Danny Sanchez on digital media
Like me, you probably get the daily bits of newspaper layoff news via Romenesko. Now, the Graphic Designr blog is putting it all together with an interactive map of newspaper layoffs.
The map is color-coded to show approximately how many layoffs occurred where. At the very least we’re finding new, creative uses for interactive maps…
[Hat tip to Mark Potts, who contends we should be placing newspaper layoffs in perspective with the many layoffs occurring in other industries.]
With big layoffs occurring at various media companies, I’ve decided to troll the web in search of blogs written by insiders and other watchdogs who post memos and similar items. While Romenesko is arguably the best source out there for newspaper gossip, there are many publication-specific blogs out there.
I’ve surely missed some blogs, so please e-mail me at dansanufATyahoo.com or drop a line in the comments with suggestions. Also, some of the blogs on this list are hosted by unions and/or may be highly critical of the companies in question, so I don’t necessarily share in their views. On to the list:
NATIONAL
Romenesko
Gawker
Editor & Publisher
I Want Media
PaidContent
Folio
MediaBistro (including FishbowlDC, FishbowlNY and FishbowlLA)
New York Observer Media Mob
Mediaweek (newspaper/magazine section here)
Newspaper Death Watch
Richard Prince (Maynard Institute)
GANNETT
Gannett Blog (All of Gannett)
Cincinnati Newsache (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Ruth Holladay (Indianapolis Star)
Fair Pay for York Journalists (The Press and the Gazette & Herald)
TRIBUNE
Tribune Employees Talk (All of Tribune)
Tell Zell (Tribune, LA Times)
Bob Norman’s Daily Pulp (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
TribuneWatch (All of Tribune)
LA Observed (LA Times)
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club (LA Times)
Save Our Trade (LA Times)
MCCLATCHY
Etaoin Shrdlu (All of McClatchy)
McClatchy Watch (Sacramento Bee)
Herald Watch (Miami Herald)
Random Pixels (Miami Herald)
Bob Norman’s Daily Pulp (Miami Herald)
OTHER
MinnPost’s David Brauer (St. Paul Pioneer Press & Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Oregon Media Insiders (The Oregonian, other media)
Wayne Garcia, The Political Whore – Creative Loafing (St. Petersburg Times & Tampa Tribune)
MediaNews Monitor (MediaNews)
News Journal Watch (Daytona Beach News Journal)
Bob Norman’s Daily Pulp (Palm Beach Post, South Florida papers)
Roger Simmons (All Orlando TV stations)
***
[Photo by 3fold]
In general, professionals in our industry have become obsessed with how to make our news organizations succeed in this difficult climate — and with good reason. We’re in trouble. We worry about page views-to-uniques ratios, the latest video cameras, how to cut costs, how to reach younger readers and so on.
But let’s take a moment to worry about our fellow journalists who expose themselves to deadly situations, just to get the news out. In the midst of worrying about the incoming dollars, we forget that we serve principles for which many journalists lay down their lives.
Beginning today, the BBC will begin shining a beam of light into the sky each night to remember journalists who have died to inform people and give a voice to the voiceless. See video of the dedication ceremony here. Every day, journalists are killed, imprisoned and beaten; just visit the Committee to Protect Journalists site on any given day to see. Go ahead and visit the guide for journalists working in hot areas [PDF] for tips on how to purchase body armor and suggestions on how to embed with combatants in wars.
In this trying time for our industry, don’t forget why many of us do what we do.
Web Worker Daily posted a phenomenal list of tips for working with people who don’t have much of a technical background. If you work in the online side of a newsroom, this list pertains to you — especially when dealing with newsroom curmudgeons, salespeople and management.
The list (see Web Worker Daily for detailed explanations):
1. Avoid jargon.
2. Use analogies.
3. Talk results, not process.
4. Link to additional resources.
5. For proposals and reports, use visuals.
6. Have ready access to case studies.
7. Refer to related events or issues that have been brought up by mainstream media.
8. Illustrate what that idea/app/process has to do with their jobs or sales.
9. Introduce new technologies gradually.
10. Be patient, or at least look like it.
I imagine many of you are curious about how the multi-dimensional database behind Widget X works or how the web scrape circumvents the authentication mechanism, but explaining the process behind that to some folks will turn them into rabid, drooling zombies.
Just stick to the tips on the list. This one is a keeper.
