'tsearchableorsortablebytheaudience.
Here'safewareaswe'redatabasing(orplanningto)inTacoma:Summercampslists.
Sportsteamtryoutsandcamps.
Restaurantandmovielistings.
Vitalstatistics(births,deaths,divorces).
Newbusinessesandbusinesshiresandpromotions.
Hikeoftheweek.
Guidetolocalskiareas.
Eachofthesetypesofcontenthasbeenenteredbynewsroomstaffforyears,ifnotdecades.
Wecanmaximizethevalueofthedatabyprovidingittoouraudi-enceinadatabaseformatwhilestreamliningourownoperationandcuttingdownontheamountofdataentrywedo.
CanyoudatabasenewscoverageYes,youcan.
Manynewspapershaveadoptedthe"alternatestoryform"forbasicnewscoverage,whereanarrativeisbrokenapartintoeasilydigestiblechunkswithlabelslike"whathappened,""whatitmeans"and"what'snext.
"TheOregonianinPortlandhasstandardizeditsmeetingandprocesscoveragewith"updateboxes.
"Thisnewstoryform,withlabelslike"AtStake,""Update,""What'sNext,"and"LearnMore,"meansthedataisalreadybeingpublishedinconsistentfieldsthatcouldbeeasilyconvertedtoadatabase.
Thinkofcitycouncilorschoolboardmeetingcover-age.
Ifyouhadadatabasethatstoredalltheperti-nentdata(dateofthemeeting,topagendaitemswithaquicksummaryforeach,thevotesandmaybeafieldforanalysis)youcouldpullfromthistopopulatesuchanalternativestoryformfortheprintedition.
Online,theaudience(andyourreporters)wouldbeabletosearchandsortpreviousmeetings.
46Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAnexampleofanUpdateBoxfromTheOregonian.
CrowdsourcingAsdiscussedinChapter2,theconceptofWeb2.
0seestheInternetasallowingenthusiasticcommunitiestocometogetherandprovidemorevalueforagivenWebsite.
Crowdsourcingfocusesthatcommunitypoweronaspecificprojectanddemonstrateshowalargegroupofcommittedindividualscanoutperformasmallgroupofexperienced(andpaid)professionals.
TheonlineversionofEncyclopediaBritannica,forexample,cannotkeepupwithWikipediaintermsofupdatingarti-clesandinformation.
AndMicrosoft,withallitsresources,hasstruggledtokeeppacewiththedevelopmentoftheFirefoxbrowser,aprojectpoweredbyvolun-teerscollaboratingtogetherunderthenonprofitMozillaFoundation.
Crowdsourcingisarelativelynewterm,coinedbyJeffHoweina2006articleforWiredNews.
2Itisverysimilarto"distributed,""collaborative"or"open-source"reportingandmanypeopleusethetermsinterchangeably.
Todistinguishbetweentheconcepts,thinkofcrowdsourcinglikeoutsourcing,thetermfromwhichitwasborn.
Thefocusofcrowdsourcingisusuallyongoingproductionofinformationwhiledistributedreportingrelatesmorecloselytoaspecificandfixed-timeproj-ect,suchasansweringaspecificquestionorreportingonaspecificsubject.
Votingirregularities,then,wouldbeaformofdistributedreportingsincetheneedwouldbereportingforatimelynewsstory.
Butdon'tgetfrustratedbytheterminology.
Thisisallveryfluidandrapidlydeveloping.
It'stheconceptsthatareimportant.
Inthesummerof2006,TheNews-PressinFortMyers,Fla.
,askedforreaderstohelpintheinvestigationofongoingconcernsoverrisingutilitybills.
Theaudiencerespondedinsurprisingnumbersandsuppliedthereportingthatbecamethestory.
Thenewspaperwascaughtoffguardbytheinitialfloodofcallsande-mails.
"Thestorybuiltitself,"News-PresseditorKateMarymontsaid.
"Thepublicshapeditandwehadtogetusedtothat.
Wehadtolearnthatonlinedevelopmentofastoryandthedevelopmentofaprintstorytakedifferentpaths.
"Crowdsourcingharnessesthepowerofcommunityonacontinuingbasistoimproveaserviceorinformationbase.
WhenwebuiltanonlinemapplottingalltheplacesinourcoverageareatogoforfreewirelessInternetaccess,TheNewsTribunethenaskedthepublictosubmitlocationsthatwemissedorthathavesinceopened.
Wealsoinvitedthemtocommentonthelocationsandaddphotos,enhancingtheoriginalservice.
Inthefirstsixmonths,dozensofreadershavecontributed.
47Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter4:NewReportingMethodsTheconceptofcrowdsourcingmightseemtolenditselfespeciallywelltograss-rootsorganizationsandprojects.
Butsomeofthemostnotableexamplesofcrowdsourcinghavecomefromsomeverybigcompanies,includingProcter&Gamble,AmazonandGoogle.
Followingaresomeexamples:Procter&GamblelaunchedaWebsitecalledInnoCentiveofferingseriouscashrewardstomorethan90,000freelancescientistswhocouldsolveproblemsthatthecompany's9,000scientistscouldn't.
Itnowworkswithothercompa-niesasasortofcrowdsourcingbroker,allowingthemtousethesitetosolveproblemsoftheirown.
www.
innocentive.
comAmazon.
comdescribesitsMechanicalTurkprojectas"ArtificialArtificialIntelligence.
"Itpayspeopletocompletetasksthatpeopledobetterthancomputers,suchasidentifyingsubjectsinphotographsandtranslatingtext.
ThisistheoppositeoftheInnoCentiveproject.
Thepayislowandthetaskscanbedonebyanyone.
Peopleneedtoperformahighvolumeoftaskstomakeanyrealmoney,butthetasksaresosimplethatsome10,000peoplehaveregisteredto"turk.
"www.
mturk.
comGoogledoesn'tpaypeopletoparticipateinitsImageLabelerprogram,butitmadetheexercisesofunthatitcanbeaddicting.
ThegoalistoimprovethequalityofGoogle'sImagesearch.
Overa90-secondperiod,youareshownran-domimagesandaskedtoprovideasmanylabelsaspossible.
You"play"withanotherrandomuserandwhenthetwoofyouagreeonalabel,thesoftwaregetssmarter.
http://images.
google.
com/imagelabeler/Distributed,collaborativeoropen-sourcereportingTheconceptofdistributedreportingisaformoftransparencyforanewsorgani-zation.
Traditionally,readersonlylearnaboutstoriesanewsorganizationiswork-ingonwhenthearticlesarefinishedandpublished.
Whileitiscustomarytokeepastoryideasecrettopreventthecompetitionfromrunningwiththeidea,thedistributedreportingmodelrequiresanewsorganizationtogopublicwithastoryideaearlyinthereportingprocess.
ThereasonToallowreaderstoassistinthereportingofthestory.
InDecember2006,TheCincinnatiEnquirertappedthepowerofdistributedreportingtogaugecompliancewithanewsmokingban.
Here'showthepaper'sinvestigativeandenterprisereporter,GregoryKorte,describeditinhisblog:48Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive"Whetheryou'reasmokerornon-smoker,youprobablywanttoknowwhichbars,restaurantsandbowlingalleysarecomplyingwithOhio'snewbanonsmoking—andwhichareignoringituntilthestatepostsnewregulations.
Andwe'dliketotellyou.
Butwith1,488barsandrestaurantsinHamiltonCountyalone(that'sjustcountingtheliquorlicenses),it'shardtogetaroundtoallofthem.
It'sagoodexampleofwhyTheEnquirer,likeallGannettnewspapers,isembarkingonanexperimentinwhatwecall'crowdsourcing.
'We'reaskingyoutohelpusreportthestorybytellinguswhat'sgoingoninallthoseplaceswecan'tgetto.
"Whilethetermsusedtodescribeitarenew,thepracticeitselfhasbeenaroundformanyyears.
TheSpokesman-ReviewinSpokane,Wash.
,beganusingdistrib-utedreportingin2001withadatabaseofe-mailaddresses—somethingitcalleda"readernetwork"—tocorrespondwithreaderswhilereportingstories.
Thismodelhasbeencopiedbynewspaperseverywhereandusedeffectivelyinmanysituations,especiallywhenlookingforsourcestointerviewonaspecifictopicorfeedbackorreactiontoacurrentissueinthenews.
Mostreadernetworkswerestartedwithe-mailaddressesfromreaderswhohadcontactedthenewspaper,eitherbysendingalettertotheeditororaskingareporteraboutanewsstory.
ThroughitsWebsite,anewsorganizationcanalsobuildthedatabasebyadvertisingthenetworkandinvitingreaderstojoin.
49Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveDuringthe2006Elections,TheCincinnatiEnquirerinvitedreaderstoreportvotingprob-lemstheyexperiencedattheirpollingplaces.
Dozensofreaderscalledore-mailedtodescribetheirregularitiesandTheEnquirerpresentedtheproblemsonaGoogleMaponitsWebsite(http://www.
cincinnatidatadesk.
com/pages/voter.
html).
Chapter4:NewReportingMethodsMinnesotaPublicRadioexcelsatthiswithitsPublicInsightJournalisminitiative(http://minnesota.
publicradio.
org/your_voice/).
Bycollectingasmuchinforma-tionaspossible,thenewsorganizationcanslicethenetworkseveraldifferentwaysandtargetspecificsubsetsofthelistforcertainqueries.
PeoplewholiveinaparticularZIPcode,forexample,orsportsfans.
KenSands,whopio-neeredthepracticeinSpokane,highlightstwowaystheuseofane-mailnetworkdiffersfromtraditionalaudiencefeedbacksuchasletterstotheeditororperson-on-the-streetinterviews.
"One,theinteractionoccursbeforepublica-tion,duringtheinforma-tion-gatheringprocess;and,two,byactivelyreachingouttopeople,yougetadifferent,broaderreactionthanyoudobywaitingforpeoplewhoarecompelledbypassiontocontactyou,"SandswrotefortheKnightCitizenNewsNetwork(www.
kcnn.
org).
Somenewspapersnowhavemorethanonereadernetwork.
Itcanmakesensetocreateandmanageseparatecontactdatabasesforeducationstories(ifyouneeddirectcontacttoteachers)orbusinessstories(ifyouneedtogetfeedbackfromlocalbusinessleadersonly).
Theconceptisgoingnational(and/orglobal)too.
In2006,NewYorkUniversityprofessorJayRosenandotherslaunchedNewAssignment.
net,asortofclearing-houseforopen-sourcereportingprojectsproducedbyteamsofvolunteers.
CraigNewmark(ofcraigslistfame)contributed$10,000tohelplaunchtheproject.
"Inthissenseit'snotlikedonatingtoyourlocalNPRstation,becauseyourlocalNPRstationsays,'Thankyouverymuch,ourprofessionalswilltakeitfromhere.
'Andtheydothatverywell,"RosenwroteonhisblogPressThink.
"NewAssignment50Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveFormoreexamplesofhowtouseane-maildatabasefordis-tributedreporting,seeKenSands'articleat:http://www.
kcnn.
org/modules/using_e_mail_to_jumpstart_your_newsgathering/says:Here'sthestorysofar.
We'vecollectedalotofgoodinformation.
Addyourknowledgeandmakeitbetter.
Addmoneyandmakeithappen.
Workwithusifyouknowthingswedon't.
"Atatimewhennewsorganizationsarelookingforwaystobuildbrandloyalty,gettingreadersandviewerstoparticipateinthenewsprocesscanhelp.
SummaryAsyouprobablyarepainfullyaware,veryfew,ifany,newsorganizationsareaddingtotheirstaffinglevelsthesedays.
Thatdoesn'tmeanthatjournalismisanylessimportantthanitusedtobe.
Itmeansthatjournalistsneedtofindnewtoolsandefficienciestocontinuetheirimportantworkandeventakeittoahigherlevel.
"Weneedtogetoutofthekeystrokebusiness,"saysDonNelson,executiveeditoroftheSkagitValleyHeraldinMountVernon,Wash.
Youneedtoleverageexistingresources.
Storingdataelectronicallyisagoodplacetostart.
Findingwaystoincorporatecrowdsourcinginyourreportingwillhelp,too.
Assignment:1.
Convertyourcontactstoanelectronicform.
2.
Askamanagingeditoraboutasharednewsroomdatabaseforcontacts.
3.
Identifyastoryyou'vedone,oroneyou'vereadrecently,thatwouldhavebenefitedfromcrowdsourcingordistributedreporting.
1PhilipMeyer,TheNewPrecisionJournalism,2ndEd.
,IndianaUniversityPress,1991.
PhilipMeyeristheKnightChairinJournalismattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill.
ThisisanupdatedversionofMeyer's1973book,"PrecisionJournalism:AReporter'sIntroductiontoSocialScienceMethods.
"2JeffHowe,"TheRiseofCrowdsourcing,"WiredMagazine,June2006.
JeffHowecoverstheentertain-mentindustryasacontributingeditorforWiredMagazine.
51Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter5:HowtoBlogChapter5:HowtoBlogWhatmakesagoodblogAndapopularoneSomebasicprinciples,similartothosethatmakegoodnewsstories,canbeappliedtohelpanyrookiebloggercultivateacommunityonline.
IntroductionKevinCullen,aprojectsreporterforTheBostonGlobe,wasintroducedtothepracticeofbloggingduringthe2006WorldCupasaU.
S.
correspondentfortheGoethe-Institut.
SimultaneouslyhewasfilingforTheGlobe'ssportsdesk.
"Thenextday,IcomparedmywordsthathadgottenintothepaperwithwhatIwrotefortheblog,"CullenwroteintheDecember2006issueofNiemanReports.
"Theblogentryseemedbetterthanthenewspaperstory.
Itwasn'tmuchlonger,maybeby300to400words,butthoseextrawordscontainedsomegoodquotes,somestylisticsegues,andalittlemorecolor.
Itwas,withoutadoubt,abetterread.
Unencumberedbytheneedtosqueezewordsintoafinitespace,theInternetprovedbetterforme,asthewriter,andI'dargueforreaders,too,thannewsprint.
"Manynewmediaanalystshavesuggestedthateveryreportershouldhaveablog.
Thatmaynotbefeasible(orsensible),butscoresofsuccessfuljournalistblogsarecurrentlyonline,allowingtheblogger/reportertocultivateacommunitywithreaderstotestideas,receiveearlyanddirectfeedbackandpublishinthetimeliestmannerpossible.
Agoodbloghelpsablogger/reporterenhancehisorherauthorityonabeatbyaddingtheabilitytopublishinformationoutsideofthetraditionalnewscycleandstoryformat.
Italsohelpsthenewsorganizationestablishadeeperrelationship52Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivewithreadersandleveragesthewisdomofthecrowdforthebenefitofthereporter'scoverage.
"Readersareourfriends,"saysBenMutzabaugh,whoblogsaboutbusinesstravelforUSAToday,whenaskedwhathehaslearnedasabloggerforthepastfiveyears.
"Inprintit'seasytofeelyouareatoddswithreadersbecausepeoplewillfindonelittlethingwrong.
Soasajournalistyougetdefensive.
Thereadersonablogchimeinandhelpyou.
Theywantyoutogetthestoryright.
…Readershelpmaketheblogstrongerthananysingleauthorcouldmakeitalone.
"Therulesaredifferentwithablog.
Youcanplayoffotherinformationyoufindonline,evenlinkingtostoriesandblogsthatmightbethoughtofas"competition"but,inreality,areessentiallyallpartofthevirtualcommunityconversa-tiononagiventopic.
A2006studybytheBivingsGroupfoundthat80ofthetop100dailynewspapersintheU.
S.
haveatleastonereporterblogontheirWebsites.
On67oftheseblogs,readerscanaddtheirowncomments.
1Simplylaunchingablogisnotgoodenough,however.
BobCauthorn,aformereditorattheSanFranciscoChronicle,oncenotedthechallengeforreporterblogs:"Ithinkit'sgoingtobedifficultfornewspaperstodoblogsrightbecausetheirDNAcontinuestobetrappedinthe'wetalk,youlisten'mode.
"Agoodblogisanongoingconversation.
Itisfacilitatedbyyou,but,ifitworks,itmaybedominatedbyyouraudience.
Ifthathappens,youwin,thenewsorgan-izationwinsand,mostimportantly,thereaderswin.
53Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveUSAToday'sTodayintheSkyblog,writtenbyBenMutzabaugh.
Chapter5:HowtoBlogWhatisablogIhatetheterm"blog.
"Itdoesn'tsoundtheleastbitrevolutionary,technological-lysavvyorcutting-edge.
Butthat'sexactlywhatblogsare.
Blogshavechangedforeverthewayinformationisdisseminatedinoursociety.
They'refast.
They'reinteractive.
They'refreewheeling.
Theycanbedangerous.
Theyarealreadypowerfulandgrowingmoresoeveryday.
Blogsusuallyhaveseveralcommoncharacteristics:1.
Afrequentlyupdatedonlinejournal,writteninaconversationalstyle,withentriesdisplayedinreversechronologicalorder(mostrecentstuffontop).
2.
LinkstoothernewsandinformationfoundontheWebcomplementedwithanalysisfromtheblogger(orbloggers).
3.
A"comments"linkthatallowsreaderstoposttheirownthoughtsonwhatthebloggeriswritingabout.
Notallblogsallowcomments,butmostdo.
HowdidbloggingbecomeaphenomenonInthefirstinformationrevolutioninthe1990s,everyonestartedcreatingWebsitesjusttohaveone.
Theadventofblogshaspavedthewayforamoreauthen-ticinformationrevolution.
TheInternetofthe1990swassaidtoallow"anyone"tobecomeapublisher.
Butitturnedoutthat"anyone"neededtoknowalittlebitaboutcomputersand,specifically,howtobuildaWebpage.
Asaresult,individualpublisherswerelargelycomputercodejockeysandgraphicartistsanddesignerswhoweremuchmoreinterestedinpushingthecosmeticlimitsofthisnewmedium.
Inessence,itwasstyleoversubstance.
LotsofflashyWebsiteswerebuilt,butonceyouvisitedthem,thereoftenwaslittlereasontoreturn.
Blogsflippedthismodelonitshead.
They'renotalwaysprettytolookat,buttheycanbe"published"byanyonewhocan54Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveBlogsaren'talwaysprettytolookat,buttheycanbepublishedbyanyonewhocanclickamouse.
clickamouseandtype.
Thesoftwaremakesitsoeasytopublish,infact,thatblogscanbeupdatedseveraltimesadaywithaboutthesameeffortassendinge-mail.
Itwasaneffectivewayforcitizensofallstripestodiscusstheaftermathoftheterroristattacksin2001.
Theenergycreatedbythosepost-9/11blogsmorphedintopassionatediscussionanddebateleadinguptothemilitaryactioninIraq,thenevolvedin2004aselectionseasonshiftedintohighgear.
Presidentialcandi-datesandtheRepublicanandDemocraticnationalcommitteeshostedblogs,alter-ingtheperceptionofablogasagrassrootscommunicationtoolandfurtheringthemainstreamingofthemedium.
GettingstartedBeforeyouwroteyourfirstnewsstory,youreadothernewsstories.
Knowingtheformofthemediumisessentialtounderstandingthefundamentalcomponents,suchasthelead,thenutgraphandthewalk-off.
Soitiswithblogs.
Youshouldreadblogsinordertowriteaneffectiveblog.
Findingtherightonestoreadwilltakealittlesearching,butisworththetime.
StartbyscanningtheA-listbloggersonthetop100atTechnorati.
com.
Thenvisitothernewspaperswhosejournalismyourespectandcheckouttheirblogs.
Thenfindblogsthatcoverthesamesubjectmatterasyourbeatandmakearegularhabitofcheckingthemforupdates.
(Youshouldbedoingthiswhetheryouhaveyourownblogornot,andnowyoucansubscribetothemviaRSS.
)55Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTechnorati.
comtracksblogsandallowsyoutobrowsebypopularity.
Chapter5:HowtoBlogAsyoureadotherblogs,bothjournalists'blogsandindependentblogs:Noticewhichpostsyoulikethemost,thendistill:WhatmakesitcompellingNotewaysyoucouldincorporatethebestelementsthatyoufind.
Trackthefrequencyofposts.
