Is a Planning for a Career in Journalism a Fever Dream That - If Realized - Would Turn into a Nightmare?

English: University of Montana Journalism logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This guy says yes. This guy and this guy say no.


An excerpt from Felix Salmon:

I’m sure that many people have told you this already, but take it from me as well: journalism is a dumb career move. If there’s something else you also love, something else you’re good at, something else which makes the world a better place — then maybe you should think about doing that instead. Even successful journalists rarely do much of the kind of high-minded stuff you probably aspire to. And enormous numbers of incredibly talented journalists find it almost impossible to make a decent living at this game.

An excerpt from Ezra Klein:

Don't go to journalism school. You're better off just interning, or writing a blog, or reading think-tank papers. When I hire, I see j-school experience as neutral — it doesn't separate one resume from another in the least. And a lot of journalism schools teach bad habits, and make you pay for the privilege of learning them. Michael Lewis's takedown of journalism schools, which was published in the New Republic, is worth reading. Letting someone pay you a bit of money to become a journalist, or even pay you nothing at all, is better than paying a j-school a lot of money to become a journalist.

An excerpt from Matthew Yglesias:

What about the issue Salmon raised? Is journalism a profession that denies people "a good chance at a well-paid middle-class lifestyle down the road?" A look at the numbers suggests that Salmon is wrong. Journalism today is very much a middle class occupation. And in many ways that's the problem — the middle class is struggling economically these days, and journalists are no exception.

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• Journalism school Dean: 1st Amendment ends at insulting Muhammad (redflagnews.com)
• Morgan State Journalism Dean Advocates Free Speech Dhimmitude For Mohammad (youviewed.com)
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Highway to Heaven2

Videolicious: An Instructional Video

A Simple Campus Video

Yeah, But Do You Get Any of the References

How Catholic is USF?

Here's an interactive graphic.

Canadian Newspaper 'Reimagines'

The April 7, 1934, Ottawa Citizen headline (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newspaper design do-overs? Not just an American thing anymore.
Postmedia Network Inc., Canada’s biggest English-language daily paper chain, recently launched several redesi—  umm, actually, Wayne Parrish, Postmedia’s chief operating officer, would prefer you call them “reimaginations” instead. “We’ve tried to stay away from the ‘redesign’ term,” he said. “We agreed early on that these are not redesigns. They’re much more fundamental.”
According to Parrish, the overhaul had been in the works for two and a half years. The new Ottawa Citizen was rolled out first in May, and the made-over Montreal Gazette and Calgary Herald arrived in the fall. More in the Postmedia empire will follow in 2015, including papers in the recently-acquired Sun Media chain.
To begin this massive task, Postmedia reached out to 17,000 people across Canada and asked how they preferred consuming news media. When those results were tabulated, the company set about crafting different personas for each of its four platforms—print, tablet, Web and smartphone.
“This allowed each newsroom to think about their audiences specifically by platform,” Parrish said. “Smartphone users are from ages 18 to 28. Tablet users are from 35 to 49, and so on. We came up with a whole bunch of psychographic studies for Web and print.”
As a result of this revamping, readers will see different stories depending on what device or medium they’re reading the news on—meaning that a story on, say, the Montreal Gazette, might only be viewable on a tablet.
“We tried to stop thinking about how some people aren’t going to get certain stories—there is access to all four platforms, so users have full access, they just have to be willing to access it on whatever device it’s available on,” said Parrish, who says this target-marketing of the news has jacked up digital use numbers at the Citizen by 30 percent. Engagement numbers are up as well.
There have been changes in the newsrooms as well. Smaller photos. Shorter stories. The launching of tablet-exclusive magazines that readers get emailed each night at 6 p.m., just in time for second-screen experiences during prime time TV viewing.
There’s also been a push toward getting journalists to consider what platform their story would be best presented on. “We wanted to get our reporters and content producers thinking, when they go cover an event, is this story best for a phone, a newspaper, or tablet?” Parrish said. “We also need to think about what technology is coming up. What if Apple Watch is the next platform? What will our story formats on the watch look like? We need to respond journalistically to new evolving platforms.”
It’s a huge break from Postmedia’s digital past, an era Parrish said was marked by slow download times and clunky site design. “We have to be willing to bob and weave very quickly. All we’ve done here is, we’ve got our ponies in the starting gate, but the race is just beginning, and the ponies will have to change week by week and month by month.”
- See more at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Newsletter/ASection/Maple-Leaf-Rag#sthash.qZmWoVD4.dpuf

Related articles

• As Postmedia Withers, Is a Newspaper-less Vancouver Imminent? (in Mediacheck)
• Postmedia trims loss amid falling print-ad revenues

A Smartphone Lead

English: The EMHS iPhone app screenshot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

from Chronicle of Higher Education

Resisting the urge to pull out your phone in class is quite difficult for many students, apparently. There are texts to answer, emails to read, snapchats to send, and rude comments to post on Yik Yak. But two students at California State University at Chico have created something they hope will persuade students to keep their phones tucked firmly in their pockets: An app that rewards them with coupons for local businesses when they exhibit self-control and leave their phones untouched during class.

