Online and citizen journalism have been around for ages - you know, at least four years, which is at least a century in internet years, but it appears that a school superintendent in Minneapolis didn’t get that memo.

Students from the Fairbault, Minnesota High have taken their newspaper online in response to the demand they shut their paper down from the superindetendent when he wanted to review an article about a teacher in advance.

While there are many touting the fact that this is a win for citizen journalists and lamenting the fact that there are still need for online journalists to prove themselves, the truth is, just because the school went and did something that the rest of us have been doing for ages - going online to reach audiences we wouldn’t have otherwise - isn’t particularly earth shattering news.

Yes, I know that I’m perpetuating this "news" by writing about it, but this is kind of a thorn in my side. There are only so many qualities that make something newsworthy.  Yes, it’s news in Minnesota. That’s a localization thing - it’s more important to the people in Fairbault than it is to, clearly, me in Vancouver.

When I first started reading the article on MediaPost, I was intrigued enough to try and find the story, but then when I realized that the extent of the story was the newspaper went online because of possible censorship, well…. I just got annoyed. And then I gave it more webspace. (sigh)

So, what do you think - is it news that students are embracing citizen journalism and moving online, or should they - the so called Net Natives - already be there?

Tags: net natives, cicitzen journalism, newsworthy, censorship

On the heels of the last article about citizen journalists, I slightly ironically follow with something for professional journalists only.

This, along with that edit that I added to the previous article, is all going to go support a post I’m working on about how mainstream media can enter the social media sphere with few casualties. Soon, I promise. It’s still percolating.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the info about the professional journalism fellowships:

Multimedia Reporting and Convergence Workshop

January 11-16, 2009 and March 22-27, 2009

The Knight Digital Media Center at the University of California, Berkeley is now accepting applications for week-long training sessions for mid-career journalists wishing to advance their multimedia skills. The workshops combine instruction in multimedia storytelling and hands-on multimedia news production.

There are a total of 40 fellowship positions available (20 per workshop) for the sessions being offered in January and March 2008. Applicants may apply to one or both workshops. Because we receive far more applications than we can accommodate, applicants are encouraged to apply for multiple workshops to increase their chances of being accepted into one of them.

Completed applications for both workshops must be received by November 14, 2008.

The Multimedia Reporting and Convergence Workshop offers intensive, short course multimedia training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production; from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.

Participants are taught skills they need to produce quality multimedia stories including:

* Video recording and editing
* Photography and audio slideshows
* Audio recording and editing
* Voice coaching for narration or stand-ups
* Photoshop and Web design concepts
* Producing Adobe Flash Web site packages

Software currently included in the curriculum includes Adobe Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, SoundTrack Pro and SoundSlides Pro. All work will be done on Apple iMac computers.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Professional print and broadcast journalists who want to develop multimedia skills to support their publication’s Internet publishing effort.

COST: The fellowship covers all lodging, meals and instruction costs. Cost of travel to the workshop must be paid by the applicant’s news organization. *

HOW TO APPLY: An online application form and instructions are available here.  Applicants need to register with the site to begin an application (valid e-mail address required). Applications can be saved and completed in several sessions.

If you have any questions, please see our Frequently Asked Questions at  or contact Alisha Diego Klatt, program specialist, at kdmcinfo@journalism.berkeley.edu or (510) 642-3892.

*Organizational investment commitment required as a part of the application.

(thank you to the Center for Citizen Media Blog for the heads up)

I admit, I spent a lot of time looking at this article in disbelief, and then going back and reading bits again, but no, it’s true. One of the USA’s most prestigious journalism schools seems to be rather anti-new media.

I first learned about Alana Taylor’s PBS article on MediaShift through Mashable where she is a part-time contributor.  Alana posted a commentary on the lack of New Media savvy among her fellow students and the professor at NYU in a class called “Reporting Gen Y.”

Now, Alana is a “Gen Y” or “Quarterlifer”. A “digital native” or close to it. Call her what you will, the girl is deep in the social media scene and expected, rightly so, that her peers would be as well. It blew my mind that not only was Alana the only one to maintain a personal blog in her class, she was the only one to  have a “well, yeah” moment when her prof explained that some people get (shh, it’s a secret!) paid to blog. (A collective gasp rises from the crowd!) Alana says, “They should be fully aware at this point that blogging has become a very serious form of journalism.” And yet, it doesn’t appear that these people do get it.

One of the other stand-out points of Alana’s article was the fact that she is required to bring an actual newspaper in to class. Like, a real printed one. I can’t remember the last time I actually read anything beyond the front page of a newspaper with any intention (rather than just sitting in a waiting room).

“…we have to remember to bring in the hard copy of the New York Times every week. I take a deep sigh. Every single journalism class at NYU has required me to bring the bulky newspaper. I don’t understand why they don’t let us access the online version, get our current events news from other outlets, or even use our NYTimes app on the iPhone. Bringing the New York Times pains me because I refuse to believe that it’s the only source for credible news or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism and it’s a big waste of trees.”

Amen, Alana, amen.

A recent article on the BBC about Blog World Expo got me thinking. They talk about the fact that there’s an overall desire to share in the new media world, and the fact that companies are more open to discussing their own ups and downs, failures and successes as they go through life than they were in the past. (image source: Dawn Endico)

The BBC reporter says:

How well these techniques would translate to the larger sites of traditional media companies remains to be seen, but there are a number of profitable new media companies, such as b5media, that not only show that it can be done, but are actively sharing how they have achieved their success and are more than happy to help others to do the same.

