Some tips for teaching online video

Another day, another conference. Well that is a little of what it feels like while I am over in the States. Across this past weekend I went to another fabulous conference – Journalism Interactive – run by my host, the University of Maryland. Heaps of fabulous sessions, but one in particular that will be of interest to regular readers of this blog – the teach-a-thon. Essentially, a session where 12 journalism educators got 15 minutes each to give a practical tip on teaching some element of online journalism. You can find a full list of presentations here.

One that was of particular interest to me was Andrew Lih‘s presentation on shooting video. I’m lucky as students usually come to my online journalism class having already learnt video shooting and editing in television journalism. I, therefore, focus on ‘what makes a video work online’, compressing video and generally trying to break students of making formulaic TV packages complete with a piece to camera for web video. But I may incorporate the five- shot method Lih, discussed as a way to get students to produce some engaging video without focusing on getting their face on the screen.

Called the BBC 5-shot method and pioneered by Michael Rosenblum, the method involves instructing students to follow a formula in shooting so that the edit process is made simpler.

The Method goes like this:

• Closeup on hands
• Closeup on face
• Wide shot
• Over the shoulder
• Unusual/ side shot

These shots can then be followed by an interview that can be used for audio over the shots taken and spliced between. Why does this method work? It will provide a sequence that can always be cut together and gives students lots of b-roll or fill shots that are usable.  Lih was kind enough to share his handout which you can access as a pdf through  his slideshare account.

Teaching social media curation and verification to journalism students

When I first began teaching social media to students three years ago, I would start the lesson by asking ‘Who uses Facebook?’ Not surprisingly, even back then (three years is a lifetime in the land social media technology) 99.9% were active on Facebook. I would then ask ‘Who uses Twitter?’ And I would generally find only one or two tweeters. This year, however, the response was vastly different. More than half of the students had started a Twitter account. Yes, students did still need some instruction on how to use these platforms effectively as a working journalist, but it appears that there is room (read time – 12 week semesters are just so short) to get into some further detail.

An example of how Storify can be used for breaking news

I think there is no doubt that curating social media contributions and collaboration will be an increasing part of the day-to-day activities of a journalist. Hand-in-hand with this development is the need for journalists to have effective strategies for verifying this social media sourced information. I, of course, try to incorporate discussions of these issues, but I have discovered a tool that I think could make the teaching of these concepts far more interactive. Storify is a media narrative platform that allows users to create news narratives by combining information from Twitter, Facebook status updates, YouTube, Flickr and other sources. I first came across Storify at the Online New Association conference (you can read my  post about the conference) and I think it could be a great assignment for students to learn these important concepts.

As Kelly Fincham outlines in her fabulous post on how she uses Storify in the classroom, Storify is not about cut-and-paste journalim, but is a tool for the journalist curate content and add context.

In operation for only a year, Storify has already been used for  stories such as the  death of Osama bin Laden, resignations of Ellen Weiss and Rep. Anthony Weiner and the Casey Anthony’s verdict.

I definitely plan on investigating the use of Storify for my online journalism classes next year. I think setting an assignment where students choose an issue or event to present in Storified format will enable them to practice and understand the principles of:

• information selection from social media
• verification of information
• contextualisation of information in a fast moving medium

Interested in some further reading? Check out these blog posts for more Storify goodness:

Mark S. Luckie shares how newsrooms and journalists are using Storify.   Zombie Journalism offers journalists (and journalism students) 10 ways they can use the tool, and Poynter tells how Storify’s best uses turns news into conversations.

ONA 2011 conference – top takeaways

I am now one week into a three-month research visit to the US (I’m hoping I will have more time to blog now that I am not teaching). The University of Maryland has been kind enough to host me and I will be using my time here to research users of American participatory journalism sites.

Luckily for me, my visit co-incided with the annual Online News Association (ONA) conference. This annual conference brings together online news journalists, executives, academics and technical representatives and left me feel excited about the future of our industry. Below is an overview of some of the best sessions that I attended.