DoestheblogupdateasoftenasyoulikeOrtoooftenIstheretoomuchmaterialtokeepupwithTerminologyOK,timeforalittlevocabulary.
Therearesomenewtermsbloggersusetodescribethemechanicsofthemediumandit'simportanttoknowwhattheymean.
Post:Anentryonablogor,asaverb,tomakeanentryonablog.
Permalink:Alinkavailableoneachpostthatallowsdirectaccesstothatpost,usuallywithcommentsvisible.
Thishelpsotherbloggerslinkdirectlytoagivenpostandhelpsreaderse-mailalinktoaspecificposttofriends.
Trackback:Amechanismforcommunicationbetweenblogs,allowingonebloggertoletanotherknowthatheorsheislinkingtotheirmaterial.
Thishelpsreaderseasilyfollowaconversationandhelpsbloggersknowwhoislinkingtoeachpost.
Apingbackperformsessentiallythesamefunctionwithslightlydifferenttechnology.
Trackbackshavefallenoutoffavorwithsomebloggersbecausetheyaresusceptibletospam.
Blogroll:Acollectionoflinksusuallyfoundonthesidebarofablog,itisdesignedtoinformtheblog'sreadersofthesitesthebloggerfrequentlyvisits.
Thethinkinggoes:Ifyoulikemyblog,thenyou'llprobablylikeotherblogsIread.
ThelinksinablogrollaremostcommonlyotherblogsbutcanbegeneralornewsWebsites,too.
Linkblog:Ablogcomprisedoflinkstootheronlinesourceswithlittleornooriginalcommentary.
Vlog:Ablogthatfeaturesvideocommentaryasitsprimarymedium,asin"videoblog.
"Moblog:Bloggingfromamobiledevice,asin"mobileblog.
"56Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMechanicsWhiletrainedreportershaveabuilt-inadvantagewiththeirexperienceinresearch,reportinganddistillingfactsandinformation,theyareatadisadvan-tagewhenitcomestoformingblogposts.
Toomanyyearsofwritinginvertedpyramidsandanecdotalleadsbogdownmanyajournalist-blogger'sposts.
Thegoalinbloggingistowritetightandbequick:Gettoyourpointimmediatelyandgetoutofthere.
You'vegotastorytofileforprint,afterall.
Thinke-mail:Onewaytogetyourmindaroundtheideaofbloggingistothinkofitasane-mailtosomeoneyouknow.
Theyknowyou're"intheknow"onthissubjectsoyoudon'thavetoworktoproveyourworth.
Youcanbeeconomicalwithyourwordsbutmuchmoreconversationalthanyou'dbeinanewsstory.
Thinkaboutthatlong-windede-mailyoureceive—that'sexactlywhatyou'retryingtoavoid.
Link,summarizeandanalyze:Attributionis,ofcourse,importantinablogandittakestheformoflinks.
Agreatpostissprinkledwithlinkstoothersites,newsarticlesandevenotherblogs.
Postsshouldvaryinlengthbutalwaysbedirectandtothepoint.
Bespecificwithheadlines:Atendencyforrookiebloggersistobeextraflippantwiththeirwritingoncetheyhaveablog,especiallyinthetitlestheyusefortheirposts.
Avoidthis.
Agoodblogheadline—justlikeagoodnewspaperheadline—previewstheinformationtheblogpostwillcontainanddoesitinacompellingmanner.
Betheauthority—withapersonality:Thenarrowerthetopic,thebetter.
Notonlywillyouraudienceclearlyunderstandthesubjectmattercovered,thebloggerwillhaveabetterchancetopresenthisorherselfasthebestsourceoftimelyinformationonthatparticulartopic.
Andthat'sthegoal,afterall:Tocombineauthoritywithpersonality.
FrequencyandhandlingcommentsBeshortwithyourposts:Foryourmostloyalreaders,youarethe"middleman"betweenthemandthesourcesofinformationthey'retryingtofollow.
Anythingyoucandotoconnectreadersdirectlytothesourcewillbuildcredibilityforyouandmakeyourreaderswanttoreturntoyourblog.
Ifyoufindareportonlinethatwillbethefocusofanupcomingstory,linktoitwithablogpostandsimply57Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter5:HowtoBlogsay,"Thisisinterest-ing.
I'llbewritingaboutthissoon.
"Andbedonewithit.
MikeSando,thebeatreporterfortheSeattleSeahawksatTheNewsTribunewhowona2006awardfromEditor&Publisherforthebestsportsbloginthecountry,hasperfectedthistechnique.
Assoonasheleavesapressconference,heuploadstheentireaudiotohisblog,allowinghisreadersimmediateaccesstohissourcematerial.
Thenhefollowsuplaterwithhisanalysisandthenfilesastoryforthenextday'spaper(http://blogs.
thenewstribune.
com/seahawks/).
Postatleastonceaday:Ifyoucanbeshortwithyourposts,youcaneasilyaddatleastoneeveryday.
That'sanimportantminimumtohitifyouplantobuildanaudience.
Ideally,youwillpostevenmorefrequently.
Afterall,ifyourbeatisworthcovering,thereshouldbeenoughactiontosupportthisfrequency.
"I'mtoobusy!
"Sure,weallare.
Butsuccessfuljournalist-bloggershavefoundwaystomaketheblogworkforthem,savingthemtimeinsteadofsimplybecom-inganaddedtimeburden.
Youcanusetheblogasanotebook,compilingyournotesandstoryideas.
Itcanhelporganizeyourthoughts.
Andifyoubuildanaudience,theleadsandfeedbackyoureceivewillforeverchangethewayyouapproachyourbeat.
"Abiginnovationformeistheblog,thoughIpromisedthatIwouldstopusingtheterm,"saidJohnCook,who58Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMikeSando'sSeattleSeahawksblog.
JohnCook'sVentureBlogcoversventurecapitalandtechnologycompanies.
writesabouttechnologycompaniesandventurecapitalfortheSeattlePost-Intelligencer.
"OnereasonisthatIthinktheterm'blog'confusespeople.
Forme,itissimplyanonlinepublishingvehiclethatIcanusetocovermybeatbetter.
"Inowdevotemostofmytimetotheblog,partlybecausethatiswheremyaudi-enceis.
Ithasradicallychangedmyjob.
Icovermybeat—start-upsandventurecapitalinSeattle—moreaggressivelythanIeverhave.
PartofthereasonisthatIhavetheflexibilitytopublishwhenandwhereIwantwithouttheconcernsofwhetherthestorywouldmakeitintheprintedition.
"Handlingcomments:First,youshouldnotstartablogunlessyou'rewillingtoallowcomments.
Somemainstreamnewsblogsdon'tallowcomments,severelyunderminingthemedium'scommunity-buildingfunction.
(Thismightbeadecisionmadeaboveyourpaygradethatyoucan'tdoanythingabout.
Butyoushouldtry.
)Second,youshouldembracecommentsasavaluablereportingtoolandnotdis-dainthemasmanytraditionaljournalistsdo.
Youcancultivatecommentsbyaddingyourowncommentstoanydiscussionthatneedsclarification,redi-rectionorsimplyavoteofconfidence.
Forexam-ple:"Greatcomments,everyone.
Keepthemcoming!
"Youcanhigh-lightastuteobservationsorpertinentquestionsbyturningthemintofullblogposts.
Thiswillgiveyoueasyblogfodderandgiveyourreadersthesensetheymattertoyou.
That'simportantbecauseoneofthereasonsblogsarepopularisthattheyembraceinteractivityandgivereadersasenseofparticipation.
"Whencommentsstartedlandingonmyblog,itdawnedonme,'Icantalktothesepeople,'"saidGregReeves,whocoverscourts,policeandspecialassign-ments,anddoesdatabaseandcomputer-assistedreportingforTheKansasCityStar,wherehestartedtheCrimeSceneKCblogin2005(http://blogs.
kansascity.
com/crime_scene/).
59Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive.
.
.
oneofthereasonsblogsarepopularisthattheyembraceinteractivityandgivereadersasenseofparticipation.
Chapter5:HowtoBlog"Theinteractivitywaseye-opening.
Iwasfinallylearningwhatpeoplecareaboutandwhattheydon'tcareabout.
NowI'mgetting300to500commentsaday,andonlinecommu-nitiesareformingintheblog.
"Commentscanbelikegold,buttheycanalsotarandfeatheryourblog.
Don'tletafewbadapplesruinthecon-versationforeveryoneelse.
Rulethecommentswithastrictfocustostayingontopicandmaintainingrespectfuldiscourse.
Ifitworks,thecommentswillfeellikeagoodpubonaFridaynightwitharollingconversation.
Butsometimespeoplegetoutofhandanddeservetogetthrownout.
UsingphotosandscreenshotsWouldyoureadanewspaperormagazinethathadnopictures,graphicsorartofanykindOfcoursenot.
Sodon'texpectreaderstoflocktoaboringblogwithoutart.
Ifyouworkforanewspaperormagazine,youhaveaccesstoatreasuretroveofimages.
Andasareporter/blogger,youwilllikelybecoveringsubjectsthathavebeencoveredpreviously,soreusingfilephotosshouldbeeasy.
Mostbloggingsoftwaremakesaddingaphototoapostassimpleasaddinganattachmenttoane-mail.
Somesystemswillevenresizethephotosoyoudon'thaveto.
Ifnot,andyoupullahigh-resolutionimagefromthearchivesandneedtosizeitdowntosaveyourpage-loadtime(bigpicturesmakeWebpagesveryslowtoload),useanonlineservicelikeSnipshottoquicklyresizeanimagewith-outdownloadingandlearningnewsoftware.
(SeeChapter8formoreinformationonhandlingdigitalphotos.
)60Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTheCrimeSceneKCblogismaintainedbyKansasCityStarreporterGregReeves.
LoveitorleaveitMostpeoplegotintojournalismbecausetheylikeditfirst,thenfoundtheyhadatalentforit.
Thesamerecipewillworkontheblogosphere,too.
Ifyouareconsideringablog,doitfortherightreasons.
Ifit'sanassignmentfromamanagingorexecutiveeditor,orit'ssomethingyoujustfeelobligatedtodo—don't.
Youneedtobepassionateaboutyourblog—justasyouarepas-sionateaboutyourcraftoryourbeat.
Ifyou'renot,you'llbewastingyourtime.
InournewsroominTacoma,wesay,"Youhavetoloveyourblog.
"And,whilethereisnomeasurementforbloglove,it'sobviousaftersixmonthswholovesandwholoathestheirblog.
Mostlywe'vefoundthatreporters,editorsandevenpho-tographers—oncetheygetstarted—wishtheyhadmoretimetospendontheblog.
Forsomeitbecomesthecornerstoneforalltheirwork.
Thesereporter/blog-gerscan'timagineworkinginaworldwithoutablog,justlikenooneinjournal-ismtodaycanbelievetherewasatimebeforee-mailandtheInternet.
Ifyoucanfindthefiretoblog,youwillreaptherewards.
Assignment:Checkouttheseaward-winningnewspaperblogs(winnersofthe2006Editor&PublisherEPpyAwards):News—CrimeSceneKC:http://blogs.
kansascity.
com/crime_sceneBusiness—TodayintheSky:http://blogs.
usatoday.
com/skyEntertainment—MeMo:http://blogs.
chron.
com/memoSports—SeahawksInsider:http://blogs.
thenewstribune.
com/seahawks1"TheUseofInternetbyAmerica'sNewspapers"study,TheBivingsGroup,2006.
61Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWebQuick!
YoureditorneedsafewparagraphsfortheWebsite.
WhatdoyoudoThisbringspanictomanynewspaperreportersbutwritingfortheWebiseasyonceyouseeitbrokendownandunderstandwhatreadersareseeking.
IntroductionOfalltheskillsajournalistneedsinthedigitalage,reportingfortheWebshouldbetheeasiesttolearn.
Therearen'tanynewconceptsornewterminologyornewsoftwaretomaster.
Justanewwayofthinkingandworking.
TheWebsiteneedsbreakingnews.
Ifyou'reareportercoveringabeat,itwillpro-ducebreakingnewsfromtimetotime.
It'syourjobtosupplythehomepageofyourWebsitewiththatbreakingnewssobereadytousethemultimediatoolsnowavailabletoyoutoreportthestoryimmediately.
Ifyou'recoveringawreckonthehighway,youmayonlybeabletofileanaudioreport.
Oryoumayneedtodictatetoarewritepersoninyournewsroom.
WritingfortheWebissimilartowireservicereporting,soanewspaperreporterneedstothinklessintermsoffilingonecompletestoryandmoreintermsoffilingin"takes.
"Thefirsttakemaybeaheadlinesaying"5ChildrenKilledinHighwayBusAccident"—withtheskeletalfactsinthelead.
Thatisgoodenoughtotellpeoplewhatisgoingon.
It'smoreinkeepingwiththebroadcastmodelandlessontheprintmodel.
Oneparagraphandaheadlinebecomesthreeparagraphsin20minutes,andfiveparagraphsin45minutes.
Asyourreportingcontinues,you'llfleshoutthestory.
Thebalancingactcomesinavoidinganypressuretowriteaboutfactsthatmaybeinflux.
Chapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWeb62Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTimelyandrelevant:Timeisoftheessenceonline.
Storiesthatdon'tevenmakethenewspaperareimportantonline(abombthreatataschoolthateventuallyturnsouttobeafalsealarm;awreckontheinterstatethattemporarilybottlesuptraffic)butonlyifreadersfindthestoriesontheirtime,whenthey'relookingforthem.
Relevancyisessential,too.
Ifyou'recoveringaneventwherenewsisexpectedtohappen,writeaboutwhyandwhat'sexpectedandpublishitonlineinadvance.
Writelivelyandtight:Readersappreciatewriterswhodonotwastetheirtime.
Simple,directlanguagecommunicatestheinformationefficiently.
Plus,it'sfastertoproducethanelegantprose.
HerearesometipsfromJonathanDubeonthePoynterInstitute'sWebsite1:"WritingfortheWebshouldbeacrossbetweenbroadcastandprint—tighterandpunchierthanprintbutmoreliterateanddetailedthanbroadcastwriting.
Writeactively,notpassively.
""Goodbroadcastwritingusesprimarilytight,simpledeclarativesentencesandstickstooneideapersentence.
Itavoidsthelongclausesandpassivewritingofprint.
Everyexpressedideaflowslogicallyintothenext.
Usingthesecon-ceptsinonlinewritingmakesthewritingeasiertounderstandandbetterholdsreaders'attention.
""Striveforlivelyprose,leanonstrongverbsandsharpnouns.
Injectyourwrit-ingwithadistinctivevoicetohelpdifferentiateitfromthemultitudeofcon-tentontheWeb.
Usehumor.
Trywritinginabreezystyleorwithattitude.
ConversationalstylesworkparticularlywellontheWeb.
Onlineaudiencesaremoreacceptingofunconventionalwritingstyles.
"Thelastparagraphmightsurpriseyou,butit'sgoodadvice.
Therulesforthisgamearejustnowbeingwritten.
Experimentingandchallengingthestatusquoareencouraged.
Evenifthenewsstorywillappearasatraditional25-inchthumb-suckerinthenextday'spaper,theearlyversiononlineshouldn't.
Itneedstobequick,snappyand(ifpossible)fun.
Still,youhavearesponsibilitytothefundamentalsofnewsreporting.
Factsneedthesamelevelofcheckingtheygetfortheprintedition.
Speedandstylearegreat,butprovidingthe"why"ofthestoryisstillcritical.
Findthat"sweetspot"inbetweenthe"justthefacts,ma'am"reportingdeliveredonmostnewssitesbythenewsservicesandthestyle-without-substancereportingfoundonalternativenewssitesandblogs.
63Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWebThisiswheremainstreamnewssitesneedtofocus:Deliveringfullreportageinatimelymannerwithsomeflair.
Usetimestamps:Ifyouhaveadevelopingstorythatwillneedupdatingthroughouttheday,simplytackonnewinformationwithatimestampandkeepaddingtoit.
Thissavesyoufromhavingtorewritetheentirethingeveryhourwhennewinformationisdribblingin.
Here'sanexamplefromtheFresnoBeeinCalifornia:Standoffover,suspectdeceased12:47p.
m.
:FresnopoliceconfirmedthedeathofamanwhoheldthematbayforsevenhoursafterheshottwoofficersearlyThursday.
Capt.
KeithFostersaidpolicedonotknowhowthemandiedandwouldnotconfirmhisidentity.
PolicespokesmanJeffCardinalesaidtheassailantwasfounddeadinthehome.
Healsosaidpolicedidnotfiretheirweapons.
11:08a.
m.
:FresnoDeputyPoliceChiefRogerEnmarkreportedthatapoliceofficerwhowasshotseveraltimeshasundergonesurgeryatUniversityMedicalCenterandisinstableconditionwithwoundsthataredescribedasnotlife-threatening.
Theotherofficer,whowasshotonce,wastreatedatUMCandhasbeenreleased,Enmarksaid.
Policearenotyetreleasingtheofficers'names.
Botharepatrolofficerswhohavebeenwiththedepartmentabouttwoyears.
PoliceChiefJerryDyerisonhiswaybacktoFresnofromaconferenceoftheInternationalAssociationofChiefsofPoliceinBostonandisexpectedtoholdanewsconferencelatertoday,Enmarksaid.
Enmarkdidnotrespondspecificallytoquestionsaboutresidentevacuations,otherthantosayeveryoneissafe.
Severalroadscontinuetobeclosed:SanMadeleAvenueatBrawleyAvenue,CoronaAvenueatBrawley,MartyAvenueatSanJoseAvenueandBrawleybetweenShawandBarstowAvenues.
10:25a.
m.
:CampAmerica,therecreationvehiclesuperstorethattookovertheformerSuperKmartnearBrawleyAvenue,isclosedaspoliceusetheparkinglotasacommandcenter.
Nearby,onN.
Reese,FresnoUnifiedSchoolDistrictputLawlessElementaryona"rainyday"schedule,whichmeanskidsaren'tallowedoutsideonplaygroundsorfields.
TheSWATteamcontinuestosurroundtheapartment.
8:36a.
m.
:ShawAvenuehasbeenreopenedtotrafficatBrawleyAvenue,butaSWATteamisstillsurroundinganorthwestFresnoapartmentcomplexthismorning,lookingforamansuspectedofshootingtwoFresnopoliceofficers.
64Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveBrawleyisstillblockedoffnorthofShaw,asisMartyAvenue,andSanJoseAvenueisblocked,aswell.
TheunidentifiedofficersweretakentoUniversityMedicalCenterandwerelistedinstableconditionwithnon-life-threateningwounds.
ShirlCatrina,assistantmanageroftheSanJoseVillaapartmentcomplex,toldreportersthatshewasawakenedbythesoundofatleastfourgunshotsatabout3:30a.
m.
Shesaidofficershaveevacuatedthecomplex's48townhouseunitsandwereconcentratingonaunitjustafewdoorsawayfromherapartment.
7:06a.
m.
:Asmallarmyoflawenforcementofficers,includingaFresnopoliceSWATteam,hadanorthwestapartmentcomplexsurroundedthismorning,lookingforamansuspect-edofshootingtwoFresnopoliceofficers.
Theofficers,whosenameswerenotmadepublic,weretakentoalocalhospitalwheretheywerebeingtreatedforwhatweredescribedasnotlife-threateninginjuries.
Theshootingwasreportedshortlyafter3:30a.
m.
atanapartmentcomplexjustnorthofShawandBrawleyAvenues.
Policesaidtheofficerswererespondingtoa"callforservice"whentheyweremetwithgunfirewhentheyarrived.
Theofficersretreatedtosafetyontheirownaftertheywereshot.
Accordingtomediareports,theshootinghappenedattheSanJoseVillaapartments,whichislocatednearSanJoseandBrawleyAvenues.
PolicesaidtheshooterisbelievedtobeconfinedinanundisclosedlocationandthataSWATteamwasmakingpreparationstotrytotakehimintocustody.
Shaw,eastandwestofBrawley,hasbeenclosedtotraffic,aswellasBrawley,northandsouthofShaw.
CheckFresnoBee.
comforupdatesthroughoutthedayandreadTheFresnoBeetomorrowforfurtherdetails.
Headlinessellthestory:Manynewspapersarepublishingnewswithouttheben-efitofacopydeskandheadlinewriterthesedays,eitherforspeedorbecauseit'stooearlyforthosefolkstostarttheirshifts.
