YouTube Direct

YouTube Direct is the newest thing YouTube has developed. YouTube direct was developed so news organizations can connect with the public. The hope is to allow an easier way for citizen journalists and media news organizations to share info to the general public.

The YouTube Direct website states, “YouTube Direct allows you to embed the upload functionality of YouTube directly into your own site, enabling your organization to request, review, and re-broadcast user-submitted videos with ease. News organizations can ask for citizen reporting; nonprofits can call-out for support videos around social campaigns; businesses can ask users to submit promotional videos about your brand. With YouTube Direct, the opportunities to connect directly with the YouTube community are endless.”

Personally I think this is a good thing. People already submit their at-the-scene-footage to news organizations this will just make it easier, I think???

The only thing is I’m sure sooner or later in our sue-happy country someone will find a loop hole and try to sue for the use of their footage but I’m sure YouTube has thought of this already and is prepared, or at least we hope they are.

Delusional news execs

Are news executives delusional?

The Statistics from the American Press Institute have discovered, through research that news executives believe that if they switch off their websites that it would push viewers to their newspapers. But readers have a totally different perception of the situation.

Online Journalism Blog has more info about the results and you can also go to the MediaPost Blog for a more in-depth look at the results.

What do you think; if the local newspaper turned off their web site would you go get their actual paper?

The Dundalk Eagle

Picture off the Dundalk Eagle web site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I talked with Dundalk Eagle Editor, Wayne Laufert, and Associate Publisher, Deborah Cornely and they gave me some insightful info about the local weekly paper the Dundalk Eagle.  These were some of the questions and answers that I could not squezze into my feature but I still wanted to share the info with my viewers.

How far does your readership reach in each area you deliver to?

 

–Readership pretty much permeates our coverage area, though there are a few residential pockets where subscription sales are low, most notably within a largely African American community. On the whole our local readership is extensive and makes up about 94% of our total circulation. We mail about 3% to out-of-state subscribers and about the same percentage to subscribers in other parts of Maryland.

 

What areas do your articles focus on and do you ever report on news in other areas?

 

–We focus on the Dundalk-Edgemere part of southeastern Baltimore County and a small part of southeastern Baltimore City. When we leave those boundaries to cover something, it’s because there’s a strong local angle, like someone from the area winning an award or a sports team playing a big game.

 

What are the demographics of your readers?

 

–We don’t have specific information about the age of our readers, but we suspect we have more readers over 40 than under. The area we cover is predominantly white, and we suspect that’s reflected in our readership too.

 

What has been the papers biggest struggle with all the new technology in the news room? Have the changes made your job easier or harder?

 

–The biggest problem with technology is keeping up with new versions of hardware and software and staying compatible without being able to spend thousands of dollars frequently. However, turnaround time on getting something in the paper is much quicker than it used to be.

 

Is the paper online more or less to be able to reach readers who have moved away and no longer have access to the local news you provide?

 

–The paper’s online mainly to keep up with technology and modern readers’ expectations. Being able to reach out-of-town readers online is a bonus.

 

 

How are the sales of the 6 month subscriptions been online?

 

–Not great, but at least we are experiencing a little additional revenue from Web sales.       Regardless of online subscription sales, we still maintain an average of 22,600 site visits a month. (Newspapers are taking a second look at how they can obtain revenue from their Web sites. The free-access business model has proven disastrous. It has encouraged large percentages of former paid print subscribers to flock to the free sites and caused revenue to plummet. The expected bump in online advertising sales has never materialized. Web sales have failed to generate the funds needed to support quality news gathering. The result has been massive layoffs of [mostly] news personnel at just about every daily paper. Even if we fail in our attempt to generate some amount of sustainable revenue from our site, we think it has been worthwhile to try. We also believe our Web sub represents an industry wide baby step toward reeducating people so they understand that quality news content is worth paying for.)

I really want to thank Wayne and Deborah for thier time and information. Another local weekly paper told me they would be unable to answer my questions and that they would be surprised if anyone would answer them. So thanks so much!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out the story of the Dundalk Eagle on the “Behind the Scenes at the Dundalk Eagle” page.

More info to come.

Jon Stewart outs Fox News Channel

click the pic to see the source

Jon Stewart from The Daily Show spotted inconsistencies in a video that aired on Fox News on November 5. Fox News and one of its hosts Sean Hannity used footage from two different events and put them together in the same piece to support an argument that many people showed up at an event in Washington D.C.  

To the average viewer it may not have been noticed but when Jon Stewart breaks the piece down it is pretty obvious the differences in the footage.  Check out the link below, you will not regreat it.

Jon Stewart outing Fox News

It is sad when the news networks and newspapers try to get over on the viewers and readers. I just do not understand why journalists have to do this. It is a journalist job to report the news not make a story, journalists are shorting themselves and the public when they try to make a story go their way.

Hear a tweet, there a tweet, everywhere a tweet, tweet

In the last week Twitter has added two new applications for users. The first application is adding lists to your page. The lists allow you to categorize your friends, family, co-workers or any other category you want to come up with. This is useful if you are looking for a particular person and you don’t have time to look through all of your tweets or the people you follow to find them. Some Tweeters may not have this application yet because they were distributed to a limited amount of accounts but I’m sure it will be coming to a page near you soon. 

The downside to this is that when you press to retweet you cannot make a comment, you just automatically retweet the message. That takes some of the fun out of retweeting. You can still retweet the old fashion way of RT and then cutting and pasting the tweet, but I know that is like so five minutes ago.

I’m sure Twitter will figure out a way sooner or later, on how to make a comment before the retweet, on the retweet button.