Entrepreneurial journalism

One of the key themes, for me, from the conference was the success  that start ups in the online journalism space were having. Find a round up of the session in tweets here and a great presentation on the process for getting a journalism start up off the ground.

Using social media wisely

As journalist’s we need to be on Facebook and Twitter – right? We are also finding ourselves solicting images, tips and sources from anonymous internet dwellers. So how do we verify this information? Here are some notes from an ONA presentation on just that – which interestingly highlighted the importance of traditional journalism work – even in this space. Who would have thought!

For some more detailed information on how to use Facebook (particularly the newest features just unveiled), check out Facebook’s Journalism Program Manager Vadim Lavrusik’s presentation. I’ll blog more on my thoughts on these changes soon.

Top techy trends

This was one of my favourite sessions – and not just because Amy offered freebies (bacon toothpaste anyone?). If you think about all of the possibilities that some of these great new advances in technology offer journalism you’ll see that our industry could have a very bright future indeed.

If you are looking for more recaps from the conference, the folks at Journalism.co.uk wrote this great blog post.

What gets you excited about online journalism?

It is the beginning of semester and so I try to fill my first few lectures with lots of inspiring examples of exceptional storytelling online. Here are some of my favourite stories that I have collected over the years.

• An interactive, that incorporates multimedia and showcases what you can do with a breaking news story:  The Guardian Middle East unrest
• The power of involving your audience before you even publish the story and how to present data heavy stories in an engaging manner: The Guardian MP expenses
• Another example of a data story that is presented in such a dynamic and engaging way: LA Times LA homicides
• An oldy, but a goody. How a broad issue can be covered using a multimedia package: Wall Street Journal The rise of rural India
•  The power and beauty of the audio slideshow to tell a story: NY Times: Platoon Ambush
• The use of a timeline to let a user navigate the complex background to a story:The Guardian Path to Arab protests

It’s interesting that the favourites I turn to again and again are all international. I do have a few Australian examples that I use, but none have really captured the imagination of just what is possible so well.

What about you? Do you have any favourite and inspiring online journalism examples?

A journalist’s guide to developing an online presence

At the recent Walkley’s Freelance Journalism conference I was asked to speak on developing an online presence as a freelance journalist. It was a fun session, in which La Trobe University’s Lawrie Zion and Anthill Magazine’s James Tuckerman also gave some very valuable and interesting advice. Here’s a recap of what I presented.

In order to understand the online world – and let’s be honest that’s where journalism is heading – you need to operate in it. Here are my top 6 tools (which are a combination of my personal favourites and those sourced through the Twittersphere) that will not only have you operate in the online world, but can actually help you with your day-to-day job.

1. Twitter: It is the social media tool of the moment and with good reason. It enables you to tap into a huge network of other journalists, potential editors, potential sources and your audience or at least they could be your audience. Twitter is a hugely important tool for finding stories and leads, but it is also invaluable in driving traffic to stories.
2. Google Reader: The internet can feel like a ‘white noise’ of information. For many making the first steps into operating in this space it can be overwhelming just how much there is. Google Reader is the answer. I like to think of it as my personal media monitoring service. Rather than visit the hundreds of different web sites and blogs that I like to read I can have them all delivered to one site. I can even set up a topic based subscription for particular stories or beats that I might be working.
3. Delicious – social bookmarking: Delicious works hand-in-hand with Google Reader for me. Rather than have a large list of browser favourites or bookmarks, I save stories or static websites to my delicious account. I can access these bookmarks from any computer, but more importantly, I can save them under relevant tags so I can easily search for them later. They are also presented in a format that makes it easy to share with others.
4. Flickr: The social image sharing service in absolutely invaluable. It has a great selection of creative commons licensed images that you can use to brighten up any story or blog post. It is also a great way to get high res images  to editors without clogging their inbox.
5. Linked In: I will admit it took me a while to fully realise the benefit of Linked In. Yes, it is an online CV, but I think its real value is keeping in contact with and up-to-date with all of those previous professional contacts. The sort of people that you wouldn’t call for a chat – you don’t have that type of relationship. Linked In lets you see if they have moved on (perhaps to a publication where you need a foot in the door?) and keep up to date with them professionally.
6. WordPress: I love WordPress – you can probably tell that, given my blog is hosted by it. It’s free and really easy and lets you create a blog and therefore an online presence in a few minutes – what’s not to love.