Storiesstillneedheadlines,though,soreportersarewritingthem,sometimesforthefirsttimeintheircareer.
Addi-tionally,blogpostsneedgoodheadlinesandnewsbloggersarerarelystafferswithheadline-writingexperience.
SowhatmakesagoodheadlinefortheWeb65Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWeb"Goodheadlinesnotonlyoughttotellthenews,butalsooughttomakethereaderwanttoreadthestory,"saidRickArthur,acopyeditoratTheNewsTribuneinTacoma,Wash.
,andanewspaperconsultant.
"Goodheadlinesshouldenticethereadertowanttoknowmore.
Indeed,ifthestorymatterisappropriate,agoodheadlineshouldmakethereaderlaugh,makehimcry,makehimangry—inshort,itshouldengagehimemotionally,onewayoranother.
"ArthurhashelpednewsroomsfromMSNBCtomajormetronewspapersimprovetheirheadlinewriting.
HereareafewmoreofRick'stips:Makethereaderwanttoknowmore.
Useconversationallanguage.
Takerisks.
JohnWesley,whowritesablogcalled"PicktheBrain,"discoveredthepowerofhead-linewritinginearly2007.
OnaFridayinJanuary,hewroteaposttitled"TheTwoTypesofCognition"thatattractedagrandtotalof100visitorsinthenexttwodays.
Hethenrewroteit:"LearntoUnderstandYourOwnIntelligence.
"Fivedayslater,thearticlehadattracted4,930uniqueviews.
"Notbadforasitethatnormallyaveragesacouplehundredvisitorsaday,"Wesleywrote.
It'sagoodexampleofhowaheadlinethatwasessentiallyalabelordescriptiondidlittletoenticereadership.
Butarewrittenheadlinethatengagedthereaderandmadehimorherwanttoknowmorereallydrovereaderstothearticle.
Contextualhyperlinking:Thebestonlinenarrativesallowreadersto"branchoff"andclickthroughtoother,moredetailedsupportingcontentdependingupona66Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveHerearesomeexamplesfromTheNewsTribunethathelpedthesestoriesmakethetop10listformost-readstoriesinamonth:Policefiles:Carchase,jets,theft,9-year-oldStoryabouta9-year-oldwhostoleacarandsnuckonaplanefromSeattletoSanAntonio.
'HokeyPokey'orhankypankyStoryaboutschoolcrackingdownondirtydancing.
HomeownergetsPunk'dStoryaboutanadoncraigslistthatinvitedpeopletotakeany-thingtheywantedfromanunsus-pectingvictim'shouse.
SteaksonaplaneNewairlinesecurityrulesbanningthecarryingofcoldpacksonair-planesmakeitharderforfoodsellerscateringtotourists.
Formoreexamples,tipsandresources,visithttp://www.
copydesk.
org/.
reader'slevelofinterest.
Almostalljournalismreferstoothersources,butonlineawriteroftenhastheabilitytolinkreadersdirectlytothosesupportingsources.
NotetheURLsofthosesourceswhenyoureportandworkthemintoyourpiecewithcontextualhyperlinks.
Thisisespeciallyhelpfulwhenyourearlierstoriesprovidebackgroundandcontext.
Don'tregurgitate—justlinktoyourpastwork.
Don'tforgetart,context,interactivity,multimedia:Intherushtobetimely,it'seasytoforgetotherstoryelementsthatwillhelpthereader.
IsaphotoassignmentneededHowaboutalocatormapAretherepaststoriestolinktoWhataboutaudioand/orvideoAmessageboardAlivediscussionAnarratedphotogalleryAninteractiveprimerAssignment:SincereportingfortheWebmaybenewtoyou,itmightbedifficultjusttogetstarted.
Trythis:1.
WriteaWebstoryasapitchtoyoureditor.
Includeallthepertinentinformationyouhaveand"sellit"asmuchasyoucan.
Ifyouarewaitingformoreinformationandknowwhenit'scoming,sayso.
It'sOKtotellreadersthatyoudon'tknoweverythingyouwanttoknowrightnowbutwillbeupdatingthestoryassoonasyoudo.
Infact,it'sencouraged.
Alsomakesuretocheckwhatothernewsoutletsaredoing.
Soifaradiostationisreportingthatthekidsinthebuswerenotwearingseatbelts,youcanwriteitthatway.
Justmakesuretokeepcheckingsourcesandifthatinformationproveswrong,youhavetosaylaterthatearlierreportsprovedtobefalse.
67Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter6:HowtoReportNewsfortheWeb2.
Usea"charticle:"Somestoriesaredifficulttowritequicklywithcatchytransitionsandfullydevelopedtones.
Trylistingoutthebasicfacts(who,what,where,when)andthenformingacharticlewiththosecategories.
Alsoknownasalternativestoryforms,lead-inslike"whathappened"and"what'snext"quicklytellreaderswhattheywanttoknow.
3.
Usetaglines:Tellingreadersthatyourbreakingstoryisnotthedefini-tiveworkonthesubjectisimportant.
Ifamorecompletestorywillappearonlineorinprint(orbroadcast)later,saythat.
Itseemslikeapromotionaldevice,butit'sreallymoreanissueofthoroughness.
Ifyou'restillworkingthestoryanddevelopingsomethingmorecomplete,readersdeservetoknowit.
4.
BrowsethesenewspaperWebsitesforexamples:MinneapolisStar-Tribune:Startribune.
comTheCharlotteObserver:Charlotte.
comSanFranciscoChronicle:SFGate.
comTheKansasCityStar:Kansascity.
comTheHonoluluAdvertiser:Honoluluadvertiser.
comMilwaukeeJournalSentinel:JSOnline.
com1JonathanDube,"WritingNewsOnline,"PoynterOnline,July14,2003.
JonathanDubeisthepublisherofCyberJournalist.
netaswellastheeditorialdirectoratCBC.
caandacolumnistforPoynterOnline.
68Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcasting69Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingEventuallyyouwillbeaskedtocaptureaudiotogowithyourstory(ifyouhaven'tbeenalready).
Learnthebasicsofgatheringnaturalsound,recordinganinterviewandeditingtheclip(withfreesoftware)inthischapter.
IntroductionAchallengeformanyreportersistocaptureinwordsastory'sparticularsightsandsounds.
Photographsusuallysolvethevisualendofthisequation.
Now,withtheadventofcheapdigitalaudiorecorders,reporterscanbringreadersevenclos-ertothestorybyenhancingtheirreportingwithaudioclips.
Thebasics:AudioformatsIt'shelpfultohaveanunderstandingofdigitalfileformatsasyougetstarted.
IfyoudownloadorlistentoaudioonaWebsite,thenitisprobablyinacom-pressedformatsothatitdownloadsfaster.
You'reprobablyfamiliarwithsomeoftheformats,likeMP3andWindowsMedia.
It'snotnecessaryforyoutoknowthetechnicaldifferencesbetweenthem,justknowwhatyou'redealingwith.
Here'saglanceatthemostprevalentformatsofdigitalaudio.
Compressed(onWebsites)MP3(mostuniversal)WMA(WindowsMedia)Chapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingReal(RealAudio)MPEG-4(QuickTime)MPEG-4AAC(iTunes)Uncompressed(notfoundonWebsites)WAV(pronounced"wave")AIFF(Apple'sstandardformat)YourgoalshouldbetoprovideaudioclipsinMP3formatforyourreaders.
WhyBecausevirtuallyanycomputercanplayanMP3.
ProgramslikeiTunes,WindowsMediaPlayerorRealPlayercanplaythem,too,buttheycan'tplaytheotherpro-prietaryformats.
Forexample,youcan'tplayaWindowsMediafileiniTunesoraRealMediafileinWindowsMediaPlayer,butyoucanplayanMP3onanyofthem.
IdentifyingopportunitiesIfyouareareporter,interviewingpeopleiswhatyoudo.
Sure,youcantranscribethebestquotesforprintbutdoesthatreallyprovideathoroughandcompletereportDidoneofyoursourceselaborateonanimportanttopic,whichyouthenparaphrasedtoavoidalongquoteDidsomeonesaysomethingwithemotionorfeelingoruniquenessthatdoesn'ttransfertotextMostnewsarticlescanbeimprovedwiththeadditionofaudioclips.
Anewspaperreportercaneasilyproduceaudioclipsonmorethanhalfofthestoriesheorsheturnsin,basedonthesubjectmatteralone.
Thatmaysoundtooambitiousifyouhaven'teditedandpublishedaudiofortheWebbefore.
Butonceyoudoitacou-pleoftimes,itwillbecomesecondnature.
Thefirststepistotossthatmicrocassettemachinefromthe1990sandgetyour-selfadigitalrecorder.
BuyingarecorderLikemostdigitaltools,thereareplentyofoptionsonthemarkettodayanddecidingwhichoneisrightforyoustartswithabasicquestion:HowmuchcanyouaffordtospendYoucanbuyanewdigitalrecorderforaslittleas$50,butifyouspendevenalittlebitmoreyoucandramaticallyimproveyourcapacitytoparticipateinthisgame.
And,ofcourse,ifyouspendevenmoreyouwillgofrom"entrylevel"to"professional"innotime.
70Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveThekeypointstoconsiderincluderecordingtime,digitalfileformatandcompati-bilitywithyourcomputer,easeofuseandtransferringfiles,andqualityofrecord-ing.
Let'slookatafewoptionsindifferentpricelevelsandevaluatethemontheseaspects.
Importantnote:Youmightbetemptedtobuya$50versionbecause,hey,itsaysit'sadigitalrecorder.
Butunlessyoucantransferthefilesfromtherecordertoyourcomputer,youwillbeunabletogetthefilesontoaWebsitewherereaderscanlistentothem.
Soitwouldbelikewritingastoryonacomputerandnotbeingabletosendittoyoureditor.
$100OlympusWS-100http://www.
olympusamerica.
com/cpg_section/product.
aspproduct=1170Recordingtime:Upto27hours.
UnitisalsoaUSBmassstoragedevicewith64MBofcapacity.
Digitalfileformat:WindowsMedia,whichisn'tperfect(especiallyifyou'reaMacuser)butdoeswork.
Compatibility:FilescanbequicklydownloadedontoaWindowsorMaccomputerthroughaUSB2.
0port.
IfyouhaveaPCyouwon'tneedanyadditionalsoftware.
Ifyou'reusingaMac,youwillneedafileconvertertochangetheWMAfilestoMP3orsomeotherformatreadableonMacsoftwaresuchasiTunes.
EasyWMAisonly$10andworkswell(www.
easywma.
com).
Easeofuse:Recordingisone-touchandeasy.
It'stiny—aboutthesizeofaniPodNano—soveryportable.
Hasmikeandheadphoneinputs,whicharerequired.
It'sclunkytoreviewrecordingswithfastforwardorrewind.
Thiscanbedonemoreeasilyonyourcomputer.
Battery:OneAAAbattery.
Transferringfiles:Thebestfeatureonthisrecorderisthebuilt-inUSBport.
JustpullapartthedeviceanddirectlyinserttherecorderintoyourUSBport.
Noextrawirestopackalong.
Qualityofrecording:Asgoodasitgetsfor$100.
71Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcasting$200DiasonicDR-51128http://www.
justrecorders.
com/dr51128.
htmRecordingtime:35hours.
UnitisalsoaUSBmassstoragedevicewith128MBofcapacity.
Digitalfileformat:MP3orWindowsMedia.
Compatibility:WindowsorMac.
Battery:TwoAAAbatteries.
Transferringfiles:USBconnectionallowsforeasydraganddropoffiles.
Qualityofrecording:Good.
$400EdirolR-1http://www.
rolandus.
com/products/productdetails.
aspxObjectId=744Recordingtime:137minuteswhenusingtheincluded64MBmemorycard.
Digitalfileformat:WAV.
Compatibility:MacorWindows.
Transferringfiles:USB2.
0ormemorycard.
Qualityofrecording:Excellent.
$350-500M-AudioMicroTrack24/96http://www.
m-audio.
com/products/en_us/MikeroTrack2496-main.
htmlRecordingtime:Ample,dependsonsizeofmemorycard.
Digitalfileformat:WAVorMP3.
Compatibility:MacorWindows.
Easeofuse:Simpleyetpowerful.
Transferringfiles:CompactFlash(CF)cardsmakeitsimple.
Qualityofrecording:Excellent.
72Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveUsingamicrophoneWhileusinganexternalmikecanbeanextranuisanceduringaninterview,theaddedsoundqualityiswellworththeeffort.
Therearebasicallytwotypesofexternalmicrophones:Astandardmikewithacord,andawirelessorlavaliermike.
Let'stakealookattheadvantagebothhavetoofferandalsoexplorethebestwaytorecordtelephonecallsdigitally.
Astandardmikewithacordishelpfulifyouareinterviewingmorethanoneper-sonatatimeoryouwanttoincludeyourvoiceontheaudioclipsolistenerscanhearthefullinterviewinsteadofjustselectedquotes.
Itisalsothebestwaytogathernatural,orenvironmental,sound,whichcanbesplicedintotheaudioseg-menttoenhancethelisteningexperience.
Gatheringnaturalsoundisnotthesameasbackgroundnoise.
Interviewsshouldbedoneinasettingthatallowsthevoicestoberecordedwithoutinterruption.
Separatefromtheinterviewsession,however,it'salwaysagoodideatosearchforthosesoundsthatwillhelpdescribethesetting.
AretherepowertoolsbeingusedIsitanoisyofficewithlotsofchatterandphonesringingIsitanoutsidesettingwhereyoucanhearthebugsandthebirdsIfthereisnaturalsoundtobehad,takejustafewminutesandrecordit—with-outanyonetalking.
"Youmightfeelsillyjuststandingthereholdingyourmikeintheair,butwhenyougetbacktoedityourstuff,you'llbegladyouhaveit,"saidKirstenKendrick,areporterandmorninghostonKPLUradio,anNPRaffiliateinSeattleandTacoma.
Youshouldrecordnaturalsoundinuninterrupted15-secondincrements.
Thatwayyou'llavoidtheproblemofnothavingenoughtouseinediting.
Youcanalwaysmakeaclipshorterbycuttingitbutyoucan'tmakeitlonger,somakesurethematerialyou'reworkingfromislongenoughtocutfrom.
Assignment:FindtheNPRstationnearyouorlistenonlinefromNPR'sWebsite.
Thepublicradiobroadcastersdoamasterfuljobofweavingnaturalsoundintotheirreports.
Andasalistener,yougetabettersenseofthesettingforthestorywhenyouhearwhatitreallysoundslike.
73Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingAwirelessorlavaliermikeismosthelpfulwhenyourgoalistocapturethevoiceandwordsofonepersonandyou're"inthefield.
"Whiletheymightbeintimidatingatfirst,wirelessmikesarereallyverysimple.
Therearetwohalves:Abatterypackandminiaturemikeonacordthatclipsonthepersonyouwanttorecord(thissendsthesignal),andabatterypackandcordthatgoesintoyourrecordingdevice(thisreceivesthesig-nal).
Here'showtogetstarted:1.
Clipthemikeonthelapelofyoursubjectandgivethemthebatterypacktoputintheirpocket.
Don'tforgettoturnthedeviceon!
2.
Connectthereceiverpacktoyourrecordingdevice,turniton,andputitinyourpocketorpurseorhandbag.
Thenoperateyourrecorderasyounormallywould:Hittherecordbuttonwhenyou'rereadyandpausebuttonifthere'sabreakintheaction.
RecordingwithyourcomputerTorecordaphonecalldigitally,you'llneedanotherpieceofequipment:Atele-phonerecordingcontrolunitthatsellsatRadioShackfor$25.
Manyjournalistsalreadyuseoneofthesetorecordphonecallstotheiranalogmicrocassettetaperecorder.
Andthosesamejournalistsprobablyhaveanunrulyjungleoftapesontheirdeskorinadrawerthatisunlikelytoproducethetapefromsixmonthsagothatsomeonemightneed.
(NOTE:Insomestatesit'sillegaltorecordsomeoneonthephonewithouttheirexpresspermission.
)That'sonereasontogodigital—organization.
WiththeRadioShackdeviceyoucanrecorddirectlytoyourcomputer,whichmakesiteasytostorefilesinanorganizedfashion.
Andgoingthroughthe"tape"iseasieronacomputersincemostplaybackprogramslikeWindowsMediaPlayerhavesliderbarsthatallowyoutoquicklygofromthebeginningofarecordingtotheend.
Yourhardwareisready.
Nowyouneedsoftwaretomanageandeditthesoundfileswithyourcomputer.
Thereareliterallyhundredsofoptionsforaudiosoftware,rangingfromAdobeAudition(thechoiceformostradioprofessionals,$349)toAudacityandJetAudio,popularfreedownloadsthatworkgreat.
74Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveNomatterwhichaudiosoftwareyouuse,thereareafewbasicsettingsonyourcomputertocheckbeforestartingyourfirstrecording:Filename:YouwilleitherneedtoselectFile->Newandcreateafileorchoosewhereonyoursystemthisnewfilewillbecreated.
Eitherwayyouneedtothinkaboutwhattocallyourfile.
Thisisagoodtimetocomeupwithastandardfilenamingconventionthatwillserveyouformonthsandyearstocome.
Includethedateandthenameofthepersonyou'llbetalkingto,soaninterviewonValentine'sDaywithParisHiltonwouldbenamed"021407hilton.
"It'salsohelpfultocreatenewfoldersbyyearormonthformoreorganization.
Format:YoushouldrecordinWAVformatsoyourfilesareuncompressedand,therefore,ofthehighestquality.
YoucanconvertthefilestoMP3(AudacityandJetAudiocanbothdothis)oncethey'reeditedforpublishingontheWeb.
Youonlyneedtoworryaboutthiswhenrecordingdirectlyintoyourcomputer,notwhenusingadigitalrecorder.
Input/Mikelevel:Makesurethesoftwareissettocapturedataviamicro-phoneinput.
Thenfindthesettingthatadjuststhemicrophonelevelandsetittoabout70percentofthepossiblelevel.
Assignment:Nowcallafriendandrecordthecallforatrialrun.
Savethefilewithyournewnamingconvention.
Playitbacktomakesureitsoundsgood.
EditingyouraudioIt'sunlikelyyou'lleverpublishanentiresessiononline.
Justlikeyoudon'tpub-lishentireinterviewsintext,youneedtoedityouraudiotomakesurethebeststuffisnotobscuredbylesscompelling,lessimportantorrepetitivecontent.
Editingaudioisremarkablysimilartoeditingtext,soyoushouldn'tbeintimidat-edwhenapproachingthistask.
First,acquiretheaudiofileifit'sstillonyourrecordingdevice.
Connectthedig-italrecordertoyourcomputerthroughUSBanddragthefile(s)youneedintoafolderorontothedesktop.
Importantnote:Most—butnotall—digital75Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingrecorderscomewithaUSBcordthatconnectstoacomputertomakethiseasy(simplyplugthecordintotherecorder,thenconnectittothecomputerthroughaUSBport).
Thecheapestrecorders,however,donotinterfacewithcomputers,makingthemmuchlessuseful.
Launchyouraudio-editingsoftware.
Ideally,theprogramshouldbeeasytouseandexportfilesinMP3format.
IfyouuseaPCoraWindowsmachine,AudacityandJetAudioareexcellentfreeoptions.
Let'sgothroughtheeditingprocesswithAudacitysinceitappearstobethemostprevalentfreesoftwareinusetoday.
EditingwithAudacity:1.
UseFile->Openandopentheaudiofile2.
Cropoutthebadstuff:Thinkabouthowuserswouldbestappreciatethecon-tent—inonefullservingorbrokenupintosmallerbites.
Highlightareasthatrepresentunwantedums,ahs,mouthnoisesandlipsmacking.
ThensimplyhitDELETE.
Alsocropoutsilenceandanysmalltalkatthebeginningandend.
Assignment:Recordyourownvoiceasatest.
Countfrom1-10intoamicrophoneandcaptureitdigitally.
Thenedityourtake.
Highlightthesectionwhereyousay"3"andselectEdit->Cut.
Thenmovethecursortoafterthe"6"andselectEdit->Paste.
Repeatafewmoretimeswithothernumbers.
