Thoughts on Fish At Bay interactive storytelling class project and convergence

After a semester of work, my interactive storytelling class launched its site about fish in Biscayne Bay launched last Wednesday: Fish At Bay.

Hats off to our converged class of "print" and visual journalism students: Walyce Almeida, Maria Arroyave, Erica Landau, Brian Schlansky, Jen Shook, Jamie Straz, Alex Thacker and Jason Walker.

Our professors, Kim Grinfeder (visual journalism) and Sam Terilli (print journalism), did a great job overseeing the project -- and recruiting everyone. Also, thanks to our TA, Zeven Rodriguez.

To provide some background, Grinfeder and Terilli have collaborated the past two fall semesters with their Web production and in-depth storytelling classes, respectively. I was in the fall 2008 in-depth class.

With this spring's (experimental) interactive storytelling class, they took it to the next level of convergence. As far as I know, this was the first class at the University of Miami School of Communication to combine the talents of print and visual journalism students in one class.

I took advantage of the opportunity to get more experience shooting and editing video, as well as to become proficient with Final Cut Pro. I particularly enjoyed being able to work in so may areas:

• Write history story
• Shoot b-roll and take photos for history video
  
• Edit history video
• Edit and write cutlines for history photos
• Edit Delicate Balance video
  
• Shoot an interview for the Building on the Bay video
  
• Copy edit all stories
• Write about page
  
• Add p tags and hyperlinks (plus find links for) all stories
  

I'm usually critical of the lack of collaboration between the print and visual programs, but I've seen some very encouraging strides this semester.

Grinfeder and Terilli get it. Chris Delboni, my online journalism professor, and Michelle Seelig, the spring Web production professor, get it. (More thoughts on the online journalism class and our collaboration with the Web production class to follow).

So, what now?

Without a question, the interactive storytelling class should be a standard course, and it should be required for all journalism students at UM. Yes, that means bringing in broadcast as well. And there needs to be more converged classes, like an introductory storytelling class (more on this to come as well).

Resistance is futile. You must adapt.

Weigh in: What do you think of the Fish At Bay site?

Mad Journalism

We had an assignment a few weeks ago in my online journalism class to do a "video bio." After two tries that involved yawn videos, I decided to try something completely different.

Sports Editor Matt Bunch joined me on April 7 to help shoot the third version. We put our heads together to get what you see in this final video. Enjoy!

CommTogether right now, over...journalism

I'm a student in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, but you would think that the various journalism programs (print, broadcast and visual) speak different languages sometimes from the lack of collaboration that is present.

Yes, there have been several notable successes -- and I've been lucky to be in three classes this year that focus on convergence (In-depth reporting for convergent media, online journalism and interactive storytelling) -- but the level of cooperation is still not where it should be.

I kept all this is mind while devising a new final project for my CNJ 442 online journalism class, after the first plan regarding the new TheMiamiHurricane.com didn't work out a planned.

The result is a social networking site the class is developing using Ning:

CommTogether

The general idea came to me one night as I was chatting online with Hurricane Visuals Editor Will Wooten (check out his recent site redesign). Regarding the group name, which I love, credit goes to Kiersten Schmidt.

Here are details from the CNJ 442 proposal that I drafted and the class helped refine:

Goals

• Bring together in one forum the three journalism programs at the University of Miami School of Communication: print, broadcast and visual
• Recruit students, faculty, staff, alumni and prospective students
• Begin a conversation about the future of school’s journalism programs
• Conceptualize collaborative projects for classes, students, media outlets, etc.
• Take ideas and turn them into reality

Elements

• Profile pages: students, faculty, administrators
• Groups: programs, classes, projects, media
• Feeds: blogs, news, etc.
• Photos and videos
• Blogs: internal
• Comments

Action plan

• Discuss and decide on name for group (complete)
  
• Create network (complete)
• Create profile pages (complete)
• Create groups within network: programs, classes, media, organizations, etc.
  
• Invite/recruit students, professors, administrators, staff, alumni and prospective students (in progress)
  
• Table in the SoC courtyard
  
• Solicit ideas from everyone regarding the future of curriculum, organizations
• Conceptualize possible collaboration projects, way to converge
• Maintain the discussion
• Continue to recruit new group members

UPDATE: I forgot one very important reason for this site:

Students should have a voice in the development of curriculum.

Weigh in: Any suggestions/ideas for this site?

Advice for bloggers, part one: Reader stats

I started blogging in November to discuss online journalism, journalism education and other related topics.

Since mid-January, I've also been using the blog to fulfill an online journalism class requirement because everyone in class is required to maintain a blog.

Professor Sam Terilli, who spoke to my class Thursday about law and the Internet (see related video), brought up a point that one of my classmates, Josh Newman, mentioned on his blog Friday:

"[Terilli asked] the question that, I think, made most of my classmates (including myself, excluding Greg Linch) squirm a little. 'How many people read your blogs?' ...Silence."

