Conversations on funding journalism

In the past few weeks the business models used to fund journalism have again been popular topics of discussion. Within that,  ideas about how to profit from online journalism are at the forefront of the conversation.

This week, newspaper executives met and discussed charging for online content.

Need to brush up on the subject or find out more about the conversations going on? Check out the set of links I have compiled in my delicious links under businessmodels.

An update on this blogger and blog

This blog began nine months ago as part of an independent study I was doing at my university on the effects of the Internet on journalists and their roles.

Today, that project is long complete and I found and started a job as a reporter for the Post Co. in Eastern Idaho. I started this job this week, as you’ll note by the change in my information on the side of this blog and if you follow me on other social networks. This is also why I have not posted in about two weeks as I was graduating from college, moving from Spokane to Idaho Falls, and beginning this position.

My job entails reporting for three of the Post Co.’s newspapers – the weekly Jefferson Star and Shelley Pioneer and the daily Post Register (Note: The fact that links are missing to the other two newspapers is because they do not currently have Web sites. I’m crossing my fingers they will soon be in the works). My time is split between the three, though I will be spending more time with the Jefferson Star and also copy editing for that publication. In many respects, I’ll be a mobile journalist.

While it does not seem at the moment like I will be doing much online journalism, I hope those opportunities are forthcoming. I plan to continue to make strives in that area. I will continue keeping this blog, looking at issues of new media and the Internet, and, hopefully, providing you with useful resources and information.

Online Journalism Links: 5/13/09

Here are some links to recent articles and posts about online journalism I found interesting:

-Teaching Online Journalism: ” Multimedia journalism teaching: 10 things I learned”: Mindy McAdams discusses what was effective and ineffective in the 1 credit multimedia journalism class that was taught in addition/conjunction with a reporting class. She has also linked her syllabus and examples of her students’ work. Journalism educators should take a look at this and comment section for ideas in how to build multimedia into your courses.

-MediaShift: “Building the Ideal Community Information Hub”: Mark Glaser provides eight tips on how to create a community hub for local information that aggregates it all in one online source. His tips include cracking open government data and access and bringing stake-holders together for face-to-face discussion.

-contentious.com: “Hashtags: Your Social Media Radar Screen and Magnet”: Amy Gahran highlights ways to use hashtags to your advantage including how to monitor them through Twitter clients and services and how to start them.

-MediaStorm: “Advice to Multimedia Producers”: Eric Maierson gives tips compiled by members of the MediaStorm team on the underlying ideas that shape their production process ranging from equipment and production to inspiration and organization.

-Editor & Publisher: “Worldwide Study Finds Newspapers Do Have Future — and Here’s How”: This article examines a new report on the global outlook of the newspaper industry by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), along with the World Association of Newspapers. It surveyed nearly 5,000 consumers, 30 newspaper publishers and 10 advertisers/media agencies around the world. It that access to capital and a willingness to try many experiments is key to survival, and newspaper companies with the long-term viability are those that can invest in several digital strategies at once.

State of the industry roundups

David Shedden of Poynter Institute has done some excellent tracking of conversations across the industry about a variety of useful and recent topics relating to the state of the media today. If you have missed the what’s going on in some of these areas or would like to hear more voices on them, check out his link lists:

• The Future of Micropayments
• The government’s role in the future of journalism
• Case studies in transformation (links to the status of a number of different newspapers)
• The future of non-profit journalism
  

links for 2009-05-06

• Mashable: “5 Ways Traditional Media is Going Social”
  (tags: journalism newspapers media socialmedia)
• Cyberjournalist.net: “Time spent with online newspapers rises”
  (tags: onlinejournalism newspapers readership)
• MediaShift: “Advice from the Pros to Journalism Graduates”
  (tags: journalism advice education)
• Save the Media: “Tips for journalist bloggers”
  (tags: journalism reporting blogging online)
• Online Journalism Blog: “Online audio and podcasts (Online Journalism lesson #5)”
  (tags: onlinejournalism tools video podcasts audio)
• E-Media Tidbits: “How Is Your Newsroom Using Social Media?”
  (tags: journalism socialmedia socialnetworking newsrooms)