Online Journalism 2006

Advanced Research Methods session on blogging

If you came along to the Advanced Research Methods session I did on weblogs and found your way here, welcome and thanks for stopping by. This is the (now dormant) blog I run for the Online Journalism unit I teach, as part of the Journalism BA at Farnham. Feel free to have a nose round.

I'm writing this post a day before the actual session, so I'm not quite sure what we'll get round to covering and what I should include here. I'm hoping to demo how to set up a blog. If I don't get round to it - it's pretty easy to set up your own blog on Blogger

We use this service (which is owned by Google) on the Online Journalism unit, mainly because it’s free. I wrote a basic guide to setting up a blog on Blogger a while ago. Have a look, though the basic set up information on Blogger itself is clear and easy to follow. (By the way, if you're using a PC and not a Mac, you can ignore the info about not using Internet Explorer).

If you want to do more, I’ve posted information on sorting out your blog settings, adding hyperlinks to your blog posts and the different things you can do with a blog.

In the session I'm planning to talk about several academic/researchers who use blogs - I think I'll get round to talking about:

Jill Walker
Anne Galloway
Esther MacCallum-Stewart
Steve Shaviro

I might mention a few interesting spaces - Will Davies is a researcher who works for big name thinktanks but is also doing a PhD - he blogs about it at Potlatch. He's part of an interdisciplinary research group organised by Richard Sennett at the LSE and NYU - it's called Nylon - they use a blog to share ideas  and coordinate activities. It's a good example of how you can use blogs to collaborate.

An increasing number of writers/researchers use blogs as they write books  they float ideas, put out sections for comment, generate buzz. Chris Anderson was one of the first, for his book, The Long Tail. The tech policy wonk Charles Ledbetter has a blog based around his Demos pamphlet, The Pro-Am Revolution - he's also released an online version of his next book We-Think, a year before the print publication. Neal Lawson, a Brownite political pundit, has a blog about his forthcoming book, All-Consuming.  It's about why shopping doesn't make us happy is seems heavily influenced by Zygmunt Bauman.

There is a blog for UCCA postgrads - Sarah Boak plans to use it keep you informed about events/developments/services. Some UCCA phds have experimented with blogs -  have a look at Toby Dyter's site to see what can be done on Blogger - Toby's coming along to the session to talk about his blog.

Incidentally, you can use a blog for anything - you don't have to just document your progress and share your ideas - you can just sound off about anything - like Bitch Ph. D. - of course, the person behind this blog has chosen to remain anonymous...

Some links for the October 6th session on blogging and journalism

Welcome to Fashion Journalism students who've come by prior to the blogging sessions on Friday. This is the (now dormant) blog I run for the Online Journalism unit I teach, as part of the Journalism BA at Farnham. Feel free to have a nose round.

     The sessions on Friday are going to be about blogging and journalism. I think it will help if you explore all this in a more hands-on way before we meet. First, I’d like you to have a go at setting up a blog. Perhaps you already have one – if you do, let me know (leave the url in the comments field) and I’ll have a look.

      If you don’t blog already, it’s worth thinking about starting. Blogs are a great way of showcasing your writing/ideas, a great way to build links with other writers/creatives in your chosen field.

      It’s pretty easy to set up a blog on Blogger – we use this service (which is owned by Google) on the Online Journalism unit, mainly because it’s free. I wrote a basic guide to setting up a blog on Blogger a while ago. Have a look, though the basic set up information on Blogger itself is clear and easy to follow. (By the way, if you're using a PC and not a Mac, you can ignore the info about not using Internet Explorer).

      If you want to do more, I’ve posted information on sorting out your blog settings, adding hyperlinks to your blog posts and the different things you can do with a blog.

    Second thing – I’d like you to look at some fashion-themed blogs – try:

• I Am Fashion
• Fashionologie
• I Am Pretty NYC
• Go Fug Yourself
• 21F
• Shoewawa
• Catwalk Queen
• English Cut
• Cool Hunting

     There are lots of others out there – try some of the links you find on these blogs. If you’re interested in getting some more background before the session, you could have a listen to Radio 4’s Meet The Bloggers series, which is all available online – Programme 3 features an interview with the women behind Go Fug Yourself - the whole interview is also available online.

