We're going very old media on you and cutting to a test pattern until our successors arrive next school year. Thanks for reading, viewing, listening and interacting over the past three months. This concludes our blogcast year. Beeepppppp.
And we're back. Truth is, we're not really signing off. For today's communicators, signing off is not an option. We're just moving to separate channels. The participators of the News rEvolution citizen and participatory news blog are going to continue to participate.
Jaqueta Abbey is planning to keep her eye on the horizon, watching for the next big participatory trend. She will be taking an indefinite hiatus from the world following graduation, during which she will recoup this year's lost sleep. Upon waking, Jaqueta will continue to explore the issue of digital inclusion in the United States, an issue that prevents citizens from being able to contribute.
Marc DeRoberts intends to seek out both freelance and full-time employment in newspapers as a multimedia journalist upon graduation. Looking long term, he hopes to use these experiences to seize consulting opportunities with media and non-profits in order to help them make the most of the digital age.
interactive work by the news industry. As soon as he can afford a data plan, Steve also intends to dive headfirst into the emerging mobile Web, exploring ways it can improve journalism as well as everyday life. Track Steve's observations and updates about his blog on his Twitter stream.
Cathy Freeman will continue to research ways in which small businesses and non-profit organizations can benefit from participatory culture. She will present her findings on her blog, Twitter feed and in her forthcoming book, "Marketing Your Business in an Interactive Age," set for release this summer.
Sean H. Smith will be educating the general public about ecology, the environment and conservation on his EcoActive website. He hopes to conduct his own field research, interview biologists, ecologists and environmental experts and present that information in engaging and interactive ways.
Brynne Tuggle will continue to research participation online as it relates to the journalistic process. She will continue to do research about how citizen participation can be used in the new media landscape and how legacy media organizations can use and benefit from participation by citizen journalists. Look for more blogs and tweets from her about this subject.
We invite you to participate with us and to explore the diverse content published here. We'll leave you with links to six of our favorite posts:
Two topics that were discussed in my classes aroused curiosity for me to seek out the opinions of local experts: bias in the media and concerns with citizen journalism.
I conducted interviews with journalism professors at Elon, who not only are up to date on these issues because of their academic professions, but also have an maintained professional careers in journalism, as well as Lex Alexander, formerly of Greensboro's News and Record, and Scott McCrary, a producer at CBS News.
In the spirit of non-linear formats and interactivity, I arranged their video responses in a panel-like discussion for your viewing pleasure. Here's the link. Be sure to roll-over their names for a bio.
Overall responses were as follows:
Citizen journalism is not legitimate, but has a place to keep media in check as well as alert larger media organizations to bigger issues.
Lex Alexander offered a different opinion on this issue, stating that journalism is an act and people not only commit it all the time, but have a right to do so.
Opinions injected in news can be healthy only if the format provides it.
In larger media outlets bias can be seen by the context of which news is distributed, the voices they include and the amount of time given to these voices over others.
It's been both a pleasure writing to this blog and very inspirational to seek out a career as a multimedia journalist after graduation.
So you’ve decided to compile your articles in a blog on a site like Wordpress or Blogger, but how do you get people to read your work and either come back or subscribe? The following tips should help you out!
Use tags and categories properly. These keywords will be what people search to end up at your blog.
Respond to comments. If a reader has taken the time to log in and leave a comment on one of your posts, the least you can do is respond, even if it is only with a “Thank you”! If you can somehow continue the conversation from the post, do so. It will get your reader thinking about things and coming back to check the comments.
Make your blog a portal. Link it to other sites (as long as they are relevant to whatever you are talking about). If people come to your site and find it useful to get information from other sites, they’ll come back to it! Great examples of sites that do this: Dzine Blog and Smashing Magazine.
Be informative. Why is this important? Why do we need to know this? Tell us before we ask!
Check your sources–double and triple check them! Remember, before posting anything from a source, check its credibility. The last thing any blogger wants is to find information from a random site and use it, only to find out it was written by his/her reader’s 13-year-old brother for a book report!
Keep it brief. Make sure your post is written in short paragraphs or list format; it needs to be easy to read. No one wants to read a novel on their laptop screen! More than likely, if you write a ton, it will be skimmed over or not even read.
Include relevant media. Spice up your blog posts with videos and pictures. Be discriminating; don’t include every YouTube video ever made on the subject. Finally, embed the media, so readers don’t click a link and navigate away from your page.
Update consistently. Let the reader know when you’ll have new material up so they'll check back.
Tweet a link whenever you make a new post. This way your posts are introduced to a whole new audience.
Check your blog statistics. These statistics will show you information about how people are finding your blog and which subjects are most interesting them. You can then tailor your blog to your readers' interests.
Five things news organizations should be doing now
Be social on social media: Converse with your audience on social media platforms it is using. People, not machines, should maintain feeds, and these people should act like people. Don't dump batches of headlines at fixed points during the day. Do conduct an ongoing conversation about the news and your community that extends your content and recognizes others who do the same.
