Four Interesting Kickstarter Journalism Projects

By Ameena Rasheed, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force intern

Project: Opening this Summer The Malibu Beaches! by Escape Apps

Jenny Price is a writer, artist and environmental historian. For years, she’s been covering all the obstacles to finding and using to these incredible beaches. But even with courts ruling over and over and over and over to allow public access, finding and using these beaches is still really tough. Until now. Jenny partnered with Escape Apps, builders of the Know What network. The campaign’s goal is to make the app free for everyone to download all summer long and work to get an Android version out this summer.

Project: Belt: Cleveland’s new online magazine by Anne Trubek

Where culture and economic development meet. Long-form journalism and commentary. For Cleveland and around the rust belt. ”Belt” will build on the astonishing success of Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology, which proved there is a need for thoughtful, in-depth reporting and commentary on culture and economic development in Cleveland and other industrial cities. The book was produced, start to finish, in three months. It drew volunteer submissions from more than 80 writers, was profitable within weeks of publication and is onto its second printing.  ”Belt” will continue the momentum.

Project: How Jamaica Conquered the World by Roifield Brown

Everyone likes to think that the places they love are worthy of a bit of praise – but you might think that claiming Jamaica conquered the world is taking things a bit far. The founder, Roifield Brown, wants to go out into the world and interview people who have played a part in the global outreach of Jamaica. He’s managed to do a lot with Skype in season 1, but not everyone he wants to speak to has access to a computer. Visits to Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand will help uncover other great stories of “How Jamaica has Conquered the World.”

Project: Discover hidden gems on the side streets of Manhattan by ManhattanSideways.com

What began as a whimsical idea, crisscrossing the side streets of Manhattan, quickly developed into ManhattanSideways.com. The creator, Betsy, intrepidly began to walk this walk, revisiting each street via bicycle, car, or once again walking, as she realized how much a block can change hour-by-hour. ManhattanSideways.com was launched in the summer of 2012.  While ManhattanSideways.com is the story of one woman’s journey, it provides a venue for writers, photographers and filmmakers. The Kickstarter funds would enable them to grow their team, therefore completing the project of walking and reaching more businesses at an accelerated pace.

NEW LINK Webinar: “Building An Online Journalist Portfolio Using Pressfolios”

By Benét J. Wilson, chair, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force & social media/eNewsletters editor, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Editor’s note: the Digital Journalism Task Force is working on programming that will take us right to the annual convention. To that end, we’d appreciate it if you could take this quick 5-question survey to let us know what you want. Thanks!!

Due to technical difficulties, the link to Tuesday’s webinar did not work.  We have worked with GoToWebinar and we now have a link that works.  Click here for the hour-long webinar on using Pressfolios.   As a reminder, the code for the private beta is NABJ.  Thanks for your patience!

Webinar: “Building An Online Journalist Portfolio Using Pressfolios”

By Benét J. Wilson, chair, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force & social media/eNewsletters editor, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Last night we had the pleasure of hosting Marc Samson, co-founder of Pressfolios.   Pressfolios is a pretty simple platform created to help journalists, writers, reporters, bloggers, public relations and other media professionals to back up their news stories, design a beautiful online portfolio website, and showcase their personal brand. The best part is you don’t need to know how to code to use the online platform.

You can listen to a recording of the hour-long webinar here.  Finally. Samson was kind enough to give out a code to enter the private beta: NABJ.  Please give it a try and let us know what your think.

 

UPDATED – Creating Multimedia Stories With Meograph – The Recording

By Benét J. Wilson, chair, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force & social media/eNewsletters editor, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Editor’s note: the Digital Journalism Task Force is working on programming that will take us right to the annual convention. To that end, we’d appreciate it if you could take this quick 5-question survey to let us know what you want. Thanks!!

UPDATE, 4/25, 11:15 A.M. Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to upload the recording of this webinar.  The problem has been fixed, and we shouldn’t have any issues with future webinars.  We apologize for any inconvenience and hope you’ll join us for free programming in the future.

On Tuesday, we did a webinar with Misha Leybovitch, the founder and CEO of Meograph, a four-dimensional multimedia storytelling tool. The tool helps journalists combine video, audio, pictures, text, links, maps and timelines that can be embedded on websites or shared via social media. Leybovitch  demonstrated how easy it is for journalists to take their stories to the next level using Meograph.

UPDATE – please look at these links to Meographs created by different news organizations.

• Trayvon Martin case
• Whitney Houston’s Life
• The History of Sisters Network Inc.
• Election 2012 Week in Review

 

Sign Up For StoriesLab Workshop In Washington, D.C.

