Category Archives: Online News

Online News

Help wanted on Craigslist

I check the writing/editing section of Craigslist every day — not really to find a new job, but to see if there are any freelance gigs I could pick up in the little spare time I have (although, I think I’m not very good at selling myself; I had a lead for a freelance WordPress thing recently and I think I blew it, but oh well). I also like to see if there are things I can forward to my friends who are out of work.

Anyway, I found two very interesting ads. One was from one of my favorite sites, I Can Has Cheezburger? It seems they need some moderators:

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Tribute to one last newspaper death in ’08

Will 2008 be remembered as the year journalism died? Some say so. If anything, its the year that newspapers downsized, cut beyond the quick and even left print. The bell tolled for at least one more newspaper, Asian Week, probably most famous for the Kenneth Eng debacle.

This news is actually a few weeks late. I wanted to write about it, but didn’t have the time to really articulate my thoughts. From the article in the SF Chronicle:

AsianWeek will continue to publish online, at www.asianweek.com, and produce special editions about Asian American business, professional development, heritage and other issues and will still host events, but the print edition is going away because of economic realities, Ted Fang, editor and publisher, said in an interview Wednesday.

“It was very tough,” Fang said of the decision to shut down the presses. However, he said he believes the printed newspaper is but one of several means of communicating and noted the increasing adaptation to digital formats, particularly by Asian Americans.

Fang said that nearly all of the 11 AsianWeek employees in San Francisco will be let go.

Its a little sad that this paper will be best remembered for the “Why I hate Blacks” debacle perpetrated by Kenneth Eng, who, appropriately enough, had to be examined by psychologists after threatening his Queens neighbor. (But then, later that year, SF Weekly points out that they published a story about Asian men who love Black women. The cartoon, which I swiped from their blog post, looks amusingly like Mr. Eng.)

As with the demise of any newspaper (be it by being relegated just to the web, which is not necessarily a terrible thing, or by decimating its staff, which I think is much worse), I feel a loss. Even though I have always loved online journalism and was part of the first online journaling movement, I still have a love for print newspapers.

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Hold your nose, here comes an iReporter

Patt Morrison blogged recently about watching a CNN anchor talk to one of their iReporters.

CNN’s website is recruiting accounts from iReporters the world over; so many people have video and photo capability in their pockets, thanks to cell phones, that no disaster of any magnitude seems to go unrecorded.

But actual reporting [is] another matter. You can’t blame a news operation for wanting the immediacy and the visuals of the moment. And free labor is nothing to turn up your nose at, especially when real-time accounts from around the world make today’s shoestring news operations seem mightier and more bulked-up than they really are.

As for the theory that anyone can be an ”iReporter,” as the San Diego crash account shows, there is more to reporting than pointing your cellphone camera in the right direction and telling the world that what you’re seeing is ”awful” or ”terrible” (words which can apply to just about any disaster, but which say virtually nothing about the disaster at hand).

I do understand that she wants us to remember the distinction between source/witness and actual reporter. But does she have to do it with such disdain? Even one of the comments noted her disdain for “citizen journalists.” But its really short-sighted to simply dismiss it that easily.
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CNN on the hunt for all-platform journalists

I got an email earlier today from a former CCNMA, now NAHJ, acquaintance detailing a new type of position open at several CNN bureaus. Check this out:

The CNN All Platform Journalist initiative is a bold effort to double the footprint for CNN U.S. presence to 20 cities in 2009. The project goal is to position CNN in more places across the U.S. with the latest technologies, clearer direction and a renewed focus of editorial resources to reflect the demands of CNN’s rapidly growing platforms. With this initiative, CNN will deploy journalists fully devoted to multimedia storytelling. All Platform Journalists will create steadfast pathways across the country; developing content, writing pieces, visual storytelling and producing interactive elements with CNN’s digital components in mind.

Ideal candidates should be experienced in field and package producing, writing copy for television and internet new outlets, shooting with high-definition cameras, editing and transmission technologies and proven track records for flourishing in isolated, non-traditional newsroom environments.

The successful candidate will be an experienced journalist with a demonstrated ability to work in all environments-collaborative, fast paced, internet/web, and as an individual contributor. CNN is searching for self-starters, self-motivated and driven individuals. All Platform Journalists will be expected to research stories and gathers news event in designated regions, as well as generate ideas and content for all platforms of CNN. The APJ will reach out to community leaders, newsmakers, and city officials in the region to build contacts and sources in the region.

They’re looking to fill openings in Philadelphia, Raleigh, Seattle, Columbus, Houston, Las Vegas and Phoenix. If you’re looking to apply, you should send an email to CNN’s recruiter, brooke.camp@turner.com and also apply at turnerjobs.com.

Obviously, I think we all knew that jobs like this were going to become more common and more fashionable as newspapers and TV newscasts continue their death spiral and online becomes more important. But its still a trend I don’t like.

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TypePad funds journalists bailout program

TypePad, I learned from one of my media news emails today, is offering a bailout to journalists who have been laid off or are fearful of layoffs. I really love this idea since I’ve been pondering the best way to present a WordPress/blogging workshop to the AAJA-LA membership and this is a shortcut for anyone thinking of getting into blogging but is intimidated by the idea of trying to dig into HTML or CSS. Anyway, here’s what they’re offering:

  • A free TypePad Pro account, valued at $150 a year
  • Automatic enrollment in the Six Apart Media advertising program
  • Promotion on Blogs.com

This is good for several reasons.

  1. You introduce yourself  to TypePad, which I hear is just as good as WordPress. And you probably won’t have to do any programming, which I know is just not going to happen with many old school journalists.
  2. You’ll learn a Content Management System (CMS), which will make you familiar with what many newsrooms are using now to control their websites. That would be an extra skill set to add to the resume.
  3. Launching a TypePad blog is an excellent way to build an online presence, keep writing, learn how to build traffic to your blog and be an all-around citizen of the blogosphere. This is important stuff.
  4. You’ll be using software that is used by the likes of CuteOverload, Talking Points Memo and LA Observed. I could only dream of getting into that stratosphere.

If you’re keen on something like this, I’d say jump on the bandwagon quick. Apparently, hundreds of journalists have applied for the “bailout” and its a limited-time offer. I also have to make sure anyone stumbling on this post understands that launching a blog won’t really do anything except give you an online presence, but at least that’s something. It won’t save your job, it won’t get you back your job and it won’t save journalism, but at least it will keep you writing.

However, if you are late to the party, I might be willing to offer whatever help I can (out of the precious little that I know), in exchange for my using your questions to develop my workshop here in LA. :)