Get moving on mobile: All news organizations should have a basic mobile presence. If you're not establishing your brand on this emerging platform you'll be at a distinct disadvantage when it really takes off — which it will, very soon. A stripped down version of your main site sized for devices' smaller screens will get you started. Even pointing mobile users to RSS feeds is better than nothing.
Here's the scoop: You can't scoop yourself: Stop thinking in terms of print versus Web, us versus them. Start thinking in terms of one multi-platform news organization. To promote this culture, get your print/broadcast and Web staff interacting and crossing over into each other's roles.
"Cover what you do best. Link to the rest.": No one can cover everything, so why break your back trying, especially at a time when journalists are being asked to do more with less? Your audience wants quality information. It doesn't care where it originated. Neither should you.
The UGC 1-2-3: Users are generating content, and, as mobile devices proliferate, they're only going to generate more. Yes, not all user-generated content is exceptionally, um, useful, to news organizations. But, especially in breaking news situations, some of it can be very useful. The news organizations that get their hands on the useful stuff are the ones who have established frameworks for 1) soliciting, 2) reviewing and 3) publishing audience submissions.
Five things news organizations should be doing next
Location, location, location: The mantra increasingly applies to a lot more than real estate. This is a product of the coming mobile revolution. One of the many bellwethers that location's taking off is location-based social network Foursquare, which, like Twitter two years before it, was the darling of South By Southwest this spring. News organizations will need to be geotagging content and thinking about how having news with them all the time changes the way people consume it. The semantic where is becoming the sixth "W."
Dive into data: There is an exorbitant amount of data on the Web. But very little data can talk with other data. If Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has his way, that's about to change. Berners-Lee is the most prominent but far from the only evangelist for Linked Data, the concept that common identifiers for online datasets can do for data what the hyperlink did for content. Martin Belam, information architect for the Guardian, recently outlined several ways news organizations could leverage Linked Data for both of their external audiences — consumers and advertisers — as well as internal audiences — themselves and other news organizations.
Don't let tethered tie you down: Reaching the growing number of users who access information on tethered devices like the iPhone and iPad requires formatting content for proprietary platforms. No news organization can serve them all, and small organizations might struggle to tailor their product for even just the top one or two devices. Outlets should research what platforms their audiences are using, identify which would be most profitable to develop for, and become comfortable with the fact that some are going to have to be ignored.
Out context the competition: We live in a what's happening now world and a cursory look suggests the news cycle will only continue to compress. But look closer and you'll see audiences starving for context. Anyone with a mobile device can compete with journalists on what's happening now, but journalists are uniquely suited to explain what just happened and what might happen next. They can make time for this important explaining by letting citizen reporters cover the less consequential breaking news — the kind that's news only because it's breaking.
New (much) wider, (much) taller format: News presentation specialists, who until very recently designed exclusively for formats of less than 720 square inches, are starting to design for one that's 196,950,000 square miles. That's right, augmented reality transforms all of Earth into a potential news page. From news content — hold a device up to a building and see news articles and data related to the organizations based there — to advertising content — hold a device (or print product) up to a screen and see yourself inside a 3D commercial — AR offers a world of possibilities.
So, we’ve talked a lot about citizen journalism in the past few months, and what this kind of participation looks like in the world of news and information. And I must admit I’m a supporter of it. I think citizen journalism is a required part of the future of legacy media. But, as I’ve discussed in other posts, conversation is also required.
I am fully aware that legacy media organizations have a lasting place, and they’ve been the mainstay for so many years, it’s hard to imagine anything different. But I also firmly believe that new media practices such as citizen journalism can also find a lasting place. I recently read an article about this issue. The conversation was centered around a ruling by a New Jersey judge two weeks ago that could affect the way people view citizen journalists.
The case went like this. A blogger was being sued for defamation after citing anonymous sources when writing in a comment section of a website, in more of a letter to the editor style than like an actual story. She made disparaging accusations about a company without citing her sources. This was not for a clearly defined media outlet, but for a website that she herself started. So, the problems were that she didn’t take any notes from her interviews, never asked the company she was commenting about for its side of the story, and didn’t provide any details of the facts that she found.
She claimed she was protected from the lawsuit by New Jersey’s media shield law, which covers not only traditional journalists but also online reporters. The judge ruled that some of these legal protections for traditional media people don’t extend to all bloggers who claim to be journalists. He said, “Simply put, new media should not be confused with news media.”
Now, don’t get me wrong. This case, I understand. I’m glad the judge ruled in the way that he did. This blogger wasn’t adhering to certain standards that she should have. But it makes me sad, that one blogger could have the potential to mess it up for everyone else. This comes back to the whole need for conversation. We have to start talking about these things. I believe the judge was right in this case, but I also believe we can’t let these kind of rulings ruin any momentum for citizen journalism that is building as more and more people are encouraged to participate in the news process.
