August | 2009 | Ryan Sholin

August 2009
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
« Jul		Sep »
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

There is no newspapers

Aug 28, ’09 8:29 AM

I’ve been saying those words in person to people a lot lately:

“There is no newspapers.”

What’s it mean?

It means that if you’re in the business of publishing pronouncements, predictions, prayers, analysis, criticism, or full on takedowns related to the current state of the newspaper industry, please understand that despite the convenience it would provide for said ruminations, there is no such thing as a monolithic, uniform entity called “newspapers.”

Really.

In my relatively short career, connected in one way or another to a wide variety of newspapers, I’ve already been involved with organizations staffed by crews of 1, 3, 10, 30, 100, 300, and 1,000 — and they’re owned by individuals, universities, nonprofits, corporations, communities, investment bankers, media moguls, local collectives — and the communities they serve have just as wide a variety of needs, wants, economies, sizes, shapes, colors, and creeds.

So the next time you’re about to use a phrase like “newspapers should…” or “newspapers have to…” or “newspapers can’t…” — I’d like you to stop for a moment and focus your decree a little more specifically.

Are you talking about the New York Times or are you talking about the Detroit News? Are you talking about the Denver Post or are you talking about the Holland Sentinel? Are you talking about El Pais or are you talking about El Nuevo Herald?

Are you talking about an imaginary entity where every piece of the puzzle is a uniformly shaped block, or are you talking about an incredibly diverse mass of publications that includes everything from shoppers to weeklies to alternative weeklies to the tiniest of dailies to major metros to national newspapers read all over the world?

Obviously: I’ve been guilty of this, myself, right here, although it’s been some time since my last “newspapers should.”

Recommended reading: A few vital links to share

Aug 24, ’09 4:50 PM

Remember when I said I might never blog again?

Well, I’ve got a couple topics in mind, namely these two nuggets:

There is no newspapers.
The link economy is real, and it’s coming, and you’re going to love it.

But I don’t have time to elaborate right now. Instead, enjoy the clues flowing freely, via the streams of links coming into my system through Google Reader, Twitter, FriendFeed, and elsewhere, then digested and pushed back out, often via Publish2.

Moving Along: Mediactive
Mediactive | August 24, 2009
Dan Gillmor declares victory: “Democratized media are giving voice to everyone who has something to add to the emergent global conversation, and the same tools are enabling smart people to experiment with sustainability models for tomorrow’s news and information. We will have plenty of quality news and information — though sorting the good stuff from the sludge will be just one of the huge issues we’ll have to deal with as we move forward into this new era. And, of course, we’ll need to help people creating that supply do a better job at all levels.”

We Aren’t Still Looking for a Silver Bullet, Are We?
Dave Cohn has been using the “journalists awash at sea” metaphor lately, encouraging us to grab not just *the one perfect log* but rather, to use some string and tie a few together. He then offers at least five ideas — pick any three, tie them together, and you have a shot.

(A comment on:) Future of Local News About More Than Paid Content
PBS IdeaLab | August 24, 2009
The comment/anecdote from David Wollstadt is either insightful or depressing, depending on your point of view. Includes this: “Exactly one person said he missed ‘the banner headline on the front page,’ and one other person said he missed ‘the front page news.’”

Even more ideas for journalism in the classroom, courtesy AEJMC
A collection of Suzanne Yada’s notes from AEJMC, copiously annotated with links. Here’s one of my favorite bullet points on her list: “From what I’ve heard of Arizona State’s program, it has a lot of things going for it. Gillmor sets up a Ning for each of his classes and has students write and correct Wikipedia entries. There’s also an entrepreneurial class, and (if I remember correctly) students edit each other’s work on live on WordPress.”

Scientists make bendable, transparent LEDs-without organics
Ars Technica | August 20, 2009
Notable advance in flexible screen technology, with inorganic LEDs doing the job. (They tend to last longer than their newfangled organic counterparts, which pale at the sight of oxygen.)

jayette: I just sampled fried Pepsi, fried Orange Crush and fried Mountain Dew. They were delicious and completely unlike what I expected.
Twitter | August 21, 2009
Why did I never get to cover a state fair?

Why Jeremiah Owyang Is Leaving Forrester Research
ReadWriteWeb | August 21, 2009
From Marshall Kirkpatrick’s story on Jeremiah Owyang: “My use of social media and my career advancement are intrinsically tied,” Owyang told us by phone today. “I started my blog as a practitioner at Hitachi. I budget time every morning to read and blog every morning. I do that before I check my personal email or work email. I believe you have to pay yourself first. When you open your email you pay someone else, because it’s usually people reaching out to ask you for something. Taking the time to read blogs, synthesize and add value, that builds your community. That’s paying yourself first.”

The Batavian comments and coverage key part of defense change of venue motion
The Batavian | August 21, 2009
You know your hyperlocal news site has arrived when your extensive coverage of a bank robbery is used as justification for a change of venue motion in the related trial.

How Palm Faced Down a Tyrannical Control Freak
Normally I might hesitate to link to Valleywag, but it’s worth it just to point out the flood of useful links in this post, totally backing up everything they bring together here. How does this post different from what a traditional news story might look like? Click the first link in this post to find out.

VIDEO: Thiswasexpensive.com

TrueCrimesOnline on YouTube | August 19, 2009
via http://infosthetics.com, a graphic, proportional representation of what certain high-profile domain names cost.