Rob Richardson, a junior computer-science major, got the idea for the iPhone app, called Pocket Points, by looking around his classes and seeing what he considered to be far too many students with their heads down, paying attention to their phones rather than to the lesson taking place in front of them.

If you’re in class, it’s simple: “There should be no reason you should be on your phone,” Mr. Richardson argues. He says he realized there was a business opportunity that could also help students pay better attention.

Here’s how it works: Students acquire points—based on the length of time the phone is locked and how many people around them are also using the app—that can then be redeemed for discounts at local businesses. The app is location-based and works only on the campus. The app is being extended to other campuses as well, including a few community colleges and high schools.

Professors have been some of the app’s biggest supporters, Mr. Richardson says. Some have even expressed interest in offering rewards to their students, like extra credit or attendance points, through the app, though Mr. Richardson says such features are not currently being explored.

The app also has a leaderboard and rankings, elements incorporated to “gamify” it, says Mr. Richardson’s co-founder, Mitch Gardner, a senior business-marketing major. Some students appear to care more about those elements than the coupons.

Mr. Richardson coded the app last summer, while Mr. Gardner got local businesses on board.

Though the app is meant to help students focus on their studies, Mr. Gardner says, it was difficult to do so while they were setting up the app last semester.

“I don’t think our grades were very good,” Mr. Gardner admits with a laugh.

Both Mr. Richardson and Mr. Gardner have taken a leave of absence from Chico State this semester and are working full time in an office in Chico to further develop the software.

Right now, Pocket Points is focused on education, but its creators say it could one day move beyond that—because students aren’t the only ones addicted to their phones.

Related articles

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The Zombie Cat: Human Interest/Bizarre as News Value

I do a Google search using "zombie cat." So many hits.

Newspapers Die, Bad Things Happen

English: Front of local news sheet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Washington Post: Danny Hayes of George Washington University warns that “the impoverishment of local political news in recent years is driving down citizen engagement.”

“Previous work has shown that the recent deaths of newspapers in big cities — such as Cincinnati, Denver and Seattle — have coincided with lower levels of civic participation. With fewer outlets providing public affairs information, voters appear less politically active.”

Hayes’ analysis, “based on a large-scale study of local coverage and citizen behavior in every congressional district across the country, demonstrates that the fading of two-newspaper towns is not the only problem. When the content of local news deteriorates — as has happened nationwide in an era of newsroom austerity — so do citizen knowledge and participation.”

“To the extent that a knowledgeable and participatory citizenry is a marker of a healthy political system, the demise of local news should raise concerns about the operation of electoral democracy. An anemic news environment makes it more difficult for citizens to hold their local representatives accountable.”

Related articles

• The decline of local news is threatening citizen engagement
• Community Service Ideas

First Assignment Due Thursday, January 29

Topic: Should USF faculty forbid the use of smartphones in class?

Length: Your choice but I recommend that you*write tight*.

So Funny It Hurts

What's Wrong with This Audio Slideshow?

Here's what's wrong.

Chewing Up that Number Salad

Making Sense of Number Salad

Created these online here.

Jumping Jacks before the Sun is Up? Can I Say That?

Let's check it out.

Some Fire Leads

1.  The old saying, “don’t make the same mistake twice,” isn’t as easy as it sounds for Albert Lofton, even when the mistake in question is lighting his own house on fire.

            According to fireman Norman Young, 28, Mr. Lofton confessed that he was watching David Letterman in the middle of the night while smoking a cigarette and accidentally fell asleep, igniting the sofa while unconscious.

            No one was killed in the fire that raged in the Lofton family house at 1789 Napa Street in Castro Valley, but Lofton’s wife Barbra had to jump out of the bedroom window to escape the fire and consequently sprained her ankle. Mrs. Lofton said she had been awakened by shouts from outside and smelled smoke, thus evacuating the house just in time.  128 words

2. Make no mistake-it was an accident. The fire that cost Barbara and Albert $50,000 in damages to their Castro Valley home was almost like déjà vu. According to Young, officials have evidence on file that Albert, 53 caused a similar fire in the same home two years ago.

            Barbara, 26, lay asleep in bed in the hot weather, as Albert remained awake, downstairs watching television. Barbara stated that Albert informed her of his inability to sleep due to the hot weather.