      You could also have a look at some recent journalistic pieces about blogging – Got To See A Woman About A Blog is about confessional blogging, Eat My Blog is about food blogs and New Kids on the Blog is about Gawker Media, one of the first commercial blog media companies.

      If you’re wondering why you should bother with blogging – in particular, whether you might ever make a living from it, have a look at Blogs to Riches, a piece from New York Magazine about the bloggers who are managing to make a living from writing and posting online.

Some details re your assessment portfolios

Just a few clarifications re the assessment portfolio - we'll get everyone's site burned off on to a CD on Friday. I'll hang on to that and give it to the other markers to look at.

In terms of your blogs, I'll sort out a final version of the links on this blog, and will change any names as required - the external examiners/alternative markers can then use this page to get to your blogs. If you want to carry on blogging after the assessment date, you can, but the examiners will be limited to looking at what you've done by May 5th.

You'll need to hand in something to the office too. I think the best thing is to print out a version of your feature, as it looks on your web site. Also, submit a print out of the basic text of your feature in the portfolio.

You also need to submit a list of the search engines you would submit/register your site with - this is a bit of a hangover from previous versions of this unit, which I didn't teach. I haven't been able to remove it from the handbook/assessment requirements.

Don't sweat too much over it. Just say that to market your site, you would submit it to certain search engines - then come up with a short list of some of the big well-known ones. If anyone's confused, we can sort it out on Friday.

Tutorial times

Because I'm not in on Friday - see below - I've organised some tutorials for Wednesday, as talked about last time we met, before the Easter holidays. This will be a chance to go over your features and talk about your blogs and sites. All tutorials will be in my room.

Andy and Karen - because you're in in the morning doing Radio Features with Amanda, I'll try to find some time then to talk to you both. I have interviews scheduled, but usually there are a few people who cancel or re-schedule. If everyone comes, we'll talk at 12.30.

Everyone else - here's the basic schedule:

2.00: Elliott

2.15: Al

2.30: Lindsay

2.45: Sarah

3.00: Rachel

3.15: Jenny

3.30: Leanne

3.45: Gareth

4.00: Hayley

4.15: Barney

4.30: Jodie

4.45: Anne

5.00: Greg

Any problems, get in touch. Otherwise, see you all tomorrow.

This Friday

Just a reminder - I'm not in this Friday. Sorry again - I'm giving a presentation about weblogs and personal development planning at the UCCA Teaching and Learning conference at the British Library.

Bob will be around on Friday - so the best thing to do is treat the day as a workshop session and work on your sites/features - and get Bob's advice and help. I might ask Steve to look in as well.

The last session of the course will be on Friday 5th, which, just to remind you, is the assessment hand-in deadline. I'm going to talk to Bob about how we'll do the hand-in. Once we've finally agreed the details, I'll post them here.

Assessment Portfolios

Here's some things to think about as you put together your assessment portfolios.

Overall, I'm looking for evidence that you know how to use the net to research stories, gather information and contact/interview sources.

I'm also looking for articles that set out to take full advantage of the net. So you need to link to the sources you used and to other sites that could relate to your story. You also need to give readers the chance to offer feedback, and give them somewhere else to go online to find out more, if they're interested in what you've done.

Your articles should be written/designed with the net's potential and limitations in mind. Think about how to lay out the story/split it up, to make it easier to read/find. Think about how you write. Again, you need to work with the limitations of the screen/net - so think about scannable text, about using headlines/type/layout correctly.

When it comes to your weblog, I'm looking for signs that you've thought about how to use it in your journalistic career. Is it a personal platform for a type of journalism you want to do in future (e.g. music/film reviews)? Is it a vehicle for personal reporting about your life? Is it a media filter, where you link to and reflect on current stories/trends?

