Stories by Cedarville advanced reporting students give them enterprise reporting experience

Students write three enterprise stories in a specific topic area (a beat, if you will) in the Advanced Newswriting and Reporting for Print class I teach each spring at Cedarville University. They also were required to produce a multimedia element to accompany the story.

The goal for the applied part of the class has three aims:

1. Get them off campus and into the community.
2. Find stories that are relevant and meaningful.
3. Feel like a real journalist.

Here are links to four stories recently written for the class.

Jenni Hodges, a senior in the public relations concentration, is writing about food. Her first story is about a new bulk foods store that just opened in Cedarville. Check out the photos too.

The next three students are part of the convergent journalism concentration.

Emily Finlay chose to write about local history. Her first story gives some insight into some of the history that surrounds the historic Cedarville Opera House.

Anna Dembowski took on the difficult topic of human trafficking. Her first story describes how the efforts at a local transitional home for women has a broad effect on the community. Check out the info graphic she made with an online tool.

Kathryn Sill is on the business beat and telling readers all about Young's Jersey Dairy, an iconic local landmark. Her first story looks at what it's like for a Cedarville student to work at Young's. And she used the YouTube video editor to create a slideshow about one of the students.

Paywalls, growing mobile audience and ethics

The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va., announced a paywall that is getting attention. A print subscription with all-digital access is $19. But digital only is $21. That's different than most.

I assume this is a test market for the abundance of papers in that region now owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway company. My old paper, The Roanoke Times, is in that group. Perhaps the day will come soon when I have to pay catch up news from my old hometown.

A Poynter story has more to say about this venture.

Expect to pay a bit more for the digital-only Richmond Times-Dispatch as paywall goes up. @RTDNEWS http://t.co/2JjLh65Sdb
— Poynter (@Poynter) October 30, 2013

The big guys like ESPN are well positioned to meet the growing mobile demand. But so many are not.

ESPN's digital audience is going mostly mobile; your favorite news outlet may be next. http://t.co/tQmFajkMZ0

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) October 30, 2013

For students studying or about to study ethics, this Poynter site might be a great resource for you.

Great ethics resource from @poynter http://t.co/oj7Vyu5haH

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 29, 2013

'Journalism will never die'

A great read here from a journalism student at DePaul. Yes, journalism is a viable career. Now is actually a good time to start that journey. There are new digital ground floors to get on.

One of my students, @melaniealissa, wrote this piece for Business Insider about Hope for journalism's future: http://t.co/gaxQ9oYMtE #ona13

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 19, 2013

As a sports journalists I love statistics. Not always as enamored with numbers in other news areas, but this Poynter article makes some good points.

What do journalists need to know in using stats? Nate Silver has a list. http://t.co/CVKIeP41Xm @fivethirtyeight

— Poynter (@Poynter) October 19, 2013

Today's news from Twitter starts with Twitter

News people are using Twitter to broadcast their stories, share updates and ask questions. When I cover high school sports for the Cox Newspapers in Springfield and Dayton, I tweet game updates that have gained my more followers. Twitter is now experimenting with a way to send news we are interested in our way. Right now we have to search for what we want and find good sources of information to follow. This could be good for everybody. From the story that is linked in the Twitter post below: For now, the account links only to global news. In time, though, it’s easy to imagine Twitter delivering more localized tweets. The company could personalize them based on what it knows about your interests and the people you follow. And what’s to stop Twitter at news? There are plenty of other events that Event Parrot could send your way: concerts, festivals, sporting events.

"Event Parrot says, "Follow me, and you’ll know the news no matter whom you follow."" http://t.co/4pAhRBHKuJ

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) October 15, 2013

Some interesting thoughts about how the newspaper industry's slowness to adapt to digital change is one that higher education leaders dare not repeat.

Ex-journalist to j-schools: "Adapt or die;" + more in this week's Journalism & Digital Education Roundup: http://t.co/PXBJmaHhJx #MustReads

— PBS MediaShift (@PBSMediaShift) October 15, 2013

Freedom of the press is under attack, so here's a tool some are starting to use to protect source anonymity.

New tool from @FreedomofPress promises sources a secure channel to any participating newsroom http://t.co/rnoainB3En

— Poynter (@Poynter) October 15, 2013

Journalism news today from Twitter

It is my goal to share a handful of tweets most days to interesting news from the news industry. This first one is about getting our news sites to be more visual. The idea can't hurt.