Ok, so there is one glaring omission from this list – Facebook. I have actually done that quite deliberately. Facebook has great potential for bringing users to content of news websites, but I think it is more limited for a freelance journalist. A Facebook network is determined by a mutual relationship (each must accept the other as part of the network) which means that you will continue to draw from a smaller and already engaged personal network. I think this limits its use for an individual. Given that there are only so many hours in the day – I would rank it beneath the others listed above in terms of usefulness.

News sites that ‘get’ participation part II

In response to my last blog post on sites showcasing great participation techniques I received a lot of suggestions on Twitter. I thought I would continue the list here – with those that were suggested.

Blottr – aggregator and site based on community contribtuions

What’s trending – a similar idea to The Stream on Al Jazeera, this is a program on CBS sourced from online conversations

Open Wire – a section of The Atantic dedicated to user contributions

OhmyNews – the ultimate ‘pro-am’ model. A team of professional editors working with stories submitted from users around the world.

Truthout – a non-profit news site that claims to balance mainstream media by “broadening and diversifying political discussion”.

Any others?

News sites that ‘get’ audience participation

One of the many reasons that I have been so slack with updating the blog is the nervous breakdown that is referred to as a PhD. My research is focusing on motivations for users of news sites. In particular, I am interested in different models of audience participation. As part of this research I am looking at case studies of particular sites in Australia and the US. What I thought I would share with you is some of the leading models of participatory journalism sites, I have uncovered so far:

Australia

- Mumbrella – a niche publication for the media, marketing and advertising sector, but (perhaps due to its blogging roots) has one of the most robust and read comment threads.

- New Matilda – Managed to raise $150,000 in donations from audience members to keep the site running.

-YouCommNews – based on the US based Spot.Us, this sites endeavours to get quality investigative journalism work funded by the general public.

Any others?

US and International

Huffington Post – A world-leading model in user contributions and comments.

tbd.com – Initially set up as a hub of community blogs and hyperlocal news updates – seems to be changing course now though.

ProPublica – Another philanthropic model where the general public can donate to get stories off the ground.

Young Turks - The world’s most watched online TV current affairs program. Huge level of user engagement.

EveryBlock – Started out as a crime stats online database, now a hub for hyperlocal news updates generated from users.

The Stream -Al Jazeera English program that claims to be ‘a social media community with its own daily television programme’. It sources topic and discussion points from social networking sites to ensure ‘unheard perspectives’ are given an airing.

I’d love to hear of any other sites you think are doing innovative things with audience participation.

Mojo and Asia Pacific journalists

I recently had the opportunity to do some training with fellows from the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre on mobile journalism. Many of the participating journalists, from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji and East Timor, face incredible constraints to their reporting including limited and very expensive access to internet and mobile phone coverage. But despite this, they were all enthused and positive about the impact these tools could have on their reporting in the future. A marked contrast to some Australian journalists I meet, who without facing any of these constraints, refuse to engage with the rapidly evolving field of online and mobile journalism – I might add.

Armed with the  iPhone 4, we shot video interviews and recorded audio interviews and podcasts. We used Qik, Audioboo and also made use of the great iPhone WordPress app. Qik is one of the most popular video mobile applications that enables you to take a video and upload it to the Qik website. It also has a live streaming option, that has endless possibilities for newsrooms. Audioboo is a similar, but for audio. It allows the recording of five minute audio clips, which can be quickly uploaded and embedded into news stories much like YouTube videos.

Take a look at some the fellows work:

Video interviews

Audioboos

Best iPad apps

Continuing in my thrall for the iPad, I thought I would outline what I have found to be the best iPad apps.

