NewsTechZilla » From the Journalist Perspective

NFL Loses Control Of The Message

Trace Sharp — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:23:49 +0000

According to the Washington Post, Twitter is allowing the players in camp to send out the message, not the Powers That Be in the NFL.

For the first time, fans aren’t dependent on media reports for training camp updates. Players themselves are divulging certain details, from the humorous to the inconsequential, using Twitter feeds.

snip

Twitter has ruffled some feathers in recent weeks. While players test their boundaries and wrestle for their independence, league and teams have kept a careful eye on Twitter feeds, trying to maintain a semblance of order.On Friday, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman punched into his Blackberry: “Coach said we cant tweet in the blding so i called my lawyer and found a lupo [loophole] in that contract…tweeting outside yeaaaaa.”

And this, campers, is not what mainstream media or organizations that have controlled its dynasties’ public image anticipated with the onset of social media devices such as Twitter and Facebook.

I find it to be very interesting on how it is going to play out.Similar Posts:

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The Separation

Trace Sharp — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:51:32 +0000

There has to be one if you are a journalist.

John Robinson explains why:

I suspect every editor can tell stories about conversations with newsmakers who attempt to use their access and perceived friendship to influence coverage, which, predictably, turns out to be negative. I certainly can. I have also worked with editors who loved the access to newsmakers and being on the inside.They have said that it gets us stories we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

But more often, I saw how that has influenced news coverage for the worse.

Let’s break it down a bit more. Politicians will placate a journalist (and now bloggers too) so it’s best to remember that the job comes first, the public interest is the most important thing and sometimes elected officials don’t like that you have to do your job.

Just saying.Similar Posts:

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She Is Right You Know

Trace Sharp — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:30:08 +0000

Cathy at Domestic Psychology has a winner. I won’t spoil it for you, just go there.

And she was spot on about the new Star Trek too.

Just saying.Similar Posts:

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What Category Of Commenter Are You?

Trace Sharp — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:31:29 +0000

This Is How We Roll asks the question and they identify three types of commenters.

The Troll – Everyone knows this guy (and it’s usually a guy), who intentionally visits sites in order to stir things up, provoke a furious reaction from other posters and then disappear. Classic examples are the Free Republic types who visit Daily Kos and vice versa.
The Droll – The mainstay of all fun sites, this poster regularly tosses out clever comments, plays on words, one-liners or amusing pictures. There are a lot of these characters on places like Fark.com

The Relentless Pol – Posters who can’t join any discussion without immediately using it to make a political point, i.e., “The current lack of sunspots is the direct result of the Bush administration’s failed policies.”

They point to this story at ABC which tackles this question.

Commenting is something I think most journalists didn’t consider when the ‘tubes were invented.Similar Posts:

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‘It’s Because I’m Listening’

Trace Sharp — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:17:52 +0000

From Summer Huggins at Hammock:

Statesman editors witnessed the power of social media during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Robert created a Twitter account specifically for tracking the hurricane, an account that also pointed followers to the Statesman‘s coverage of the storm online, generating more than 300,000 hits from Twitter alone. Robert joked that those numbers got him a “play-on-Twitter-free pass” with his bosses. Since then, Robert has used Twitter to engage with followers and readers to create real-time weather maps and cute-dog galleries and to work directly with the community on breaking news stories.

Why the success?

“It’s because I’m listening,” Robert says.

Summer is writing about the “Old Media Rises From the Dead.” Sponsored by Austin’s Social Media Club, it combined several media outlets and offered a panel discussion on adapting news to a social media shift.

This is key. Today on Twitter, we see celebrities vying for followers but how many people do they follow. Same goes for some, not all, news organizations.

The most important thing in social media is the conversation. Journalists, public relations people, businesses or even politicians will garner loyalty if the participate in the conversation.

Her post is a must read.

Photo credit

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Print Media Gets A Lifeline

Trace Sharp — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:09:19 +0000

Now that’s just funny.

H/T to Christian Grantham

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Newsrooms CAN Use Twitter

Trace Sharp — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:37:30 +0000

Brittney Gilbert is someone you need to be following and listening to what she says.

