As journalists, sometimes we have to test ourselves. I spent a little time working on Power Reporting's web treasure hunt this weekend, to gauge the extent of my research abilities.
I specifically took a look at questions 1 and 2 and the answer I found for No. 1 is $1,071,047.37. That would be Babe Ruth's $80,000 salary from 1931 -- adjusted for today's value -- according to the CPI inflation calculator.
Oddly enough, my answer was incorrect based on Power Reporting's assessment. They said the value was closer to $980,000.
Question 1 would have been difficult to answer if not for the hint, but question 2 is a walk in the park. Given the phone number 202-965-3515, all I had to do to find out whose number it was was plug the number into Google. The correct answer is Elsa Walsh of Washington, D.C.
In another realm, the swap image is an interesting journalistic tool. "The swap image action swaps one image for another by changing the SRC attribute of the image tag," according to Microsoft Dreamweaver's help page. I linked to it from this page of Kodi Barth's website. Barth is a professor of online journalism at the University of Connecticut.
As for the swap image, the second step says to enter a name into the "property inspector." I have no idea what that is, nor is it specified in the directions -- thus the rest of the process was quite difficult.
Step three makes it clear that multiple images can be swapped, which is a nice feature. Some of the problems I encountered following steps four through six included a lack of access to the "behaviors panel" and "actions pop-up menu" and struggles with the "plus" button, because it wasn't clear as to what I was supposed to be doing with that.
After a little help from my friends I was finally able to swap a few images of myself that I had saved on file. Quite a nifty little trick, too bad I failed to figure it out on my own. In addition, step nine details a very useful "preload images" option that allows for the prevention of downloading delays.
As we all know in today's world of netizens -- the faster the better. As for the swap image, potentially helpful, but essentially a big headache for me.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Web is Not Print
There are many ways in which print journalism differs from online journalism. In fact, in recent years many of the nation's top newspapers have expanded upon their one-dimensional traditions and entered the world of Web interactivity.
The specifics about the publications that have expanded can be found in chapter nine of James C. Foust's Online Journalism textbook, in the "advanced interactivity" section. A study by the Bivings Group lists the key findings. For example, 80 of America's top 100 newspapers offer at least one reporter blog on their websites.
As for the nuts and bolts of interactivity, well, it's basically the availability of print, audio, video, opinion and fact -- all in one place. Also in chapter nine of Foust's online text, Thom Lieb discusses "Inactivity on Interactivity" and how despite all of these options in one place, readers may still utilize very little of it and fail to capitalize on the opportunity to use these multiple mediums to their advantage.
The same can be said of those running interactive sites, as well.
The impressive nature of Foust's online textbook prompted me to take a look at the print version of his work, specifically page 214 and the "Activities" section. Looking at question 9.1, Macromedia's website shows these tools that are not of a "journalistic nature," but Mindy McAdams (online journalism expert) discusses how despite that fact, flash players can help add video and audio clips to websites.
Question 9.2 can be answered with a simple yes. Interacting with information obviously gives us a better understanding of it because as comes with all repetition, "Practice makes perfect." The more exposure we have to this type of information, the better.
9.3 has already been addressed here. Utilizing multimedia to its fullest means putting your story in print and giving options for both video and audio commentary or follow-up. Nice additions could also be message boards and chat rooms to allow readers to discuss your work.
Marie Shanahan, Senior Online Producer of CTnow.com, recently spoke at the University of Connecticut and emphatically told journalism students that, "Web is not print!" She was stressing the point that while Web may offer print, it can go much further beyond that and has greater capabilities than say, paper news or the hard copy of a magazine.
It's a new age in the rhelm of journalism and while print is still with us, it no longer stands alone.
The specifics about the publications that have expanded can be found in chapter nine of James C. Foust's Online Journalism textbook, in the "advanced interactivity" section. A study by the Bivings Group lists the key findings. For example, 80 of America's top 100 newspapers offer at least one reporter blog on their websites.