[Web Worker Daily: 10 Tips for Working with the Not-So-Tech-Savvy]
The National Writers Workshop is an excellent way to be inspired and get fantastic advice from some of the industry’s best scribes — all for a price that won’t break the training budget. I’ve attended the workshop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the last three years, and it never fails to inspire me to become a better writer. The team that puts this together really does a fantastic job every year.
Early bird registration is $100 for the Sept. 20-21 workshop ends Monday, June 9. You get one free registration if you purchase three registrations at the professional rate before Aug. 15. Student/teacher registration is $60, and there will be an internship fair on Sunday. Details at www.sun-sentinel.com/writers
Here’s the nutshell:
National Writers’ Workshop 2008
Hyatt Pier 66
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Sept. 20-21
Speakers at the workshop include:
Dave Barry, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, The Miami Herald
Gene Weingarten, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and feature writer at The Washington Post
Laurel Touby, founder and CEO of MediaBistro.com
Diana Henriques, investigative reporter, The New York Times
Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN and Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle, authors of Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports
andeep Junnarker, interactive journalism professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Jacqui Banaszynski, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and writing coach. Knight Chair in Editing, University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Questions? Email Gail Bulfin at gbulfinATsun-sentinel.com.
The folks over at Sitepoint are giving away another great PDF book that’s perfect for online news producers: The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web design Tips, Tricks & Techniques
I previously got a nifty Ruby on Rails book from Sitepoint that was more than worth my while, so make sure to snag a copy of that Photoshop book PDF before the offer expires two weeks from today.
[Free PDF Book: The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web design Tips, Tricks & Techniques]
Hey Journalistopians, just wanted to let you all know that posting has been light (and will be for a bit) because yours truly is getting married in about a month.
So since the “I can’t order the tuxedos because I’m blogging” explanation doesn’t quite fly with the fiancee, I’ll be taking a little break here. You can follow me on Twitter in the meantime though.
Be back soon!
Cheers,
Danny
The 2008 EPpy Award winners were announced today during the Editor & Publisher/Mediaweek Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show at the Rio in Las Vegas. The EPpys highlight the work of outstanding digital news sites.
Full list of winners here.
Have you ever tried to simulate a Google Maps-style map in Flash? I hope you haven’t because you’d still be waking up screaming in the middle of the night after that experience.
So say hello to the new Google Maps API for Flash. The new API allows Flash developers to integrate Google Maps into their Flash applications. This goes beyond simply embedding SWF files in Google Maps info windows; it’s full-blown integration at a programmatic level.
If you want the nitty gritty of how to get started, check out the Flash API documentation.
I can’t wait to see what creative news designers are going to do with this…
Robert Niles over at OJR reports on the NewsTools 2008 conference, where Google News insider Daniel Meredith explained how Google decides which publishers to include in its Google News index (official instructions here).
If you’re at a major newspaper site, you[‘re probably already included. However, when you go to launch a new editorial product, you’re going to want to do your best to be included in Google News.
You have to specifically ask to be in the index. After that, there are four key factors considered in Google’s decision, Niles says:
Want to know more? Get the full details over at Online Journalism Review.
Have you been searching the blogosfera for a Spanish-language guide to Internet terminology? Look no further than the Diccionario de Internet [Dictionary of the Internet].
The guide, put together by online marketer Jorge Ontalba, is available as a free PDF download (NOTE: it needs to be extracted using a tool like 7-Zip). The dictionary covers a wide variety of Internet terms mostly in English with Spanish definitions, though there are more than a few Spanish-specific terms.
The next time you’re in Spain or Latin America, make sure to peruse the Diccionario de Internet and make sure you’ve learned all of your palabras clave.
[Diccionario de Internet PDF download]
[Tip o’ the hat to CiberPrensa]
Facebook developer Jesse Farmer has compiled statistics that indicate the big boom in developing Facebook applications may be over. Perhaps Van Helsing is out whacking Facebook developers to stop the vampires and other undead applications.
Here’s the nutshell from the new Inquistr technology and pop culure blog:
“Farmer compiled statistics on Facebook developer activity and successful Facebook apps, finding that since the beginning of the year, participation on Facebook developer forums has dropped 27% by unique users, and the number of posts a day has dropped 51%. Activity in a forum doesn’t necessarily prove that the boom is over, yet Farmer also found that the number of successful Facebook applications was down 33% since January (defined by regular users).”
So does this mean Facebook application development has jumped the shark? I’d say not totally. But IÂ wouldn’t throw tons of developer time to developing new Facebook apps either (unless I had an absolutely rockin’ idea and perhaps a national brand to peg it to).
[20Bits: The State of the Facebook Platform]
[Photo by Drunken Monkey]