Markmedia

Journalists on the new journalism: Joanna Geary

In the second of my interviews with journalists on using digital tools I talk with Joanna Geary.
Joanna is head of digital product development for the Birmingham Post,the major business daily for the Birmingham region in the UK.
Joanna has been at the forefront in creating and nurturing the bloggers network around the paper and is involved in a number of digital developments aiming to help the paper become an active participant in and a vital tool for the varied professional communities in the area.

Joannas blog - JoannaGeary.com- is the site of some of the most interesting conversations available on the future for journalism in the UK regional press, and is a must-read for anyone interested in developing journalism for the digital age.

Journalists on the new journalism: Alison Gow

I have been lucky. Over the course of the past couple of years I have had the great fortune to meet a number of brilliant, deeply thoughtful, sharply intelligent, way too self-depreciating and very generous journalists working at the forefront of the changes in journalism. Many of them (though far from all)  were participants in the The Journalism Leaders Programme at the Department of Journalism of the University of Central Lancashire.

So, I thought, lets see what they have to say about the growth of social media, the new way of developing stories it offers and the challenges it poses. In a series of Skype conversations I am asking them. It is no coincidence that the first interviews are with journalists from the Trinity-Mirror group as they had the far-sightedness have a bespoke course for the next generation of industry leaders.

First out is Alison Gow. Alison is the Deputy Editor (digital) for the Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Daily Echo in the UK. Alison talks about why journalists should use social media tools, which tools she uses, how stories have been broken through social media and how they have played out across platforms. Alison also discusses whether or not to have separate feeds for news and conversation and separate Twitter accounts for professional and personal use. And much more.

Alison writes the Headlines and Deadlines blog which is required reading for anyone interested in digital development of the UK regional press.
The sound is a bit scrappy but gets better.

There several video components to the interviews which will be published here (as  I edit them  :-) )

Alison on the basic tools journalists need:

Conversation with Mark Thomas, editor of the Liverpool Daily Post

A couple of week ago I had the opportunity to talk to Mark Thomas, editor of the Liverpool Daily Post (LDP). The LDP has been one of the first UK newspapers to open the editorial conference to the (online) public, has pioneered liveblogging and has used Twitter as a reporting tool.

Alison Gow, deputy editor at the LEP, has a number of blog posts covering the issues and has put together an excellent presentation of the liveblogging (using coverit live) experience [included at the end of this post].

Download [69 meg]

In our conversation we touched on the following points:

• Why use these tools at all?
• Was it a risk to expose the inner workings of a news room to the public?
• How engaging with the readership gave new ideas and allowed for testing of campaign ideas
• What were the negative aspects of opening up in this way?
• Is it technically difficult?
• Is it expensive?
• Policy issues: Twittering for the brand/Twittering for yourself
• What does Mark see as the future for the newspaper industry

Some snippets:
An unexpected bonus was the degree of excitement and engagement liveblogging created amongst the journalists. Even initially sceptical people got sucked in and enthused.

On cost: It was ludicrously cheap to do - otherwise we couldn't have done it.
To any other editor contemplating doing this - the good news is that you will not have to go to your MD to get the go-ahead.

On policy: We should have a social media policy in place so that reporters are aware of the fact that the can be seen as representing the brand even if (for example) twittering privately. Possibly need to have separate accounts.

On the future: Perhaps the future is that newspapers will only be paper products at the weekends. Though there is still a lot of legs in newspapers at the moment

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Rant on

As someone who loves to rant, vent spleen, disgorge well crafted (hahahah) complaints and just generally be a foul mouthed type, I love the idea of Dial-a-Rant.
The system is simple. You ring (0044) (0121) 288 9321 or skype dial.a.rant. You vent. You verify your rant. It gets published.

Great service, great idea. Give it a go.

Ricky Gervais is back podcasting

Ricky Gervais, is back on Guardian Unlimited and it is free.
Only three specials planed: Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas.

SkypeCast with Chris Anderson of Wired

A  SkypeCast with Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired Magazine, and author of the best-selling book, The Long Tail is available and worth a listen.

feed your head

There is a vast wealth of academic and intellectually stimulating lectures out there.
Bring them to your ears through pod casts.
From Stanford University comes Sanford on iTunes which provides access to a wide range of Stanford-related digital audio content via iTunes Music Store. Amongst the available lectures, talks and reviews are:

• Is Global Warming Real? Climate Change and Our Energy Future by  Robert Dunbar 
• Postmodern Imperialism by David Laitin and James Fearon
• Freedom of Speech by Geoffrey Stone

Go on, use your ears and feed your head.

National public radio

If you are interested in getting NPR podcasts (they have everything from books to Technology), there is a feed dump available which give a great overview of content.

varför jag lärde mig att sy [podcast]

Om varför jag lärde mig sy som fjortonåring i Dublin på 60-talet.
Crombie överrock Suedehad [inget med Morrissey at göra :) ]
Lämplig backgrundsmusik på 1 2

Download sy.mp3 (2.39min)

Who invented the Internet?

Al Gore? Nix.
Det var Lyndon B. Johnson!
Läs följande från November 7, 1967:

I think we must consider new ways to build a great network for knowledge - not just a broadcast system - but one that employs every means of sending and of storing information that the individual can use.

The country doctor getting help from a distant laboratory or a teaching hospital; a scholar in Atlanta might draw instantly on a library in New York; a famous teacher could reach with ideas and inspiration into some far-off classroom, so that no child need be neglected. Eventually, I think this electronic knowledge bank could be as valuable as the Federal Reserve Bank, and such a system could involve other nations. It could involve them in a partnership to share knowledge and to thus enrich all mankind. A wild and visionary idea? Not at all. Yesterday's strangest dreams are today's headlines, and change is getting swifter every moment.

 

Tror ni mig inte ka ni lyssna själva:
Download ilbj.mp3 [1,4m]

[från On the Media 050624]