Save the Media

Seems like it’s a good time for some short takes from my jaunts around the blogosphere. Here are some posts that I found interesting. Hope you will, too. Is news like bottled water? Tim Windsor has a thought-provoking post at Nieman Journalism Lab today, noting that bottled-water producers know something newspapers do not: How to [...]

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Well, I don’t get how Twitter can help me because I’m only one person and only have so many followers?” I heard this common lament again this week, and rather than get exasperated, I figured it was time for another explanation of how Twitter [...]

Updated: Be sure to check the links at bottom of post to other voices on this issue. This is an open letter to the Dow Jones and Co. in response to the rules it released to its staff at The Wall Street Journal and its other publications on how to use — or not use — [...]

Here are some short-takes of  journalism-related finds from around the blogosophere: Targeted traffic: In some ways the old days of ignorance were bliss. You wrote a story. You assumed people read it. You were happy. Now, thanks to stats on blogs and online stories, you can find out how many (or few) people are reading [...]

Today, I’m turning over my blog to a friend and colleague, Amber Smith, Health and Fitness editor at The Post-Standard in Syracuse. She and I share a love of journalism, new media and connecting with readers and often swap ideas. (Check out her Health and Fitness blog.) She turned me onto City University of New [...]

I haven’t done short takes in a while, so here are some interesting finds from around the blogosphere: The value of small talk: Steve Yelvington has the best explanation I’ve read so far for the value of social media. He compares the gabbing over Twitter, for example, that so many find banal to the glad-handed [...]

A colleague of mine asked today: “Is blogging  journalism?” She was helping her step-daughter write an essay, an assignment for a college ethics course. Two co-workers and I jumped in to answer the question to help my colleague assist her step-daughter. I found the question compelling because it goes to the very heart of this [...]

I’ve come across some new Twitter tools that I’ve found useful as a journalist, so I’ve decided to compile a new post of my favorite tools for Twitter. (Read my earlier list of favorite Twitter tools here.) Blip.fm: A colleague of mine, @LauraTRyan, turned me on to this  great tool. It allows you to search [...]

Time for some more short-takes, capturing interesting stuff I’ve found around the blogosphere: Who will will? Deborah Potter at Advancing the Story says “specialized media will win.” I agree with her, and I like how she puts it.  It’s just another way of saying, guess what, we’re not a mass medium anymore. But I like [...]

New York University journalism prof Jay Rosen tweeted a video today that I think is a must-see for any journalist trying to understand the “Internet revolution.“  Basically, he compared the static experience of watching TV to the interactive experience of connecting with people, news organizations and newsmakers through the Web. I think calling this an [...]