This culture of sharing that runs through the blogging scene is one reason that this new medium is such a breath of fresh air to many.  [source]

Is this openness just a facet of the new media/”web 2.0″ world (and have we found a good phrase for all this social networking stuff yet? i hate both those terms) or is it a new form of culture that we’re creating here?

Personally, I lean towards the fact that it’s likely a new kind of culture that we’re creating here. Things that used to be “trade secrets” are now open. Companies are allowed expected to make mistakes in the business world, and the fact that they admit to them and share the lessons learned is even more important.

Is your company part of the new culture or part of the most recent version of the “Old Boy’s Club”?

Yeah, you read that right. A professor from Bemidji State University wrote something about a local journalist. That journalist felt that the article was defamatory, and so in a stunning display of logic, that journalist decided to take Google to court. For $50 billion dollars.

Not surprisingly, the judge told said journalist to get the hell out of the court and stop wasting his time. 

If you’re interested in the detailed legal information and maneuverings, Eric Goldman has the details.  (image: iStock Photo)

What is Media?

The world medium is almost gone. Whether singular or plural, it’s almost always media these days. In a sense, everything is media. Media is the environment we live in.

The definition of the word changes as the world around us changes. The medium is both the message and the medium itself.

Advertisers are no longer competing for your attention. they claim to be, but they’re not. They’re competing to rescue you from your inattention.

(Sidenote: Eric McLuhan doesn’t have a computer! He doesn’t believe in getting too close to them - he thinks you lose your ability to study them)

Every new medium reconstrues the audience. This provides them with a totally new way to imagine things.

The global village is another term that gets bandied about too often. The global village is a very uncomfortable place. Like any small village, there’s no privacy, everyone is interested in everything that everyone else is doing is not and there’s no way to retreat. Just because the people are scattered around the world doesn’t mean anything.

Since television, the global village has been replaced by something called the global theatre. It truly has turned the world into a stage, and means that people are no longer looking for a job they’re now looking for a role. We’re always being observed, and that means that the idea of private identity is now useless and is an encumbrance.

Because of things like Facebook and other social networks, you’ve expanded your network and an extension of your “stage”. Your social network is your audience and gives you your identity, your sense of belonging, and wholeness. The global theatre never ends - you’re always on. The curtain never goes down.

No matter where you are on the internet, you’re everywhere. Your body may be in one place, but YOU are everywhere at once. There and fully functional as a intelligent, sentient being. The only thing you can’t do are physical, tangible things. Most people don’t realize that this is happening - it’s unconscious, and that’s “where all the action is” says Dr. McLuhan.

We’ve moved out of the physical world and into the metaphysical world. You are no longer constrained by your body and through the net, you can do anything, be anyone, go anywhere. It’s almost totally beyond your control because that’s the nature of participation and interaction.

Media is only definable by metaphysical terms. Electronically, there’s no movement of the message… the message is with you everywhere.

The global village is full of gossip - if it arrives to you as it occurs, then it’s gossip, or you’re participating in it, in which case you’re a player in the global theatre. It puts you either directly beside or in what’s happening around the world in seconds. There is no separation between action and reaction anymore.

Where does it all go from here? what is the next evolution of media?

they no longer asked what happened on the news. they now ask how did that feel? the objective data is very small. They’re relying on the feeling, the interaction, the perception and the experience. The thrust of the report has gone from the data and to the feeling. The experience, the effect and the interaction. That doesn’t engage people anymore.

This has been a very academic and deep subject, however, it’s been very interesting. This is very much something I think I need to mull over some more… as with the Chris Anderson event, images will come later tonight.

Final note: copyright is over. It’s gone. It started to disappear with the advent of xerox. Once you start publishing anything on the internet, anyone can use it, and copyright is now meaningless.

Mark Deuze a professor at Indiana University and author of the book Media Work spent most of the day Tuesday on campus here at the UB. I attended a guest lecture that Deuze spoke at for Trebor Scholz’s class about the social web. During his guest lecture Deuze talked about the harsh realities of working in the media industry focusing on the lack of long term jobs, the instability of the industry, and the fact that most media professionals over the age of 35 were looking to get out.

Here are some of my favorite notes I took down during his lecture:

- Networking is more important than anything else in media, because of the setup of temporary nature of the jobs your relationships are extremely important.

-A quote from his presentation that he obtained during an interview about the rise of user generated content and the view media corporations take on it,  “User-created content can double inventory volume at a production cost of one to three percent the cost of staff produced newspaper content. “

- On the outlook of one video production company,”… we could make a great game or make a mod kit.” Instead of dumping more money into development they can use the community to create a better product.

And two interesting stats:

-American movies produced outside the US surpassed movies produced in the US in 2003.

-Largest job drop in traditional media ever last year, 88.4% of people lost jobs.  (that is using measurable traditional media numbers) This was the highest percentage drop out of any industry in the United States.

My classmate Kevin Lim recorded some of our discussion from our graduate reading group with Mark Deuze which is very eye opening and interesting for anyone that works in or wants to work in the media industry. You can check it out at his website and the video at theory.isthereason.com.