1. Kindle for Ipad: This is by far the best e-reader app available. It has the largest selection of books for Australian readers and is cheaper than iBooks. It has great highlighting and dictionary options.

2. Zinio: This is a great app that enables you to get magazine subscriptions on your iPad. The number of Australian magazines available on iPad is still minimal, but with Zinio I can subscribe to Frankie Magazine (which I adore!) and there are a number of great US subscriptions.

3. Tweetdeck: I use Tweetdeck on my desktop computer and the iPad app is just as great for managing your Twitter account.

4. Dropbox: A document cloud device. I save everything there anyway and now I can use it to easily access my documents on my iPad.

5. Office HD: This app is compatible with Dropbox, so I can view and Word or excel document saved in my Dropbox folder. I can edit those files using the app or create new excel or word files. Office HD doesn’t enable you to view, create or edit Powerpoint files though. I haven’t used my iPad yet for presentations so would love to hear some suggestions.

6. Evernote: This is a handy app to use for taking notes (I use it a lot during conferences). You can also take clips of a webpages or screenshots. Install on your phone and you can save pictures as well. The best things is you can then search via titles, tags or keywords. I used to be a compulsive post it note writer – I use this instead now.

7. ABC News: Our national broadcaster is leading the way in making its content relevant for the online and mobile medium. With this app I can personalise exactly what stories I want and can view text, audio and video. You can even stream ABC News 24.

8. Flipboard: Using this app I can create my own personalised newspaper. Select from feeds from traditional and online publications as well as your Twitter and Facebook news feeds, then Flipboard arranges the content so that you can navigate it like your own online news website.

9. The Guardian Eyewitness: I love photography and this app is a regularly updated showcase of The Guardian Newspaper’s most distinctive and unique photography.

10. WordPress: Yep that’s right an app so you can update your WordPress blog easily on the run.

What are you favourite apps?

Six months of an iPad

I really have been very slack with this blog this year. To be honest, it started to become a chore and then before I knew it months were going by without a post. But now that uni has finished, I am going to try to rectify that and start being a little more regular with my posting. This is a post that I have wanted to write for a while and now I am finally getting to it.

About six months ago I purchased an iPad. Nothing unusual in that, other than I had sworn I wouldn’t. I, like many others, was frustrated by its lack of usb port. I didn’t want to be signing up for another internet plan. That would mean I would have my mobile broadband plan for using my laptop on the go, my home internet, my iPhone data plan and then finally another plan for my iPad. It was too much and I just didn’t want a bar of it. Of course that meant I spent a lot of hours longingly watching those with them. I wanted one – it’s the geek’s fashion accessory of choice – I was feeling dated because I hadn’t embraced the trend.

Vodafone pocket Wifi Mifi Huawei E585

But then I was introduced to a solution (thanks @yaboo007): the wireless only iPad (no 3G) with a mifi. I purchased a mobile wifi device that runs on a normal sim and can be used with both my iPad and laptop (actually with up to five devices at the same time). It was $119 up front for a pre-paid account from Vodafone or $39 a month on a 24-month plan. I purchased the pre-paid with the idea that I will unlock it. Either through the cheap/free online unlocks or by paying Vodafone. I still have got to doing that – but for now I am happy with Vodafone.

It’s perfect. I have given up my other pre-paid mobile broadband account and I paid a little less for the iPad as it is a wifi only. It has four hours of battery life and the screen shows a fair bit of info on it, such as connection speed, number of people connected, battery level and also the amount of data you have used.

This isn’t the only mifi device available. There are other versions out there (and the good folks on Whirlpool have lots of great advice) but this was a relatively easy and painless way to access the technology.

Now I’m an iPad convert. I use it constantly. It’s a portable entertainment system when I’m commuting or travelling. I’ve got magazine subscriptions, videos and e-books on demand. I also use it to give presentations, check emails, update stories and work on the go. If anything I’m using my laptop less now. Using it less, but the iPad doesn’t replace a laptop. I wouldn’t want to write a 1000 word feature on there. But it is great for simple edits, taking notes, conferences and entertainment – and for that I wouldn’t be without it.