Twitter also has things popping up on the page when the curser moves across the page, telling the viewer where the retweet came from or the fact that the retweet source cannot be identified. That is a little annoying.

I hope Twitter does not go overboard with too many things. I like things to be simple sometimes or I feel like my head will explode.

What do you think do you like all the pop ups and craziness or do you like things simple sometimes?

click the pic to see the source

 

Be an expert before college

Don’t we go to school and college to learn how to do things in the world and in our career? Then why do students have to have pre requisites in at least one of three things when applying for a major. We are supposed to learn in college that’s what we pay for.

I was reading Mindy McAdams blog and she posted about the new journalism concentration at New York University, called Studio 20. McAdams states what she thinks is good and bad about the list. I definitely have to agree with her dislike of number 3: “What I disagree with: Including mere “Web journalism and blogging” in No. 3 opens the door to a lot of people who are too scared of technology to succeed in this program, in my opinion. I’ve seen a lot of students who started up a free Blogger blog and barely even know how to add a link, let alone anything more challenging, to their online work.”

The World Wide Web is very overwhelming and to expect a student to know how to do HTML as soon as they get there can be discouraging. And even if a student is competent in the other areas then they may not apply because of the thought of having to be fluent in the website world.

I feel in today’s society we try to rush and have our children know too much before their time. Kids are taking college courses in high school and in college we are expecting them to know everything already and then pay for it to be taught again. We go to college to find ourselves and our interest.

Most kids will not get a job in what they major in college in because they have lost interest in the subject or they have found something else they are more passionate about. But we are expecting them to be experts when they are applying for a major in college.

Just a thought; what do you think about pre requisites in college courses?

ABC 2 news’ Preston Mitchum

Photo by Preston Mitchum

Preston Mitchum is a photographer forABC 2 news in Baltimore. I met Preston when I was interning there two years ago. Preston always had great insight into the business so I thought it would be nice to get some input from him about the media and the changes.

Have you had to move around a lot to be able to find a job in journalism?

I was very lucky to land a great job with ABC 2 while still in school. I was hired three month prior to graduating as a part-time editor and now I’m in my twelfth year at channel two.

How long have you been in the media business?

twelve years now.

Where did you go to school?

 I went to Towson State University, class of 97.

Where did you get your start in photography and where do you currently work?

I received tons of experience working at the Towson State University television station. The ability to use updated equipment was very helpful in my transition to the professional world. I’m currently a photojournalist/microwave live truck operator at channel two.

How long have you worked at your current job?

twelve years

Do you think there have been more positive changes in the media world or negative changes? Please Explain.

First, the bad economy that we are in has not help the media industry. Because of it more and more companies are cutting back on staff. The goal now is to do more with less. We also need to develop an extensive training system to get everyone up to speed on all new technology systems. You will find lots of people losing jobs in the newspaper and TV industry during the next few years. Which in turn will leave more and more people out of work and un-trained for the new media world ahead.

Have you been directly affected by the changes in the media world and if so how?

Yes, the changes I talked about early in the business has required me to learn more. It will require all of us to stay updated on the basic Internet/web technology as well and digital cameras and equipment.

Has it been difficult to adapt all of the time to the changing world of journalism?

Not really, adapting is apart of the human nature.          

Do you think the Internet allows journalists to stay closer to their hometown or it really has had no effect?

 It really matters on what company you are working for at the time. If your company is looking for someone to provide online journalism then the Internet is perfect. We have to remember that you will still need individuals to go out and gather news…. interview people etc…

Do you think technology is making it easier for journalists or harder to do their job?

For me if have made things easier. It’s not so much the technology….it really matters if the company you work for, community and people you want to reach are on the same page with the technology you are using. If folks don’t have computers then you need to make sure you have other ways to provide the news… TV, Radio….

With being a photographer do you believe that the advances in technology are helping or hurting your job security?

The advances in technology are hurting my job security. Companies are trying to do more with less… requiring us to learn multiple jobs. One person can do it all…. shoot, write, edit and upload the story. We have to remember not everyone can multi task so only the strong will survive.

What advice do you give future journalists or photographers?

You must be able to multi-task…. learn how to shoot, edit, write very well. Also be very Internet savvy! The more you can do the more marketable you will be for employers.

What goals do you have for yourself and your career?

Through all of the changes being able to be creative is very important to me. I would love to do more storytelling and long format productions.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I think we covered it all!

What do you read locally?

I have been sending out emails last week and this week to local weekly papers trying to get some info for my next feature. I thought I was running out of luck.

Two of the three papers said to send them the questions. One paper has not gotten back to me. I was starting to think I was going to have to change my feature story when one paper contacted me today to tell me they have most of the answers but was going to get with his boss about a couple of the other ones.

The other paper told me they could not answer the questions because of the law, but could only answer a few questions. I asked her to answer the questions she could and keep the rest blank, so we will see.

Now this is where my loyal readers come in. I would like to know what local weekly papers you read and why you continue to read them?

Washington Post typos

I have talked a lot about newspapers dying and one of the huge issues has been because of the lack of readership. Well the Washington Post did not help its readership on Monday.

The Washington Post printed an article, on Monday, in their sports section that had 20 typos. Many readers complained about the typos to the editor. The excuse was that the editors had only a short time to look over the piece before sending it to print.

According to my professor, who is friends with someone at the Post, said that the article came to them with a slew of typos and that they did the best they could with the time that they had. And I’m sure that is the case, and I do understand, that with budget cuts editors are under a lot of pressure to get things done, with a lot less staff. But these kinds of mistakes are going to push readers farther and farther away from newspapers.

Like my professor stated no one wants to sit down with a red pen and read the paper.