Josh goes on to mention Google Analytics. This is a great service, but it's only one way to measure how many readers you have.

I subscribe to all of my classmates' blogs via Google Reader and would recommend that they utilize FeedBurner, an earlier suggestion (How to...use FeedBurner) that the class has been using, to keep track of their subscribers.

FeedBurner is great for adding an e-mail subscription widget, something our professor required, but that should only be a preliminary step.

Explore the different tabs in FeedBurner, specifically "Publicize" and "Analyze" -- the latter of which shows you how many RSS subscribers you have. The number of subscribers is also available on the "My Feeds" page.

There's a lot that can be said about the question of increasing blog traffic and readers, so I decided to divide my thoughts into shorter posts.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE, March 23: I clarified above that not all journalism students are required to blog -- only the ones in the CNJ 442 Online Journalism class.

Other School of Communication students have their on personal blogs and may blog through the SoC's Web site.

Also, I should have mentioned SiteMeter as another option for blog/site analytics.

Journalism prof, former Herald counsel's advice for new (or any) bloggers

Sam Terilli, a University of Miami journalism professor whose background is in law, spoke with my online journalism class Thursday about law and the Internet. He has practiced law for more than 24 years, including 12 as general counsel at The Miami Herald.

After his talk I asked him what advice he would give to a student wanting to start a blog. Check it out his answer, which is relevant to any blogger.

Tips on doing Web video from Ricardo Lopez

Listen below to excerpts of advice Miami Herald visual journalist Ricardo Lopez (left) gave my online journalism class on Feb. 28.

I captured the audio with my Olympus DS-30 using a lav. The photo is from the new media panel during Comm Week. Will Payne, from Current TV, is on the right.

Ricardo Lopez discusses video with online journalism class

Ricard Lopez, a Miami Herald visual journalist, gave a presentation to my online journalism class about video Thursday evening. He was joined by Candace Barbot, a photojournalist convert to video.

Ricardo last spoke at UM during Communication Week, leading one of the new media workshops and participating in the new media panel. Check out advice he and other panelists gave students here.

See examples of his work and be sure to check out Chicken Busters, which is everyone's favorite.

Wanted: Resident Butt-Kicker (Thoughts on journalism education)

Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking about journalism schools and what journalism students are not learning.

One of the problems is that there’s too much talk. Educators have known about the Internet, multimedia storytelling and convergence for years.

No more excuses.

I realize that this post constitutes talk, but I would like to think of it more as a call to action. To make sure change happens at J-schools, I propose hiring a Resident Butt-Kicker.

I plan to expand on these in future posts, but here’s where we need to start:

1. Online first, print second: Print is not dead, but the idea of a purely "print" major should be thrown out the window. Who wants to pay money to be taught in preparation for the last century?

Start with the essential concepts of writing, reporting, editing, critical thinking, law and ethics, but don't limit it to merely one form of storytelling. Also, online journalism should not be some 400- or 500-level class that only some students take – it should be drilled into everyone's head early.

2. Think outside the classroom: How can you teach journalism without practical experience?

Ideas: Structure your class like a newsroom and provide an outlet for publication (e.g. class Web site); require students to work on campus media; require an internship – and help place them; etc.

3. Old dogs, learn new tricks: There's a disconnect among different classes, depending on the professor, as well as an even greater disconnect between professors who have been out of the newsroom for years and those who just came from the newsroom.

The journalism world is moving quickly and schools need to keep pace with their local news outlets so students may be viable job and internship candidates. Just like journalists in the professional world, professors need to be able to adapt and learn new concepts and skills.

Also, why are we being taught in a strict, limited mindset (i.e. print) that we will need to unlearn later? Don't teach me for today, or even tomorrow.

A journalism school should look ahead, being innovative and proactive in its approach, not reactive. Professors need to be a part of that.

4. Selecting J-students: There should be a multi-dimensional, more personalized interview process for students applying to an academic journalism program. Program directors should ask students about their specific interests in the field, evaluating if the candidate is open minded and willing to evolve.

5. Grades are failing: The grading process needs to change. It seems as if more students worry about getting good grades than actually learning. Grades aren’t worthless, but learning – and getting good experience – matters more.

Unintended, entrepreneurial failure (i.e. not because of laziness) should be embraced and utilized as a teaching tool – it is part of the learning process. Thus, students should be encouraged to go out and make mistakes while they are still in school.

6. Establish mentor programs: I hit on this general concept in my Top Ten List of Tips for Journalism Students (No. 7).

Upperclassmen should be paired with underclassmen in a formal, voluntary peer counseling system. Furthermore, every student should meet with a faculty adviser or mentor from time to time – and not just to discuss next semester's schedule.