We can't have the belief that we are in a war here, and we're working against each other, traditional versus new media people. We need to work together as we continue into the future. It's when we harness the power of both traditional and new media that we will find an even more powerful future for journalism.
The collapse of a BP Gulf Coast oil rig on April 20 claimed 11 lives and is currently reeking havoc on the environment and coastline economies.
"The oil spill seems to be pretty catastrophic," said Michael Terribilini, Biology Professor at Elon University. "The impact it's going to have on the eco-system is unknown. The area it's going to have the greatest impact on are the wetlands and the marshes in to Louisiana coast area, which is an important stop-over point for several migratory bird species. It's potentially going to devastate their habitat, not to mention all the marine life that is being affected."
The recent spill poses a major threat to the local economy, which coincides with nearby habitats. The slick will not only ruin oyster beds, but also disrupt Bluefin Tuna from mating. The Gulf is one of two locations in the world where they mate.
Louisiana houses 40 percent of coastal wetlands in the lower 48 states.
"The people of the Gulf Coast are gonna be severely impacted," said Jimmy Huffines, Elon community member. "Hurricane Katrina is gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to this."
BP employees and the U.S. government are not the only ones working around-the-clock to clean up the oil spill in order to prevent the slick from hitting the shoreline. "Fishermen are signing release forms for the government to use their boats and their services to help in the clean up process," said Sean Smith, iMedia Graduate Student at Elon University. "That makes a lot of sense, it's an important issue for the fishermen. They're vitally concerned, obviously, and definitely want to put as much effort into the clean up as possible."
Clean up crews are trying to contain the oil in a variety of ways, using powerful hoses, controlled burns, chemicals and most recently a dome being lowered approximately a mile down to the ocean floor.
Hear more from the Elon community:
CNN released a video which describes their latest effort with the containment unit, and the challenges that will be faced over the next couple of days to make this a successful operation.
The Coast Guard has estimated that the well is leaking approximately 6,000 barrels per day and has already leaked over one million gallons of crude oil. BP Chairman Tony Hayward, told members of Congress that the well could potentially reach more than 60,000 barrels per day, 10 times more than the current estimate.
BP was already denied financial assistance from the U.S. government, and said that they would take full responsibility. However, on Tuesday, Hayward said that the clean up would cost more than $75 million, which is the current cap on liability for drilling accidents. Senators Bill Nelson (D - Florida), Frank R. Lautenberg (D - New Jersey) and Robert Menendez (D - New Jersey) are putting forth new legislation to raise the cap to $10 billion, and apply it to BP's current situation.
The recent spill prompts a push for electric cars, as seen in an article by the Oakland Press.
Photos courtesy of the Associated Press and Getty Images, respectfully. More pictures of the Gulf Coast here.
So when was the last time you saw a news story about sound science or environmental issues?
Okay, now might not be a good time to ask that question, considering we are in the midst of trying to figure out how to contain the thousands of gallons of oil that are spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's rented oil rig, Deepwater Horizon.
In case you've been in a coma for the past two weeks or finishing up your graduate degree, here's what happened. On April 20th., 2010 the oil rig, which is on lease from Transocean caught on fire and eventually collapsed and sank into the gulf.
Video courtesy of AlJazeera
Apparently a safeguard called a "blowout preventer" failed to controlled the natural gas bubble or "kick" that can occur when capping these wells with cement and sent these unfortunate affects into motion. The reason for the failure is unknown at this time until the companies responsible can do a more thorough investigation into the disaster.
Most of the stories you are probably finding in the news is more about politics and economics of the spill that the environmental effects. Bloomberg reported that BP has lost $30 million dollars as a result of the spill as of today and will lose more as the days go on.
BP had asked the U.S. government for assistance in the clean up but were initially rejected by President Obama. Yet, the Obama Administration did sign off on expanding offshore drilling this past March in the hopes of pushing forward energy and climate legislation that would lead the country beyond our reliance on petroleum. And of course, the federal government is now spending money to oversee the cleanup. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Economics and politics should be put on the backburner of this situation for the time being. The main concern for both the companies involved and the government should be on protecting the surround habitats from the effects this spill will have on their ecosystems.
I can assure you that the fishermen who are volunteering their ships and services to aid in the cleanup have these ecosystems as the forefront of their concern. Their livelihoods are dependent on it. AP Photo/The Times Picayune, Ted Jackson
It seems the only time the biological science are mentioned in the news are when catastrophes such as this occur. The one scientific story that has developed from all this, and was reported in the May 5th issue of the New York Times is the use of chemical dispersants that have been thrown onto the spill in order to help contain it, with seemingly little forethought to the adverse affects.