            Later on that evening, Barbara awoke to what was more than just heat from the summer season; flames blocked her from fleeing to her husband’s side as a fire struck the home. In an attempt to escape, Barbara opened the window and jumped, consequently spraining her ankle. 128 words

3.     Albert and Barbara Lofton are faced with $50,000 in damages to their house in the Castro Valley after a second fire arose in their home. Albert Lofton was carried out of the building by firefighter Norman Young, 28 and resuscitated by Sidney Campion, 35 both from the Mt. Pleasant fire station.

 Barbara Lofton jumped from a second story window resulting in an ankle sprain after waking up to smoke and yells from onlookers.  According to the Young, Albert Lofton was apparently watching David Letterman and smoking a cigarette and fell asleep, causing the couch to erupt in flames and spread throughout the house.  The neighbors, Ralph and Winnie Gleason, said that they were able to help Mrs. Lofton and led her to their kitchen to help with her ankle as well as calling the fire department. 137 words

4.    Castro Valley - Yesterday, a man started a fire in his own house for the second time. “It was hot. I couldn’t sleep, so I went downstairs to watch TV, said Albert Lofton. I remember I was smoking a cigarette; I guess I fell asleep and it burnt the sofa on which I was stretched out. It happened before.”

His wife Barbara was sleeping in her bedroom when her neighbours’ shouts woke her up. “I smelled smoke, I knew something was going wrong, she said. I started downstairs in search of my husband, but I was driven back by heat and flames”. Mrs Lofton had to climb out the window, and jump on the ground. She sprained her ankle escaping the fire. 119 words

5.  Castro Valley- Man sets fire to his house for the second time

            Last week, Albert Lofton, 53, set fire to his house unintentionally with a lit cigarette.  According to his wife Barbara, 26, Albert had been unable to sleep and had gone downstairs to watch television.  She was later awakened by shouts coming outside.  Realizing that she was unable to exit through the downstairs due to flames, she jumped out the window of her bedroom and sprained her ankle.  The Lofton’s next-door neighbors, Ralph and Winnie Gleason, were quick to the seen, and having already called the fire department, helped Barbara into their kitchen.  The Mt. Pleasant fire station was quick to respond on scene. 103 words

6. East Bay residents Barbara and Albert Lofton narrowly escaped a fire which engulfed their Castro Valley home.  According to fire officials this was not the first fire they had put out at the Lofton's home.  Do they have bad wiring or just bad luck?  Neither, it seems.  The fire started after Mr. Lofton had decided to have a cigarette in the middle of the night, leaving his wife upstairs in bed.  Watching TV and smoking, Lofton subsequently fell asleep on the couch and his lit cigarette caused the couch to catch fire.  Mrs.

Lofton awoke to the smell of smoke and shouts from outside.  She attempted to reach her husband but was unable to make it down the stairs as the fire had grown.  Forced, Mrs. Lofton jumped out of the bedroom window and sprained her ankle.  Two firefighters, Norman Young and Sidney Campion, were able to reach an unconscious Mr. Lofton who was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and survived. 159 words

7. A fire damaged the Castro Valley home of Barbara and Albert Lofton for the second time in two years, resulting in $50,000 of damages to the house, in which it is believed by fire officials to have originated.  Barbara, 26, and Albert, 53, were going to sleep when Mr. Lofton decided to watch television on the sofa downstairs instead, where he fell asleep with a lit cigarette in his hands.  Barbara Lofton was awakened by shouts from outside and started downstairs before the flames stopped her.  86 words

8. Remember that retro public service announcements (PSA) made by a very animated “Smokey the Bear”?  “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” exclaimed a firm but friendly grizzly, aptly named Smokey.  The “Smoking Kills” PSA was commonly used as well.  The message, however, didn’t make it as far as Castro Valley, where Albert Lofton, 53, for the second time in two years, started a fire by falling asleep on a couch while smoking.  

The lit cigarette ignited his couch, starting a fire that caused an estimated $50,000 in damages.  His wife, Barbara Lofton, 26, was asleep upstairs, and was awakened by shouts from outside the house.  She then proceeded to escape from an open window. 

Local fire department officials reported that Mr. Lofton was found unconscious, and was revived by firefighter Sidney Campion.  Mrs. Lofton was treated and released from a nearby hospital.  Mr. Lofton is still under observation, but hospital officials have reported that he is in good condition. 159 words

A Classic Human Interest Story

Impact or consequence? No, though I suppose it's a variation on the Utopian dream of the lion lying down with the lamb. Might say it's a conflict story in that it's an *anti* conflict story.

Just very sweet with good visuals.