There are tons of reasons. She is living about what most people are pontificating.

And she has some sage advice for newsrooms utilizing Twitter.

This is just a few things that she is telling you should and (in my opinion) will work.

to link, sparingly – Go ahead, link to yourself. You want traffic, and there is no shame in that. Making your Twitter feed a link-stream only is poor form, but there is nothing wrong with linking to your work, provided that is not all you do
to entertain - If people don’t enjoy reading, they will quickly stop doing so. Make your Twitter updates engaging. Don’t underestimate the allure of a well-crafted tweet. Jazz it up.
to humanize – This is highly important. Your news organization is viewed as a gargantuan, soulless corporate entity. Trust. Take this time to let the awesome humans who work in your newsroom share a little of themselves. Mention that the leftover pizza from the meeting in the morning was snagged in under 45 seconds. Mention that it is the anchor’s birthday. A little humanity makes people invested in what you’re pedaling.
to find story ideas - They are crawling all over Twitter. Ignore them at your peril.
to search in real time – Perhaps the most important of the points, Twitter Search is where I see Twitter finally monetizing (barf) their product. When a Muni train collided with an 18-wheeler in SF Twitter had a pic of the accident in under 10 minutes. You can’t get Google to rank items that fast, but Twitter can. That earthquake in the Bay Area Monday? All your “man on the street” reactions were coming in at a rapid fire pace.

You can read the rest at her personal blog, Sparkwood and 21.

As I said, BG gets it because she has walked through each phase of blogging, social media and news as the Internet evolves.

Incidentally, you can follow NewsTechZilla on Twitter as well.Similar Posts:

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The Nostalgia Of The Good Old Days

Trace Sharp — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:40:14 +0000

When I started out in news radio back when the first Bush was in office, things were a bit different. One AP teletype screaming random bells each time a story came in was set up next to a coffee maker in the kitchen because it was so loud and more than distracting so we hid it away like you would a crazy cousin in any William Faulkner novel.

I’ve written before about when we transferred over to a computerized system that was pretty high-tech in the day, and being that I worked in a rural market, we were the only one in the county. When I was on the air, although it didn’t have that distinctive tone that the teletype did, it still would ding anytime a new story came down the pike. Celebrity deaths, the O.J. Bronco ride, the presidential race of Bush and Clinton, it was all there ringing that little bell as news stormed in like paratroopers and I can only assume that a bunch of angels were getting their wings repeated (thanks of course, to the news business.)

Yes, there is a nostalgia for my generation as well as those who came before me. I realize that there are new journalists who will never get to hear the bell on the teletype, and quite frankly, I’m excited about this new dawn of journalism. (I’m assuming they will hear the subtle ding on their Blackberrys and iPhones, as that’s what is happening to me these days.)

And, of course, I am reminded of this from the wonderful blog “Stuff Journalists Like” this morning.

There was a time when being a journalist mattered. A time when a press pass not only got a journalist past the crime tape but also maybe a free drink on the house, a girl’s number and a little respect.

There was a time when being a journalist meant drinking whiskey in the newsroom. A time when journalists were more concerned about sources and stories than web-updates and blogs. A time when newspapers were king and the biggest worry in the newsroom was filling the news hole. These were times when journalists loved newspapers and newspapers loved them back.

I never drank whiskey in the newsroom but there has been a beer on more than one occasion as well as I had an ashtray on my desk.

With that said, journalists still love newspapers, we are just trying to figure out where we can still deliver the news effectively. Nothing is going to take away a journalists’ joy over their craft.

It’s just evolving.

And there may not be whiskey in a bottom desk drawer, but there is still a tight network of us that try to keep abreast of what’s new, what our brains can comprehend with new technology and our willingness to grow in this industry.
I point you to Wired Journalists if you are looking for a network of those of us with the same mission and that is honoring the past of our industry and looking toward the future.