Very little is known about these dispersants and what chemicals go into the manufacturing of them as the companies that produce them say there a "proprietary" ingredients that they want to guard for commercial reasons. What should be propriety are these companies responsibility to be sure that they aren't doing more harm than good to the ecosystems they insist they are helping to protect.
Why is the public so misinformed about topics such as this? With the amount of oil drilling that is done on daily basis it must be assumed that spills such as the one April 20th are bound to happen and the possible solutions such as chemical dispersants should be understood by the general public so they can help shape policy to handle these situations in ways that best suit them and the environments they live in.
This is the problem with scientific journalism in today's age. The public is poorly informed. These are issues that affect citizens everyday lives. You don't think they do? Ask the fishermen on the gulf coast if this concerns them.
Dr. Janet MacFall, associate professor of Elon University's Environmental Studies department feels that the public relies on the news for such information when she says that, " the majority of citizens don't read scientific journals for news about science", their primary resource for scientific information is going to be news organizations.
Because the gulf coast fishermen live hand in hand with their environments, they understand what is and isn't best for the ecology of the areas live. They have even suggested using hay instead of chemical dispersants because it is cheap, would effectively absorb the oil, environmentally friendly, and sustainable. An ideal solution for all parties involved. They've been doing their own research for decades and even centuries by living within these ecosystems.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Instead of building the $365 million rig, and spending BP spending $500,000 a day to rent it (Bloomberg), they could be putting that money into research and development of alternative and sustainable energy sources, as I'm sure President Obama and the citizens he is suppose to serve hoped they would. Besides the continuous "empty talk" commercials these oil companies air on TV, saying they are working on developing these alternatives, they need to be showing the public what they are coming up with and beginning to implementing it, not just talking about it.
Where are we, as citizens going to get sound science news in the near future. Perhaps it will be from citizens themselves. Dr. Jeffrey Coker of Elon's Biology department feels that, "citizens are capable of conducting sound research andsharing with the public their findings.
By putting science in their own hands, citizens will be more informed of issues that are important to them and more likely to take action, much like the fisherman offering their assistance in the gulf coast oil spill.
The more we talk about this spill in the news, perhaps we can persuade these oil companies to take more proactive actions and responsibility for what they are doing to harm ecosystems and our livelihoods. It is clear that with efforts such as those mentioned above, the horizon of the deepwater won't be so murky.
Below is an ongoing ticker of the amount of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico as well a live video steam of the leak.
Newsweek’s recent announcement to go on the market raises even more questions about the future of news. However, despite lackluster sales for traditional outlets, citizen news organizations are skyrocketing.
Allvoices is a citizen news site that allows any visitor to submit newsworthy stories, videos and images from any perspective or geological location. The site also encourages discussion by enabling contributions to existing news events. It calls itself the “first true people’s media," empowering every citizen to take responsibility for the future of the news industry.
And people are definitely doing their part. Allvoices grew by more than 400 percent in the last year, growing to 337,000 contributors in 180 countries with 4 million unique visits per month. This week, the newswire service announced it would soon expand into more than 30 countries that it feels are not being thoroughly covered by traditional media. Its areas of concentration include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt and China.
Aki Hashmi of allvoices, a former Knight-Ridder and Reuters executive, says the news service plans to spread into 30 more countries once this expansion is completed. Its goal is to create more virtual news desks that both citizen and professional journalists will call home.
With traditional international news coverage facing budget cuts and shrinking staffs, there is an obvious void that can be filled by citizen journalists and organizations like allvoices that are eager to contribute in-depth global news coverage.
I have now completed two "fly-out-the-door assignments." What are they?
The assignment:
You are given a topic
You must interview members of the Elon community, at least one must not be a student or Elon University employee (this number has varied from three to five people)
You must include three to five soundbites
Write at a 350 word article
Video and still images shot with a Flip camera must be incorporated into the article
You have an hour
My professor will be the first to admit, it's a lot of work in a little amount of time. To be honest, I have yet to do all of this in an hour....but, I am improving. Along the way I have gained excellent experience from each to take into the working world. That's what counts.
My first assignment regarded a Wisconsin Judge's ruling, deeming National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional (article). The second was to seek the community's response to the legalization of marijuana (article).
Both were controversial topics. Asking people to talk on camera about religion and politics or their stance on drugs is no easy task. Here are some things that I learned during each of these assignments:
1. Be prepared and do your research.
It's very easy to become excited in trying to meet your deadline, but you cannot walk out the door without doing some preliminary reading about your subject matter. Not only does this help you develop your questions and sound educated, but your interviewee may not be familiar with the topic and request more information. Providing some facts helps build their comfort and confidence within you and themselves, leading to the best answers possible.
2. Hustle, but don't be in a panic.
If you are planning on staking out a location or seeking an expert interview in two different places, you need to move it as though your job depends on it. That being said, when you are approaching people to interview, explain that you are working on an assignment with a pressing deadline, but remain calm and relaxed. People will already be taken off guard when you approach them with a camera and ask a question out-of-the-blue, don't make it worse for them or yourself.
