'Is there life after newspapers?'

The question was asked in an article in the American Journalism Review. A graphic designer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, using a variety of sources, counted 15,000-plus job cuts from newspapers in 2008. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics showed payroll at newspapers decreased by 22,400 from January to October 2008. Scary stuff.

An unscientific poll conducted by the piece's author found:

• Just under 36 percent said they found a new job in less than three months. Add those who say they freelance full time, and the total jumps to 53 percent.
• Less than 10 percent say it took them longer than a year.
• Only a handful – 6 percent – found other newspaper jobs. The rest are doing everything from public relations to teaching to driving a bus and clerking in a liquor store.

The article also includes some personal anecdotes from former journalists after they left newspapers, including some who saw losing their jobs as opportunities.

The power of the slideshow?

It depends on what kind of story you're trying to tell.
Poynter's Al Tompkins interviews the Boston Globe's online editor David Beard about how a slide show set to audio can have more impact than other forms of multimedia.
Something useful to read as we continue to explore sound slides.

Publisher tries new approach to newspapers

Interesting article about an attempt to merge newspaper and internet sensibilities.


PUBLISHER RETHINKS THE DAILY: IT'S FREE AND PRINTED AND HAS BLOGS ALL OVER IT.

More on that crash photo

Here are more details about that plane crash photo taken with an iPhone. Thanks Cameron, for sharing the image.

Good Audio Slideshow from NYT

Fashion and the Inauguration
Designer fashion took a back seat at the inauguration. Dressing was all about surviving the cold and reflected the multicultural taste of a democracy.

Thanks for the invite!

I've signed on as a blog author and will share insights here.

LA Times Front Page: User Generated

The Los Angeles Times ran a photo taken by a passenger on board the first ferry to arrive at the site of the US Airways crash in New York City.

DIFFERENT INAUGURAL PERSPECTIVE

The press release below not only offers a different perspective on the Inaugural, but also a lesson on re-invention. Kara Briggs is a former reporter for the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The Navajo Times announces plans to host a live blog about the inauguration of the President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The blog is a collaboration between the Navajo Times and the NMAI E-Newservice, which is a publication of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. It will be available starting this weekend at http://navajotimes.com/inauguration/.

"This site is for everyone to find out what Native Americans are doing at the inauguration of the 144th president of the United States," said Navajo Times editor Tom Arviso. "This is a service that people won't see anywhere else." Kara Briggs, Yakama journalist and editor of the NMAI E-Newservice, will post live from the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. where leaders from across Native America will gather to celebrate the inauguration. "Four-hundred yards from the U.S. Capitol, the museum will be the hub of inauguration day activities for Native Americans," Briggs said. Stay logged on Tuesday morning for a Native perspective on the historic day.

The End of Newspapers

Sad and cynical commentary on the end of an industry. But it is thought provoking. I disagree on several points: I like the portability of newspapers, I love the inserts - but I also loved the TV show "Pushing Daisies" so I'm once again in the minority......

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/01/when-newspapers.html

On the other hand, on Inauguration Day, I'm not going to go out and buy a commemorative blog.....

Interestingness roundup

There have been a multitude of things that I've read over the last few weeks that made me think, "Hey, I should share this with everyone!" So following is a list of all the "interestingness" (word borrowed from Flickr) that readers of this blog might find useful.

One in 8 Million from NYTimes.com :
This might be particularly relevant for our next class. The New York Times is featuring one "character" per week in a multimedia presentation (photography slideshow with narration by the subject from interviews). I thought the photographs in the slideshows were phenomenal, and the stories the subjects told were really interesting. It says they are adding one new person per week, so I have it bookmarked to look at periodically.

10 Journalists You Should Follow on Twitter from the 10,000 Words Blog:
Interesting coverage on a number of journalists who post on Twitter, including short descriptions of each journalist recommended. I haven't had the time to look through each of their Twitter feeds yet, but what they post might be interesting enough to follow. At a minimum it will give you an idea of how other journalists are utilizing Twitter.

100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes from Smashing Magazine:
For those of you who are either considering starting a Wordpress blog or who have already started one and want a design change, this post shows a multitude (100 to be exact) of free themes available. There is also a new theme announced by Wordpress on Jan. 12 called Grid Focus.

15 Journalists' outstanding personal sites from the 10,000 Words Blog:
I looked through the Web sites featured on this list to get ideas for a possible Web site of my own. There are lots of different design ideas here -- take a look and see what you like and what you don't.

How to start a Twitter hashtag from contentious.com:
This post gives basic information on the theory behind and etiquette of starting hashtags for Twitter (hashtags are used for categorizing "tweets" for particular events so that they are searchable).

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and a happy new year!

All-platform journalist

Poynter's Romenesko had a link to a fascinating story by Philadelphia Week about a former Philadelphia Daily News photographer who is basically an all-in-one journalist covering the city on his site. He promotes his work through social-networking sites, but has yet to turn his labor into a money-making enterprise. He writes about his endeavors here. Apparently lots of people are paying attention and viewing MacMillan as an example of the future of journalism.

Did anyone else see Michael Flynn on AU's SOC webpage?

So what did I see in my RSS feed this evening? A picture of Michael and a few of his comments on the IJ program on American's School of Communication home page, that's what!

His final project for our last class was posted to NBC's Web site.

Note - there's no direct link to the brief from Michael on the SOC page, so it will probably eventually drop off the front. Try clicking the 'Read More SOC News' link at the bottom if you don't see the piece on Michael.