Category: conferences

Tales from the reporters’ blogs

From the National Writers’ Workshop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.:

Reporters from the newspaper triumvirate of South Florida came together as a panel to speak of the joys and dangers inherent in blogging.

Palm Beach Post entertainment columnist Leslie Gray Streeter, Miami Herald reporter Oscar Corral, and South Florida Sun-Sentinel sports columnist Ethan Skolnick, appear to agree on the following points:

-Blogging is a great way to write about tidbits that can’t or don’t make it into the print edition. Oscar Corral regaled us with the story of how he once posted a photo on his blog of the finely manicured feet of Alina Ferndandez, Fidel Castro’s erstwhile daughter. Her feet are apparently popular in Miami now.

-Get permission from your publication before starting a blog on the side–if you enjoy collecting a paycheck that is.

-Readers often form a small community in the blog’s comments. Like all small towns, there are disputes.

-Comments should not be filtered. Delete the comment if someone gets nasty or insults another reader. “You’re at the mercy of 15-year-old boys on the Internet,” Skolnick said. “It can get ugly sometimes.”

-Much of the fun in blogging lies in circumventing editors and in the immediacy of readers’ responses. “It’s like throwing a piece of meat into a piranha-filled pond,” Corral said.

-Don’t take the writing on your blog for granted. Streeter once got 90 comments from rabid fans of American Idol contender Kellie Pickler (See: Kellie Pickler, Evil Genius?). Streeter had suggested that Pickler was faking her whole “Ca-lah-mah-ree” bit. FOX News even reported on the comments in her blog. And on that note…

-People do not tend to distinguish the writing on a reporter’s blog from what runs in the print edition.

-Write shorter posts. Write plenty of posts.

-Ask questions to your readers.

Have anything to add to this fine list?

Where the writers come to learn

Never before in this blog have I been so afraid to misplace a comma, write a cliché or deliver a spectacular grammatical gaffe.

Authors, reporters and wannabe scribes have gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. this weekend for the annual National Writers’ Workshop. They’ve come for speeches and sessions hosted by some of the brightest people in the news business: the New York Times’ Mirta Ojito, ESPN’s John Walsh, the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Padilla, Matt Cooper (formerly of Time, now at Condé Nast’s Portfolio) and many more.

I am rather bitter that I inadvertently left my audio recorder in Orlando. I have also misplaced my digital camera’s connector cable. It appears I’ll have to pass along whatever nuggets of wisdom I acquire at the writers’ workshop in good, old-fashioned words.

That is irony, right? I’m sure someone here can tell me for sure.

At SND: Where’s the story?

Scott Horner, multimedia journalist extraordinaire from the Sun-Sentinel, tells us about the key element to making strong multimedia features: Make sure there’s a complete story!

Scott’s right when he says “interactive graphics aren’t about Flash.” It’s often the case that designers get so caught up in the fun of making things move, adding visual fluff and trying to cram everything in that the story structure is lost.

Here are the “critical parts” of a multimedia piece, as he explains it:

-Story (the backbone of your piece)
-Timing/Format (Will it be a slideshow, package, interactive graphic or other? Also, generally stay under two minutes for slideshows)
-Audio (bad audio = a bad piece, with rare exceptions)
-Visuals (graphics and photos, taken from tight, medium and wide proximities)

Scott emphasized that online features should have a strong story, with a beginning, middle and end. Even print packages that are highly technical in nature should have some sense of story. The mistake often made, he says, is that we tend to focus on the “middle” at the expense of giving the reader a resolution and a sense of setting.

I agree that designers tend to focus too much on the “middle,” as do print graphics. This is largely the result of Flash features being treated exclusively as sidebars . It is rare that a graphic IS the main story in print. Same thing for Web features.

Some would argue that Flash features should not be featured prominently in lieu of a text story. That argument has some merit, due to Flash being less accesible than clean text (for the visually impaired, for dial-up users, those who disable Flash on their browsers). However, there is usually a text-based story available, and the number of users who have broadband and capable browsers is rising dramatically.

I believe it is time for online news sites to regularly feature well-done Flash features as prominently as that lead headline. It is one of the key things we can do that other media outlets generally can’t.

Yet, that will only happen when designers and editors begin to create Flash-based features as complete narratives, not as a supplement.

Live from the Society of News Design conference!

Hey Journalistopians, I’m blogging from the Society of News Design’s annual conference here in Orlando, Fla. (conveniently located minutes from my new home!).

The SND conference this year officially opened with a keynote address by Robin Sloan and Matt Thomnpson, creators of the infamous online film EPIC 2014 that explores a dark future where the “Googlezon” has eaten the New York Times alive and become an inhuman tool in the thrall of politicians and interest groups.

That’s a helluva choice for a keynote address. Clearly, and by all accounts, this year’s SND conference has featured a greater emphasis on multimedia graphics and storytelling than ever before.

Sessions featuring some of the industry’s heavy hitters in online graphics are here for us to pick their brains, including Scott Horner from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Neil Chase from the New York Times and SND-award-snatchin’ UNC Chapel Hill professor and former El Mundo rock star Alberto Cairo.

Should be fun!

PLUS: Check out the official SND blog and Mindy McAdams’ online journalism blog for more from the conference.

More conferences, wonderful conferences

A few more conferences coming to my home state of Florida:

Poynter’s National Writers Workshop is coming to Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 1. Being that the conference is over a weekend and a measly $90 if you register now, this is definitely not one to miss. Last year’s conference, which I attended and was also hosted by the Sun-Sentinel, was packed with many a great mind. NWW is especially great if you’re a student in Florida. Most conferences are far more expensive, but NWW still offers awesome career advice, workshops and networking opportunities.
Frankly, this year’s speaker list looks even better than last year’s, and that’s saying a lot. They’ve got Jacqui Banaszynski from the Univeristy of Missouri, who dropped by the St. Petersburg Times this summer and delivered a helluva talk to the staff on how to write profiles. Rick Hirsch from the Miami Herald is coming by, and he’s heading up soom neat changes at the Miami Herald and Herald.com. There’s Matt Cooper from Time, and my old professor William McKeen, a great mentor (as well as a fabulous resource on The Beatles).

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Also in Florida is the Society of News Design’s annual conference on Aug. 31 through Sept. 2, hosted by the Orlando Sentinel. Check that out too!

Online News Association conference registration open

Come one, come all! Registration for the ONA conference in Washington D.C. on Oct. 5-7 is officially open. Yee-haw!

Here are the details from ONA:

Early bird registration fees are $399 for ONA members, $549 for non-ONA memebers. Early bird registrations ends Sept. 1, 2006. Fees after $449 for ONA members and $549 for non-members. ONA student members fees are $150, while student non-members will pay $200. You can get more information on all registration fees here.

You can register for the 2006 ONA Conference here.

Hotel rooms may be booked for $186 per night until Sept. 8. Reserve early to get that rate: (202) 393-1000. You can also register online at the Capitol Hilton. Cooking at home is as popular as ever, especially with the introduction of all sorts of new technologies and tools that make your time in the kitchen better and more effective than ever. Portioning, preparing, or just making sure your meal is immaculately prepared on a day to day basis, now is possible with the best kitchen scales from https://scaleszen.com/best-digital-kitchen-scales/.

Details of the conference, including agenda and speakers (when they are finalized, sponsorship opportunities and other important information can be found on the 2006 ONA Conference blog.