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Notes from formal training
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 11:40 AM

Listen and learn: lessons on blogging, Twitter and covering the news live

I listened to the podcast the Guardian posted the other day on The Future of Journalism: Blogging, Twittering and Live Video.  Fascinating and thought-provoking, it's 87 minutes long, so download it to your IPod and take it with you to
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Thursday, June 12, 2008 3:52 AM

What I learned about crime reporting via Twitter

The Twitter trial was exhausting. But the response was worth it.  That’s what I’ve found is usually true in this business. The most difficult reporting brings the best rewards. I had to take a week’s vacation after the capital murder
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Friday, May 23, 2008 11:46 AM

Making responsible journalists out of citizens

SPJ often gets mistakenly tagged as old school, a bunch of old print guys reminiscing over the days of manual typewriters.  The reality is, SPJ is embracing the future.  The newest example is our Citizen Journalism Academy. 
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Thursday, May 08, 2008 3:11 AM

What, you want me to teach reporters multimedia?

Culture can change as quickly in the newsroom as an editor can slap a new lead on a story. Just a few weeks ago, I wondered if anyone outside our online team – which I had been banished from sometime last summer – got or cared about Web-first
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:43 PM

Few in the newsroom can find strength in numbers through social networking

Jack Lail and I are now connected.  Jack is the managing editor of  multimedia for the Knoxville News Sentinel, a paper that’s been a leader in the push toward online.  Jack blogged an invitation to “be sociable” and connect
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Friday, April 18, 2008 1:01 PM

A new multimedia project, in duet

Collaboration is to be the next step in my multimedia journey. It’s a natural progression, and a welcome one.  The past year of learning has at times been a lonely process.  But it’s been necessary.  It’s hard to work with
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Thursday, April 10, 2008 1:04 AM

A rant from Iowa State

Michael Bugeja directs a journalism school in 21st Century America, where he preaches that the Internet and new technology is “the scorpion” that will poison and kill journalism.In what I consider the best argument against tenure, Bugeja cursed the
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:37 AM

Back to nature: rambling thoughts from an unplugged week

I unplugged. I took the first week of vacation time during spring break from school, so we could play together, just chill, as the 16-yearold would say, and most importantly unplug from the various wires that keep us connected. I
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Sunday, March 09, 2008 1:31 AM

Hot links

After a busy week of deadlines, I'm using the weekend to catch up on some reading: Comedy is easy.  Audio is hard.  Cyndy Green keeps sound in synch by giving good advice on which microphones are best.Mindy McAdams
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Friday, March 07, 2008 1:23 PM

Getting started: Moving to that place on-line, where we all need to be.

The latest edition of The Quill offers tips and tricks to surviving in an on-line world.OK, I did write one of the articles.But be sure and read the excellent tips on:Collecting audio by Vincent Duffy of Michigan Public Radio.Getting into video by Angela
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Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:11 AM

Student questions I'm still pondering today

A couple of questions asked by Randy Brown’s class last night still have me thinking today. Both related to quality and ethics. What happens to quality, one young man asked, when you’re covering breaking news in this immediate on-line
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 2:39 AM

Class Act

If you want to revive your enthusiasm for the future of journalism, spend an hour in a college J-class. Not only have I met some really brilliant students online through social networking and SPJ, the occasional invite to speak to a class
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:16 PM

Post from the sick bed

The blog has been lagging, as I’ve been dragging with the flu now for several days.  But I’ve pulled myself out from under the weather to post links to a couple of articles that caught my attention in my medicated haze. First is
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:05 AM

Recommended reading

Richard Koci Hernandez has written a book, Multimedia Journal. He compiles Multimedia Shooter: one of the first inspirations for me to begin exploring the possibilities of being a digital reporter.  He said his 60-page book evolved from a compilation
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Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:12 AM

Work must flow

We’ve had some fun, so far, diving into multimedia and online journalism.  But it hasn’t been easy.  We’ve spent hours of our own time learning the basics of audio and video to try to deepen our work. Now it’s time to put all
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