Thiswillgiveyouafeelforhowthesoundwavesrepresentwordsandsoundsandalsoshowyouhoweasyitistoeditaudio.
76Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveASoundfilereadyforeditinginAudacity.
3.
Makeitstereo:Somefileswillbemono,notstereo,meaningyou'llonlyheartheaudioinonesideofyourheadphones.
Youwanttomakeitstereosothesoundfilewillplayinbothsidesofspeakersandheadphones,insteadofjustone.
Tomakeitstereo,clickontheAudioTracklabelnexttoanupsidedowntriangle(seescreenshot.
)ThenselectSplitStereoTrackfromthedrop-downmenu.
Thencopytheregionthatyou'veeditedbyhighlightingitandusingEdit->Copy.
ThenclickintothelowerwindowanduseEdit->Paste.
4.
Exportthefile:Convertyouraudioeditintoacompressed,ready-for-online-publishingMP3.
JustgotoFileandselectExportasMP3.
Ignorethemetadatainterface(Author,Description,etc.
)unlessyou'redoingapodcast.
UsingtimepointsforspeedMostnewspaperjournalistswilldowhattheyknowfirst—usetheaudiotogetquotessotheycanwritetheirstorybeforetheyedittheaudioforonlinepublish-ing.
That'sgreat.
Butthinkabouttheaudioeditingyouwilldonextasyoulistentotheentiretake.
Ifyoumakeanoteofthetimewhenagoodquoteplays,you'llsaveloadsoftimewhenyougobacktoeditthetakeforthegoodstuff.
Allaudio-editingsoftwareprogramsfeatureconvenienttimetrackmarks,soifyourinterview'sbestquoteoccurred10minutesintotheinterview,youwrite"10:00"nexttothequoteinyournotebook.
Thengodirectlytothe10-minutemarkonthetrackwhenyou'rereadytoeditandyou'vesavedyourself9minutes,59seconds.
ReadyforpodcastingPodcastingisthedistributionofaudiofilesovertheInternetusingRSSsubscrip-tion.
ThefilescanbedownloadedtomobiledevicessuchasMP3playersorplayedonpersonalcomputers.
Thetermpodcast,(PlayableOnDemand+broad-cast)canmeanboththecontentandthemethodofdelivery.
Podcasters'Web77Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter7:DigitalAudioandPodcastingsitesalsomayofferdirectdownloadoftheirfiles,butthesubscriptionfeedofautomaticallydeliverednewcontentiswhatdistinguishesapodcastfromasimpledownload.
Usually,thepodcastfeaturesonetypeof"show"withnewepisodesavailableeithersporadicallyoratplannedintervalssuchasdailyorweekly.
Podcastingwithvideofilesisoftenreferredtoasvodcasting(video+podcast-ing).
Itworksthesame,butincludesvideo.
IfyoudownloadavodcastonanMP3playerthatdoesn'thaveavideoscreen,youwillstillbeabletoheartheaudio.
Informat,podcastsaresimilartoconventionalradioprogrammingwithahostorhostsinterviewingasubject,playingmusicorintroducingpre-recordedaudiosto-ries.
Soit'snosurprisethatNationalPublicRadioproducessomeofthemostpop-ularpodcastsonline.
Newspaperpodcasts:Dozensofnewspapersarepodcasting,includingTheNewYorkTimesandTheWashingtonPost.
TheNaplesDailyNewsproducesdailypodcastsandvodcastscompletewithhiredvoicetalenttodeliverlead-ins,sponsorshipmessages,quickweatherforecasts,briefheadlines,reporterinter-viewsaboutabigstory,sportsheadlines,selectedletterstotheeditor,calendarpicksandteaserstootheritemsontheWebsite(http://www.
naplesnews.
com/podcasts/).
TheSanFranciscoChroniclewasproducingtwodozenpod-castsasofJanuary2007ontopicsasdiverseastheSanFrancisco49ersfootballteam,wineandmovies.
ListeningtopodcastsiniTunes:IfyouhaveiTunes,findingandlisteningtopodcastsissimple.
JustclickthePodcastslinkintheleftmenu,thenclickPodcastsdirectoryonthebottomofthescreen.
Searchbycate-goryormostpopular.
ClickSubscribeifyou'dliketoaddapodcasttoyourcol-lectionanditwillautomaticallyupdateanytimethereisnewcontent.
78Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveThepodcastshomepageontheSanFranciscoChronicle'sWebsite(http://www.
sfgate.
com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexnblogid=5).
Settingupapodcast:Ifyouknowyouwillhaveregularaudiofilesonaspecifictopictooffertoreaders,settingupapodcastwillmakeorganizingandpublishingtheaudioconvenientforyouandyourreaders.
Agoodexampleisasportsbeatwriterwhorecordsinterviewswithcoachesandplayersandwantstoofferthemtoreaders.
Settingupapodcastwillallowareadertosubscribeandautomaticallyreceivenewfilesastheybecomeavailable.
Creatingapodcastthatotherscansubscribetoiseasyandfree—ifyouhaveanRSSfeedsetup.
(SeeChapter2forhowtosetupanRSSfeed.
)GotoiTunesandclickontheSubmitapodcastlogooruseanotherservicelikePodcastAlley.
Ifyoudon'thaveanRSSfeedsetupforyouraudiofiles,talktoyourWebstaff(ifavailable)orvisithttp://www.
podcast411.
com/howto_1.
html.
79Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveThepodcastsmenuoniTunes.
Chapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosEveryonecanuseabetterunderstandingofdigitalphotobasics,bothforshootingmugshotsandmanagingthehandoutphotosthatnewsorganizationswillcontinuetorelyon.
Introduction"Justhavetheme-mailaphoto,"isoftenheardinnewsroomsthesedays.
Theproliferationofdigitalcamerasmeansthatphotosarealmostalwaysanoption.
Tomakethemostofthisdigitaldevelopmentandtofurtheryourdigitalliteracy,youshouldunderstandhowdigitalphotographyworks.
Thisoverviewisintendedtoassistthosewhomayhandledigitalphotosandneedtoshootabasicpicturelikeamugshot.
Thereisanoceanofinformationonlineforthosewhowanttogetmoreseriousaboutdigitalphotographyandphotojournalism.
Followingisa"startercourse.
"ThebasicsDigitalcamerasalescontinuetogroweachyearwithmillionsofunitsflyingoffstoreshelves.
Theadvantagesofadigitalcameraoveratraditionalfilmcameraaremany,including:Youcantakeasmanypicturesasyouwantandseerightawayifyougotthepictureyouwant.
Chapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotos80Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveYoucanuploadpicturestoyourcomputerandsharethemwithfriendsandfamilyanytimeviatheWeb.
Youdon'thavetobuyfilm,andyoudon'tpaytoprintphotosyoudon'twant,soyousavemoney.
Manyfieldsusedigitalphotographyeveryday,includingpoliceofficers,firefighters,realestateandinsuranceagents,scientists,doctorsanddentists.
Thekeytounderstandinghowtoworkwithdigitalphotographsisallinthepixels.
Pixelisamashed-upwordmeaningPICTureELementandisusuallyimaginedasatinysquareonamatrixoverlayonacomputerimage.
Apixelisthevisualrepre-sentationofdatainadigitalimageorgraphic.
Topicturethisinyourmind,thinkofamosaicwhereaphotographiscomposedofhundredsorthousandsoftinysquares.
Ifyouareshoppingforadigitalcamera,thefirstmeasurementyou'llusetonarrowyourchoicesisthemegapixel.
Amegapixelrepresentsonemillionpixels.
Itisusedtomeasurethepowerofdigitalcameraswithsomesimplemath.
Forexample,astandarddigitalcameraisratedat3.
2megapixelsbecausethelargestphotographsitcancaptureare2,048pixelswideand1,536pixelstalland2,048x1,536=3,145,728(andthemanufacturersroundthenumberupformarketingpurposes).
Ifyouusedalltheinformationina3.
2megapixelimage,youcouldprintahigh-qualityphotographthatisroughly5x7inches.
Camerasstorephotographsasdigitalfilesonamemorycard(seeboxformoreinformation).
Themorepixelsinaphotograph,themorebytesneededtostorethepicture.
Camerascanbeadjustedtolowerthenumberofpixelscapturedtosavespaceonthememorycard,butnowthatlargememorycardsof512MBoreven1GBaresocheap,it'srarelynecessary.
Nowthatyouunderstandpixelsyoucanbegintogetyourheadaroundresolution.
Whenitpertainstothedis-playofelectronicdata,resolutionisameasurementofpixelsthatareavailabletothehumaneye.
Computershavedis-playsthatcanbeadjustedtoshowmoreorlessinformationonthescreen.
(Acommondisplaysettingis1024x768.
)81Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAboutCompactFlashandSecureDigitalmemorycards:Amemorycardisacriticalcompo-nenttodigitalphotography:It'sthethingthatholdsthepictures.
Essentiallyit'slikeareusablediskforstorage.
Themostpopulartypesofflashmemorycardsforuseindigitalcamerasare:SecureDigital(SD),CompactFlash(CF),MemoryStick(MS),MultiMedia-Card(MMC),xD-PictureCard(xD)andSmartMedia(SM).
Chapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosWhenitcomestophotographs,resolutionreferstothenumberofpixelsinanimage.
Sincemostcomputermonitorsdisplay72pixelsperinch(ppi),photo-graphsonWebsitesonlyneedaresolutionof72ppi.
Photographsinaprintednewspaperareusually200ppiandaglossymagazineusesimagesat300ppi.
Aphotographwillbemuchlargerinbytesat200or300ppi,andthereforewilleatupmorecomputerprocessingtimetouploadordownloadandwillnotdisplayanysharperona72ppiscreen.
Sothere'snoreasontomakeuserswaitforthelongerdownloadforthehigherresolutionimage.
ThisistheproblemwhenareporterfindsaphotographonaWebsiteandwouldliketoincludeitinprint.
Thelow-resolutionimagedoesn'tscaleto200ppiandwilllookblurry,especiallyifitisenlarged.
Conversely,ifyouhaveahigh-resolutionimageforpublicationonaWebsite,itshouldbecompressed.
Compressinganimagemeansusingsoftwaretosqueezetheimage,omittingthepixelsthataren'tnecessaryandmakingthefilesmaller(inbytes)withoutsacrificingtheoverallquality.
ShootingbasicphotoswithadigitalcameraThegreatadvantageofadigitalcameraistheabilitytoreviewthephotoonthecamera'sscreen.
Usethisfeature!
Ifthephotoisbad,shootmore.
Themoreyoushootandthemoreadjustmentsyoumakebasedonwhatyouseeonthecamera,themoreyou'llimprovethechancesthatyou'llgetthephotoyouwant.
Lightingiscriticaltophotogra-phy,andthereareessentiallythreewaystoshootaphoto:1.
Withnatural(orambient)lightonly.
2.
Withaflashastheprimarylightsource(inalow-lightsituation).
3.
Withamixtureofflashandambientlight.
Thebestphotographsareshotwhennatureprovidestherightlight.
Butbecarefulnottoshootinharsh,brightsunlight,especiallyifyou'reshootingpeople.
Ifthesunisinfrontofthesubjects,itwillcreatefaceshadowsandmakethepeople82Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveCloudyandpartlysunnydaysactuallyprovidethebestlightforphotography.
squint.
Ifthesunisbehindthesubjects,theirfaceswillbedark.
Youcancom-pensateby"forcingtheflash"inthissituation,meaningyoucanusetheflashsettingonthecameratooverridetheautomaticfunctionandmakethecamerausetheflash.
Cloudyandpartlysunnydaysactuallyprovidethebestlightforphotography.
Herearesomeadditionaltipstohelpyourshooting,courtesyofCraigSailor,for-merphotoeditoratTheOlympianandTheNewsTribunenewspapersinWashingtonstate:Holdthecamerasteady:Digyourelbowsintoyourbodyorplacethemonsomething.
Usetwohands.
Leanagainstawall.
Doanythingyoucantobestillwhenshooting.
Usetheautomaticsettings:Today'sdigitalcamerasarebuiltwithadvancedautomatedsettings.
Trythesefirstandseeiftheywork.
Ifnot,makeadjust-ments.
Forcetheflashorturnitoff.
Adjusttheshutterspeedsetting.
Filltheframe:Whenshoot-ingpeople,don'tleavetoomuch"headroom"orspaceabovetheirheads.
Thesub-ject'sfaceshouldbenearthetopofthepicture,notinthemiddle.
Focusononething:Whenshootingapersonorgroupofpeopleagainstabusy,complexbackground,focusontheperson'seyes.
Theautomaticfocusfunctioncanonlyfocusononethingintheimageandaperson'seyeswillmakethephotolookthesharpest.
Getcloser:Mostamateurphotographersfailfirstbynotchangingtheirposi-tion.
Theyseesomethingtheywanttocaptureonphotoandtakeouttheircameraandshootthephotowithoutmovingaround.
Aprofessionalphotojour-nalist,ontheotherhand,willmoveallovertheplacetogettherightangle.
Govertical:Ifthesubjectisverticalturnthecameraintoaverticalpositiontoshootit.
Shootaction:Capturemomentswheneverpossibleandavoidposingpeople.
Findthesettingonyourcamerathatsnapstheshutterat1/500thofasecondorfastertoshootanythingreallyfastsuchassports.
83Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMostamateurphotographersfailfirstbynotchangingtheirposition.
Chapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosShootingmugshots:Themugshotisthemostcommonassignmentforjournal-istswhoarenotphotographers.
Whileitseemslikethiswouldbeano-brainerassignment,thereareseveralthingstoconsiderwhenframingaheadshot.
Usetherightlighting.
Trytoavoidusingaflashifpossibletopreventshinyspotsontheperson'sface.
Movethepersonoutsideornearlargewindowstotakeadvantageofnaturallightandthenmakesuretherearenoweirdshadowsontheperson'sface.
Avoidhighnoonsunlightandstrongbacklight.
Takeadvantageofovercastskies;theyworkwell.
Useaflashasalastresort.
Picktherightbackground.
Makesureit'sasneutralaspossibleandsimple,notbusy;anddarkerisusuallybetterthanlighter.
Don'tbackthepersonupagainstawalloryou'llendupwithflashshadowsbehindthesubject.
Makesurethereisn'tanythinglikealamporpole"growing"outoftheperson'shead.
EditingphotographsdigitallyTherearemanysoftwareprogramsthatwillmakeeditingdigitalphotographseasy.
Nomatterwhichprogramyouuse,it'sagoodideatofollowafewsimplesteps:Onlyeditacopyofthephoto—nottheoriginal.
Whenyouopenaphotoinaneditingprogram,doa"SaveAs"andchangethefilenamebyatleastonecharacter.
Thiswillgiveyouanexactcopyoftheoriginaljustincaseyoureditinggoesawry.
Cropthephoto.
Few,ifany,photosareperfectlycomposedwhentheimageismadebythecamera.
Usetheprogram'scroppingtooltoomitunnecessaryinformationinthephotograph.
Croppingaphotoshouldanswerthequestion:What'sthemostimportantinformationofthephoto84Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive85Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveIfyouright-clickorcon-trol-clickonanyWebsiteimage,youwillseethisdrop-downmenu,allowingyoutosavetheimagetoyourcomputerorviewthepropertiestoseehowlargeitisinpixels.
Resizethepicture.
Ifyouarepostingapicturetoablog,forexample,allyouneedisasmall,low-resolutionimage.
NotsurehowbigTofindouthowmanypixelswidetomakeyourphoto,findaphotothatisaboutthetargetsizesomewhereontheWeb.
Right-click(orcontrol-clickifyouuseaMac)andselectProperties.
Apop-upboxwilldisplaythemeasurementsoftheimageinpixels.
Softwareprograms:WhetheryouworkonaWindowscomputeroraMac,youshouldhaveabasicphotoeditingprograminstalledalready.
Youcanlearnhowtousethoseprogramstoperformthemostbasicoperationswiththefollowingtips.
Ifyouwanttogetmoreseriousaboutphotoediting,checkout:Photoshop:Theprofessionalindustrystandard($649).
PhotoshopElements:Astripped-downversionfornon-professionals($89).
GIMP:Afree,open-sourceprogramdesignedtooperatelikePhotoshop.
Assimpleasitgets:Ifallyouneedistocroporresizeaphoto,trytheonlineserviceatsnipshot.
com.
Itonlytakesafewmomentstouploadaphotoandcropitdowntothepartyoureallyneed.
Chapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosMicrosoftPhotoEditor:Openaphoto.
Tocrop,usetheselecttool(thedottedlinerectangle).
Dragontheimageuntilyouhaveomittedtheareasthataren'tnecessary.
SelectCropundertheImagemenuatthetop.
Whenpresentedwithacom-plexboxwithlotsofmeasure-ments,ignoreitandclickOK.
Toresize,selectResizeundertheImagemenu.
Inthepop-upbox,changetheunitofmeasurementtopixelsandenterthedesiredwidth.
ClickOK.
TocompresstheimagefordisplayonaWebsiteorblog:ChooseSaveAs…undertheFilemenuatthetop.
SelectMore>>inthelowerleftofthepop-upbox.
Slidethearrowonthe"JPEGqualityfactor"towardSmallerfile/lowerquality.
Dependingontheresolutionintheimage,youmaybeabletogoallthewaydownto10onthe1-100scale.
(You'llneedtoexperimentwiththissetting.
)Basically,whatyou'retryingtodoissqueezetheimageasmuchaspossiblewith-outaffectingthequality.
Soaslongasyoudon'tseeanoticeablechangeinthepicture(blurriness,pixelation,jaggedlines),keepdialingdownonthequality.
86Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMicrosoftOfficePictureManager:MicrosoftPhotoEditorhasrecentlybeendiscontinuedasacomponentofMicrosoftOffice,althoughmanynewsroomsstillhavePhotoEditorsoftwareavailable.
ReplacingitisMicrosoftOfficePictureManager.
TheWebphotoeditingfunctionsforbothprogramsremainsimilar,thoughthePhotoEditormenuitems—Crop,Resize,SaveAs—arenowfoundinanewplace.
InPictureManagertheeditingtools—nowcalledCrop,Resize,Compress,andExport—arefoundinaseparatedrop-downmenuaccessedfromaspecialmenutablabeledEditPicture.
TheCompressmenuisashortcuttoreduceimageresolutionto72pixelsperinchandscaletheimagesizetofitina448pixelx336pixelwindow.
iPhotofortheMac:Selectaphotobydoubleclickingonit.
Ifyoudon'tseeagroupoftoolsonthebot-tomofthescreen(like"Rotate,""Crop,""Enhance")clickEditonthebottompanelandanewgroupoftoolswillappear.
Tocrop,selectthecropbuttonandaborderwillappearonthephoto.
Dragthesides,topandbottomintowardthecenteroftheimageuntilyouhave87Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter8:ShootingandManagingDigitalPhotosomittedtheareasthataren'tnecessary.
Hitenterorreturn.
TheRed-Eyefunctionworkseasily;selectthetool,andthenclickeachredeyewiththewand.
ClickDone.
ToresizeandcompresstheimagefordisplayonaWebsiteorblog,chooseExportundertheFilemenuatthetop.
Select"scaleimagesnolargerthan"andenterthedesiredwidthinpixels.
Clickexportandsavethecompressedimagetoyourdesktop(orotherdesiredlocation).
SummarySincejournalismisaboutprovidingreadersandviewerswithinformation,theadditionofphotographsisfundamentallyjustgoodjournalism.
Picturesareinfor-mation,soifyou'reareporter,youwillbecomeabetteroneifyoulearntotakephotosonassignments.
Thiswon'treplacetheassignmentswhenyouneedaprofessionalbutwillsupplementthembyaddingmugshotsandotherbasicphotostoallthestoriesthatcurrentlydon'thaveaccompanyingart.
Andifyouhaveablog,it'sevenmoreimportant.
Blogswithoutartarelame.
Assignment:1.
Practiceshootinglikeapro:Takeadigitalcamera(borrowoneifyoumust)andtrytoshootthebestpicturespossibleofsomeoneyouknow.
Shootmugshots,portraitsanddocumentaryshotsthatcapturethemdoingwhattheydo.
2.
Usepictureeditingsoftwaretocropandresizethephotos.
3.