SPJ recently started a mentor program for members, which is great. Nevertheless, it can't replace the local insight of a student or professor at your own J-school.

Weigh in: What do you think of these ideas? Students, what else do you want to see done at your school?

Note: The original time stamp on this post was incorrect. It has since been corrected.

Photographer alumna discusses multimedia

A not-so-old newspaper friend stopped by campus recently.

Allison Bezold-Diaz, who graduated from the University of Miami in spring 2007, spoke to my online journalism class last Thursday. She gave great tutorials on capturing/editing audio, photography/digital SLR basics and editing photos in Photoshop.

I sat down with Allison, a former Miami Hurricane photo editor, to ask her about the importance of multimedia and what advice she would give student journalists.

Here's what she had to say:

w00t, w00t: Visuals editor Will Wooten starts redesign blog

Let the Web design blogging begin!

Will Wooten, visuals editor at The Miami Hurricane, has started a blog about online journalism, specifically the redesign of The Hurricane's Web site.

Will is overseeing the aesthetic side of the project and will be posting updates and information about the redesign process. The blog will also act as a means for gathering feedback and discussing the new site.

And what is the name of this forum?

"Will's Blog."

Why such a simple name?

"The reason is, it is what it is. I don't want anything creative."

What about the design and color scheme?

"The serious bloggers are going to be using a reader anyway."

Unrelated, my favorite quote from Will came as he was updating his resume last semester. As he was finishing, he realized something:

"I forget to put that I was Time Magazine's person of the year in 2006 on my resume."

Miami Herald reporter discusses online research

Miami Herald metro reporter Evan Benn will begin speaking with a UM journalism class (CNJ 216 news reporting) in about a minute or so. I'm crashing the party with my laptop, digital recorder and point-and shoot.

He will be discussing online research and has a handout called "Finding people, getting stories."

This will be my first real liveblog - the test one I did with Cover It Live doesn't count.

Here are the points he will discuss:

1. Plug 'Em In

2. Find public records

3. Call around them

4. Play dumb

5. Be yourself

I'll be expanding these based on his talk as it occurs, so please be sure to check back for updates.

9: 42 A.M.: "Even when I first got into this business all we did is go out with a notebook and pen, but now it's so much different." Now, he has a Blackberry (for filing and photos), takes a digital recorder, etc.

He shot photos from courtroom with Blackberry, but they said they sucked, so he brought a point-and-shoot the next time.

Side note: I brought Evan to speak to our SPJ chapter last semester where he mentioned how he liveblogged the O.J. trial from Vegas.

"You really have to be fast and efficient and versatile, that's always the linchpin of journalism." (Hey! That's the name of this blog.)

Tip 1: "There's so much information available on the Internet," that should be where you start. Use Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.

Tip 2: Public records: "There's a wealth of information you can find about people's lives."

9:58 A.M.:

Web resources:

• Miami-Dade County
  
• Miami-Dade clerk of courts
• Power Reporting
• Florida Department of Law Enforcement
• SunBiz
• Network Solutions - Who Is

Evan showed this entertaining video while discussing Bird Road Rudy (the Herald story is no longer online.

10:02 A.M.: We've moved on to blogging, yay!

"I think that's important in this day and age."

Evan gave an example of a recent post he wrote about an item from his hometown papers.

Tip 4: Play dumb.

"Don't be afraid to say, 'Can you slow down?' "

"When you're writing, pretend like your telling it to your friend."

For difficult stories, such as deaths and tragedies.

"Be a human first, a journalist second. Often journalists are seen as vultures."

"Be empathetic. It's O.K. to not be a robot. Make a human connection, find some common ground. If you can find that human connection, you'll find people are a lot more willing to talk to you and make you job easier."

Question from student: Are blogs replacing columns?

No, Evan says he thinks they add to the conversation.

Question from student: Do you do your own radio work?

He takes all his own audio, uploads it, listens and edits before taking it to radio studio. He writes a minute-long script, voices it and they put it all together.

VIDEO: Herald site operations director Levinson discusses online journalism

Suzanne Levinson, director of site operations at The Miami Herald, visited my online journalism class Thursday evening.

She discussed the Herald's Web site, online journalism and what students need to know to get into the field. The webmaster, visuals editor and I took the opportunity to get her thoughts on the The Miami Hurricane's redesign plans, showing her two drafts wireframes.

Links to other class blogs

Here is a list of links to the other student blogs from my CNJ 442 Online Journalism class:

dontcountyourchickensbeforetheyhatch.blogspot.com
establishthis.blogspot.com

heathercolvin.blogspot.com

kasperbroue.blogspot.com

kschmidt2.blogspot.com
matthewmullin.blogspot.com
natyva00.blogspot.com

sandrahurtado.blogspot.com

Weigh in: Comment on the blogs to get conversations started.