3. Plan ahead.
Whether you are familiar with the area or not. In the example of the National Day of Prayer video, after doing my research and selected who I intended to interview, I was planning shots for b-roll (the cutaway shots from the interviewee) along the way. Knowledge of the area helped.
4. Always be respectful.
In both cases I have approached people pleasantly, but received not-so-pleasant responses. Smile. Say thank you. Move along. Keep in mind you are a stranger with a camera...on a deadline.
5. Be adaptable.
Sometimes the places you expected to be a gold mine for interviews don't pan out. In the case of the marijuana story, I thought that going to the nearby gas station, which is a watering hole for students and community members, was a brilliant idea. There were lots of people there both affiliated and unaffiliated with the school...nobody wanted to talk to me. All of my interviews came from random passer-bys.
6. Be flexible.
This one is merely an extension of my previous lesson. If you have to interview five people, plan on asking at least 15-20 people. Ten to fifteen of them will likely say no. Don't take it personally.
These assignments have been of great value to me because they are practical and excellent experience. There will be more to come.
So what is the big deal about broadband? The word is being flung around all over the place these days, and now the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has even created a National Broadband Plan.
The term “broadband Internet” is normally used as a synonym for “high-speed connection.” The number of Americans who have broadband at home has grown from eight million in the year 2000 to nearly 200 million as of last year. Approximately 100 million Americans do not have broadband at home.
Why is broadband important?
Health Care – Broadband can help improve the quality and lower the cost of health care through health IT and improved data capture and use. This would enable clearer understanding of the most effective treatments and processes.
Education – Broadband can enable improvements through e-learning and online content, providing more personalized learning opportunities for students. Broadband will also help facilitate the flow of information between parents, teachers, schools, and other organizations.
Energy & the Environment – Broadband can help lead to a transition toward a clean energy economy. Carbon pollution could be reduced, energy efficiency could be improved, and we could lessen our dependency on foreign oil.
Economic Opportunity – There can be expanded access to jobs and training, as well as more support for entrepreneurship and growth of small businesses.
Government Performance & Civic Engagement – Broadband can drive greater efficiency and effectiveness in delivery of services and internal operations. It can also improve the quality and quantity of civic engagement by providing a platform where representatives and agencies can engage.
Public Safety & Homeland Security – Efforts to improve public safety and homeland security can be bolstered by allowing first responders to send and receive video and data. This will ensure that all Americans can access emergency services, and will improve the way Americans are notified about emergencies.
Ways the government can influence the broadband system The FCC has established four ways the government can influence the broadband system. To read about them in detail, visit the link to the entire report at the end of this article.
Establishing competition policies that will foster robust competition across the board.
Ensuring efficient allocation and use of government-owned and government-influenced assets (i.e. working on repurposing the spectrum and making the new infrastructure efficient).
Creating incentives for universal availability and adoption of broadband.
Updating policies, setting standards and aligning incentives to maximize use for national priorities.
Implementation The plan is said to be currently and always in a beta stage. Just like the Internet, the plan will always be changing to adjust to new developments in technologies and markets, as well as evolving and working to overcome any obstacles that may arise or harnessing future unrealized opportunities.
How much is this going to cost? Due to the fact that one of the plan’s goals is to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum, future wireless auctions mean the plan will overall be revenue neutral, if not revenue positive. Most of the plan’s recommendations do not require new government funding because they aim to drive improvement in government efficiency, streamline processes, and encourage private activity to promote consumer welfare and national priorities. Long-term goals
At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits/sec and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits/sec.
The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.
Every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose.
Every American should have affordable access to at least 1 gigabit/sec broadband service to anchor institutions like schools, hospitals, and government buildings.
To ensure the safety of the American people, every first responder should have access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable broadband public safety network.
To ensure that America leads in the clean energy economy, every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.
If you would like to read the entire National Broadband Plan or learn more about it, click here. I leave you with this quote from CEO and Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen:
“Broadband access for all is essential to meeting the information needs of communities in a democracy. Without it, we’ll end up with a new category of second-class citizens. With it, everyone will be able to harness the social and economic opportunities of the digital age.”
The legalization of marijuana has been a hot topic of debate for more than a decade. In 1996, California became the first of the now 14 states that allow marijuana to be used medicinally (full list here). Twenty-one have decriminalized it to some extent (Wikipedia article).
"I think it's fine," said Debbie Womack, a retired accountant, in response to her stance on the legalization of marijuana. "I personally feel that marijuana is less harmful and addictive than alcohol. It would be nice if the government could reap some taxation benefits from marijuana."
Although she said she never had smoked marijuana, Womack said that the legalization of all drugs would curb usage as well as crime. Womack said that a drug addict robbed her home last October in order to generate money to fuel his habit.
