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NewspaperShift
Notable Moments From the 2010 ONA Conference
"Welcome to the conference where journalism supposedly doesn't know it's supposed to be dead." Those were the welcoming words from Online News Association executive director Jane McDonnell as she opened the 2010 Online News Association Conference. Many of the top people in online journalism in the Unites States, Canada and other countries are in Washington, D.C. this week for the...
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PoliticalShift
Quirky Conservative Canadian MP Gets Real on Twitter
Tony Clement, the federal minister of industry in the current Conservative Canadian government, was home having dinner with his family one Saturday night in July when a woman began banging on their door. She frantically asked for help, saying her friend was drowning in the nearby river. Clement, his wife and father-in-law ran down to the water. He and...
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EducationShift
Columbia, Medill Training New Breed of Programmer-Journalists
Education content on MediaShift is sponsored by Carnegie-Knight News21, an alliance of 12 journalism schools in which top students tell complex stories in inventive ways. See tips for spurring innovation and digital learning at Learn.News21.com. Roughly two years ago, a group of prominent journalism educators, administrators and academics gathered in a room at Columbia University. Attendees included Nicholas Lemann,...
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EducationShift
How Content Farms Train Their Writers to Write for the Web
At the core of every content farm's success is an ability to rapidly recruit and integrate new writers. Publishers like Demand Media, Examiner.com, Suite 101 and others are always hiring, always looking to expand their ranks and replace talent that churns out. These operations rely on abundance: of contributors, of content, of traffic.
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EducationShift
Your Guide to Digital Training Programs for Mid-Career Journalists
The pace of change in journalism over the last few years has left many experienced journalists feeling as though the profession is passing them by. So how can a mid-career journalist build their digital and multimedia skills? Get training, and fast. Luckily there is a wealth of free or reasonably priced workshops, tutorials and other forms of training available online and in person.
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EducationShift
How Arizona State Teaches Digital Media Entrepreneurs
Two weeks ago, I sat in a room at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University and listened as several groups of students delivered their pitches. At most journalism schools, this would have involved the students proposing ideas for articles or TV or radio reports. Instead, the groups of three or four students stood...
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Digging Deeper
Why Newsrooms Don't Use Plagiarism Detection Services
Six years ago, in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal at the New York Times, Peter Bhatia, then the president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, gave a provocative speech at the organization's 2004 conference. "One way to define the past ASNE year is to say it began with Jayson Blair and ended with Jack Kelley," he said....
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Citizen Journalism
True North Media House, W2 Provide Citizen Media Hub at Olympics
At the Winter Olympics, members of the press affiliated with official, IOC-designated media outlets have access to the Main Media Center and are given a special accreditation badge. The MMC provides workspace -- as well as massages and McDonald's -- for "the approximately 2,800 accredited members of the written and photographic press," according to organizers. That's been the case at...
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Social Media
Inside the Social Media Strategy of the Winter Olympic Games
In 2006, Graeme Menzies and a few colleagues travelled to Turino, Italy to watch the 20th Winter Olympics. The group constituted part of what would become the communications team for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, which kick off with opening ceremonies on Friday. Menzies is the director of online communications, publications and editorial services for the Vancouver Organizing Committee, also...
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Futurama
Media Mavens Wish for More Collaboration, Less Talk in 2010
Layoffs, buyouts, furloughs, and more than a few shuttered newspapers and magazines. That's definitely part of the story of 2009. Yet, at the same time, many established news organizations pushed online with impressive results, and online-only organizations continued to grow and innovate. Now, with 2009 ending, we have a new year of media to ponder. I contacted a selection of...
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Weblogs
NYTPicker Covers New York Times Like a Wet Blanket
On Sunday, the New York Times published an Editors' Note detailing a conflict of interest: The "Place" feature about Miami in the T magazine travel issue on Nov. 22 included a reference to the 8 oz. Burger Bar. The writer has had a long personal relationship with a co-owner of the restaurant; had editors known of that connection, the restaurant...
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Social Media
Profiles in Courage: Social Media Editors at Big Media Outlets
During a recent trip to see an editor I work with at The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper in Canada, I passed by the newspaper's cafeteria. My editor looked in and pointed at a man who was sitting with his back to us. "There's Mathew Ingram, doing his office hours," he told me. Ingram is the Globe and Mail's...
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NewspaperShift
Cats Sleeping with Dogs? Rival News Orgs Share Content, Revenues
Next month, newspapers all over the United States will begin sharing sports stories online and in print as part of an initiative that sprung from the Associated Press Sports Editors. Then, early next year, the Washington Post and Bloomberg will unveil a new co-branded business section on the paper's website that will offer content from both organizations. These are just...
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Business
Can Memberships, Clubs, Cruises Keep Media Companies Afloat?
Late last month, an ad for a new job appeared on the Guardian's careers website. The position for "General Manager - Guardian Club" was notable because it signaled an important initiative at the paper in the form of a new entity, the Guardian Club. "The club will make our most committed readers/users feel they are genuinely part of our organization...
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