Update, Jan. 31 at 10:08 P.M.: Per a suggestion by Anna Haynes in a comment, here is a Google Reader public page for the class.

How to...use FeedBurner

I have been asked to do a tutorial post for my online journalism classmates on how to use FeedBurner, so here it goes!

Step 1 - Register
Go to FeedBurner.com and click "Register" in the upper righthand corner to create an account:


Step 2 - Add
Enter your blog address or an existing feed. With Blogger (the platform we're using for class), find your feed by clicking this link at the bottom your blog posts that says: "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)."


Step 3 - Burn
Enter a title for your feed and complete the feed address, such as with your name or blog title:


Step 4 - Integrate
Integrate your new feed with your blog. For those in class, look at the Blogger section and select "Redirect your Blogger feed to your FeedBurner feed."


Step 5 - Publicize
To publish a chicklet, click the "Publicize" tab in your FeedBurner account. Select the one you would like to add. For class, I would recommend including the default RSS feed icon and then adding Google and Yahoo later.


Once you select the chicklet you want, scroll to the bottom where it says "Use as a widget in" and click the drop-down menu to select the type of blog you use. For class, select Blogger and confirm it as a new page element. Another option is to copy the provided code into your blog.

Other information

• "Analyze" is the most useful tab in your FeedBurner account. Explore the contents to see essentially any bit of information you could possibly imagine regarding your feed, such as how many subscribers you have and how many hits your feed has.
• FeedBurner Help Center's explanation. (added Jan. 31, 11:39 a.m.)
  

Questions: Please feel free to ask questions by commenting.

Weigh in: What did you think of this tutorial? It's my first, so be brutal.

A trip to the Everglades

I journeyed to Everglades National Park with a photographer, visual journalism student Johnfrank Dieguez, Friday to report a project for my CNJ 595 In-Depth Reporting for Convergent Media, which I took last semester.

Our subject was La'Keisha Harris, a law enforcement park ranger. Johnfrank took the pictures and I captured audio; we make a good team.

The class project will eventually result in audio slideshows and text stories about various National Park Service employees for the agency's diversity recruitment program Web site, the link to which I'll post when our piece for the site is posted. The site was designed by another class, CVJ 341, last semester.

Additional student groups will visit other parks during the course of this semester for the site.

Back in action...sorta

The newsroom was abuzz for the first time in more than a month.

Editors abound. Couches pulled out. Ideas overfloweth.

It was great to see everyone again after break for The Miami Hurricane's first staff meeting of the semester. Old faces and new faces, all ready to get back into action (please excuse the cliche).

Here are some of the topics we discussed:

• Copyediting all possible content before layout, which will begin with first issue
  
• Outlook for multimedia this semester and what role the multimedia editor and assistant multimedia editor will play
  
• Preview of Web site overhaul, which will be a collaborative, semester-long effort; Art Director/Visuals Editor Will Wooten, Webmaster Brian Schlansky and I will take the lead, working with other staffers and Chris Delboni's CNJ 442 class
• New Sunday meeting structure
• Outline of SG spring election coverage timeline
• What everyone's favorite color is
• Adjustments to process for editorials
• Emphasizing the importance of blogs and being connected
• Highlighting that we are not just a newspaper, but a news organization
  

Weigh in: What would you like to see from the paper this semester?

Ideas for working with spring sports reporting class

Incoming sports editor Matthew Bunch and I met today with Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman, who teaches a 500-level sports reporting class in the spring. Matt and I took the class last spring and tossed around ideas with Michelle about how we could integrate the coursework with the newspaper.

Michelle was very receptive and had great ideas. Here are some of the plans we discussed:

-UM sports blogs, live blogging during the games

-A multimedia project (video package or audio slideshow)

-Dedicated page on TheMiamiHurricane.com for each sport

Please feel free to discuss these ideas or add any of your own by hitting the comment button below.

Looking ahead...with meetings galore

It's been quite a busy week, and we only had one issue! Here's a quick look at what's been going on and what's coming up...

Wednesday: Last deadline day of the semester

Thursday: Last issue of the semester comes out; Web meeting with adviser, professors and select staffers

Friday: Staff lunch with the Ibis yearbook; design and content meeting with visual journalism professor and Ibis yearbook adviser Randy Stano

Saturday: Day off? Nope. Karyn, Matt, Will and I will be helping out at a Florida Society of Newspaper Editors event happening at the School of Communication.

Sunday: The staff say farewell to outgoing editors Stacey Arnold and Bari Lieberman, introduction of incoming editors and a discussion of deas for next semester

Tuesday: Incoming Sports Editor Matthew Bunch and I meet with Michelle Kaufman, an adjunct professor and Miami Herald sports writer who teaches CNJ 523 Sports Reporting in the spring.