By Felicia Pride, the Pride Collaborative

StoriesLab
Saturday, May 4, 2013 | 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
American University | Washington, DC
Register here: http://storieslab.eventbrite.com/

Ancient storytellers captured narrative in paintings on cave walls or sustained them through the oral tradition. But modern technology has significantly enhanced the way in which our stories are told, collected, shared, and measured.

We want to highlight the advancements that the digital and technological landscape has brought to the art of storytelling, while also recognizing the importance of strong narrative.

Enter StoriesLab, a half-day interactive exploration into the possibilities of story to entertain, inform connect, and engage. We’ll look at transmedia storytelling as a tool of engagement. We’ll participate in a mini story hackathon. We’ll engage in a workshop on measuring impact for cross media projects. And we’ll be reminded about the power of narrative.

Join us.

StoriesLab is a project of StoriesLead and co-presented by Pride Collaborative and the Center for Social Media.

10 Interesting Posts On How Journalists Covered The Boston Marathon Bombings

By Benét J. Wilson, chair, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force & social media/eNewsletters editor, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Thanks to Flipboard and my myriad social media/journalism groups, I was fed a constant stream of information on how journalists covered the horrific Boston Marathon bombings.  Yet again, social media played a large role in how information was gathered and dispersed in real time.  Below, in no particular order, are 10 posts on how the bombings were handled.

1. BostonGlobe.com: 2013 Boston Marathon live blog
2. CNN: Complete Coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombings
3. Nieman Lab: Social media and the Boston bombings: When citizens and journalists cover the same story
4. Poynter: How journalists are covering, reacting to Boston Marathon explosions
5. IJNet: How the media used social media, digital tools to cover the Boston Marathon explosions
6. PBS MediaShift: Social Media Offers Vital Updates, Support After Boston Marathon Bombings
7. PandoDaily: Boston marathon: Has social media coverage finally matured?
8. Forbes: Google Person Finder Helps In Boston Marathon Explosions
9. Washington Post: Boston explosions: Twitter acts as journalism’s ombudsman
10. Huffington Post: Reporters Ran In Boston Marathon Before Covering Tragedy

Friday Fast Five – Your Guide To New Media

By Ameena Rasheed, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force intern

1. How-To Geek – The Best Free Programs and Online Services for Sending and Sharing Large Files

2. Blogging Tips – 5 Breakthrough Methods for Attracting Attention to Your Blog

3.  Mashable – Clean Up Your Facebook Profile With FaceWash

4.  Future Journalism Project – How to Use Storify as Your One-Stop Social Media Search Engine

5.  Journalism.co.uk – How to: verify content from social media

Four Ways Journalists Can Use Pinterest

A screenshot of Pinterest’s homepage.

By Ameena Rasheed, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force intern

Pinterest, a virtual pinboard where you can share and organize images and video through “pins,” has become a popular social media platform since its launch in 2010. In 2012, it was the third most-visited social networking site, as reported by CNN.

As journalists and news organizations look for various ways to interact with its readers and viewers, and users are seeking to engage with more visual social media content, Pinterest provides a platform which can potentially facilitate both sides’ interest in promoting, distributing and sharing content.

Here are four ideas that we’ve gathered from across the Web and compiled together for how journalists can start using Pinterest.

1.  Use compelling photos to share hard news headlines

While Pinterest is most known for its foodie and wedding posts, CTV News has created several boards to chronicle breaking news stories with its Occupy Wall Street, Tragedy and triumph and The World We Live In boards. Al Jazeera created The faces of Egypt’s voters board to capture to feelings of Alexandria’s residents in the historic election to choose the country’s next president.

2.  Give previews of what you are working on

The Houston Press, an alternative weekly publication, releases its print issues every Thursday, but gives its readers a sneak peek at its creative covers every Wednesday on its Under the Covers board. Time magazine also does the same with its TIME Covers board.

For those times where you don’t have that perfect image to sell the story, follow the lead of The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Quotes board and highlight memorable quotes from your stories. You could also get a little creative and use infographics like on Mashable’s Infographics board, or like The Salt Lake Tribune’s Bagley Cartoons board and share editorial cartoons.

3.  Display photo galleries, feature stories and reviews

It’s no secret that one of Pinterest’s most popular categories is food. The Salt Lake Tribune is taking advantage of that with its SLC & Utah Restaurants & Bars board to share its restaurant and bar reviews. The Orlando Sentinel has boards dedicated to local attractions such as Walt Disney World and Florida Travel. There is also a Feature Pages–Collaborative board, which features pages from newspapers across the nation.

4.  Involve your audience

Some good examples of utilizing user-generated content on Pinterest are CTV’s Canada Through Your Eyes and PBS NewsHour’s Childhood Cancer Awareness: Your Photos. The New York Times asked for submissions to its Your Holiday Dessert Pins and then featured some of the best pins on its website.