You can adopt a mix of all of these approaches or just one. But the main thing is that your blog works as a piece of journalism. It should be coherent and have some sort of direction and theme. Remember Neil McIntosh’s suggestions about what made for a good blog – he talked about frequent updates, strong opinions and pictures all being key.

When it comes to the design/style of your blogs, I'd like to see evidence that you've worked with the Blogger template, added a Links bar, sorted out the time stamps, archives and the rest.

In terms of style, blogs allow for a more personal/conversational style than other sites. You can write in a looser way, but that doesn't mean spelling mistakes and punctuation/grammatical errors are OK. So you need to take some time to tidy up the posts on your blogs. Remember, you can re-edit posts to correct mistakes, change headlines, alter the position of photos etc.

Blogs are all about links – to people and places online. I’d like to see evidence that you're using that potential to link to people/blogs/specific discussions online. So think about using your profile to build links to others. Think about using the Links bar to list and link to sites that share interests with you. Think about leaving comments on other blogs that are like yours. Think about reviewing other blogs that are like yours on your blog.

Over the course of the unit, I’ve asked you to write a number of things on your blogs, either in class or as homework. They were:

1. A review of a selection of different online news sites – some blogs, some general sites
2. A review of/response to Salam Pax’s blog
3. A response to a recent news story
4. A post about who is currently using the net, what they’re using it for and how things have changed over the last decade
5. A review of/response to Clive Thompson’s piece about making money using blogs
6. An opinion column that used some of the work we did in class about column writing
7. A review of the design of a site that you like
8. A review of a blog that covers similar territory to yours
9. A post about whether blogs are a threat to the mainstream media
10. A write-up of Neil McIntosh’s visit

I’ve also asked you to put together a plan for your web site, to add links to the Links bar on your blog, to put pictures on your blog and to use the profile effectively.

Today we’re going to look at social networking, marketing, commenting on other people’s blogs and on using blog add-ons. I’m going to ask you to write a post commenting on one of the other blogs done for the unit, linking to it and to other material on the web. I’m also going to ask you to leave a comment on someone else’s blog.

For the assessment, you need to have done at least 20 posts on your blogs. You need to make sure you’ve done at least seven of the exercises mentioned above – they can be included in the overall total of twenty posts.

BBC webzine's call for pitches

Collective is a webzine put together by the BBC - yeah, I'd never heard of it either. Anyway, they're celebrating their 200th issue (how out of touch am I...) with a call for pitches from young people with interesting story ideas. That means you, obviously. You need to join to read the mag and pitch, I think. Their pitch is: 

Is there something going on in the realm of new music, film, art and/or culture that Collective has overlooked? Is there a vibrant death-tronica scene in your area waiting to be uncovered? Or maybe you’ve spotted a new trend in graffiti art/DJing/filmmaking/ animation/sculpture/folk music/beatboxing that you want to tell Collective readers about. Perhaps you know of an artist with an interesting story that deserves a wider audience, or maybe you just have a strong point of view on a cultural topic that you need to get off your chest. Well now's your chance.

BBC Collective is accepting pitches for Member Features to be published in the 200th Issue on 04 May, and monthly thereafter. The emphasis will be on grass-roots stories and new talent from people with the enthusiasm to get their message across. Features can take the form of a written article (illustrated with pictures, music tracks, etc.) or an audio/video report with a written introduction. Once commissioned, the Collective team will be on hand to help you create the piece. If necessary we'll crew and produce video packages, arrange for full tracks, create images, and offer as much guidance as you need.

Incidentally, Hayley had a good lead on another potential opportunity - the Noise festival, which is looking for creative ideas from young people under 25.

Work at the Guardian Unlimited

When Neil McIntosh came in, he talked about the potential availability of work at some of the big paper's websites around the time of the World Cup. He's emailed me a job ad that went out on Friday in the Fiver, GU's daily football email newsletter. If you're interested, you need to apply by Friday.

HANDS UP WHO WANTS TO WORK AT FIVER TOWERS!