UploadthebestofthesephotostoaWebsitelikeFlickr.
ThemechanicsofgettingaphotofromAtoBwillbehelpful.
88Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveBlogswithoutartarelame.
89Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStoriesChapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStoriesQuicklylearnhowtoshootvideoforastoryinawaythatlooksprofessionalanddoesn'trequirehoursofeditingtoproduceaclip.
IntroductionThequalityofvideojournalismbynewspapershasdramaticallyimprovedinthepastfewyears.
Yes,youreadthatright.
NewspapersareproducingsomeofthebestvideojournalismintheU.
S.
andaroundtheworld.
Insteadofbeingbroad-castontelevision,however,mostofthesevideostoriesarepublishedontheWeb.
Theadventof(relatively)cheapdigitalvideocamerasandfreevideo-editingsoft-warehasleveledtheplayingfieldjustastheInternetdidwithtextpublishing.
Insteadofa$35,000camera,anexpensiveeditingstation,atwo-personcrewandyearsoftraining,onepersoncanproducehigh-qualityWebvideowitha$500cameraandalaptopordesktopcomputer.
Asaresult,someTVnewscompaniesarebreakinguptraditionalnewsteamsandcreatingVJs—videojournalists.
Alsoknownas"backpackjournalists,"theyworksoloandserveasbothreporterandvideographeronassignment.
Thelowerentrybarriersalsohaveinfluencedsecondaryeducation.
AroundtheU.
S.
,thousandsofhighschoolandjuniorhighstudentsarereceivingformaltraininginshootingandeditingvideoatschool.
Thosethatgoontojournalismschoolwillgraduatewithabroaderarrayofskillsthanmostofthejournalistsworkingtoday.
Chapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStories90Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveDavidLeeson,aDallasMorningNewsphotographerwhoshareda2004PulitzerPrize,wroteapassionatepleafordiversificationofskillsontheSportsShooterWebsiteinNovember2006.
Init,hecomparedthenewspaperindustrytoadistantauntvisitingareunionforthefirsttimein25years.
"Lasttimeyousawheryouweresittinginaboosterseat.
Todaysheappearsatadsmallerthanbeforeandmarvelsathowbigyou'vebecome.
Videowasachildwhenmostofusfirstpickedupa35mm.
Now,videoisallgrownupandonitswaytobecomingapowerfulstorytellingtool.
""Ifyouhadtheskillsinvideotoday—therewouldbeaverylonglistofopportunitiesbeforeyou,"Leesonwrote.
"Tomoveforwardinliferequiresameasureofrisk.
Thereisnogreatnessoutsideofrisk.
Thefutureofthetraditionalnewspaperislookingprettyriskythesedaysbutthehealthofsolidvisualreportingisgettingstrongereverydaybythoseofuswhovaluevisualjournalismandethicalstorytellingaboveandbeyonda35mm.
"1Thesenextchapterswillhelpyouunderstandthebasicconceptsofshootingandeditingdigitalvideowithenoughstep-by-stepinstructionthatyouwillbeabletopickupacameraandshootfootagethenedititandpublishitonline.
It'sthateasy.
DigitalvideocamerasThosegrainyhomevideosyouwatchedasachildarelonggone.
DigitalcamerashavedonetovideowhatCDsdidtooldrecordalbums.
Bystoringvideoasdigitalbitsonamini-DVtape,compactandportablecamerasareabletocollectandstoremuchmoredatathananalogtape,greatlyimprovingthequalityandmakingeditingabreeze.
Digitalcamerascanbeseparatedintotwotypes:1CCDand3CCD(CCD=chargecoupleddevice).
Thesemeasurestellyouwhetherthecamerahasonecomputerchiporthreecomputerchips.
Camerasusethesechipstoprocesscolorand,asyoumightsuspect,havingthreeisbetterthanone.
Asaresult,3CCDcamerasproducemuchhigherqualityvideobutarealsomoreexpensive.
A3CCDcameracosts$1,500-$5,000whilea1CCDcameracanbehadforlessthan$1,000.
Anexampleofa3CCDcamera,theCanonGL-2.
91Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveTheadditionalqualityofa3CCDcameraisnotreallynecessaryforbasicWebvideo(sincethefilesarecompressedtospeedupthedownloadtime)butthatqualityisrequiredforTV.
IfyoueverwanttomakeaDVDandwatchitonaflat-screenplasmaTV,a3CCDcamerawillmakeallthedifference.
Tapes,batteriesandotheraccessoriesSeveralhoursbeforeyouneedtousethecamera,checktomakesurethebatteryandback-upbattery(ifthereisone)arecompletelycharged.
Mostcamerascomewithastandardbatterythatwon'tcutitformanyprofessionalusesbecauseitlastslessthananhour.
Ifpossible,purchasethelargestcapacitybatteryavailableforyourcameraandthenuseforback-uptheonethatcamewiththecamera.
Athree-hourbatteryisavailableformostcameras.
Also,checktomakesureyouhaveenoughmini-DVtapefortheassignmentplusaback-uptapeincaseyouneedmorethanyouoriginallyanticipated.
Tapescanbere-used,whichisnicesincethey'renotcheap(about$7fora60-minutetape).
Whileachargedbatteryandampletapearethemostimportantaccessoriesyou'llneedforyourshoot,therearemanyotherstoconsider,includingexternalmicro-phones(seeChapter7:DigitalAudio),externallightingdevices,atripodandheadphones.
Tripod:Theeasiestwaytomakeyourvideographylookprofessionalistoalwaysuseatripod.
Asteadyshotisessentialforqualityvideoand,eventhoughmanycamerashavefancy"imagestabilization"featuresbuiltinthesedays,nothingwillprovidearocksolidshotlikeatripod.
Thatsaid,developingasteadyhandisneces-saryifyou'regoingtostartbranchingoutanddoingdifferenttypesofshooting.
Allcamerashavearound(usuallysilver)holeonthebottomwithcircularthreads.
Alltripodshavearound(usuallysilver)bolt-likestemonthetop.
Allyouhavetodoisplacethecameraontopofthetripodsothestemmatchesuptotheholeandthenturnthedialbelowthestemuntilthecameraistightlyaffixedtothetripod.
Headphones:Aswewilldiscusslater,audioisessentialtovideo.
Andtheonlywaytobesureyouarerecordinggoodaudiowithyourvideoistopluginapairofheadphonesandlistenwhileyoushoot.
Allcamerashaveaheadphonejack;simplyplugintheheadphonecord.
Ifit'snotpracticaltouseheadphonesduringtheshoot,useaco-workerorthesubjecttotesttheaudiowhilesettingupthecameratochecktheaudiolevel.
Simplytalktothemwhilewearingtheheadphonestomakesurethemikeandsoundareworkingcorrectly.
Lighting:Ifyouhaveever"shared"aninterviewwithacameramanfromthelocalTVstation,youprobablythought,"WhydotheyhavetousethatspotlightIt'sblindingthepersontalking.
"There'sagoodreason.
Justasstillphotographersneedaflashinalmostallindoorsettings,powerfullightingisessentialtoshootingvideo.
Thereareseveraloptionsforlighting,spanningvariouspriceranges.
Mostclipintoa"shoe"onthetopofthecamera.
Aswithmostphotographyequipment,thebetterproductsaremoreexpensive.
Inthiscase,morepowerfullightsarebrighterandgiveoffmoreevenlight.
Soifyoudon'thaveaccesstothebig,brightlightsthatTVpeopleuse,lookforamore"entry-level"versionforaround$100.
OrdoasIdidcoveringtheSuperBowlin2006:StandnexttoaTVcameramanandmoochoffhislight.
NOTE:Runningalight—especiallyapowerfulone—willincreasethedrainonyourbattery,sohavingaback-upbatteryisevenmoreimportant.
Zooming,focusingandexposureDigitalvideocamerasallcomewithconvenientautomaticfeaturesasthedefaultsettings.
Unlessyou'rea"cameraperson,"youprobablywon'teverswitchtomanualsettings.
Andthat'sfine;letthecameradotheheavyliftingforyou.
Focus:Theautomaticfocusfeaturemeansthatwhenyouturnthecameraon,itwillautomaticallyfocusonwhateveryou'repointingthecameraat.
Thiswillsufficeformostofyourshots.
TheonlytimeitmightnotbegoodenoughisChapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStories92Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveThe"shoe"iswhereyouconnectanexternaldevicesuchasalightorshotgunmicrophone.
The"zoom"rockerbarletsyouzoominon,orawayfrom,yoursubject.
93Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivewhenyouareshootingsomethingcomplicatedwheretherearemultiplesubjectsmovingwithintheframe.
Still,theautomaticsettingwillprobablyproduceabetterpicturethanyoucouldusingthemanualfocusdialunlessyoualreadyhavephotographyskills.
Zoom:Mostnewcamerashaveapowerfulzoomthatiseasilymanipulatedwitharockerbuttononthetopofthecamera.
Setthezoombeforebeginningtorecordandthenonlyzoomwhenabsolutelynecessary—andasslowaspossible.
Ifyouareshootingsomeonetalking,don'tzoomatall.
Ever.
Ifyouwanttohavedif-ferentanglesandcompositions,doseparateshots.
Exposure:Mostcamerasalsocomewithautomaticexposure,whichwillgiveyoutheappropriatelightinginmostcircumstances.
Ifyouareshootinginespeciallylowlight,tryswitchingtomanualexposureandallowingmorelight(thiswillopenuptheiris).
Checktheoperatingmanualforinformationspecifictoyourcamera.
GetgoodaudioOnepartoftheequationthatiseasytooverlookwhenshootingvideohasnothingtodowiththepicture.
Thequalityoftheaudioiscriticaltoproducinggoodvideo,evenmoresoforonlinevideosincethesizeofthevideopicturewillberelativelysmall.
Naturalsoundandenvironmentalpicturesarealsoimportant.
Remembertorecord"blank"shotsofastory'slocationorsetting.
Thinkofthestandard"60Minutes"piece:Itshowstheoutsideofabuildingwherethesubjectworks,thencutstoashotofthesubjectwalkingupthestreetoransweringphonecallsintheoffice.
Thebestwaytoensurethequalityoftheaudiowillenhance,notsabotage,yourvideoprojectistochoosethebestmicrophonefortheassignment.
Herearetheoptions:Built-inmike:Alldigitalcamerashavebuilt-inmicrophonesthatwillcapturetheaudiosufficientlyifyouareshootingvideoandwant"natural"or"environmental"sound.
Thinksportingevents,fairsandfestivals,andthelike.
Wirelessmike:Alavalier,orwireless,microphoneisanadditionalaccessorythatisessentialtopurchaseifyouwanttocaptureinterviewsonvideo.
Here'showtouseone:1.
Atinymikeonaclipisclippedontothelapelofthesubject.
Thismikeiswiredtoatransmitterthatcanbeclippedonthesub-ject'sbeltorplacedinapocket.
2.
Thereceiveristhenconnectedtothecamerabypluggingthecordintothejackmarked"mike"(oritmighthaveasmalliconthatlookslikeamicrophone).
3.
Turnbothunitson—thetransmitterandthereceiver—andtestthesignalstrengthbyusingheadphonesandaskingthesubjectacoupleof"smalltalk"questions.
Ifthesignalisn'tstrong,turnupthelevelsonbothdevices.
Ifthatdoesn'twork,lookforabetterplacetoputthemike,onethat'sclosertothesubject'smouth.
Note:Remindthesubjectthatthemikeissensitiveandtoavoidadjustingclothingduringtheinterviewortherewillbeloudscratches.
Shotgunmike:Anotheraccessory,ashotgunmike,isthebestchoicewhenyouarehopingtocaptureaconversationamongseveralpeople.
Toplacewirelessmikesonmorethanoneortwopeoplewillmakethesoundunrealisticandtoo"outfront.
"(Plus,youmaynothaveaccesstoahalfdozenwirelessmikes.
)Therearetwotypesofshotgunmikes:Smalleronesthatattachdirectlytothecameraandlargeronesthatattachtoaboom.
Ifyouhavetheon-cameraversion,slidethemikeintothe"shoe"onthetopofthecamera.
Thecamerawillrecognizetheaccessoryandautomaticallyswitchfromitsbuilt-inmiketotheshotgunmike.
Alargershotgunmikewillprobablybewirelessandhaveatransmitterandreceiver.
Youwillneedaboom—anextendablepolewithamicrophonecliptoholdthemike—andsomeonetoholditnearthesubjects(youhaveasoundcrew,right).
Butnottooclose,oryou'llendupwithavideothathasshotsofthemikepokinginfromtheedges.
Chapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStoriesAshotgunmikeonaboom.
94Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAshotgunmikeonacamera.
95Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveShootingstillimagesMostnewdigitalvideocamerashavetheabili-tytotakestillphotographs,too.
Thiswillcomeinhandyforshootinga"screenshot"oramugthatcanbeusedinprinttoteasetotheonlinevideopackageorontheWebsiteasapromotionalicon.
SwitchthecameramodetoCardmodeinsteadofTapemode(ifyourcamerahasthisoption).
ThiswillchangetherecordingsourcefromtheDVtapetotheportablestoragecardthatyourcamerauses,suchasaSecureDigital(SD)orCompactFlash(CF)card.
Tocaptureaphoto,usethebuttonmarked"PHOTO"insteadofusingthered(orother)buttonthatisusedtobeginarecording.
Youcan(andshould)usetheregularzoom.
ShootingthevideoWhenyou'restartingout,thereareessentiallytwotypesofvideoassignments:Adocumentary-stylevideostoryandabreakingnews/high-lights/newsclipstyle.
Eitherformrequiresyoutoapproachitwithmorethananattitudethatyou're"justgettingsomevideo.
"Withalittlemoreeffortandplanning,youcancaptureandproducegreatvideo,nomattertheform.
Documentary-stylevideostoryThebestwaytomakeasolidvideostoryistothinkaboutitthesamewayyouthinkaboutwritingastory.
Indeed,it'scriticaltothinkabouthowthevideowill"tellthestory.
"Onceyouenvisionwhatthestoryshould"say,"it'ssimplyamatteroffillinginthespotswiththeArmedonlywithacellphoneSo-called"citizenjournalists"areincreasinglyusingtheirmobilephonestocapturevideoiftheywitnessanewsevent.
Theymayuploadthesevideostohyperlocalsitesortheymaysendonetoanewsorganizationthatwelcomeson-the-scenereports.
Tocapturemobilevideoyouneed,ofcourse,amobiledevicethatcanshootvideo.
ManycellphonesarenowequippedwithUSBportsthatallowyoutocon-nectyourphonedirectlytoyourcomputersoyoucantransferyourvideoandeditit.
Ifthat'snotanoption,youcanalsoe-mailthevideotoyourselfandtheneditit.
Toe-mailvideo,yourcellphonemustbeabletosendMMS(MultimediaMessageService)messagesandhaveanInternetaccessordataplanfromyourmobileserviceprovider.
Increasingly,newssitesareinvitingpeopletosendthemrawvideofootage,especiallyofbreakingnews.
CNN.
com'sI-Reportsandthevideo-hostingsiteYouTubeinvitemobilevideogra-pherstouploadtheirvideosdirectlyfromtheircellphonesorPDAs.
Youmustcreateanaccount.
Thiswillgiveyouane-mailaddresswhereyoucansendyourvideos.
Thenyoucane-mailyourvideoasanattachment.
mostappropriatefootage.
Here'show.
Plantheshootbeforeyougoout:Justliketheelementsofagoodnewsstorythataresecondnaturetoyou(background,quotesfrommorethanonesource,documentation),therearebasicelementsofashootyouwillneedtoconstructaninterestingvideostory.
Youneedamixofshots:Wide-angle—Theseshots,alsoknownas"establishing"shots,giveviewersasenseoftheenvironment,soshoottheoutsideofthebuildingorbackupandshoottheentireroom.
Medium—Somewhereinbetweenwideandclose-up,theseshotsaretheonesyouareprobablymostcomfortableshooting.
Close-ups—Theseshotszoominonwho'stalkingorwhattheyaretalkingabout.
Remember:Alwayszoomfirst,thenrecord,insteadofrecordingandzoomingatthesametime.
Agoodmixwouldbe25per-centwide-angle,25percentclose-upsand50percentmediumormid-rangeshots.
Chapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStories96Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive97Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveBreakingnews/highlights/clipsstylevideoForthesetypesofvideo,yourarelyknowwhatthe"story"willbeinadvance.
Yousimplyknowthatnewsishappeningorhashappenedandyouwanttocapturesomeessenceofitonvideo.
Forabreakingnewseventlikeahighwaycrashoraschoolshooting,youprobablywon'tgettothesceneintimetocapturetheactualaction.
However,thereactionfromwitnessesandinvestigatorsaswellasfootageofthescenearewellworthcapturing.
Pressconferences(iftheyaretiedtocompellingnewseventsordeliveredbynewsfigures)canmakegoodvideoandareabouttheeasiesttoshoot.
Youhaveafixedsubjectandthelightingwillbegood(especiallyifthereareTVcamerasaround).
Highlightsclips,especiallyinsports,canbeamongthemostpopularcontentonanynewssite.
Shootingsportsvideocanbechallenging,however.
TheconstantmovementofthesubjectsrequireslargecapacityinthedigitalvideofileandcanbehardtofollowoncethevideoisdownsizedandcompressedforWebdisplay.
Asaresult,shortclipsofthebestactionisthewaytogo,eithereditedtogetherwithvoice-overdescriptionsorlinkedtoanewsstoryasrawclipswithcaptioninformationnexttothelink.
Otherimportanttipstoremember:Beselectiveinshooting.
Therearetwogoodreasonsforthis:Youdon'twanttowastetapeandyoudon'twanttowastetimeediting.
Avoidpanning,zooming.
Stoprecordingwhenswitchingbetweenwide,mediumandcloseshots.
Avoidzoomingandpanningifpossible.
Simplyshootashot,stoprecording,thenadjustforthenextshotandhitrecordagain.
Holdyourshots.
Sinceyoucanmakeashotshorterintheeditingprocess—butnotlonger—makesuretoholdeachofyourshotsforatleast15seconds.
Evenifit'sawideenvironmentshotthatyou'lllikelyusefor5seconds,shootthefull15seconds.
You'llbegladyoudid.
Besilentwhenyoushoot.
Thecamerawillpickupeverysoundyoumake—asigh,acough,achuckleoranythingyousay.
Sokeepyourlipszippedwhenrecordingbecauseyouwon'tbeabletoeditouttheunwantedaudiolater.
Frameyoursubjectcarefully.
Whenframingyourshot,itisbesttoavoidastaticcompositionbykeepingthemainsubjectslightlyoffcenter.
Todothisconsistently,followthe"ruleofthirds,"whichrecommendsdividingtheframe,usingimaginarylines,intothirdsbothhorizontallyandvertically.
Ifyoupositionyourmainsubject(usuallyaface)nearoneoftheintersectionsoftheselines,youwillachieveapleasant,activecomposition.
Seekthebestshortclips.
Understandthatthebestvideostoriesarecomprisedofmanyshortclipseditedtogether,andyourjobistogetthebestshortclips.
Thebestwaytofullycomprehendthearrayofclipsyouneedtocaptureistoactuallyperformtheediting—orataminimumsitwiththepersonwhoeditsthevideo.
It'stheonlywaytoseewhattypesofclipsyoushotworkbestandwhattypesofclipsyoumissed.
IfyoushootvideofootageandhanditofftoaWebproducerormultimediaeditortoawaitthefinalproduct,yourvideostoryskillswillneverimprove.
AssimpleasitgetsAcompanycalledPureDigitalhasreleasedanewlineofvideocamerasthatmakeshootingbasicvideoaseasyasrecordingaconversationonanoldmicrocassetterecorder.
Thedeviceissmallandbasically"idiot-proof"sinceitonlyhasbuttonsforplay,record,stop,forwardandback.
Ithastobehand-heldanddoesn'tzoom,soit'sonlyappropriateforbasicvideography,likeshootingthesubjectofastorysotheaudiencecanseeandhearthepersontalkandsensetheirpersonality.
TheTri-CityHeraldinWashingtonstatepurchasedoneofthecamerasinJanuary2007anddeployeditChapter9:ShootingVideoforNewsandFeatureStories98Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivePureDigitalvideocamera.