"I personally don't smoke," said Elon senior Max Harnett, " so it doesn't affect me all that much, but in terms of the financial aspects of it, I think it's a good idea. Anything that can help recover the debt that we have right now is worth a shot."
Three other members of the Elon community reacted similarly:
While many people across the country are opposed to the drug's legalization, Joe Klein published an article last year in Timemagazine pointing out benefits beyond medicine in economically troubled times.
A 10 percent tax on marijuana sales in California would yield an estimated $1.4 billion.
An influx of new jobs pertaining to harvesting, packaging, marketing and advertising.
Currently $68 billion is spent annually on corrections; one-third of inmates are serving time for non-violent crimes.
$150 billion is spent on policing and courts. Nearly half of all drug arrests are marijuana-related.
Two hundred dollars is the cost of tuition at Oaksterdam University, which teaches people how to cultivate marijuana and its best uses to ease ailments. Ultimately students learn how to run a legal business and what the consequences are when breaking the law.
President Barack Obama has dismissed the notion of legalizing marijuana. Meanwhile, institutions like Oaksterdam University are springing up and states are amending laws to decriminalize or allow marijuana to be used medicinally.
How-to video on how to make a live web-cast using a free web-casting host site, camcoder, and Macbook Pro.
Preface: I urge all the manufacturers of camcorders and computers to please set standards in regards to the type of input/output ports found on computers and camcorders. I've spent 3 weeks trying to determine which camcorders and computers are compatible with each other. I found that each brand of camcorder and computer has its own set of cable ports which are not always compatible with each other. One camera will have a HDMI out port, while another brand will have a Digital Video (DV) port. Then one computer, like my new Macbook Pro has a 9-pin firewire which forced me to buy a new cable that converted the DV to Firewire. Then I came to find out that the 9-pin won't recognize the camera but the older Macbook Pro which has a 6-pin firewire will recognize it. Why the change?
All this is very frustrating for the user. I think if standards are put into place where all computers and all cameras use the same cables it will be much easier for users to utilize this technology to their best abilities.
1. Open and turn on your pre-2009 Macbook Pro. Connect to the Internet using a Wi-Fi card or if you don't need to be mobile, connect to the Internet using a ethernet cable.
2. Go to www.ustream.tv and sign up for an account using a username and password.
3. Once you sign up, click on the "Broadcast Now" button in the upper right had corner of the home page. This will take you to your dashboard where you can choose shows you want to follow, manage social stream feeds, set up notifications of upcoming events, create a variety of shows covering various topics, and manage your videos you've recorded.
Or if you want to start broadcasting right away just click on "Broadcast Now" and it will take you to the broadcasting interface.
4. Click on the "Allow" button letting ustream.tv to access your camera.
5. Now you need a cable that has one Digital Video (DV) end and the other end a 6-pin firewire. Connect the firewire into the port on the Macbook Pro and connect the DV end to the port on the Canon XL1/2. (See video)
6. Once you've allowed Ustream to access you camera, turn the camera on.
7. Click on the "Video Source" button to choose with source you want Ustream to use. For example if you want to use the video from the camcorder, choose "DV Video" from the list of choices. If you want to use the built-in webcam then choose the "USB Video Class Video". (You can even toggle between the two during broadcasting as demonstrated in the above video.
8. Now choose your audio source by clicking on the "Audio Source" button. For audio from the camcorder choose the "DV audio" from the list of options or if you want to use the built in microphone in your computer click on "Built-in Microphone" option.
9. Once you see the video in the viewer you are ready to broadcast. All you have to do is click the large green "Start Broadcast" button and you are broadcasting live to the world.
10. If you want to record your broadcast for future use, just click on the green "Start Record" button. To stop recording click on the same button which will now be read and save your video. The video is saved in an .FLV file format.
11. When done broadcasting, just click on the now red "Stop Broadcasting" button.
There you have it. It's as simple as that. I hope this helps with the broadcasting of participatory news stories of your own.
Next time you are looking for a vlog topic, try giving President Obama an earful per request of regulations.gov, an online citizen engagement site.
The site recently announced that President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is accepting citizen videos that discuss the importance of federal regulations and encourage participation in the rulemaking process. According to the EPA, the purpose of the contest is to remind the public that federal regulation touches “almost every aspect” of their lives.
If you are interested in submitting an entry, keep in mind the following rules:
Videos must be submitted to YouTube before May 17
Submissions be no more than 60-90 seconds in length
Each video is required to add the slogan “Let your voice be heard,” and redirect viewers to the government’s regulatory website
One lucky winner will get $2,500 of taxpayer’s money and have their video used to promote the federal government regulatory process.
