Hybrid course: A viable form of online learning for digital journalism majors

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Mu Lin

My experience teaching at West Virginia University tells me that hybrid course works well for digital journalism courses. I want to share with fellow instructors how we structure a dual-instructor hybrid course and our experience teaching it. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education | Leave a comment

A step-by-step guide to shooting iPhone video

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Mu Lin

RTÉ journalist Philip Bromwell shot a video on iPhone and compiled a cheat sheet with shot-by-shot shooting instructions. I will use the video and the shot list as required readings in mobile production courses, and want to recommend them to anyone who needs to teach or learn mobile journalism. Continue reading →

Posted in Mobile news reporting | 1 Comment

An interview with two audience engagement editors in Gannett’s “newsroom of the future”

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Mu Lin

Audience engagement editor is a new position being created amid Gannett’s nationwide newsroom restructuring. I talked to audience engagement editors at two Gannett newspapers to find out what engagement editors do, and what skills are needed to land this job in the new newsroom. Continue reading →

Posted in Industry observation | Leave a comment

2014 year in review: How I do SEO for my blog

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Mu Lin

Among other things, the routine SEO practice helps drive this blog’s traffic – about 180,000 page views and 120,000 visitors in 2014. SEO techniques deployed for this blog include (a) proper metadata writing and (b) keyword research and placement. Continue reading →

Posted in Writing for the web | Leave a comment

Mobile journalism examples and production tips: Q&A with RTÉ video journalist Philip Bromwell

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Mu Lin

Philip Bromwell is a news video journalist with RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster; for the past 12 months, he has taken on an extra responsibility to explore and encourage mobile journalism (mojo) in the newsroom. In an email interview, I asked Philip some questions about mobile video reporting: Continue reading →

Posted in Mobile news reporting | 4 Comments

Who has the best geocoding tool for heat map – Tableau, Mapbox or Google Fusion Tables?

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Mu Lin

Geocoding is a key step in creating interactive heat maps; Tableau has a geocoding tool that is more efficient than the geocoding functions of Mapbox and Fusion Tables. Continue reading →

Posted in Data journalism | Leave a comment

Drone videography: Basic and creative aerial filming techniques for drone video cameras

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Mu Lin

If you have a drone video camera but don’t know how to film professional-looking videos, watch these footage to get some ideas for basic and creative drone filming techniques. Continue reading →

Posted in Mobile news reporting | Leave a comment

Three guidelines for designing data dashboard in news reports

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Mu Lin

Data dashboard in a news report needs to (a) focus on a clear message, (b) use charts that best communicate the message and (c) include annotations to help audience understand the dashboard.

I developed these guidelines from my own experience and from some recent readings, especially the book Communicating Data with Tableau by Ben Jones. While news editors can try these guidelines in developing a dashboard, journalism instructors can also adapt them into a course assignment. Continue reading →

Posted in Data journalism | 2 Comments

Annotated Tableau Public tutorial video: A quick start guide for instructors and first-timers

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Mu Lin

This is a 5-minute video I created for the Intro to Data Visualization open course. Instructors and beginners of Tableau can use it as a quick start guide to create interactive data visualizations. Continue reading →

Posted in Data journalism | 2 Comments

A “multimedia map”: How to use Google Maps with embedded photos and videos

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Mu Lin

A Google map with embedded photos and videos becomes a “multimedia map” that provides for an interactive presentation tool for use in tourism, event planning, news reporting and other location-based presentations. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital tools and tips | Leave a comment

Training, more than equipment, is key to quality video production

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Mu Lin

A participant in my recent open online course, Audio Slideshow Storytelling, shows us that anyone, with proper training, can produce a good story using consumer-level equipment and free software. Continue reading →

Posted in Audio slideshow | Leave a comment

Reverse image search: A Google tool every web editor and researcher should use

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Mu Lin

By cropping a photo to its most salient part, we can use Google’s “search by image” feature to identify object in a photo that does not have accompanying texts, caption or metadata. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital tools and tips | Leave a comment

Build a niche content site into communication curriculum: My advice to chairs and directors

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Mu Lin

A full-fledged niche content site can train students in key areas of digital communication: content production and curation; community building; social media marketing; and campaigns and ecommerce. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education | 2 Comments

Content ideas for social media marketing: How to pinpoint specific topics using Google autocomplete and Keyword Planner

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Mu Lin

Social media managers and content marketers can use Google and third-party tools to pinpoint specific topics, not just broad keywords, that people are actually searching for. Continue reading →

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How to make an audio slideshow: My step-by-step advice to students

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Mu Lin

To create audio slideshow profile stories, one needs to know, among others, what questions to ask, what photos to take and what sound effects to use. Continue reading →

Posted in Audio slideshow | 2 Comments