Thegridlinesshowyouhowtocomposevideousingthe"ruleofthirds.
"99Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivewithinacouplehours.
Areportershotavideointerviewandpublisheditonthesitethesameday.
WebsitedirectorAndyPerduehadthistosayaboutthetrial:"WasthisvideocompellingNotparticularly,butitwasn'tbad.
Itprovidedavoiceandfacetothestory,anditofferedamultimediaelement.
ItwasnoworsethanwhatmostlocalTVnewsstationsofferat6and11p.
m.
Perhapsofgreatestsignifi-cance,ournewsroomembracedthistechnologyinrecordtime:2.
5hours!
"TheversionofthePureDigitalcamerathatholds30minutesofvideosellsfor$129atnationalretailerslikeTargetandBestBuy(asofJanuary2007).
Thereisalsoa60-minuteversionfor$179.
"Weplantopurchaseoneortwoofthesepermonththroughouttheyearanddeploytheminourbureausaswellasinthenewsroom,"Perduesaid.
DoatrialrunIfyouareinterestedinlearningtoshootvideo,getcomfortablebeforeheadingoutonassignment.
Shootsomefootageathomeofyourfamilyorfriendsandexperimentwithdifferenttypesofshots.
Practicecapturingamixofshots,usingdifferenttypesofmicrophones,usingatripodandlighting.
Shootingbasicvideoisnotdifficultbut,likemostnewtechnology,takessomegettingusedto.
Assignment:1.
WatchyourfavoritelocalTVnewsstation.
2.
Trytomimicshotsyoufindeffective.
3.
Comparenewsstations.
4.
Lookfortheruleofthirds.
5.
Beacritic;itwillhelpyouimprove.
1DavidLeeson,"PreservingourVision,"SportsShooter,November16,2006.
DavidLeesonisastaffphotographerforTheDallasMorningNewswhohascoveredconflictsandwarsallovertheglobe.
In2000hebeganshootingvideoforTheDallasMorningNews,becomingoneofthefirstphotographersshootingvideoforanewspaperonafull-timebasis.
Chapter10:BasicVideoEditingYoucanusereadilyavailableandcheapsoftwaretoeditvideointononlinearstoriesortohighlightclipsthatsupportyourstories.
IntroductionNowthatyou'vecapturedgreatvideoonyourcamera(orcellphone),it'stimetoprepareitforotherstosee.
Whilemanyofthedigitalskillsyouwilllearninthisbookare"platformagnostic"—meaningtheylookthesamenomatterwhattypeofcomputeryouareusing—editingvideowillbedifferentforthoseusingMaccomputersversusthoseusingaWindowsmachine.
WewilldetailthebasiceditingprocessmostlyusingiMoviefortheMacandWindowsMovieMakerforthePC.
WhyBecausebotharefree,andoneisprobablyalreadyinstalledonyourmachine.
Andbothareeasytouseandaccomplishthebasictasksyouneed.
Themagicofdigitalvideoisthesimplicitywithwhichyoucanrearrangetheorderofyourclips.
It'sunlikelyyou'llwanttocreateavideostorythatplaysthefootageintheexactsameorderthatyoufilmedit,soeditingandarrangingtheclipswillallowyoutopresentthestoryjustthewayyouwant.
Inadditiontodecidingonthesequenceofyourclips,you'llneedtodecidewhetheryouwanttoaddsuchthingsasmusicornarrationtotellyourstory.
Goodaudiowillmakeallthedifferencetoyourvideo,butyou'renotrelegatedonlytotheaudiothatisonthevideotape.
iMovieandMovieMakermakeiteasytoimportmusicfilesorvoice-oversandplacethemexactlywherethey'llhavethemostimpactonyourvideo.
Voice-overscanbeespeciallyhelpfulforvideofootagewithlotsofnoise.
ThinkofChapter10:BasicVideoEditing100Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive101Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveahighschoolbasketballgamewhereagame-winningshotsendsthecrowdintoafrenzy.
Avoice-overcanexplainwhomadetheshotandtellyouthefinalscore.
Thefrenziedcrowdcanstillbeheard,butthelevelhasbeenloweredsoasnottointerferewiththenarratedinformation.
BothiMovieandMovieMakerwillalsogiveyouvariousoptionsfortransi-tions,whichallowyoutocontrolhowoneclipevolvesintoanother.
Withouttransitions(suchasfadinginto/outofashot),eachclipwillhaveahardcutandthatisfine,andevendesirable,fornewsstoriesonvideo.
Avoidoverlyfancytransitions,whichcanmakeyourstorylookamateurishandsilly.
Leavethosefeaturesforthehomemovies.
Youmayalsowanttoaddtitlessoyoucanidentifyspeakersinyourvideoorpublishcreditsattheendoftheclip.
YoucanusetheTitlesfeatureforthisbutresisttheurgetoimportatitleintothebeginningofyourvideo.
That'salsoalittletoo"homemovie"fornews.
Remember,earlierwediscussedtheoptionofshootingastillphotowithyourdigitalcamerasothatyouwouldhaveathumbnailimagethatcouldbeusedtopromoteyourstory.
WithbothiMovieandMovieMaker,youcancapturea"screen-shot"oramugthatcanbeusedinprinttoteasetotheonlinevideopackageorontheWebsiteasapromotionalicon.
NOTE:Withallcomputerproduction,itisimportanttosaveoftensoyoudon'tloseyourhardworkshouldyoumakeamistake.
Onceyou'veproducedyourvideopackageyou'llbereadytoputitonline,butfirstitmustbecompressed.
TalktoyourWebstaff,ifyouhaveone,abouttheirpre-ferredformatforvideoontheWebsite.
TheymayhaveasysteminplacetoprocessvideoandserveitinFlash,whichallowsforgreaterqualityandsmallerfilesizes.
Ifthat'sthecase,youcanexportyourfilewithamuchlargerfilesize.
You'lllikelyalsoneedsomeonefromtheWebsitetoactuallypublishthevideoonthesitewithFileTransferProtocolortheywillgiveyouthedirectionstodoityourself.
(SeeChapter1.
)Voice-overscanbeespeciallyhelpfulforvideofootagewithlotsofnoise.
Chapter10:BasicVideoEditing102Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveMacusers:iMovie(PCusers,skiptopage108.
)iMovieisasimpleyetpowerfulvideo-editingprogram.
Hereisadiagramoftheinterfacelayout.
Onceyoulaunchtheprogram,thenextstepwillbetoimportthevideofromthecameraintothesoftwareoperation.
Here'show:1.
UseaFireWirecabletoconnectyourvideocameratotheFireWireportonyourMac,thenturnonyourcamerabymovingtheswitchtoplaybackmodeinsteadofcameramode.
2.
CreateanewprojectbyclickingtheCreateProjectbuttonorbygoingtotheFilemenuandthenchoosingNewProject.
3.
Inthewindowthatappears,typeanameforyourproject.
NoticethatiMovieautomaticallysavesyourprojectintheMoviesfolderonyourharddrive.
103Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive4.
UsetheplaybackcontrolsiniMovietorewindtowhereyouwanttostartimporting.
5.
ClicktheImportbutton.
6.
Watchasshortpiecesofyourvideofootage,calledclips,appearintheiMovieShelf.
7.
Whenyou'refinishedimporting,saveyourprojectbyopeningtheFilemenuandchoosingSaveProject.
ArrangingyourclipsYourgoalistoedityourclipsintheorderthatwillbesttellyourstory.
Atthispoint,theShelfshouldbefullofclipsandtheViewershouldbeempty.
TofilltheViewerpane—whichholdsthemovieyouarecreating—firstfindthebestfootagebyviewingeachoftheclipsandthendraggingtheoneswithfootageyouwanttouseintotheViewerpane.
NOTE:ThiswillmovetheclipfromtheShelftotheViewer,andyouwillnolongerhaveacopyoftheoriginalclipontheShelf.
SoifyoumakechangestotheclipintheVieweranddeletesomeportions,thenchangeyourmindanddecideyouwanttoincludesomeofthepartsalreadydeleted,youwillhavetore-captureitfromthecamera.
Soit'sagoodideatocopytheclipsfromShelftoViewer,there-byleavinganoriginalversionintheShelfincaseyouneedit.
ThisisdoneeasilyontheMacbyholdingdowntheOptionkeywhiledraggingtheclipfromShelftoViewer.
OnceyouhavedraggedthebestclipstotheViewer,arrangethemintheorderyouwantbyclickinganddragging.
Youcanchangeyourmindlater,butit'sbesttohaveagoodideaofhowthemoviewillgobeforeyoubegineditingdownthefootage.
JustkeepthegoodstuffWhilethefilmingofavideoisimportant,it'stheeditingthatwillmakeorbreakit.
Sobeverychoosywhendecidingwhichfootagetokeepandwhichfootagetodelete.
Here'showtodeleteselectedfootagefromaclip:1.
ClicktheTimelineViewerbuttonintheiMoviewindow.
Thiswillshowtheclip'slengthinminutesandseconds.
2.
SelectaclipfromtheiMovietimelinebyclickingonit.
Itwillturnblue.
AbluescrubberbarappearsjustbelowtheMonitorareawheretheclipisdisplayed.
Onthetopofthescrubberbarisasmallgrayinvertedtriangle,markingthepointintheclipthatcorrespondstothepictureintheViewer.
Thistriangleiscalledtheplayhead.
Moveyourmouseoverthescrubberbarandtwotinytrianglesappearonthefarleftthatarecalledcropmarkers.
Thesearewhatyouusetocropyourvideo.
3.
Clickontherightcropmarkertriangleanddragittothepointwhereyouwantthecliptostop.
Theplayheadalsowillmovetothatpointinyourtimeline.
4.
Clickontheleftcropmarkertriangleanddragittothepointwhereyouwantyourcliptostart.
Againtheplayheadwillmovetothatpoint.
NOTE:Thecolorofthescrubberbarchangesfrombluetoyellowasyoudrag.
Youcaneitherdeletetheyellowareaorkeeptheyellowarea,dependingonwhichcommandyouusenext.
5.
Ifyouwanttokeeptheyellowarea,selectEdit->Croporusethekey-boardshortcutApple->K.
Thebluepartsofyourcliponeitherendwillbedeletedandwilldisappear.
6.
Ifyouwanttodeletetheyellowarea,selectEdit->Clear.
Thebluepartsoneitherendwillmergetogethertomakeacontinuousclipandtheyellowareawillbedeleted.
NOTE:Thisiswhyit'sagoodideatocopytheclipfromtheShelfintotheViewer,soyou'llstillhavetheoriginalfootageincaseyouchangeyourmindoracciden-tallydeletetoomuch.
Ityouwanttoundoanedit,simplyselectEdit->UndoorusethekeyboardshortcutApple->Z.
Nowmoveontothenextclipandrepeatthesteps,eliminatingtheexcessfootageandkeepingjustthebestparts.
iMoviewillmaketheclipsplaycontinu-ouslyasifnothingwascut.
Chapter10:BasicVideoEditing104Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive105Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveWorkingwithaudioYoucanadjustthevolumeofyouraudiooraddmusicornarrationtoyourvideo.
Here'showwithiMovie.
Toadjustaudiolevels:Althoughthismaybetooadvancedformostbeginners,iMovieallowsyoutochangethevolumeontheaudiofortheentirecliporanysectionyouwanttobelouderorquieter.
Toexperi-ment,gototheViewmenuandthenselectShowClipVolumeLevels.
Thethinpurplelineinthemiddleoftheclipiswhatyouedit.
Clickanddragthelinehigherifyouwanttheaudiointhatpartofthecliptobelouder,ordragthelinelowerifyouwantitquieter.
Usingnarration:Youcanrecordavoice-overquiteeasilyusingyourMac.
First,writeoutthescriptandpracticereadingitafewtimes.
(SeeChapter11formoretips.
)ThenclicktheMediatabontheiMovieinterfaceand,whenyou'rereadytorecord,clicktheredcirclebuttonnexttothewordMicrophone.
Readthescriptintothebuilt-inmikeonthecomputeror,ifpossible,useanexter-nalmike.
Thisisrecommended,butmanycomputersdon'thaveaplacetopluginamike.
Ifyoursdoes,itwilleitherbeinthebacknearthespeakers/headphonesjackor,ifit'salaptop,onthesideorback.
ImportyournarrationintoiMoviewiththesameprocessdescribedearlier.
Toimportaudio:iMoviecaneasilyaddamusicfiletovideo,aslongasit'sanMP3Royalty-freemusicBecarefulwhenaddingmusicorotheraudiotoyourprojectasmostmusicfeaturesrestrictivecopy-rightsbasedonaroyaltypaymentsystem.
InordertousethatRadioheadtrackforbackgroundonyourvideostory,youwouldneedpermissionfromtheband'srecord-ingcompanyandmustpayaroyal-tyeverytimethemusicwasheardbyareader/viewer.
Solookforroyalty-freemusic,whichallowsyoutopayonelowpriceforapieceofmusicandreceivetherighttohaveitplayedwithyourprojectasmanytimesasneededwithoutadditionalcost.
Apple'sGarageBandsoftware(www.
apple.
com/ilife/garageband)makesincorporatingaudioeasyandcomeswith200soundeffectsand100jinglesthatareroyaltyfree.
YoucanalsopurchaseGarage-BandJamPacksthatfeaturedozensmoretracksseparatedintomusicalgenressuchasworldmusic,symphonyorchestraand"rhythmsection.
"TheaudiochannelontheCreativeCommonsWebsite(creativecom-mons.
org/audio)featureslinkstoartistsandresourceswithroyalty-free—andsometimestotallyfree—musicavailable.
Youcanalsosearchforroyalty-freemusicontheInternetandfindWebsitesthatselladizzyingarrayofstudiomusicwithaffordable,royalty-freeprices.
andisalreadyimportedintoyouriTunesprogram.
JustclickontheMediabuttonandselectthetrackyouwant.
NOTE:Beawarethat,unlessyouhaverightstocommercialmusic,youcan'tuseitinyourvideo.
GarageBand,Apple'smusicprogram,whichshouldalsobeinstalledonyourMac,featuresmanyroyalty-freemusictracksthatcanbeusedaslead-inorlead-outbackgroundmusic.
AddingtransitionsMostnewsvideosuseveryfewtransitions,suchasfadinginto/outofashot,tocontrolhowoneclipevolvesintoanother.
However,afewofthebasictransitionsmightcomeinhandy,andyoucantesthowatransitionwilllookinyourvideo.
SelectaclipthatyouwantthetransitiontostartfromandclickontheEditingtab,thenclickTransitions.
Amenuofavailabletransitionswillreplacethewin-dowwheretheShelfwas.
Selectatransitionandapreviewofitwillplaysoyoucanseehowitwilllook.
Toaddittoyourvideo,simplydragitfromthemenuareaintothetimelinebetweenthetwoclipsyouwanttobetransitioned.
Ifyoureconsiderlater,simplyselectthetransitioninthetimelineandhitDelete.
AddingtitlesIt'softennecessarytoidentifyspeakersinyourvideo,oryoumayneedtopublishcreditsattheend.
UsetheTitlesfeaturetodothis.
Toaddatitle:Selecttheclipwhereyouwanttoaddthetitle.
ClicktheEditingtab,thenclickTitleandamenuoftitlestyleswillappearwheretheShelfwas.
Selectthetitlethatyouwantandenterthetextualinfor-mationintothebox.
Apreviewofthetitlewillappearintheviewer.
Modifythefontstyleandsizewithdrop-downmenus.
Modifytheeffectsusingthepre-setoptionsbut,again,keepitsimpleandprofessional(noflyingwords).
ModifythecolorofthetextbyclickingtheboxnexttothewordColorandmakingaselectionfromthepalate.
Optforyourtitletoappearonablackbackground,ratherthansuperimposedoverthevideo,byclickingonthesmallboxnexttothewordsOverBlack.
CheckthesmallboxnexttoQTMargin,sinceyouwilleventuallyexportyourChapter10:BasicVideoEditing106Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive107Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivevideoasaQuickTimemovie,andthiswillmakethetitlefitinthemarginsoftheQuickTimemovie.
Optional:YoucanadjustthespeedordurationofthetitlebydraggingthebluebuttonintheslidingSpeedbarnearthetop.
Dragtothelefttoshortenthetimeyourtitlewillappearonacliportotherighttoincreasethedura-tionofthetitle.
Nowaddthetitletoyourvideobydraggingittothetimelinejustbeforetheclipwhereyouwantthetitletodisplay.
Todeleteatitle,clickontheclipthatcontainsthetitleandinthemenuatthetopselectEdit->Clear.
Thatwilldeletethetitlebutwon'taffecttherestofthevideo.
UsingstillphotosAtsomepoint,youmayfindthatyoursubjecthasphotosthatwouldhelptellthestory,oraphotographerhasshotsomestillsthatyouwanttouseinyourvideo.
Noproblem.
SimplyaddthephotosintotheiPhotoLibraryonthemachineyou'reusingtomakethemovie,thenclickPhotofromthespecialmenubelowtheShelfarea.
(Note:ThephotomustbeinJPGformat.
SeeChapter8.
)Findathumbnailforthephotointhemenuandselectit.
Beforeaddingittoyourvideo,adjustthetimethephotowillbedisplayedwiththesliderbarintheViewermenu.
Youcanalsousethezoomtoolforacloserlookatthephoto,orclicktheboxnexttoKenBurnseffecttomakethephoto"panandscan"duringthemovie.
(Youcancontrolhowmuch"panandscan"willoccurwiththeStartandFinishcontrols.
)Whenyouhavethephotosetthewayyouwant,dragittothetimelineandplaceitwhereyouwant,justlikeyoudidwithvideoclips.
GrabbingscreenshotsTocaptureastillimagethatcanbeusedtopromoteyourvideopackage,findaspotinthevideothatwouldlenditselftoasmall,iconicimagebymovingtheplayheadtothatlocation.
ThenundertheFilemenuatthetopofthescreen,selectSaveFrameAs…ChooseJPGfromtheFormatmenuandnavigatetoyourDesktopfolder(oronethatyou'llremember)andclickSave.
ExportingvideofortheWebBydefault,videofilesaretoolargetopublishonlinewithoutcompressing,evenwiththeproliferationofbroadbandconnections.
Sothefinalstepinproducingyourvideostorywillbeexportingitforonlinepublication.
Saveyourprojectonemoretimetobesureyouhaveallthechanges.
Theexportprocesswillproduceacompressedcopyofyourfilebutitwillnotaltertheoriginal.
Sinceyou'reusingiMovie,theexportformatofchoicewillbeQuickTime.
UndertheSharemenuonthetopofthescreen,chooseQuickTime.
Youwillbepresentedwithadrop-downmenuwithseveraloptions.
WeborWebstreamingareprobablyyourbestbets,althoughcompressingandexportingvideofilesfortheWebcanbemoreartthanscience.
Readthefineprintasyoutogglebetweenselectionsandnotetheapproximatefilesize.
Thisistheinformationyou'llusetomakeyourdecision.
Asageneralruleofthumb,thefilesizeshouldbenomorethan1MBforeachminuteinlength,meaningathree-minutevideoshouldbelessthan3MB.
Ifyouarerunningyourownsite,it'sprobablybesttoselectonefileformattouseforallofyourdownloadablevideos.
Ifyouarepartofanewsorganization,talktoyourWebstaffabouttheirpreferredformatforvideoontheWebsite.
ForPCusers:WindowsMovieMakerChapter10:BasicVideoEditing108Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive109Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveLikeiMovie,WindowsMovieMakerisasimpleyetpowerfulvideo-editingprogram.
Theinterfacehasfourmainareas:TheTaskspane,theCollections,thePreviewMonitorandtheTimeline.
Adiagramoftheinterfacelayoutisonthepreviouspage.
Onceyoulaunchtheprogram,thenextstepwillbetoimportthevideofromthecameraintothesoftwareoperation.
Here'show:1.
UseaUSBcabletoconnectyourvideocameratotheUSBportonyourcomputer,thenturnonyourcamerabymovingtheswitchtoplaybackmodeinsteadofcameramode.
2.
Click"Capturevideofromcamera"linkintheTaskspane.
(Seeexampleonoppositepage.
)Ifyoudon'tseethelink,expandthemenuunderthe1.
CaptureVideolabel.