Though the regulations website is commendable as a tool for citizen information gathering, I think the EPA video contest falls short in the category of citizen participation. It may have had good intentions, but it’s more like a thinly veiled attempt at finding free advertising within pre-defined parameters. The agency practically spoon-fed a script to potential entrants. I think this is a missed opportunity on the part of the federal government to engage the public in a discussion on federal rule-making.
By now most journalists have discovered that Twitter is good for more than just sharing what one ate for breakfast. The microblogging platform can be a great place to find stories and sources. Reporters and editors who leverage it correctly discover that stories and sources find them. The nine best practices in the graphic below are based on a five-page research paper I wrote on the topic.
Citizen Journalism is defined as “the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.” By nature, this insinuates being non-professional. But being non-professional doesn’t mean having a code of ethics and standards is not important. If citizen journalism is going to have a long-lasting impact on the world of legacy media, a discussion has to happen to ensure citizen journalists are held to standards that will make them a vital and required part of the journalistic process. A code of ethics and standards should be adopted for citizen journalists around the world so news organizations can employ these citizen journalists and expect the same kind of honest reporting from them that they get from their legacy journalists.
Citizen journalism provides anyone the opportunity to be involved in the gathering and reporting of news. It provides a way for everyone to utilize his or her first amendment right to freedom of expression. As production and publishing tools become more readily available to the general public through cheaper digital cameras or easy access blogs, citizen journalism will become a more widely accepted practice. But with this acceptance comes the need for more responsibility. Just like with traditional journalism, responsibility in reporting and disseminating the facts is very important. Whether someone is a member of the legacy media arena or an individual looking to make his or her mark on the world of journalism. But the argument is there that citizen journalist can’t and shouldn’t contribute to the news process because standards and ethics are different.
But I truly believe there is a way for legacy media organizations to embrace these citizen journalists and provide training and information to better equip them as storytellers. In the article, Ethics Lessons From the Mainstream, (2008) author Kent Ninomiya says it best, “We can help the new journalists understand and value ethics, the importance of serving the public trust and professionalism. We can’t, and shouldn’t keep them out.”
So, how do we do this? I think we have to train these citizen journalists about professionalism and ethics standards so they can become a part of the news process that traditional news organizations can’t afford to be without. I think the Code of Ethics by the Society of Professional Journalists is a great starting place for this new and uncertain future of citizen and participatory news. So, let’s examine this code and consider how they might be used to encourage ethical behavior by citizen journalists.
1. Seek Truth and Report it:Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. One of the most important and foremost things a citizen journalist needs to consider is finding the truth and reporting it. One way to distinguish yourself as a reputable source for information is to develop a reputation of reporting the truth.
2. Minimize Harm:Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect. Citizen journalists must seek to care for the subjects of their stories. This means, one can’t berate a politician who won’t answer a question, or pester a family to answer questions after a loved one has just died. This might seem like common sense normal human behavior. But in the business of reporting the news, sometimes getting the answer you’re looking for might take over your desire to treat the people you’re talking to, with kindness and respect.
3. Act Independently:Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know. This point refers to avoiding situations that could be considered conflicts of interest. Citizen journalists shouldn’t have associations or participate in activities that could compromise their integrity or damage credibility. Citizen journalists shouldn’t accept gifts, favors, or special treatment. They should also not be involved in political parties, hold a public office position or serve as a part of a community organization, if that involvement could be considered compromising to their journalistic integrity.
4. Be Accountable: Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other. Even though citizen journalists might not always be working with a large news organization, doesn’t mean they can’t and shouldn’t be held accountable. If anything, it’s even more important for citizen journalists to remember the reader/viewer above all else. They might not have managers or fellow reporters checking up on their work or going back over a story that they’ve written, but they have readers following their work who they need to be accountable to.
So, see! It’s really not hard to maintain ethics standards in citizen journalism. There are not that many things you have to think about when it comes to maintaining a reputation of ethical reporting. Remember these few things, and you’re well on your way to creating a name for yourself as someone who people can turn to for the truth. What needs to happen now is conversation. We have to start talking about the role of citizen journalists, and how legacy media organizations can turn to them as reputable sources for contribution.
Last Friday, Michael Radutzky and Stavros Hilaris, two members of Elon's School of Communications Advisory Board visited a classroom of undergraduates and iMedia students. Both spoke extensively about their professions and told students that they will be playing key roles in the future of media.
Their visit was shortly after the newly released iPad became available in stores. Since the iPad does not support the use of Flash-based applications, Hilaris, Chief Technology Officer at National Geographic Global Media, talked about how they have overcome this obstacle. "When a user lands on our page, first our site checks to see if they can support Flash," said Hilaris. "If not, it automatically generates content using Html5."
Radutzky, Senior Producer at "60 Minutes," encouraged students to pursue their career ambitions by whatever means necessary. He advised the audience on the importance of internships, but if you are still left job searching, "go out and do what you want to do," said Radutzky. "If you have the means to support yourself, seek out a project of interest that will build your portfolio and help you stand out."
