Writing for the web is different: Print-style article needs re-focusing, rewriting and/or re-formatting

Web writing requires a straight “inverted pyramid” style – the first paragraph needs to provide the key information for the readers to quickly get the gist of the article, and to decide whether he or she wants to read on. Continue reading

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A conversation with media professionals on multimedia journalism education

I want to share the conversations I had with two media professionals about my post, “What is a multimedia journalism course?” I shared this post on LinkedIn in the Online News Association group, and had an interesting and thought-provoking conversation with two professionals in the group. Below is a copy-and-paste of that thread. Continue reading

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Multimedia journalism education in U.S.: What is a multimedia journalism course?

Unlike courses in a conventional journalism concentration where course titles are more or less standardized, multimedia journalism courses come in a variety of titles – so diversified that one may have difficulty ascertaining the nature of the course just by looking at the course title. This is an observation of about 40 BA/BS programs on the popular map of multimedia journalism degree programs. Continue reading

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A sample interactive audio story and some thoughts on journalism curriculum

I came across an interactive audio story by New York Times titled “The New Generation of Pizzerias.” Whenever I see something of interest, such as this one, I always try to figure out how my students can create something similar.

For a student interactive audio assignment similar to this one, students need to take photos, record audio clips, write captions, edit photos, and create a flash (interactive) interface.

In our department, we have cameras and digital recorders,  and students have been trained in video production and graphic production, so photos and audio will not be a challenge. What may pose as an obstacle, though, is the flash interface. Without having to learn the intimidating Flash animation, students can make use of the free Wix online tool to create something similar to this sample project. One feature Wix cannot replicate is where in the pop-up window, a visitor can click to playback the audio clip, and click to view a photo slideshow in the same window.

An interesting point of discussion for journalism educators, though, is what courses a student needs to take so as to produce a seemingly simple project like this one.

In a conventional curriculum, a student needs to take separate courses in video production and graphic production (for photo editing). However, digital audio recording and editing is not commonly taught in a regular “production” course; not to mention that “intimidating” flash interface – Flash animation is not typical of a journalism curriculum.

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Two case studies of breaking news coverage using Facebook page

There have been many articles and posts about how news media use Facebook and Twitter to engage audiences in their daily news reporting. I came across an example of how a television station, WTKR, used its Facebook page to solicit photos from fans about a plane crash in Virginia Beach, Va., on April 9. Continue reading

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Multimedia journalism education in U.S.: What (indeed) is a multimedia journalism program?

This post summarizes my observations of the “fully integrated” multimedia journalism  programs on my popular map of “multimedia journalism degree programs in U.S. and Canada.” Continue reading

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Multimedia journalism education in U.S.: Examining journalism programs in New Jersey

With the category of multimedia journalism programs in mind, I looked at  communication/journalism programs at eight universities and colleges in New Jersey, trying to find how multimedia or multiplatoform journalism is being integrated into college curriculum.

The four categories are: fully integrated, partly integrated, silo, and electives only. Continue reading

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Multimedia journalism education in U.S.: The accelerating trend

An increasing number of U.S. journalism schools and programs are revamping their curriculum in reaction to changes in the industry. I see this trend while compiling the list of multimedia journalism degree programs in U.S. and Canada.

Here’s a list of some new or revamped journalism programs to be launched in fall 2012:

  • University of Kansas journalism school is implementing a new curriculum; among other changes, “Visual Storytelling” is now a required course – it has been an elective in the past.
  • Washing State University will converge the former Broadcasting, Broadcasting Production and Journalism sequences into a new, unified Journalism & Media Production sequence.
  • University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism will launch a new curriculum; they are “eliminating the old walls between print, magazine, photojournalism, multimedia and broadcast.”
  • University of South Florida will offer a master’s program in Digital Journalism & Design.
  • University of Florida College of Journalism will offer a Professional Master of Arts in Mass Communication – Multimedia Journalism program.
  • University of Oregon will offer a master’s program in Multimedia Journalism.

In fall 2011, the Emerson College journalism department merged the previous print journalism and broadcast journalism to form a new journalism major, with a new curriculum. Also in fall 2011, the journalism program at University of Florida revamped its curriculum to better incorporate courses in new media.

I will continue to write a series of posts analyzing the curriculum of the journalism programs on the list – how they revamp the curriculum, what they offer, how they teach it, the emerging pattern in the “new” journalism curriculum, as well as the master’s programs.

Related posts:

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Multimedia reporters can now create a Flash project without knowledge of animation and web design

Two website creation tools provide a solution to create flash-like, interactive webpages to present multimedia journalism stories. I compared these tools for their pros and cons in presenting a multimedia story which includes typical contents such as text, video, audio, slideshow, and Google map.

And I did it without having to know anything about web design and flash animation – this is a great solution to multimedia journalists who need a quick and easy way to deliver contents on the web.

What is an online webpage editor?

Wix and IM Creator are two “drag-and-drop” online editors that do a similar job: insert contents to web pages (blank or with template), assemble them into a mini website, then publish and share it online – free of charge. And you don’t need to download any program or software to run on your computer – everything is done online.

This is how IM Creator explains their product:

IM-Creator is a new way to create your website: choose a design, insert your content and publish it to the world – all in one simple, clear and seamless process. We initially built IM-Creator as a solution for our friends & family- they were in need of a website but the process frustrated them. It was just too complicated, expensive and confusing- they spent time & money but many of them gave up even before completing the process.

Test use of the two editors: A multimedia story about Tent City

Tent City is a makeshift settlement for homeless people in Lakewood, New Jersey. Over the past few years, this small village has attracted national media attention, as it demonstrates what the economy is doing to the people.

I pulled together some contents about Tent City: a feature article, a video, some photos for a slideshow, and audio interviews of the founder and residents; I also created an interactive Google map showing the location of Tent City.

These contents are put together to produce two multimedia online stories – two versions of the same story, using Wix and IM Creator, respectively. Click the screen shots below to access the two stories: the first one is done with Wix, the second one IM Creator.

Comparing pros and cons of Wix and IM Creator

Both did a good and quick job to create a multimedia project. Here’s some observations of some pros and cons of each editor – for purpose of multimedia story presentation:

Wix Pros: Wix has options to customize almost everything – buttons, links, pictures, text styles, etc. For instance, it has a collection of flash-like navigation buttons and each can be further customized. Wix also allows you to upload audio clips, embed the uploaded audio clips with playback controls which also come with different styles and options.

Wix Cons: The biggest con of Wix is the limited function of Google map – you cannot embed a self-made interactive Google map to the web page. You can only create a simple map using the included template, which is very limited in its function. This seems to be understandable in that this tool was not created with multimedia journalists in mind.

IM Creator Pros: The single biggest pro, for multimedia journalists, is the ability to embed interactive Google map. You may want to check out the map I created showing the location of Tent City in the second version created with IM Creator.

IM Creator Cons: It has some major cons. One such con is that you cannot upload audio clips directly to an IM Creator project. You have to make use of a third-party website called SoundCloud: create an account there, upload your audio, get a link for that audio, then go back to the IM Creator project.

And IM Creator is limited in customization options: there’s not much you can do to customize the look of elements; and I had a difficult time trying to customize the look of the audio playback controls on the page: they come with the default playback control from SoundCould which does not look nice for our purposes.

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Tips on making a good audio photo slideshow: Visual variety, nat sound, noise-free narration

I want to use an NPPA multimedia contest winning audio photo slideshow, Sister Judy, to discuss three tips for producing a good slideshow: visual variety, nat sound, and noise-free recording. Continue reading

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