What’s On Your Multimedia Christmas List?

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Editor’s note: the next NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force event will be a BlogTalkRadio show entitled “Making The Transition From Journalism To PR.” Our panelists will share their experiences on making the move and answer questions on how to transfer your skills to the other side.  I hope you can join us on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The holiday season is upon us.  I recently told my five-year-old daughter that she needed to make a list of things that she wanted for Christmas, with the caveat that she won’t get everything on that list.  That prompted me to start thinking what I’d like on my multimedia Christmas list.  In turn, that made me think what my fellow journalists would like to see in their Christmas stocking or on Kuumba (Creativity) day for Kwaanza.  So below, see the complete list, and I hope you get some great ideas to take your journalism to the next level in 2011!

Benét Wilson, National Association of Black Journalists’ Digital Journalism Task Force co-chair & Online Managing Editor, Aviation Week: I’m hoping Santa brings me a DSLR camera for Christmas. It’s time for me to take my photography to the next level, so I must retire my Fujifilm FinePix S800 (which they no longer sell). DJTF Vice President Serbino Sandifer-Walker brought her Olympus SP-800UZ to the annual conference in San Diego and I could not keep from playing with it.  I also was checking out Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists President Sarah Glover’s Canon Powershot G11 at the recent Online News Association conference.

Khallilah R. Beecham, student, University of Missouri School of Journalism: I’m a full-time journalism student at the Missouri’s School of Journalism and I need PhotoShop and iLife ’11 for my Graphic Design and Marketing classes next semester. I want this because I can’t afford it and it’s top of the line software. That would be thee BEST Christmas Present ever.

Mark S. Luckie, national innovations editor, Washington Post, creator, 10000 Words blog and author, the Digital Journalist’s Handbook: For Christmas this year I want an iPod Nano watch. I already have an iPod video, an iPad and an iPhone but a watch with a touch screen would be awesome. Plus, it’s very Dick Tracy.

Christopher E. Nelson, News Associate, NBC News and Co-Chair, NABJ’s Student Education Enrichment Development Committee: I’d like an iPad for the ability to have paperless notes, do research on the fly, and get both my morning and afternoon reading done. The ability to increase productivity, go green, and simply have less stuff to carry when out and about is a great thing for an enterprising journalist.

Bob Butler, Reporter, KCBS Radio & Vice President Broadcast, NABJ: For Christmas I want Adobe to make a version of the Audition audio editing software for the Mac. Right now I have to use Parallels to run Audition on my Mac. And it’s really slow.

Melanie Eversley, Digital Journalism Task Force treasurer, rewrite reporter for USA Today and freelance writer: I would like a new digital voice recorder to record my interviews because I spilled water on my last one and lost two years worth of interviews for a project (and had not transferred them to my computer). In looking at newer models (which have a lot more storage space, by the way), I see there are some with music players. That’s what I’d want.  And some of the better ones out there include: the Sony ICD-SX700 Digital Voice Recorder ($119,00);  Zoom H4n Handy Portable Digital Recorder ($299.00); or the Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player ($129.00).

Marissa Evans, student, Marquette University and president of Marquette’s student NABJ chapter: I want Adobe CS5 Design Premium. I love InDesign and Illustrator, and I want to keep my skills up. This how can I start a publication one day and have the skills to layout MY vision on MY own!

Bliss Davis, multimedia journalist: Mine probably isn’t too high on anyone else list, but it would be nice to have CS5. I’m a bit spoiled in that I’ve always had it, or even a part of it, at my disposal through school or even a friend who had a program in the suite.

Theresa Crushshon, NABJ member and founder/CEO JASSed.com: I am looking forward to receiving CS5 for Christmas. I am really into animation and this is the latest software by Apple.

Sheala Durant, Senior Web Editor, Interactive Media/NEA Academy, National Education Association: I’d like a flat screen television with wi-fi so I can watch Apple TV.

Calendar of Multimedia Training and Events

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

• Webbmedia Group has a great calendar of events that catches things not covered below.  If you want to subscribe to the calendar, click here. You can also subscribe to this calendar so the information appears on your personal Google Calendar. Just go to the Webbmedia Google calendar, click the “+Google Calendar” icon at the bottom right, and then click “Yes, add this calendar” in the dialog box.)

