All about skillset

My advice to journalism students

October 23, 2009

I’ve been through most of this before, either in blog posts or in person, whenever I get the chance to talk with journalism students, but it’s worth repeating. A few tweets this week seem to have proved that, so I’m putting this updated compendium of my advice together for posterity.

My advice to journalism students starts [...]

On the first day of film school at NYU…

August 13, 2009

…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 [...]

If you think online news is difficult…

June 16, 2008

If using a Web-based content management system is difficult, try putting together a print edition in an old version of Quark and then come back and tell me how hard it is to push the Publish button.
If editing video takes too long, then go back to developing your own prints in the darkroom.
If exploring the [...]

Links that redefine news

February 19, 2008

Wednesday night, I’ll be speaking with Steve Sloan’s New Media class at San Jose State University.
I’m planning to show off some of the best of your work.
Yes, you.
I’m looking for online news sites and projects that stray from the traditional definition of news.
I’m assuming these journalism students get enough Gloom & Doom handwringers from other [...]

A vote for change…

January 4, 2008

We talk a lot in the circles I run in about a new skillset for reporters and about how a wired journalist in 2008 should be keeping up with the technologies and communities that are quickly looking like Michael Johnson in 1996, looking back at newspapers over their shoulder, smugly.
Yoni Greenbaum walks right into the [...]