.@washingtonpost launched a news blog called "Know More" driven by visuals. Will this be the new journalism? http://t.co/Uw5zeZtzpq

— 10,000 Words (@10000Words) October 11, 2013

It seems a day doesn't go by without a list of Twitter tips popping up.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Twitter Users http://t.co/XIS6hwCxha by @klout

— Buffer (@buffer) October 14, 2013

Here's a great list to keep you busy all day. At a glance I am familiar with some sites, but not all. Probably be Christmas break before I can get to them all. Some much changes so fast that it is impossible to keep up. Excerpted from the post before you start scrolling the list: The exponential growth of Internet connection speed and accessibility has ushered in a journalistic renaissance, fusing art, reporting, and storytelling into a single pursuit.

105 Vital Sources for Journalists to connect with the new media landscape >> http://t.co/zsZ5GtuCk8. #jour363

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 14, 2013

I used to know an old sports editor who worked at the Washington Star.

Carl Bernstein's next book is about his cub reporting days at the Washington Star (yes, the Star). http://t.co/fSUh2a4q5f

— Romenesko (@romenesko) October 14, 2013

Cedarville students producing meaningful stories

When students begin to produce stories -- either written or through video or photos or some other means -- that go beyond the obvious, you realize they are beginning to see the bigger picture of what journalism can be.

In my advanced reporting for print class, it is starting to happen. We are studying "The Elements of Journalism" this semester as we always do in this class. Yesterday we discussed Chapter 8 (Engagement and Relevance) and the idea that the best stories are meaningful, relevant and engaging. The element of this chapter states "Journalists must make the significant interesting and relevant."

Learning to find deeper themes and meanings in stories will help all students and working journalists distinguish themselves as reporters. It's a learned skill that takes much practice.

My students this semester have certainly not arrived, but I am seeing steps in that direction from each of them as they apply themselves to the task.

Once I get these stories graded and they post them to the portfolio sites, I will post the links.

Instagram, breaking news and the Cedarville University journalism major

Every social media tool is worth checking out to see how it can help a journalist tell stories. It takes time to understand how to use it effectively. But there is no doubt that social media and breaking news were made for each other. That's something we're trying to do well in the Cedarville University journalism program

Instagram with its new video capabilities is perfect for this. The videos are short, but long enough to give viewers a taste. A recent article on Poynter.org shows some examples.

Cedars, the student newspaper/website at Cedarville University, just opened an Instagram account. Check it out and follow us. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Be the journalist you always wanted to be

Take a look at this blog post if you are a struggling journalist (kind of like what has long been known as a starving artist), and make up your mind to make it happen in this business.

http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/its-not-a-sad-day-for-journalism_b21498

If you have a nose for news, love to tell stories or just want to write and get paid for it, there are opportunities. They might not be easy to find, but then nothing worthwhile ever came easy.

Just do it.

More news is good news

An RTDNA survey shows TV stations are on the air more with news programs.

http://rtdna.org/article/survey_shows_near_record_year_for_local_news

Best journalism blogs for students

I found this list of 40 best blogs for journalism students today. Not only do I teach journalism, I am also a student working online toward a masters degree in journalism at Regent University. So this list will be good for me to add to my Google reader list.

Google reader is a great way to keep up with blogs. It's one-stop shopping that you can check every day or once in a while to catch up.

This little blog isn't on the list, but maybe some day.

Paid content and mobile devices are matching up

A research article in a academic journal I read a couple years ago led me to surmise that online news will grow and be monetized when it is as convenient as the printed word. Mobile devices are making that happen.

This Poynter article shows that an increasing number of people are paying for content with mobile devices. The younger demographics are trending toward smartphones, while the older demographics are trending toward tablets.

Pawley's Front Prorch: Video done easy and a great meal

One of the helpful things we are learning at the convergent journalism teaching bootcamp this week is that you don't have to break out the high-end video cameras and software to produce a decent video for a news website.

Today we used hand-held Kodak video cameras and Windows Movie Maker to produce short videos. Our instructions were to go some place nearby and find a simple story. So partner Kevin Blackistone, who is a  visiting professor at Maryland, and I walked over a mile to this small restaurant he had been to, but they were closed. Fortunately it was a block from our hotel so we got in my rental car and drove a few blocks to a place I had been on Monday, Pawley's Front Porch.

We got the video edited just in time. I had shot the footage, Kevin did the interviewing and the narration and we shared the editing. It's just a simple little story that could be better, but it showed us how easy it is for students to put something together of interest for a student newspaper website.

We had so much fun there that Kevin and I and three others went there for dinner tonight. I had another great hamburger, we shared fired oysters and fried pickles and had a lot of interesting conversation about our experiences and what we've learned this week. It was great time.

Here's the video:

Teaching bootcamp a real education

When you become a professor they don't hand you a how-to manual. So I have learned by trial and error the past three years. That won't change, but I believe the week I am in the middle of at the University of South Carolina's convergent journalism teaching bootcamp will improve the trials and reduce the errors.

The most difficult part of teaching is trying to teach and convince students that there are many ways to tell stories and that they need to learn beyond their preferred style.

