Monthly Archives: December 2008

Online journalists top jailed list

Posted on December 5, 2008 | Leave a comment

More online journalists are in jail than journalists from print or broadcasting, the Committee to Protect Journalists found.

This is the first year online journalists have topped the list. Their stories and countries are here.

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Posted in Media Law

Tagged CPJ, journalistsjailed

NYT columnist just NOW starts Twittering?!

Posted on December 4, 2008 | Leave a comment

I got tweet from Romensko today about the fact that Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is now on Twitter. Romensko wonders if other Times columnists will follow.

You are kidding me, right? Just NOW getting on Twitter? I don’t blame Kristof. He’s actually doing it. I do blame the New York Times. Writers at local papers are on Twitter. Reporters at TV stations are on Twitter. Thanks for joining the crowd, NYT. I can’t imagine why newspapers are in trouble. (And believe me, I love newspapers and want them to survive!)

Let’s hope this is a case of it’s better late than never.

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Posted in newspapers, technology

Tagged journalism, Twitter

Moving piece on the future of journalism

Posted on December 3, 2008 | Leave a comment

In a week that has seen news of massive cuts across the news industry, particularly at Gannett, a piece by Chris Stanfield seems to ring even more true. Stanfield wonders “Who will bail out the Fourth Estate?”

His piece, which I urge you to read, compares the Wall Street bailout and the state of the news industry. He says:

Until our nation (and more specifically, our industry) can answer the question – how much is enough – and until we can break the chains of greed from within our own walls, I sincerely doubt much innovation will take place. Last but not least, let us not forget that behind our greatest asset are the people who produce it.

We have to stop laying them off.

We have to stop letting them leave for PR jobs.

We have to stop ignoring the passion they bring to the table and start to capitalize on it.

I could not agree more. Instead of getting rid of experienced journalists, seize their ideas. Instead of imitating everyone else, newspapers need to produce GOOD journalism, journalism that people need. I don’t see how you can produce good journalism with less.

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Posted in Uncategorized

A valiant effort

Posted on December 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

The students at the campus newspaper I advise faced a world of tech hell the past 48 hours. Their server crashed and died. Then they found out the backup server also failed. A tech guy put together a makeshift system for them and the people from the company who publish the paper said it should work for outputting the pages. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

After hours of trying to tweak and resend the pages, the editor in chief and executive editor were faced with a horrible decision. Do they put out a print edition with horrible photos and poor quality, or do they cancel the print edition and put out only an online edition?

They chose to do the online edition only. It was a hard choice, but in the end, they didn’t want to put out a bad paper. It was a decision that I think nearly broke some of their hearts.

Their experience highlights some of the best of journalism. If it was going to be bad, they wanted no part of it. They want quality. I hope these standards stick with them throughout their careers and they never settle for less.

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Posted in teaching

Tagged advising, journalism ideals, student press