ThesoftwarewillautomaticallyrecognizethecamerathroughtheUSBconnectionandbeginimportingthevideo.
3.
TheclipsappearintheCollectionspane.
4.
Oncetheimportisfinished,saveyourproject.
SelectFile->Savefromthemenuatthetopandtypeanameforyourproject.
NoticethatMovieMakerautomaticallysavesyourprojectintheMyMoviesfolderunderMyDocumentsonyourcomputer.
Youcanmodifythisifyou'resoinclined.
ArrangingyourclipsAgain,you'llwanttoarrangeyourclipsintheorderthatwillbesttellthestory.
Atthispoint,theCollectionsshouldbefullofclipsandtheTimelineshouldbeempty.
TofilltheTimelinepane—whichholdsthemovieyouarecreating—firstfindthebestfootagebyviewingeachoftheclipsandthendragtheoneswithfootageyouwantintotheTimelinepane.
OnceyouhavedraggedthebestclipstotheTimeline,arrangethemintheorderyouwantbyclickinganddragging.
Youcanchangeyourmindlater,butit'sbesttohaveagoodideaofhowthemoviewillgobeforeyoubegineditingdownthefootage.
JustkeepthegoodstuffWhilethefilmingofavideoisimportant,it'stheeditingthatwillmakeorbreakit.
Sobeverychoosywhendecidingwhichfootagetokeepandwhichfootagetodelete.
Here'showtodeleteselectedfootagefromaclip:1.
ClicktheShowTimelinebuttonintheTimelinewindow.
ThiswillshowChapter10:BasicVideoEditing110Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivetheclip'slengthinminutesandseconds.
(Note:thebuttonyoujustclickednowreadsShowStoryboardandyoucanreturntothepreviousviewbyclickingitagain.
)2.
SelectaclipfromtheTimelinebyclickingonit.
3.
Findthespotonthevideowhereyouwanttotrimanendoff,thenundertheClipmenu,selectSetStartTrimPointorSetEndTrimPoint,dependingonwhetheryouwanttochopthefrontofthecliportheend.
Note:Youcanalsohoveryourmouseontheendoftheclipthatyouwanttotrim.
Theselectionpointerwillbecomearediconwithtwoarrows.
Clickanddragtheredarrowovertheareayouwanttodelete.
4.
Ifyouwanttodeleteaportionofthemiddleofaclip,youfirstneedtosplittheclipsothepartyouwanttodeleteisononeend.
Dothisbymovingtheplayheadtothebeginningorendoftheportionyouwanttodelete,thenundertheClipmenu,selectSplit.
NowyoucanrepeatStep3toremovethefootage.
WorkingwithaudioAswithiMovie,MovieMakermakesiteasytoimportmusicfilesorvoice-oversandplacethemexactlywherethey'llhavethemostimpactonyourvideo.
Usingnarration:Youcanrecordavoice-overquiteeasilyifyourcomputerhasamicrophoneinput(andyouhaveamike).
Ifnot,youcanusethevideocamera.
Withthelenscaponthevideocamera,turnthecameraonandbeginrecording.
Ineithercase,it'sagoodideatofirstwriteoutthescriptandpracticereadingitafewtimes.
(SeeChapter11formoretips.
)Readthescriptintothebuilt-inmikeonthecameraoruseanexternalmike.
Narrationwithabuilt-inmike:Ifyouhaveadesktopcomputer,theinputportforthemikeislikelyonthebackofthemachine(realconvenient,huh).
Ifyouhavealaptop,itlikelywillbeontheside.
Oncethemikeispluggedin:1.
ClicktheToolsmenuinMovieMaker,andthenclickNarrateTimeline.
2.
UnderNarrateTimelineclickStartNarration.
3.
Speaknormallyintoyourmicrophone,andadjusttheInputlevelsothatthebarisabout70percentupwhenyouarespeaking.
Speakintoyour111Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivemicrophoneasMovieMakerplaysyourmovie.
Youcannarrateyourentiremovieatonceorjustoneclipatatime.
4.
Whenyou'redonenarrating,clickStopNarration.
5.
MovieMakerwillsaveyournarrationasaseparatefile.
IntheSaveWindowsMediaFiledialogbox,typeanameforyournarration.
ThenclickSave.
6.
ClickPlayinthePreviewMonitortowatchyourmovieandlistentothenarration.
7.
Ifthenarrationistooloudortoosoftincomparisontothemovie,right-clickthenarrationonyourtimelineandthenclickVolume.
8.
IntheAudioClipVolumedialogbox,movetheslidertothelefttomakethenarrationquieterormoveittotherighttomakeitlouder.
ThenclickOK.
Ifthetimingisofforyoustumbleandmumblethroughonepartoranother,youshouldre-recordit.
Todeletenarrationsothatyoucandoitover,right-clickthenarrationontheTimelineandthenclickDelete.
Toimportaudio:Ifit'seasiertorecordnarrationwithadifferentdevice,suchasaportabledigitalrecorder,youcanimporttheaudioandcombineitwithyourvideo.
Edittheaudioclipsoithasjustwhatyouwant—youcandosometrim-minginMovieMaker,butit'sbettertodothebulkoftheeditinginaseparateprogram.
(SeeChapter8formoreinformation.
)Onceyouhavewhatyouwant,followthesesteps:1.
UndertheCaptureVideomenuontheleft,clickImportaudioormusic.
2.
Choosethefileonyourcomputerfromthefilebrowser.
Almostallaudiofileformatsareallowed,butMP3isstillpreferred.
MakesuretheCreateclipsforvideofilesoptionischecked.
3.
FindtheaudiofileintheCollectionswin-dow.
Clickanddragittoyourtimeline,plac-ingitunderthesectionofthevideowhereyouwantittogo.
4.
TheclipwilllandonthelinebelowthevideomarkedAudio/Music.
Youcanmoveitforwardandbackwardbyclickinganddrag-gingit(whenyouhoveryourcursorovertheNOTE:Beawarethatunlessyouhaverightstocommercialmusic,youcan'tuseitinyourvideo.
(SeeRoyalty-FreeMusic,page105,sidebar.
)clipitturnsintoahandicon).
5.
Totrimtheends,clickonthesmalltriangleoneitherthebeginningortheendanddragtheendintotheclip.
AddingtransitionsMostnewsvideosuseveryfewtransitionstocontrolhowoneclipevolvesintoanother.
However,afewofthebasictransitionsmightbeuseful.
1.
UndertheEditMoviemenuontheleft,selectViewvideotransitionsandnoticethattheCollectionsmenuisnowfilledwithblueshapeswithnameslike"Bars"and"Circles.
"(Seediagram.
)2.
Selectatransitiontopreview,thenclickPlayintheViewertoseewhatitlookslike.
3.
Onceyoufindtheoneyouwant,findtheplaceinthevideowhereitshouldgo.
ThendragthetransitiondowntotheTimelinetothecorrectlocation.
Ifyoureconsiderlater,simplyselectthetransitionintheTimelineandhitDelete.
AddingtitlesIt'softennecessarytoidentifyspeakersinyourvideo,oryoumayneedtopublishcreditsattheend.
UsetheTitlesfeaturetodothis.
Toaddatitle:1.
SelectMaketitlesorcreditsfromtheEditMoviemenuontheleft.
2.
Choosefromthefiveoptionspresentedonthenextscreen,rangingfrom"titleontheselected"to"creditsattheend.
"Note:Ifyoudidn'tmovetheplayheadtothelocationinthevideowhereyouwantthetexttogo,youcanmoveitnow.
3.
Enterthetextualinformationforthemaintitleintothetopboxandsub-headinformationintothebottombox(ifdesired).
MovieMakerhasdozensoftextoptions,butveryfewworkforanewsvideoandthebestChapter10:BasicVideoEditing112Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive113Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveoneonlyworkswithaone-linetitle.
Soifyouneedanameandtitle,enteritononelinelike"JohnDoe,President,XYZCo.
"4.
ClickChangethetitleanimationandselectSubtitlefromthemenu.
5.
Next,clickChangethetextfontandcolorandmodifythesize,font,color,positionandtransparencyofthetext.
Again,sincethisisanewsvideo,keepitsimpleandprofessional.
6.
ClickDone,addtitletomovie.
Todeleteatitle,clickonthetitleasitappearsintheTitleOverlaylineoftheTimelineviewandhitDelete.
Thatwilldeletethetitlebutwon'taffecttherestofthevideo.
UsingstillphotosAtsomepoint,youmaywanttousestillphotosfromyoursubjectorshotsfromyourphotographerinyourvideo.
Noproblem.
Simplyaddthephotostothecom-puteryou'reusingforvideoediting,thenclickImportpicturesfromtheCapturevideomenuontheleft.
(SeeChapter8forinformationonhandlingdigitalphotos.
)Findthephotointhefilebrowsermenuandselectit.
MakesuretheCreateclipsforvideofilesoptionischecked.
Ifitis,thephotowillappearintheCollectionsareaandyouwillbeabletodragitintotheTimelinefromthere,placingitexactlywhereyouwantitinyourmovie.
Bydefault,theprogramwillsetyourpicturetoshowforfiveseconds.
Ifyouwanttoaddorsubtracttimetothepicture,clickonthearrowonthesideofthepictureanddragittotheright(formoretime)orleft(forless).
GrabbingscreenshotsIfyouneeda"screenshot"oramugtopromoteyourvideoinprintoronline,youcaneasilycaptureone.
Findaspotinthevideothatwouldlenditselftoasmall,iconicimagebymovingtheplayheadtothatlocation.
ThenundertheToolsmenuatthetopofthescreen,selectTakePicturefromPreview.
Afilebrowserwillappear,allowingyoutoselectthelocationonyourcomputerwherethethumbnailimagewillbesaved.
(TheDesktopisahandylocationfortemporaryfileslikethis.
)ThenclickSave.
ExportingvideofortheWebBydefault,videofilesaretoolargetopublishonlinewithoutcompressingsothefinalstepinproducingyourvideostorywillbeexportingitforonlinepublication.
Saveyourprojectonemoretimetobesureyouhaveallthechanges.
Theexportprocesswillproduceacompressedcopyofyourfilebutitwillnotaltertheoriginal.
Sinceyou'reusingWindowsMovieMaker,theexportformatofchoicewillbeWindowsMedia.
UndertheFinishMoviemenuontheleftofthescreen,chooseSavetomycomputer.
Apop-upwindowwillpresenta"wizard,"whichwillstepyouthroughtherestoftheprocess.
Herearetheselectionstomake:1.
Enteranameforyourmovie.
2.
Choosealocationonyourcomputerwhereyouwanttosavethefile.
3.
ClickShowmorechoicesonthenextscreen(titledMovieSetting).
4.
SelectBestfittofilesizeandenteramaximumsizeinMegabytes(MB).
Agoodruleofthumbis1MBforeachminuteoflengthinthemovie,soathree-minutemovieshouldbenolargerthan3MB.
5.
ClickNextandthesoftwarewillexportyourmovietothelocationyouspecified.
Assignment:1.
Thinkofashortstoryyouwouldliketotellwithavideo.
ItcouldbeaLittleLeaguegameorotheryouthactivity,aweekendtripor,ifyouwanttodosomething"newsy,"apressconferenceorapublicmeeting.
2.
Thinkofaboutthreetosixclipsofvideothatwouldtellthestory,mixingwide,mediumandclose-upshots.
Thenshoottheclipswithacamera.
3.
CapturethevideointoacomputerthatisequippedwithiMovieorWindowsMovieMakerandsaveittotheharddrive.
4.
Edittheclipstogethertomakeamovie.
Addvoice-overnarration,musicandtransitions.
5.
ThenoutputthevideofordisplayonaWebpage.
Chapter10:BasicVideoEditing114Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive115Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveChapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-oversChapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-oversTheideaofrecordingaudiovoice-oversorconductingvideostand-upscausesimmediateangstformostprintjournalists.
Learnsometricksofthetradetofeelnormal"ontheair.
"Introduction"Areyouready""Sure.
I'lljustwingit.
"Thereisatendencytothinkthat,becauseanyonecanspeak,improvisationisgoodenoughwhenitcomestoaddingvoicetoamultimediaproject.
It'snot.
Whetheryouareinterviewingasubject"ontape"orprovidingvoice-overnarrationforvideo,preparationwillmakethedifferencebetweenproducingprofessional-levelprojectsor"amateurhour.
"Canyouimagine"justwingingit"whenitcomestowritinganewsstoryorshootinganeventasaphotojournalistIsurehopenot.
Investalittlemoretimeinyourmultimediaprojectwithplanningandpreparationforyourvoicecontributionandyou'llmaketherestoftheeffortworthwhile.
Forexample,takingjustamomenttodecidewheretorecordanaudiointerviewcanhelpyouavoidendingupinanoisycoffeeshopwithtoomuchbackgroundnoise.
Followingaresomeeasy-to-followdirectionsonhowtoget"readyforprimetime.
"InterviewingwhilerecordingRecordinganinterviewdigitallyprovidescontentthatcanbeusedinmanydifferenttypesofmultimedia:Asastand-aloneaudiofilewithanewsstory(especiallypowerfulifthesubjectmatterisemotionalorthesubjectiswell-known).
Asapodcast.
Asastand-aloneaudiofileforablogpost.
Astheaudiotoaccompanyaphotoslideshow(worksbestwhenmixedwithnaturalsound).
Location,location,location:Ideally,youwillbeabletorecordtheinterviewface-to-face.
Ifpossible,pickalocationfortheinterviewthatisquietandhasgoodacoustics.
Aperson'shomeorofficeisagoodoption;acoffeeshoporrestaurantisnot.
Iftheinterviewneedstooccuroutside,makesureitisasfarawayfromtrafficandcrowdsofpeopleaspossible.
Whileit'spossibletorecordaphoneinterview,thelowersoundqualitymakesithardtolistentophonerecordingsforlongperiodsoftime.
Trytokeeptheinterviewfocusedandedititdowntojustthemostsalientpoints.
(Orconsiderre-askingsomekeyquestionsattheend.
Moreonthistocome.
)Pre-interviewquestions:Thesubjectoftheinterviewdeservestoknowafewthingsbeforetheystartansweringyourquestionsontape.
Providethemwithsomeadvanceinformation,suchas:HowlongwilltheinterviewbeHowmucheditingwillbedonetotheaudio(ifany)Ifyoucangobackandtakeoutthelongpausesandtheumsandahs,itwillhelpthesubjectrelaxandnotfeellikethey're"ontheair"andhavetofilleverysecond.
HowwilltheaudiobeusedandwhoistheaudienceWillyousendthemafewquestionsyouwantthemtoanswersotheycanarticulatetheirthoughtsmoresuccinctlyIt'sagoodideatohaveseveralquestionspre-written.
Whileyoumayhaveyearsofinterviewingexperience,thisisadifferentkindofinterviewwhereyoualsohavetothinkabouttheequipment(isthesubjectspeakingloudenough),theenvironment(isthatairconditionertooloud)andthepacingofquestionsandthebantersoitsoundsgoodlater.
Thatsaid,don'tscripteveryquestionbecausethenaturalebbandflowofconversationisanimportantqualitythatwillmakelisteningtoanaudiointervieweasierfortheaudience.
Chapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-overs116Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive117Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveWhatyousaycan—andwill—endupontape:Someofthemostcommoninterviewingtricksthatjournalistsusedon'tworkwellwhenconductinganaudiointerview.
Forinstance,youhaveprobablylearnedtorelyon"uh-huh"and"Isee"and"really"toletthepersonyou'reinterviewingknowyou'relisteningandunder-standingwhatthey'retellingyou.
Inanaudiointerview,trytousenonverbalclueslikenoddinginstead.
Youmayhavedevelopedahabitofaudiblyagreeingwithwhatyoursubjectissayingwhiletheyaresayingit.
Whenthetapeisn'trolling,thisworkstoletthesubjectknowyouwantthemtoelaborateuponthisarea,butwhenthetapeisrolling,theseinterruptionscanbedisturbingtothelistenerandcancoverupsomeofthesubject'skeypoints.
Soremember,whilethesubjectistalking,remainsilent.
Youmayhavealsohonedaknackforestablishingarapportwithyoursubjectbyshowinghowmuchyouknowabouttheirtopic.
Again,thisiseffectiveearlyintherelationshipbuttrytodevelopyourrapportbeforerecordingtheinterviewdigitally.
Listenerswanttohearwhatyoursubjecthastosay,notwhatyouthinkaboutthetopic.
Sorememberyourjobistoaskquestions.
Somecontextfollow-ingasubject'sresponse,likespellingoutanacronym,ishelpful.
Buttrytokeepittoaminimum.
Onegoodoptionistocapture"soundbites"attheend:Ifthegoalofrecord-ingistoproduceanaudiocliptoaccompanyanewsstory,considerwaitinguntiltheendoftheinterviewtodotherecording.
Thatwayyoucanconducttheinter-viewjustasyounormallywould,thenaskthesubjecttoaddressacoupleofthemostsalientpointsfortherecording.
Thishelpsyouduringtheinterviewandhelpsspeedtheeditingandprocessingoftheaudiobackintheoffice.
Insteadofgoingoveranhouroftapetofindafewminutesworthyofpublishingonline,therewillonlybeafewminutestoedit.
Andbylettingtheinterviewplayout"normally"youwillknowwhichquestionsyou'dlikeyoursubjecttoaddressforrecording(somethingyoumaynotknowinadvance).
Markthebestspots:Anothertechniquetospeeduptheeditingprocesswhenrecordingtheentireinterviewistomarkthepointswheretheintervieweesaysthebeststuff.
Mostjournaliststakenotewhentheyhearaquoteoranuggetofinformationthatwillbeespeciallyuseful.
Whenthathappenswhilerecording,writedownthecounternumberonyourtaperecorderorthetimeelapsedfromadigitalrecorder.
You'llsaveloadsoftimewhetheryou'reproducingaudiofortheWeborjustneedtogettothebestquotestowriteyourstory.
Voice-oversYoucannotcontroleverythingthathappenswheninterviewingsomeoneelse,butyoucanhavecompletecontrolofavoice-overorthenarrationthatyouwillrecordforavideostoryoranaudioslideshowthatgoeswithaphotogallery.
Here'showtomakethebestofit.
Writeascript:Havingadetailedscriptthatyoucanpracticeafewtimesbeforeturningonthemicrophonewillgreatlyenhancethequalityofthefinishedprod-uct.
Craftinganeffectivescriptisquitedifferentfromnewswriting.
Thefewerwordsthebetterasthepurposeofvoice-overnarrationistoamplifyorclarifywhatmaybeobviousonscreen.
Short,simpledeclarativesentencesworkbest.
Choosewordsthatareeasytosayandhaveagoodflowwhenputtogether.
Buildinnaturalbreaksfortakingabreath.
Addsomeverbal"whitespace"sothenarra-tiondoesn'toverpowerthevisualelementsofthestory.
Warmup:Whileitmayfeelweird,stretchingthemusclesinyourfaceandmouthandhummingorsingingwillhelpprepareyoutoberecorded.
Openyourmouthaswideaspossibleandmoveyourjawbackandforth.
Thenhumsomedeepnotesandsomehighnotesandsingafewbarsofafamiliarsong,like"TheStar-SpangledBanner.
"Yourfacialmus-clesandvocalchordsneedtobereadytoperform,justasifyouwereabouttogorunningorplaybasketball.
Operativewords:MarilynPittman(http://marilynpittman.
com),whoservesasaguestlectureratUCBerkeley'sGraduateSchoolofJournalism,teachesprintjournalistsaboutaudioandvideoperformance.
Sherecommendsfindingthe"operative"wordsinyourscript—thewordsthatareessentialtotellingthestory—beforeyoubeginrecording.
WhicharetheoperativewordsThewordsChapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-overs118Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveScriptforHurricaneFamilyFeature(courtesyKPLUradio):(Kitchennats—openingdrawer):03PatriciaQuinnsearchesthroughthekitchencupboardsofhernewhomeinSeattle.
(Kitchennats—rawsound):02Behindfreshly-paintedcabinetdoors,aresmallremindersofherfamily'soldlifeinNewOrleans.
(Kitchennats—bagrustling)Shepullsoutaprizedposses-sion—authenticLouisiana-stylebeans.