• It is important for students to understand that storytelling is still at the heart of everything a journalist does no matter the medium. My job is to teach that concept and expose the students to different forms and teach them to choose the best ones.
• No matter the class, I realize I need to instruct students in producing stories in different mediums. That is the only way they will do it. The ones who find something they like outside of writing for print will, I hope, begin to use those skills for the student newspaper and website.
• And I need to be doing this kind of reporting as well on my own website. That will take a lot of work and planning, but I realize I have no choice.
• At Cedarville, we want to raise up multi-skilled journalists who can write great stories for print and produce interactive stories for online.
• I am discovering this week that learning and teaching basics in producing audio slideshows, audio stories, video stories and creating websites is simpler than you think.

The challenge is immense, but with good students and prayer it is possible.

And I can't recommend this yearly program enough to journalism educators.

Good thoughts on the value of studying journalism

Some good thoughts are offered in this piece by a journalism student about the value of studying journalism.

The printed word is not what it used to be and never will be again. But journalism will live on and jobs will be there. I don't expect a boom per se, but it will get better as online news and revenue from it continues to grow.

If a student feels that call to journalism, he or she should pursue it. Making less money is better than making more and settling for something you don't love to do.

Follow the link above. It's worth your time if you are considering journalism.

5 news organizations that are hiring

The trend of hiring journalists continues to have positive signs. There are places still not replacing people when they leave for another job or retire, but that's not true everywhere. This is a good sign.

Most of what you will find on this link on the cub reporters website are online jobs. But this site is full of postings for full-time positions and internships.

Journalism jobs making a comeback

The job market for journalists just might be on the rebound. A lot of the jobs don't look like a lot of the old jobs that were lost, but a job's a job these days.

This story from Poynter plus a couple of links within explain the trend.

Cedars wins awards

Congratulations to the students who work on Cedars. They have done a great job at rebuilding it.

http://www.cedarville.edu/Offices/Public-Relations/CampusNews/2012/Cedars-Wins--Awards-ONA.aspx

Some interesting links on bin Laden death

Newseum site of today's front pages from newspapers around the road has been crashed by too-heavy traffic.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/130349/newspaper-front-pages-capture-elation-relief-that-osama-bin-laden-was-captured-killed/

Here's newseum site in case it starts working. I'm having trouble with it right now.


http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

Here's the guy who tweeted about the attack.

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/05/02/heres-the-guy-who-unwittingly-live-tweeted-the-raid-on-bin-laden/

In regards to how people get news, I asked my five students in reporting class today how they found out. The could all be traced to a form of digital media. Two on Facebook, one a text message and two heard from someone in the dorm and watched the president's announcement live online on news channel Web sites.

I found out this morning from my wife, who saw it on Yahoo! news.

How did you find out?

I loved you, New York Times...

Yesterday The New York Times' website implemented its long-awaited (dreaded, in my case) pay wall, that limits online readers to 20 free articles a month before it asks (requires) that they subscribe.

Twenty free articles a month might sound fine and dandy to... well, I don't know who... but I probably go through that many in a day or two. Many people do. Of course, the easy solution to that is obvious: subscribe! But. I'm in college. I am poor. And I am desperately cheap.

From the Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (you can read his entire explanation letter here):

"As you have seen during this recent period of extraordinary global news, The Times is uniquely positioned to keep you informed. The launching of our digital subscription model will help ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high-quality journalism and substantive analysis that you have come to expect from The Times."

I mean, I get it. Newspapers all over the world are struggling to keep afloat. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to pout about it.

I love the Times for that "high-quality journalism and substantive analysis" Sulzberger was talking about. I've defended the Times (and CNN as well) to people who have called it liberal hoopla (in so many words...) because, lets face it, they are the best at the NEWS part. Just because I'm a conservative doesn't mean I should have to suffer through FOX News (or, heaven forbid, the Fox News website) and shun everything else. I don't have to agree with every Op-Ed column that appears in the Times to acknowledge that it is good at what it does.

I'm not sure whether or not I'll subscribe. Perhaps after the first month of rationing I"ll change my mind, but for now I'm disappointed enough to do without.

For reporters, there's an app for that

For now I have a plain-old flip phone, but if an iPhone or some type of smartphone is in my future, I will certainly take a look at the kind of apps that are handy for a reporter to have.

Wes Baker e-mailed me a link today to a list on poynter.org of eight must-have apps for reporters.

I suppose it's not a matter of if, but when. As every technology matures, we all eventually have it. From TVs, to color TVs, to cable, to PCs, to cellphones, to laptops, to HDTV, etc.

News reporters need everything at their disposal possible these days. More than ever it is important to get the news to the audience first. He who is first, gets the most traffic. And eyeballs equal dollar signs.