As for the nuts and bolts of interactivity, well, it's basically the availability of print, audio, video, opinion and fact -- all in one place. Also in chapter nine of Foust's online text, Thom Lieb discusses "Inactivity on Interactivity" and how despite all of these options in one place, readers may still utilize very little of it and fail to capitalize on the opportunity to use these multiple mediums to their advantage.
The same can be said of those running interactive sites, as well.
The impressive nature of Foust's online textbook prompted me to take a look at the print version of his work, specifically page 214 and the "Activities" section. Looking at question 9.1, Macromedia's website shows these tools that are not of a "journalistic nature," but Mindy McAdams (online journalism expert) discusses how despite that fact, flash players can help add video and audio clips to websites.
Question 9.2 can be answered with a simple yes. Interacting with information obviously gives us a better understanding of it because as comes with all repetition, "Practice makes perfect." The more exposure we have to this type of information, the better.
9.3 has already been addressed here. Utilizing multimedia to its fullest means putting your story in print and giving options for both video and audio commentary or follow-up. Nice additions could also be message boards and chat rooms to allow readers to discuss your work.
Marie Shanahan, Senior Online Producer of CTnow.com, recently spoke at the University of Connecticut and emphatically told journalism students that, "Web is not print!" She was stressing the point that while Web may offer print, it can go much further beyond that and has greater capabilities than say, paper news or the hard copy of a magazine.
It's a new age in the rhelm of journalism and while print is still with us, it no longer stands alone.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Journalistic Blog Reviews
I'll lead off with the ever-popular Mindy McAdams. She's an expert in the online journalism rhelm and yet her blog leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, she uses links and white space efficiently, but her page is quite cluttered. To the left, she has her writing as well as the posts of others, including Rob Curley. On the right she has a bio, then an extremely long laundry list of links, followed by a section of other blogs that she reads. I wish she kept things simple like she herself suggests to other bloggers.
Then there's Dan Gillmor. Gillmor mirrors Romenesko in that he chooses to list by linked headlines and then provide teasers beneath those links. This format certainly boasts organization but it also can breed monotony. Overall, I'm indifferent. It doesn't bore me too much, but I'm simply not enthralled. The advertisements on Gillmor's page are plenty, but they run around the perimeter and aren't too distracting.
Moving on to Adrian Holovaty of the Washington Post. Holovaty's blog is especially bland. White background and plenty of listing, but it's successfully simple and he uses boldfacing and underlining well. There aren't many ads and virtually no clutter, so it's an easily navigable site. Certainly the easiest to follow of the three thus far.
Jeff Jarvis and Pamela Parket are good examples of stylistically contrasting blogs. Jarvis uses a smooth gray on his border while Parket features a sharp green. Parket annoyingly dabs groups some links together at the top of her page while Jarvis incorporates his links nicely into his paragraphs. Lastly, Jarvis is politically inclined while Parket is clearly environmentally-minded.
Then there's Dan Gillmor. Gillmor mirrors Romenesko in that he chooses to list by linked headlines and then provide teasers beneath those links. This format certainly boasts organization but it also can breed monotony. Overall, I'm indifferent. It doesn't bore me too much, but I'm simply not enthralled. The advertisements on Gillmor's page are plenty, but they run around the perimeter and aren't too distracting.
Moving on to Adrian Holovaty of the Washington Post. Holovaty's blog is especially bland. White background and plenty of listing, but it's successfully simple and he uses boldfacing and underlining well. There aren't many ads and virtually no clutter, so it's an easily navigable site. Certainly the easiest to follow of the three thus far.
Jeff Jarvis and Pamela Parket are good examples of stylistically contrasting blogs. Jarvis uses a smooth gray on his border while Parket features a sharp green. Parket annoyingly dabs groups some links together at the top of her page while Jarvis incorporates his links nicely into his paragraphs. Lastly, Jarvis is politically inclined while Parket is clearly environmentally-minded.
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