Publish2 acquires Wired Journalists

Aug 18, ’09 1:09 PM

In January 2008, Howard Owens, Zac Echola, and I launched a social network with self-motivated, eager-to-learn reporters, editors, executives, students and faculty in mind.

Wired Journalists was born with the mission of connecting the knowledgeable, expert innovators in online news with journalists of all stripes hoping to learn something new about their evolving craft.

Today we’re proud to announce that Publish2 has acquired Wired Journalists.

At Publish2, the mission of connecting journalists based on common goals and interests will continue and — we hope — grow exponentially as the Wired Journalists network becomes a space for collaboration on real-world reporting as well as conversations about craft.

Publish2 builds online tools for news organizations looking to bring the best of the Web to their readers — and to each other. Those of you who know me personally are likely aware that I joined Publish2 earlier this year as Director of News Innovation. In one of my early conversations with Publish2 CEO Scott Karp, we started sketching out what Wired Journalists might look like if it had the funding, attention, and staff that we’d always wanted.

Out of those conversations came a rock-solid proposal to give Wired Journalists a new home under the Publish2 banner, where I could personally devote time to it as a part of my role at Publish2.

+++

Wired Journalists has been a labor of love — and love only — for Howard, Zac, and I, with some help from Pat Thornton of BeatBlogging more recently, but we always saw the potential of the 3,000-plus-strong membership, if only we had the time to manage the community and help to make a few connections and guide a few conversations.

With Publish2, we’re going to get that opportunity, and a lot more. I’m looking forward to jumping into conversations on Wired Journalists as part of my day job, and I’m psyched to get Greg Linch involved as soon as he hits the ground at Publish2.

In short, it’s been great, and it’s going to be excellent.

A personal thank you to everyone who showed up in early 2008 when Howard, Zac, and I told you about the vision for Wired Journalists, and thank you to those of you that I’ve learned more about over the last year and a half through the network.

+++

Here are a few key links from the beginning of Wired Journalists:

2008 objectives for today’s non-wired journalist
howardowens.com | December 27, 2007
At the end of 2007, when I had been working for Howard Owens for about three months, he posted this checklist of goals for journalists new to online tools and media platforms. It sparked enough interest, and inquiries from journalists within GateHouse and other organizations, including Forum Communications, where Zac Echola fielded requests from reporters asking how they could get involved. So this is the blog post that started Wired Journalists.

Introducing WiredJournalists.com, a place people looking for new knowledge to get help
howardowens.com | January 22, 2008
Here’s the January 2008 announcement post from Howard Owens, calling Wired Journalists a place “…for journalists just starting down the path of transforming their careers and doing the hard work of saving journalism…”

Zac Echola’s original message about Wired Journalists
blog-o-blog.com | January 22, 2008
This page has been standing on Zac’s blog since the launch of Wired Journalists in January 2008. It starts off with a call to action: “Now is the time to be that catalyst for change in your news organization. No more talking about it. We’re doing it. And we want you to do it too.”

Introducing WiredJournalists.com
Invisible Inkling | January 22, 2008
Here’s my first post introducing Wired Journalists in January 2008: “So please, come join this new community, but more than that, pass the link along to the guy in the next cubicle who doesn’t read blogs. Pass it along to the photographer who hasn’t built a slideshow. Pass it along to your editors, your teachers, and your students.”

No Sign-up Necessary (the strikethrough method) – Bokardo

Aug 18, ’09 9:20 AM

Is there a standard task that your users don’t have to complete when they’re registering for your Web app? Like, say, registering? Strike it out…

No Sign-up Necessary (the strikethrough method) – Bokardo

Comments Off

Early developer preview: Retweeting API – Twitter API Announcements | Google Groups

Aug 14, ’09 5:59 AM

The developer group announcement of the RT’s entry into Twitter’s API.

Early developer preview: Retweeting API – Twitter API Announcements | Google Groups

Comments Off

On the first day of film school at NYU…

Aug 13, ’09 7:57 AM

…one department head or another asked the 140 freshman wanna-be Spielbergs/Godards/Raimis* in the room to raise their hand if they wanted to be a Director.

Many, including me, raised our hands.

The faculty response: “You’ll be lucky if four of you make it.” (I’m paraphrasing. This happened in 1994.)

When I talk to journalism students, I try to impart a little piece of that message. How many of you think you’re going to be a star reporter at a major metro newspaper? I ask some variant of that question, and hands are raised.

Hunter Walker is reporting for Gawker on his Columbia J-School orientation.

“Lemann also discussed our job prospects. Although he brought up the possibility that we may find work for a news organization he encouraged us to be open to careers as possibly starving internet entrepreneurs saying: “its a really interesting time to be in on the beginnings of the revolution… it’s a great time to put aside thoughts of worldly things and do something really creative if you have the nerve.” I agree with Lemann that this transitional period could lead to great opportunities, but I know firsthand that you need capital along with cojones to start your own business ventures.”

That’s something that approaches the right idea.

What the NYU orientation hand-raising exercise did for me was to focus my attention on learning a craft and a set of skills rather than being an auteur.

So, journalism students about to start school for the semester: Are you trying to be an auteur, or an entrepreneur?

*I was a wanna-be Godard, and there weren’t many of those left at the end of four years.