Tim Ghianni, whom I met recently at a video training, has a poignant post this week about Eddie Jones, who died over the weekend and was the editor of the now-defunct Nashville Banner. He writes:

Eddie was the kind of editor who stood behind his staff rather than stabbed his staff in the back.
When I was in charge of political coverage, sometimes we pissed off the politicians. They would come to Eddie. Instead of caving in, Eddie would call me into his office. Often with the “offended” … and by the time the meeting was over, there were handshakes all around.

He also encouraged me to write a slice-of-life column, detailing the concerns of the common man in Nashville. Yes, it was gritty and yes the people I wrote about weren’t in the demographic charts of those who figure into the newspaper coverage formula these days.

But he knew these people mattered. I didn’t have to explain to him that the purpose behind my column was to show that we are more alike than different, that we share the same hopes, dreams, fears and ambitions, whether we are living in a tent city, a tenement or a luxury condo.

A slice of perspective of those who led the way in Ghianni’s post is critical for all of us to know and, quite honestly, to honor. Those who came before us had the same objectives as those of us leading the way now.

Journalism is journalism, no matter what the platform. It’s just now everyone has the AP teletype machine on their home computers.

We just are going to have to think outside the box and remember that as everything has changed, the bottom line is the goal is still the same.Similar Posts:

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Compiling An Online Toolbox

Trace Sharp — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:07:00 +0000

In our never-ending journey for some of us who are old dogs trying to learn new tricks, I realized that there are some things from a tech perspective I do utilize. I was sitting with friends last week, and I was going through a bag I carry around.

One of the guys I was with said that I needed a toolbox as I searched for my wallet, brought out a camera, a tripod, three bundled up cords going to my computer, an iShuffle, a Blackberry, two reporters notebooks and a small recorder from my bag.

This isn’t unusual, but dude was wrong about one thing and that is I already have a toolbox.

Organization is nearly impossible, but I’m attempting to work on it. The issue is that I’m now compiling what I need as my online box of tricks.

My biggest challenge with online endeavors is not my toolbox, because I use most of the things I listed everyday for my day job (which, usually gets very busy this time of year and where I need everything that I listed. The iShuffle is the equivalent of a high-powered narcotic when I want to check out for a little while.)

My biggest challenges still lie with the things that Scott and I discussed as we began this blog in January. Although I’ve learned some things, there are always new issues that boggle my mind.

Let’s take the issue of those small things that become big obstacles in our minds. For me, every time I update my personal blog at Newscoma, I lose the option for mandatory comments. It’s a small thing, but it is something that I must learn to fix, but I haven’t mastered it. I can cover a fire or a car wreck with ease, but that little piece of code perplexes me. It’s something I end of relying on Scott’s vast knowledge for.

And, as this is a 101 blog, those are things for novices that can create complete frustration. One small piece of information that does not come natural.

My suggestion is that you think about what is already in your tool box and that you are comfortable with. And, then systematically looking at those little things that frustrate you in your online life that you know you need to learn. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be up front with what you know and what you don’t know.

And then challenge yourself to learn it.

Now: next learning curve for me is to learn how to operate this brand new, confounded Blackberry Storm. Apparently it also slices, dices and can teach me how to dance the samba, but I haven’t figure that one out either.

The best word of advice is what I give to myself: Don’t be afraid to screw something up as that is how you will learn to do it next time. Scott has to remind me this constantly.Similar Posts:

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10 Ways Newspapers Can Save Themselves

Trace Sharp — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:13:19 +0000

From Mashable:

These days, everyone knows that one of the hottest stories any newspaper can cover is that of its own demise. The collapse of print advertising and the downturn in sales, at the news stand and through subscriptions, has led to a frantic search for new ways to monetize content that’s often available online for free.

Social media gives any business an interactive channel to communicate with its current and future customers. For newspapers, that channel can increase the chances of survival in a market where commoditized information has diminished the value of individual brands. Here are ten ways newspapers are using social media to save the industry.

This is a very comprehensive list that is more than excellent. It’s a great read and offers insight on established ideas as well as some things that newspapers may not have thought about.Similar Posts:

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