The video below highlights key points from their talk.
Michael Radutzky was named Senior Producer at "60 Minutes" in 2005, where he has produced content earning seven Emmy awards since 1995. Stavros Hilaris is a digital media and production executive with technology, management and business expertise in new media, broadcast, cable, telecommunications, satellite communications, IT and e-commerce.
Today's journalists have little choice but to do more with less. Some free online tools would be pretty handy then, wouldn't they?
Below are 10 free tools journalists can use to gather, produce or deliver news. This list is by no means exhaustive and is not a top 10, but it provides an idea of all the cool, useful tools out there and of how to use familiar tools in potentially unfamiliar ways.
I expanded upon this list in a workshop I recently conducted with a high school journalism class, video of which I plan to post here over the coming week. The workshop was built around this blog post by newspaper chain Journal Register Company's new CEO John Paton. Paton's compiling his own list of free tools for his company's innovative Ben Franklin Project.
Full disclosure: I used to report for Journal Register Company property the Daily Freeman.
E-mail text, photos, videos or mp3s to post@posterous.com and Posterous formats them into professional-looking, permalinked blog-style posts and serializes them in a permalinked stream. No signup is required but creating a profile lets you edit or delete your posts.
What can it be used for?
Quickly sharing information with colleagues, sources and audiences. Publishing content to multiple social media platforms in one fell swoop.
Cross-platform audio editing and recording software (requires download). Trim, combine, rearrange, enhance and create audio clips and output them in popular formats including .mp3 and .wav.
What can it be used for?
Preparing audio for podcasts, photo slideshows, videos, presentations and other multimedia.
Open source blogging platform. Ease of use, active community, hundreds of free themes, dozens of widgets, search-engine friendliness make WordPress a blogging powerbrand.
What can it be used for?
Creating and hosting blogs and even full-fledged Web sites.
The world's largest video sharing Web site. View millions of online videos without signing up and publish an unlimited amount of videos after creating a free account.
What can it be used for?
Sharing videos (both on YouTube, and, if you choose, in an embedded player on your site), discovering news content, spreading content beyond your traditional audience.
Photo editing software — like a lite version of Photoshop. Import images from your hard drive or directly from Picasa, Flickr, Facebook or Photobucket.
What can it be used for?
Simple photo edits and enhancements like cropping, resizing, adding text, adjusting brightness and contrast, basic filters.
Photography-minded picture sharing community. Powerful, intuitive interface simplifies management of large photo collections.
What can it be used for?
Showcasing photojournalistic work, crowdsourcing photojournalistic coverage, connecting with other users, managing photos, finding Creative Commons licensed material for reuse.
Collaborative platform where users can share text, links, files, maps, simple polls and more in real time and playback all or part of the "conversation" later on (in preview, invite required).
What can it be used for?
Virtual meetings, colloborating on projects including news stories, project management, crowdsourcing news coverage, community discussions.
Full-service, plug-and-play live news coverage platform. Share text, pictures, polls, data and live video and moderate user responses in real time all in a self-contained viewer.
What can it be used for?
Covering events and breaking news, conducting chats with colleagues or audience members, streaming live video.
News rEvolution is produced by six Elon University Interactive Media master's students. Through original hyperlocal stories, expert interviews, issue essays and best practices examples, it explores how citizen contributions are reshaping news.
We're going very old media on you and cutting to a test pattern until our successors arrive next school year. Thanks for reading, viewing, listening and interacting over the past three months. This concludes our blogcast year. Beeepppppp.
Jaqueta Abbey is planning to keep her eye on the horizon, watching for the next big participatory trend. She will be taking an indefinite hiatus from the world following graduation, during which she will recoup this year's lost sleep. Upon waking, Jaqueta will continue to explore the issue of digital inclusion in the United States, an issue that prevents citizens from being able to contribute.
Marc DeRoberts intends to seek out both freelance and full-time employment in newspapers as a multimedia journalist upon graduation. Looking long term, he hopes to use these experiences to seize consulting opportunities with media and non-profits in order to help them make the most of the digital age.
Steve Earley is planning to collaborate on a Posterous blog with iMedia classmate David Kennedy showcasing top, boundary-pushing
Cathy Freeman will continue to research ways in which small businesses and non-profit organizations can benefit from participatory culture. She will present her findings on her blog, Twitter feed and in her forthcoming book, "Marketing Your Business in an Interactive Age," set for release this summer.
Sean H. Smith will be educating the general public about ecology, the environment and conservation on his EcoActive website. He hopes to conduct his own field research, interview biologists, ecologists and environmental experts and present that information in engaging and interactive ways. 
Brynne Tuggle will continue to research participation online as it relates to the journalistic process. She will continue to do research about how citizen participation can be used in the new media landscape and how legacy media organizations can use and benefit from participation by citizen journalists. Look for more blogs and tweets from her about this subject.
