Archive for The New Journalism Toolbox
The New Journalism Toolbox: Entrepreneurship
For some, the purpose of the enterprise is power – social capital vs. economic capital.
Should journalism schools teach entrepreneurship? The ability to sell multiple products/models does not apply to journalism, intrapreneuriship does.
There’s no shame in being a capitalist with media. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Journalism Toolbox: Where do we go from here?
What do we need to get to the next level. What experiments do we need to undertake?
- Find a middle ground.
- Perpetuate and enforce the idea that we are public servants.
- Have a rigid moral compass – first do no harm.
- Teach storytelling.
- Don’t fit into mainstream media, challenge mainstream media to fit YOU – maintain the personal brand.
- Connect with communities. Create local reporters by validating people’s need to be on TV and utilizing them to record community happenings, then use the submissions to increase awareness of how to tell stories of interest.
- Love what you do.
- Learn the fundamental skills.
- Embrace the joining of information together as the future – Understand technology, if only on a superficial level.
- Imagination
- Agility
- Personal Brand mentality
- Teach students to stop reading newspapers for a week – focus on alternative streams and compare strengths and weaknesses.
- Work outside your comfort zone for a few months. Be adaptable.
- Cut through the clutter – don’t be a slave to too much technology.
- Develop your voice.
- Teach understanding, encourage empathy and promote learning.
- Understand ourselves before we can understand others.
- Thank people for their stories and their time, use the techological advancements to do so in another venue.
- Look to past storytellers to learn the skills of a previous generation that are still relevant today.
- Learn about the community – understand the audience. Invest time in community news and smaller papers to further your understanding of your value to the community and your personal brand.
- Learn new techniques to avoid being formulaic in writing.
- Travel – get a worldly view to further your understanding of people.
- Ministry requirements prohibit personal interviews for entry to J-school, citing journalistic bias of instructors to potential entrants.
- Google search results is part of the Personal Brand – assume responsibility of your online profiles.
- Be fascinating/interesting, not a dull clone.
- Speed is rewarded ahead of quality – address the problem.
- Real stories do not come from press releases or staged events.
- Be relevant and trustworthy – identify under-reported groups and analyze the importance or worthiness.
- Look for opportunities to use the tools that are no longer controlled by mainstream media giants.
- Be threatening to “The Powers That Be.”
- Tell stories, share experiences and reach people that aren’t being reaced.
- Bring sobriety back to the mediasphere and undo the damage done by mainstream media, reality television.
The New Journalism Toolbox: Skills vs. Knowledge
Well rounded experience is more important than formal education.
Use equipment – camera, video camera, passport – and tell stories. Be a storyteller – simplistic is not “dumbed down” – simplistic draws common references and resonates with people.
The New Journalism Toolbox: The Personal Brand
Personal brand becomes stronger and stronger because fewer people are diluting the product before you get it out there. Journalists need to sell their own personalities as someone who the audience wants to read and relates to.
Finding a job to feed specific interests is difficult to do – using social media to focus on specific interests is an enhancement to the professional brand. Figuring out what being a journalist means to you is important. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Journalism Toolbox: Tools used by mainstream media
Facebook and the “tools of the day” are not necessarily the best tools for the profession. Utilizing a “toolbox” method of teaching journalism is still confining the profession to a box, and is not necessrily the best way of educating journalists in a changing world.
How are we going to tell this particular story now? Will it be through a traditional format? One method being used is a slideshow story utilizing cutlines and interaction to emphasize the story. Interacting with the audience is a key element. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Journalism Toolbox: Introductory discussion
Discussion facilitated by Ellin Bessner, instructor at Centennial College; Industry expert Jesse Hirsh leads a group of 26 industry professionals, students and interns in discussions about new trends in journalism and the tools we have at our disposal.
Opening points made by participants: Read the rest of this entry »