(Kitchennats—beansandseasonsaltmixed):19NOTE:SeeAppendix,page125,forthefullversionofthisscript.
119Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivethatwouldgivethelistenerorviewerthegistofthestoryratherthanthecom-pletesentencesinthescript,Pittmansays.
Usuallytheyaretheclassicwho-what-where-when-why-howwords—nouns,adjectives,adverbs,titles,names.
Nowreadthroughthescriptandaddemphasistotheoperativewords.
AccordingtoPittman,youcandothatinfourways:Volume—Increaseordecreasethevolumeofyourvoicewhensayinganoperativeword.
Emphasizingawordbymakingyourvoicelouderisalsocalled"punching"it.
Pitch—Changethepitchofyourvoicewhenyousayanoperativeword,goingupordownthescale,highandlow,falsettotobaritone.
Rhythm—Changetherhythmofyourvoice—thespacebetweenthewords—whensayinganoperativeword.
Pausebeforetheword,aftertheword,orbothtoemphasizeit.
Apauseisespeciallyeffectivebeforeawordthat'scom-plexorhighlytechnicalinnature.
Apauseisalsoeffectivewhenyou'reintro-ducinganewideainascript.
Tempo—Changethetempoorspeedofyourdeliverytoemphasizeanopera-tiveword.
Youmightpickupthetempowherethecopyislessimportant,andthenslowdownwhenyouhitasectionwithmoreoperativewordstoempha-sizethem.
Oryoumightstretchoutavowelinanoperativeword.
Beconversational:Whilefocusingonoperativewordswillhelp,don'tallowyour-selftobetoodistractedbythem.
It'smoreimportanttobenaturalandconversa-tionalasyouspeak.
Ifitsoundslikeyou'rereadingascriptandintentionallyemphasizingsomewordsbutnotothers,theentireprojectwillsuffer.
Soaimforaflowing,conversationalreadingofyourscriptfirst,andthenaddthemorecom-plicatedtechniquesofoperativewords.
On-camerastandupTheon-camerastandup,aneveningnewsstaple,isnotsomethingmanyprintjournalistslookforwardto.
Occasionally,however,itmaybenecessary,especiallywhencoveringbreakingnewsoramajorsportingevent.
Forbestresults,dosomeplanningandrememberthefollowingtips.
Content:Keepitshort,ofcourse,buttrytoprovidesomethingextrafortheaudi-ence.
InsteadofsayingtherewasanaccidentonI-10andthetruckerwashaulingchickens,youmightaddthattheywererunningalloverthehighwayandthattheofficersatthescenewerebentoverlaughing.
Printreportersoftenwanttokeepthegooddetailsfortheirwrittenstory,butshouldn't.
Writeascriptandwarm-up:Evenifyouarereportingonlocationfromabreak-ingnewsevent,therearealwaysafewminutestorunthrougharehearsalbeforethetaperolls.
Ifthereisn'ttimetowriteascript,atleastjotdownanoutlinewiththemajorpointsthatyouneedtocover.
Bestable,breatheeasy:Postureisimportant,sobesureyou'restandinguporsittingasstraightaspossibleandthatyourchinisparalleltothefloor.
Relaxyourshouldersbuttrynottomovethemtoomuchwhiletalking.
Breathefromyourstomachanddiaphragm,notyourchest.
Talkwithyourhands:Themostsuccessfulon-camerapersonalitiesexudeperson-alityandappearconversational.
Usinghandgesturesisaneasywaytoaddsomeinformalityandwillhelpyoufeelalittlemore"normal"duringtherecording.
Findtherightlocation:Ideally,youwillfindaspotthatisnottoobusy,orloudorpoorlylit.
Ifyouaregoingoutinpublic,lookforasettingthatcontributestothestorybyaddingan"environmental"element.
Butremembertoaskforpermis-siontotapeifthatspotisonprivateproperty.
Whetheryouare"onlocation"orinyourofficebuilding,thinksoundandlightingfirst.
Iftheon-camerasubjectwillbewearingawirelessmike,youcangetawaywithsomeenvironmentalnoise(butnotalot).
Ifyouhavesomeheavydutylightingequipment,youcanshootanywhereindoorsandevencompensateforindirectsunlightoutdoors.
Ifyoudon'thavegoodexternallights,makesureyoupickalocationthatfullylightsthesubject.
Youdon'twantanybacklightingorshadowsonthesubject'sface.
Assignment:1.
Practiceinterviewingsomeoneyouknowwitharecorder(tapeordigital).
Writesomepre-interviewquestionsfirst,thenreviewtheinterviewandlistentohowwellyoumanagetheflowoftheconversationandlistenforthingsyouwishyouwouldorwouldn'thavedone.
2.
Findavideonewsreportonline.
Watchitwhilepayingcloseattentiontowhenthenarratorspeaksandwhatthenarratorsays.
HowcouldyoumakeitbetterWriteoutanewscriptandpracticereadingitintoarecorder.
Thenplayitbackwiththevideoplayingwithoutsoundandseehowwellyoudid.
Chapter11:WritingScripts,DoingVoice-overs120Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrive121Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThrivePuttingitAllTogetherIt'sallinyourhead.
Theabilityto"thinkonline"isthemostimportantskillajournalistcanacquireordeveloptoday.
Theprevious11chaptersdetailseveralskillsthatareimportantforajournalisttofunctiononline,butitisthemindsetthatwillimaginethedigitalpossibilitiesofastoryoraproject.
Ifyoucan'tdevelopadigitalmindset,allthedigitaltrainingintheworldwon'thelp.
ThiswasthehighlightofastudyreleasedinOctober2006.
TheindependentstudybyC.
MaxMagee,aspartofhismaster'sdegreeprogramatNorthwesternUniver-sity'sMedillSchoolofJournalism,sur-veyed239professionalsworkinginonlinejournalismand199peoplewhoareobservingitsevolution.
Itsgoal:Todefinetheskillsandintangiblecharacteristicsthataremostimpor-tantinonlinenewsrooms.
Onlinejournalistsagreedthatwhatmakesonlinejournalismdifferentisn'tsomuchthetechnicalskillsasitisawayofthinking.
Awillingnesstolearnnewthings,tomultitaskandtoworkinteamswereespeciallyappreciated,inadditiontootherskillsthatmostworkingjournalistsalreadyknowsuchasattentiontodetailandabilitytoworkundertimepressure.
"Thecrucialobstacleisthementaloneweimposeonourselvesinstickingwiththebeliefthatourjobistoprintinkonpaperanddeliveritwiththehelpofsmallboysinshortsbefore7a.
m.
,"UlrikHaagerupwroteintheDecember2006EpilogueTheproblemisthateverybodywantsprogressbutnobodywantschange.
–UlrikHaagerup,editorinchiefofNordjyskeMedia,Aalborg,DenmarkNiemanReports.
"Thischangecanbeahardoneforjournaliststomake;itmeansrealizingourtaskistoservepeopleinourcommunitybytellingthemusefulandentertainingstoriesthroughwhatevertechnologytheywanttouse.
"Journalistsaresmartpeople.
ManyhavealreadylearnedhowtheWebanddigitaltechnologiesallowfornonlinearstorytelling.
Theyhavelearnedthepowerofdatabasereportingandnewstylesofwritingthankstoblogs.
Theyunderstand—evenappreciate—anewworldorderwherejournalistsandeditorsarenolongerpreachingtothereaders/users/viewers.
Nolongeralecture,newsis,indeed,aconversation,vibrantinitsmanyfacets,directions,layersandcontinuum.
Hopefully,youfeellikethecurtainhasbeenpulledbackonthewizard(tosomedegree).
Thedigitalwayisn'tforpropellerheadsonly.
AnyonewhocanusetheWebande-mailhastheskillsnecessarytobeginbloggingorbuildingmultimediaprojects.
Now,allyouneedistoopenyourmindtothepossibilitiesanddipyourtoeintothewater.
Scratchthat.
It'stimetojumpin.
Makingtime:Justasdigitalskillsarebeginningtoidentifyjobcandidatesfornewspaperjobopenings,thelackofdigitalskillswillidentifythosewhoareexpendable.
Andwithmorethan3,000newsroomjobcutsjustsince2000,anyonestillworkinginanewsroomshouldbelookingforwaystobecomemorevaluabletotheoperation.
Thesameholdstruewhetherthemediumisnewspaper,magazine,televisionorradio.
Thetwomostpopularexcusesworkingjournalistsusewhentryingtoavoidthisneweraare:"Idon'tknowhow"and"Idon'thavetime.
"Nowthatyouknow"how"youneedtoaddress"when.
"Hereisonesuggestion:Today.
Nottomorrowornextweekorthenexttimesomethingpresentsitself.
Findthedigitalskillthatinterestsyouthemostandstartimmersingyourself.
Whetherthatisbloggingorpodcastingorproducingvideostories,makeaplantosamplecontentinthatmediumandstartdoingityourself,ifonlyforpractice.
Giveyour-selfadeadlineandtellyourmanager.
Thenitwillbecomepartofyourjobandyouwillfindawaytomaketimeforit.
Remember,scoresofworkingjournalistsdidn'tthinktheyhadtimefore-mailwhenitcamealong.
Someevenprotestedthepublicationofreporters'andedi-tors'e-mailaddressesinfearthattheywouldspendalltheirtimeansweringinanereaderrequests.
Todaythereisnowayyoucouldtakeawaye-mail.
Thedigitalskillsdiscussedherearenodifferent.
122Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveEpilogue123Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveEpiloguePracticeforfun:Thebeautifulthingaboutdigitalcontentisthatit'sdisposable.
Youcanpracticerecordingaudioorvideo,settingupspreadsheetsorevenprac-ticebloggingwithoutcostorpublication.
Attheendofeachchaptertherearesuggestionsonhowtogetstartedwitheachskillordiscipline.
Findonethat'sinterestingandplayaroundwithit.
That'sright,"play"withit.
That'showmostjournalistsgotintothisgameinthefirstplace—theyenjoyedit(rememberyourcollegenewspaperorradiostation).
Andthat'showmostjournalistshaveadaptedtothedigitalage.
Theyfoundsomefuninlearningnewskillsandcreat-ingcontentinanewmedium.
Onceyoubegin,lookforworkingexamplesofthecontentyou'replayingaroundwith.
Onceyoustartblogging—evenwithapracticeblogthatnooneelsecansee—itwillgiveyouadifferentviewofexistingblogs,especiallythebetterones.
It'sthesamewithaudioorvideo.
You'llnoticewheregoodeditingoruseofnaturalsoundreallyaddedtoasegment.
Identifyingopportunities:Thereisanaturaltendencyto"swingatthefirstpitch"whensuddenlyarmedwithnewskills,meaningyoutrytoforceamulti-mediaelementonacurrentstorybecauseit'sinyourfocus.
Itmightwork,butit'smorelikelythatyou'llneedtobepatientandwaitfortherightopportunity.
Afterall,thisstuffdoestaketime—anultra-preciouscommoditytoday—andyoudon'twanttowasteitonaprojectthatdoesn'tcomeoutwell.
TalktoyourWebfolks,yourmanagerormanagingeditor.
Brainstormaboutstoriesyouarecurrentlyworkingonorthosethatyou'vealwayswantedtodo.
Onceyouhaveanidea,fightforthetimetodoitwell.
Wearepastthepointofproducingamultimediaprojectjustbecausewecan;weneedtobeproducingmultimediaprojectsthatareprofessional-lookingandhighinqualityandmeaningfultoouraudience.
Andthat'snotsomethingthatcanberushed,especiallyforbeginners.
Understand,too,thatmuchexperimentationhasbeengoingonacrossthenewsindustryformanyyearsnow.
Yourideamayhavebeentriedsomewhereelse,onlytofail.
Findsomeonewhohasbeenpluggedintothenewmediamovementinnewsforsometimetohelpyoufine-tuneyourideassoyoudon'ttakeyoureffortsdownapreviouslydiscovereddead-endroad.
Thebeautifulthingaboutdigitalcontentisthatit'sdisposable.
Fosteringcommunity:Theeasiestwaytogetinvolvedinthedigitalageistosimplystartreadingtheuser-generatedcontentonyourWebsite(ifapplicable)andothers.
Perusethecommentspostedontheblogsonyoursiteandothers.
Ifreaderscommentonyourstories,pickyouropportunitiestochimeinandcontributetothediscussion.
Evensomethingassimpleas,"Greatcomments,everyone.
Keepthemcoming,"willgetyouinvolvedinthisnewparadigmofnewsconsumption,whichismorelikeaconversationandlesslikealecture.
Ifyoursitedoesn'thaveblogsorallowcommentsonstories,askwhynot.
Starttheconversation.
ItwillforceyoutothinkdifferentlyandthatsimpleexercisewillhelpyouopenuptothepossibilitiesofJournalism2.
0.
It'stimetolearnhowtosurviveandthriveinthedigitalage.
Goodluck.
124Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveEpilogue125Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveScriptforHurricaneFamilyFeatureHurricaneFamilyStartsNewLifeinSeattleKendrick/Feature/GA/EH2-20-06FORTUESDAYFEB.
21M.
E.
&A.
T.
C.
*Hosts:Maywanttoplayfeatureincuebeforeyouairit.
MusicisaddedtotheendthatyoumayuseasabedtopitchtotrafficorrejoinNPR.
Fadeitonyourown.
NearlysixmonthsafterHurricaneKatrina,thousandsofevacueesarestilllivinginastateofuncertainty.
Thefederalprogramthatprovidedhotelvouchersendedearlierthismonth.
ThegovernmentplanstoterminatealldisasterhousingassistanceMarchfirst.
Manyhurri-canevictimsdon'tknowwhatthenextday—letalonethenextweek—willbring.
That'snotthecaseforone"familyof17"fromNewOrleans.
They'vebeenabletostartanewlifeinSeattle—thankstothegenerosityofstrangers.
KPLU'sKirstenKendrickhastheirstory.
AV#:0221KK1"KPLUNews"4:43+Musicfullfor3minutes(Anchornote:Cajunmusiccontinuesupfullaftermyoutcueforthreeminutes.
Useasmuchasyouwantforamusicbedandfadeonyourown.
TheartistisProfessorLonghair—aNewOrleansmusician.
)ScriptforHurricaneFamilyFeature:(Kitchennats—openingdrawer):03PatriciaQuinnsearchesthroughthekitchencupboardsofhernewhomeinSeattle.
(Kitchennats—rawsound):02AppendixBehindfreshly-paintedcabinetdoors,aresmallremindersofherfamily'soldlifeinNewOrleans.
(Kitchennats—bagrustling)Shepullsoutaprizedpossession—authenticLouisiana-stylebeans.
(Kitchennats—beansandseasonsaltmixed):19"Andtheydon'tcooklikethemotherbeans.
Theycream.
Gladtohavethose,huhYeah(laughs).
Thisisa,uh,aseasonsaltthatyoucanputonchickenandfish.
Ifyoucooksteworsomethinglikethatyoucanusealittlebitofthis.
"(Natscontinuethenfadeunder)Hippocratessaid,"Letfoodbethymedicine,thymedicineshallbethyfood.
"Cooking"trueCajun"isonewayPatriciatriestohealthewoundsfromthehurricane.
(Nats—pointingoutpictures)(Onlyunderneathvoice)Shemovestothelivingroom,andsitsonthecouch.
Herhairiswrappedinacolorfulscarf.
She'scradlingalargesilverframeinherarms,pointingoutphotosofher15chil-drenand9grandchildren.
(Nats—pointingoutpictures):07Thisisuh,Kiera,that'sTyrell,littlegirlwho'sdownhere"…fadeunder)TheQuinn'snewhomeinSeattle'sCentralDistrictiscompletelyfurnished—downtoframedprintshangingonthewalls.
Thehouseandallthethingsinitweremadepossiblethroughdonations.
Patriciaisgratefulherfamilyisnotinthesamesituationasthousandsofotherhurricanevictims—dependingsolelyongovernmentassistance.
(Patricia—blessing):11"Ithinkit'sablessing…forthehouse.
Somepeopledon'thaveahouserightnow,they'reputtingthemoutinhotelsandthings.
AndIreallythinkit'sablessingjustbeinghere.
"Togethere,shehadtoleaveacitysheloves—andtheonlyhomeherfamily'severknown.
ButPatriciaknewthingsweregoingtochangethedayafterthehurricanehit.
Theirhomewasdamagedbeyondrepair,andshecouldhardlyrecognizeherhometown.
(Patricia—leavingN.
O.
):07"Itwaslikethethirdworld.
Itwassosadandpitiful.
Theyhadpeopleonthesideoftheroadwalkin'theirwayout.
"ThefamilywassenttoashelternearHouston.
Buttherewasnoroomforthem.
(Patricia—noroominHou.
Shelter):07"AndIsatdownandjuststartedcryin',youknow.
Isay'Lordwhere'swegoin'fromhereAllofus.
'"Theyfoundanabandonedhouse.
Spendingseveraldayssleepingonthefloorandscroungingforfood.
Then,Patriciagotacallonhercellphonefromheroldestson,Quincy,inSeattle.
126Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAppendix127Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveHiscongregation,theTrueVineofHolinessBaptistChurch,alongwithotherchurches,hadraisedenoughmoneytoflytheentirefamilytoSeattle.
(Quincy—bestcut):10"I'mthankfulforallthesupportfromallthechurches.
Sothatletmeknowthattherearepeoplethatcare.
Anditdon'tmatterwhatcoloryouare.
"EvenbeforetheQuinnsarrivedinSeattle,therewasasecondwaveofgenerosity.
Tofindthemaplacetolive.
(Nats—hammerandsaw)Avacant,run-downhousewasdonatedtothefamily.
Churchvolunteersspentmonthsrenovatingit.
(Willis—divinemakeover):03"Sowe'recallingitadivinemakover.
"(Nats—chainsaw+fade)RickyWillisispastoratTrueVineofHoliness.
HeandhiswifespearheadedtheefforttobringtheQuinnshere.
Ittookalotofworktogetthehousereadyforsuchabigfamily.
(Willis—detailswork):07"Paintin'theseupstairsrooms.
Redoingthefloors.
Newelectrical,carpet,(fadeunder)newwindows,weatherproofwindowsandjustamajor,uh,makeover.
"Togetitalldone,Willisorganizedworkpartiesofchurchvolunteers.
Therewasfellowshipand,ofcourse,food.
Includingspicy,gooeybarbecue.
(Nats—sauceandblessingmixed):15"Pastor,whatifIjustpoureditontopoftheribsThat'sfine,that'sgreat.
Blessthisfoodsoitmaybenourishmenttoourbodiesasyouarenourishmenttooursouls.
InthemightynameofJesus,wepray.
Amen,Amen.
"(Nats—peopleworkingandtalking)(Nats—saw#2—fadeunder)(Nats—move-inday)Twomonthslater,Patriciaispresentedwiththekeystoherfamily'shome.
Assheopensthefrontdoor,sheinhalesthescentsofnewcarpetandfreshpaint.
Whenshegetstothekitchen,shestops.
Allthevolunteerswhohelpedmakeherhouseahome…areholdinghandsinacircle.
Patriciastandsinthecenter,fightingbacktears.
(Patricia—thankspastors):05"AndIjustwanttothankya'llandI'mgratefulforwhatyoualldid.
"(Fadeundermove-innats)Patricia'shusband,Lawrence,isstillinNewOrleans,finishinghislasttwomonthsonajobbeforehecanretire.
PatriciasaysthefamilyisadjustingwelltoSeattle.
Theylikeithere.
AppendixButshe'sdoingwhatshecantokeeptheiroldtraditionsalive.
Especiallythefood.
AndthatstartswithfindingtheproperhotsausageforherGumborecipe.
(Patricia—sausagecutsmixed):15"TheD&Dsmokedsausage—that'sthespecialmadesmokedsausagethattheyhavedownthere.
It'sthekeytoit.
Andyouputwhateverelseyouwantinit,youknow.
YouholdingouthopethatyoumightbeabletogetsomeofthatsausagedelivereduphereorsentuphereorsomethingYeah.
"(EstablishfaintCajunmusic)"Letfoodbethymedicine,thymedicineshallbethyfood.
"(Pause)KirstenKendrick,KPLUNews.
(FadeupCajunmusicfullfortwominutes)128Journalism2.
0:HowtoSurviveandThriveAppendix