Freelance uploaders and night editors
Guardian Unlimited Sport, our award-winning website, is looking for freelance uploaders and night editors to put the Guardian and Observer's content on to the web every evening. You will beresponsible for uploading content from the paper overnight and making sure it sparkles on our sports sites. A flair for writing snappy sells plus speed and accuracy are musts. You should have a wide knowledge of most sports and ideally you will be NCTJ-trained or on an NCTJ course and/or have professional journalism experience. Both roles require a commitment to weekend shifts.

Those who excel as uploaders will be trained as night editors, and there's also the possibility of day shifts on Guardian Unlimited. Hours are usually 7.30pm-1.30am for uploaders and 6.30pm-2.30am for night editors.

Please send your CV to hannah.spice@guardian.co.uk, with GU Sport Night Team in the headline field. Postal applications, marked to:Hannah Spice, Guardian Unlimited, 119 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3ER. Closing date: April 7.

Freelance writers and subeditors

We're also looking for freelance writers and subs to work on the desk during the summer's big events. Writers should be able to switch effortlessly between writing news, features, comment and funnies, while subs must be fast, unyielding and accurate. A familiarity with
the web is a must. You should have a wide knowledge of most sports and ideally you will be NCTJ-trained and/or have professional journalism experience.

Please send your CV, plus two examples of your best writing, to hannah.spice@guardian.co.uk. Please put GU Sport Day Team in the headline field. Postal applications to: Hannah Spice, Guardian Unlimited, 119 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3ER. Closing date: April 7.

MySpace and Murdoch links

We talked a little about MySpace and Rupert Murdoch when Neil McIntosh came in last Friday. If you want to find out more, Fortune has a good update on why News Corp bought MySpace and what they might have planned for it.

Murdoch's involvement has brought MySpace even more media attention. Not all the publicity has been good - Wired News recently ran a good piece on the MySpace backlash - this covers everything from schools cracking down on the use of MySpace to growing concern about paedophiles trawling the site.

If you want to try a more academic take on the way young people use MySpace, have a look at Danah Boyd's blog. She's a PhD student at Berkeley who's researching online community, social media and related subjects. She's written a research paper on MySpace, which is really interesting.

Preparation for Neil McIntosh's visit

Today, we've got Neil McIntosh fom Guardian Unlimited coming in. He should be here around 11.30. The plan is to interview him about newspapers, the net, blogging etc. Once he's gone, you're going to write something about the interview on your blogs. We're also going to record the interview - if we get time, we'll put it (or bits of it) online in the afternoon, so you can link to it on your blogs.

So, we need to do some research for the interview. A good place to start is Neil's blog - he talks about his work at The Guardian and net culture in general, in particular its relationship with journalism and the news media. Look at his posts on the launch of The Guardian's podcast service, the new Comment is Free blog, citizen reporting and what he thinks of it and his opinions on UK political bloggers. His thoughts on Easongate are also interesting.

Alan Rusbridger, the editor of The Guardian, recently gave an interesting speech about the future of newspapers. It's online in MP3 form and has been commented on by various bloggers. Mike Butcher has an interesting rundown. The influential new media commentator Jeff Jarvis also posted a useful summary plus interesting comments.

Rusbridger isn't the only person worrying about the fate of newspapers in the digital age. Rupert Murdoch has given a number of much talked about speeches on this subject recently. Take a look at this speech from last year - in which he talked about journalism and newspapers needed to change in response to the net, user control, blogging - all the things we've talked about on this unit. The Economist ran a useful overview on the speech.

Here's a few other things to look at. Find out who Craig Newmark is and why he scares the newspaper industry so much, especially in America. Find out how Guardian Unlimited is doing financially - are they making a profit yet? And look at the blogs done by the various quality newspapers - how do their strategies differ?

Last thing - the big buzzword in newspapers now (well, one of the big buzzwords) is integration. Newspapers are bringing together their print and web newsrooms and getting the same journalists to work for different platforms. Editor and Publisher has a good introduction to developments in the U.S. Similar things are going on here - though not all journalists think it's a good thing. You might need to register to read that last link, by the way.