Mobile news reporting requires more than smartphone and tools

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Mu Lin

Effective mobile news reporting requires some essential journalism training – knowing how to use cookware does not make you a good cook; similarly, knowing how to use the mobile tools does not necessarily make you a good mobile reporter. This is an observation from my experiment producing an audio photo slideshow entirely on my iPhone, without any use of a computer. Continue reading →

Posted in Mobile news reporting | 4 Comments

Highlights in Knight Foundation’s open letter on journalism education reform

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Mu Lin

Knight Foundation today issued an open letter to university presidents urging changes in journalism education. Here’s some statements and arguments in the letter which may be of interest to journalism educators:

In this new digital age, we believe the “teaching hospital” model offers great potential.  At its root, this model requires top professionals in residence at universities.

Schools that do not update their curriculum and upgrade their faculties to reflect the profoundly different digital age of communication will find it difficult to raise money from foundations interested in the future of news.

ACEJMC should develop accreditation standards that spotlight the importance of technology and innovation.

Journalism funders agree that academia must be leading instead of resisting the reform effort.

The journalism profession is undergoing tremendous changes – how should journalism education catch up?

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Website of Ohio’s largest newspaper, cleveland.com, replaces its “cluttered” homepage with a new, blog-style design

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Mu Lin

Have you been bored with the “sameness” of news sites’ homepage –  with primary sections in “permanently visible, self-enclosed modules,” plus dozens of links? cleveland.com said it’s time for a change and launched a re-designed homepage on July 31. Their new homepage may shed some light on the discussion of usability design of news sites.
Continue reading →

Posted in Industry observation | 3 Comments

Will NBC News’ blog-style articles lead to a shift in “package format” online reporting? A comparison of Denver shootings reports by major news sites

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Mu Lin

A comparison of Denver shootings reports by major U.S. news media websites shows that NBC News is trying to differentiate itself by initiating a new, blog-style article design, breaking the tradition of “package format” online reporting.

When examining the breaking news coverage of Denver shootings, I looked at the style and format of reports on the websites of CNN, FoxNews, NBC News, Washington Post, and USA Today. Except for NBC News, the other websites all present the ongoing story in a “package format” – within the main article, there is a cluster of thumbnails that link to relevant videos, photos, maps and other interactive features, as well as links to other articles and materials. Continue reading →

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In the wake of Denver shooting, is the media repeating how it covered the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Mu Lin

In the press coverage of Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, the three most persistent themes were guns, mental health, and background check. And online readers were taking cues from press coverage.

This is the finding of a research paper I did in 2007, analyzing the relationship between press coverage and online user comments. In the aftermath of the Denver shootings, it is interesting to observe whether and how the media repeat the way with which they covered the 2007 shootings. Continue reading →

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How to embed a “live” web page in WordPress blog posts

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Mu Lin

There are times you need to show a “live” web page in your post, not just a screenshot of that web page. With an embedded web page, readers can use the mouse to scroll up/down or left/right to explore the actual web page.

Here’s a simple solution. To do this, all you need to do is to tweak some simple codes: Continue reading →

Posted in Writing for the web | 99 Comments

Live blog: A new know-how for journalism students

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mu Lin

More and more news organizations are now embracing liveblogging and journalism students need to incorporate in their skill set this emerging format of live reporting.

What is Live Blog?

A live blog is a single blog post which is continuously updated by the blogger with a mixture of instant texts, tweets, photo, audio, video, or other social media contents. Continue reading →

Posted in Industry observation | 3 Comments

What is a digital or multimedia journalism program curriculum?

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Mu Lin

Digital or multimedia journalism programs tend to equally emphasize two basic skill sets in their curriculum: (a) news writing and reporting; (b) digital/multimedia journalism. They also require students to take courses in ethics, law, and introductory courses in journalism and media. However, television or broadcast is usually not part of the mandatory core and/or required-of-all courses.

This finding is based on an analysis of “fully integrated” digital/multimedia journalism programs at eight universities: Arizona State University, Auburn University, Denver University, Emerson College, University of Iowa, Kansas State University, University of Texas at Austin, and Washington State University.

These programs are included in the analysis because they are “fully integrated” with digital or multimedia journalism, and they all have a structured curriculum.
Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education | 4 Comments

How UK Sky News overhauls its site design amid “visual web” trend of 2012

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Mu Lin

How to characterize “web year 2012?” It is “visual” – the web is getting more visual and news sites such as Sky News is among the first to adapt to the visual trend with a new site design which gives a much greater focus on visual contents.

How the web is getting visual

The web’s explosive demand for visuals in 2012 can be seen in the popularity of image-sharing sites, data visualization, and infographics. Continue reading →

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Timeline tools for news reporting have room for improvements

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Mu Lin

In my search for timeline tools for use in a multimedia journalism class, I tested two solutions: (a) Dipity, a free online service; and (b) a Facebook-style timeline javascript template. I tried to create a timeline that plots the key events that led to the June 28 Supreme Court decision on “Obamacare,” and in doing so, both tools have their pros and cons. Continue reading →

Posted in Data journalism | 3 Comments