Comment Assignment if You Lack an Idea for Your Own Blog

Comment on one of  these ethical dilemmas

You are interviewing

·       *  The longest surviving heart transplant patient in the U.S. When talking about the disability pay he receives, he mentions he does a little bookkeeping on the side the income from which he does not report.

·        * A beloved radio weatherman who is about to retire and who mentions in passing he has a

Down’s Syndrome child and immediately says, “Don’t print that.”

·        * The family of a teenager who has just died after a long battle cancer whose mother says sorrowfully, “Noah died a virgin, and it made him so sad.”

·      *   A sex researcher who has done an extremely popular book on various sexual matters who says – when you jokingly ask her who should appear in the movie version – that it should be you.

·       *  A  family living at a restaurant/motel in the middle of the Nevada desert, the eight-year-old daughter of which tells you when her parents aren’t around that on weekends dad likes to get drunk and blow up the wrecked cars out in back of  their isolated business.

·       *  An interracial couple – she is Filipino and he is African-American – who are having a June wedding. At the wedding reception, his father tells you he is disappointed his son is marrying “outside the race.”

·       *  A rather famous movie star who has just written a rather New Ageish book in which she writes that whatever happens to people is their own fault. You consider asking her about the six million Jews lost in the Holocaust.

·        * A nun as part of a story about a neighborhood that is undergoing a rash of burglaries. One of the buildings in the neighborhood is a convent for nuns who work in the community as teachers and social workers. After talking about precautions any sensible homeowner should take, she pauses and then explains that she was raped some years ago and makes some suggestions about how women might avoid situations in which that might occur.

·      *   Construction workers on a downtown highrise who explain in some detail how they like to “party hearty,” with considerable detail about how much alcohol this requires many nights after work.

What do you do?

Reflecting

Re-writing my journalism assignment on a talk given by Dr. Joy Ladin, I found myself very intrigued by the intersection of gender, sexuality and religion. For my final paper I am going to be taking a very different approach to looking at the same intersection. Rather than transgender identity and Judaism I will be looking at youth college student identity and Catholic school, USF.

It is so cool how all of my classes seem to be overlapping this semester and I am really looking forward to the body of work that it is going to produce for me as a reflection on my last semester as a college student.

Here is the assignment I have written and submitted about Dr. Joy Ladin:

She’s the Man

 “My kids call me daddy”, Dr. Joy Ladin said, talking about her young children since she made the transition from man to woman in 2007. After feeling trapped in the wrong body for decades, Ladin changed everything. “I was a good man”, she said. Though, to her, that meant being a bad person. On October Second, Ladin, English Professor at Yeshiva University and author of seven books, spoke to USF students about her relationship with herself, her God, and the world, reading excerpts from her autobiography and creating a dialogue with the audience, as well.

Growing up as a Reformed Jew, Ladin said she was drawn to Orthodox Judaism and felt a special relationship with her version of God and the Jewish scriptures of the Torah. She is the first openly transgender person to be employed by an Orthodox Jewish institution. To many, her transgendered-ness and Judaism are mutually exclusive, yet Ladin read and continues to read the Torah, her way. While the Talmud, Torah and Judaism itself, alienated her, it also comforted her a great deal. She said that a lot of trans children feel a closeness to God because God has no physical body, so the sense of being created in the image of God really resonated with her. Also, she believes that since God made her, she is therefore accepted for who she is and especially who she is not.

            Ladin said: “after being a persona, I wanted to become a person”. She understands her transition in terms of learning and becoming fluent in a new language. That language is gender, the way people understand who they are in relationship to themselves and the world. She quoted the Talmud, saying: “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?” This helped her realize that she could never actually be in a state of being until she was for herself and truly became the woman she always knew herself to be.

The transition that she eventually made after marrying and fathering two children, was far from resolving the “problem” of finding a self-identity. “I had to remake myself in the eyes of others”, she said, explaining how difficult this can be. Gender is indeed, a performance with many parts. For instance, becoming the woman she always knew herself to be, meant changing the clothing that she wore everyday, shaving her facial hair and speaking with a different tone of voice.

When a student asked her if she had changed her genitals to fully become a woman. Ladin responded: “It’s important for me to not answer”. She acknowledged that it was a good question and a typical one, but not natural or fair. She explained that when she made her transition, she felt as though it was a trade for her right to having a private self.

            It has not exactly been easy for her family, either. Ladin’s nine year-old does not want ‘daddy’ to come to her school because she does not want to have to explain why daddy identifies and dresses like a woman, to her friends. Ladin does not regret or wish that she were born a woman in the first place. “If it had been any other way, they wouldn’t exist”, she said of her children.

Her autobiography, Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey between Genders, explains that if identity is a combination of being and becoming. While others spend a lot of time being and very little, becoming, she said she is “always going to be a process of becoming with a little bit of being mixed in”.