Al Jazeera has a Crowdsourced News board, where users can share newsworthy items that Al Jazeera is and isn’t covering. Al Jazeera also has a web community and daily television show, The Stream, which is powered through social media and citizen journalism, and shares content from its viewers on Pinterest, too.

Last, but not least, NABJ experimented with Pinterest boards at the 2012 convention in New Orleans, creating boards on NABJ 2012 New Orleans, NABJ2012, NABJ Fashionistas & Fashionistos and New Orleans Food.

Please share how you’re using Pinterest in your work!

10 iPad Apps I’d Recommend To Dori Maynard Of The Maynard Institute

Yesterday I did a post on iPhone apps I’d recommend for NABJ President Greg Lee.  I posted a link on Facebook, and one of the responders was Dori Maynard of the Maynard Institute. Dori got an iPad for Christmas, so here’s the apps I’d recommend for her.

1. AppStart (free) – for the iPad newbie, this is a must-have app that offers great advice on the best apps to download as you begin your tablet journey.
2. Flipboard (free) – I’ve all but abandoned my Google Reader for this app. You can use it to do great magazine-style feeds of your favorite publications.  You can share story links via Twitter, email links or read them later.  I’d also download Pocket (free), which is an app that stores Flipboard stories for offline reading later.
3. CNN (free) – the news junkie in me loves this app.  I can read stories, see breaking news videos, get updates on important stories and even watch live programming (thanks to my DirecTV subscription).
4. Prezi (free) – step away from the boring, predictable PowerPoint presentation with this animated app.
5. Apps Gone Free (free) - every day, this app suggests between eight and 20 paid apps that are being given away for a limited time.  I’ve gotten some great photo/video and travel apps through this app.
6. SoundNote ($4.99) – I learned about this app via a post on best journalist gifts over at the 10000 Words blog. While you are typing your notes on your iPad, it also records.  When you want to play something back, tap the word and the recording takes you there.
7. Google Drive (free) – if you’re like me and have moved many documents to the cloud, having this app makes it simple to access all those files.
8. JoinMe (free) – let’s say you want to have an online meeting with the ability to share your screen.  This app does that, and works great on the iPad.
9. Storify (free) – Dori and former NABJ President Herb Lowe know I’m a HUGE fan of this multimedia storytelling program, and you can create the same magic on your iPad with this app.
10. Find iPhone/iPad (free) – this app will help you recover a lost iPhone or iPad even if the volume is off.  Combine this with a pass code to open your items, and you’re good to go in the security area.

Top 10 iPhone Apps I Recommend For NABJ President Greg Lee’s New iPhone

So I’m checking out the @NABJDigital Twitter account and I see that NABJ President Greg Lee has announced that he just got a new iPhone.  I’m an iPhone user (Santa bought me an iPhone 5) and regularly test and review iPhone apps.  So below, for my president, and the rest of you, are my picks.

1. AppStart for iPhone (free) – one of my geek tech friends told me about this app when I got my iPad last Christmas, and they have now released an iPhone version.  It offers dozens of suggestions for folks just getting started.
2. Apps Gone Free (free) – every day, this app suggests between eight and 20 paid apps that are being given away for a limited time.  I’ve gotten some great photo/video and travel apps through this app.
3. AP Stylebook ($24.99) – any journalist worth their salt has a copy of this on their desk.  This app puts it all in your hands, with a search function and the ability to bookmark key items.
4. Miriam Webster Dictionary (free) – I love this app. You can get quick definitions and pronunciations of words.
5. SoundCloud (free) – this app allows you to record sound for stories and upload it to Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Foursquare.
6. iTalk Recorder Premium ($1.99) – every good reporter needs  a recorder for interviews.  This is the one you want.  You can do good, better and best sound quality. Once the recording is done, you can email it (if it’s not too big), upload it via Dropbox or download the desktop app that automatically transfers files.
7. Camera+ (99 cents) – the built-in camera on the iPhone is crap. Spend the money to get this app, which includes a zoom, a grid, a stabilizer, a timer, the ability to take bursts of photos, quality adjustment, sharing on social networks and geotagging.
8. Video+ (99 cents) – again, the video camera on the iPhone is crap. so spend the 99 cents for an app that offers more than a dozen special effects, contrast and other settings, and the ability to use the flash as  a light for your video.
9. Ustream (free) – use this app to live stream events.  The video can also be automatically uploaded to a YouTube channel.
10. Evernote (free) – this app allows you to take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable. You can also access your notes via iPhone, iPad or desktop.

Tomorrow I’ll offer my top 10 iPad picks.  And I’d be happy to see what your iPhone/iPad app picks are!