• The 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship will award 15 grants to journalists to help them hone their social media skills and learn about SEO, strategic tweeting, and other information about the Internet.  The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The International Women’s Media Foundation is taking applications for its Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital Media Frontier grant program.  The Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier grant program is designed to diversify the emerging digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs.  In addition to financial support, grantees will receive ongoing technical/skills building assistance in the areas of business management, the news and digital media. The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The deadline to submit applications for the Knight News Challenge is midnight EST, Dec. 1. The challenge is a media innovation contest that aims to advance the future of news by funding new ways to digitally inform communities. Anyone, anywhere in the world can apply. Applicants must only follow three rules: Use digital, open-source technology, distribute news in the public interest, fit into one of four categories. As much as $5 million will be given away this year.
• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is holding an online webinar “Writing Business News for the Web: Online” Dec. 1-2.  The webinar, taught by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jacqui Banaszynski, will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency. Participants will study story approaches and language use that enhance the readability of Web copy.
• Funding Post is holding a venture capitalist and angel investor event Dec. 2 in New Haven, Conn.  The panel of investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing, including how to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check! The session will discuss trends in Early-Stage Investing, hot sectors, sectors that these Angels and VCs look at, things that are most important to them when they are considering an Investment, the best and worst things an entrepreneur can do to get their attention.  The cost is $350.
• The 38th annual Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar will be held Dec. 3-4 in Atlanta, Ga.  The seminar seek to promote the highest standards of photojournalism through an annual educational conference and a photography contest judged by working photographers.
• Knowledgewebb is holding a free webinar – “There Are No Stupid Questions!” on Dec. 7 from 2:30 to 3:30 EST.  Come prepared with all of the burning questions you have – like “What’s an avatar, exactly? And how do I get one?” “How do I get an email signature?” “I don’t know the difference between Google Voice and Google Chat and all the other Google stuff my friends are using.” You’ll get to ask them anonymously and you’ll get immediate answers in the second half of this webinar.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Track Your Traffic: Web Analytics for Journalists,” Dec. 9 at 2:00 p.m.  Learn the tools, process, and vocabulary that will help you better understand your site and your audience, and help you build an effective online design.  The cost is $27.95.
• The Knight Digital Media Center has spaces for 20 fellows at its Interactive Census Hands-On Workshop Dec. 12-17 at the University of California-Berkeley.  KDMC is offering a customized visual storytelling workshop to train journalists on new ways to process data from the 2010 Census. Fellows will illustrate the information using visualization and mapping tools to create a clearer, more meaningful picture of the complex statistics gathered in the national survey.
• The Donald J. Reynolds Journalism Institute is offering the Webinar Writing Business News for the Web Dec. 1-2.  This Webinar will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency.
• The Ford Foundation, with additional funding from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation, are taking applications for the International Center for Journalists’ International Reporting Program for Minority Journalists.  Eight minority journalists will be trained as foreign correspondents, mentored by ICFJ, and linked up with local reporters and sources on the ground around the world.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 13.
• The International Reporting Project is accepting applications for its spring and fall 2011 fellowships. The fellowships allow U.S. journalists to do original, in-depth reporting projects overseas covering neglected, “under-reported” stories of global importance.  The deadline for the spring application is Dec. 20; the deadline for the fall application is April 1.
• The Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion is offering stipends ranging from $5000 to $25,000 for American journalists to report and write these stories, illuminating how religion crosses geographic, temporal and ideological borders as well as how it establishes real and virtual boundaries.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 17.

2011

• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its 2011 Multimedia Training Jan. 9-14 and May 15-20. The workshop offers intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production; from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.  Applications are due by Nov. 19 for the January training and March 18 for the May training.
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is holding a Five-Day Intensive Digital Media Boot Camp Jan. 10-14, 2011.  Participants will learn the basics of visual storytelling concepts through video production and post-production with Final Cut Pro (for Mac). Participants will leave with concrete skills and a better understanding of the technologies that are transforming the news business.  The cost is $1,195, and registration begins in November.
• The Society of Professional Journalists is now taking applications for its Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information Internships.  One intern works in the offices of the Society’s First Amendment legal counsel in Washington, D.C. The other intern works at the Society’s National Headquarters in Indianapolis.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 14.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Becoming a More Effective Reporter: Telling Untold Stories,” Jan. 17 through Feb. 11, 2011.  This course will help you improve your ability to find and tell stories off the beaten path. It will open your eyes and ears to story ideas buried in plain sight and show you how to mine communities, cultures and individuals for stories that often remain untold.  The cost is $399.
• The Donald J. Reynolds Journalism Institute is offering a free webinar “Social Media 101, 202, 303,” Feb. 8-10.   Social Media 101 offers the basics for social media newbies.  Social Media 202 is tips for reporters about using social media sites as research tools. Social Media 303 will show how to filter to contain the clutter.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Web 2.0 workshop Feb. 14-18 and June 13-17.  This training takes participants through the progression of reporting news for multiple digital platforms, starting with quick text posts and moving through photos and video and finally ending with a full multimedia presentation. The workshop provides hands-on training using Twitter and Facebook for reporting and driving web traffic, creating data-driven map mashups, dynamically updating a blog for breaking news, publishing photo galleries and audio slideshows, producing videos and editing videos using Final Cut Pro.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 10 for the February workshop and April 15 for the June training.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Independent Journalists Workshop March 21-25.  The workshop will provide journalists with the hands-on training and tools to get started with an online publishing enterprise.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 28.
• The Kiplinger Program is offering week-long fellowships designed to help journalists make better use of new online tools and channels. The fellowship will be held March 30 April 6, 2011, at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at
• Ohio State University.  The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The National Conference for Media Reform will hold its annual conference in Boston April 8-11, 2011.  The conference brings together thousands of activists, media makers, educators, journalists, scholars, policymakers and engaged citizens to meet, tell their stories, share tactics, listen to great speakers and build the movement for better media in America.
• Applications are now open for the Knight Digital Media Center’s News Entrepreneur Boot Camp 2011.  The boot camp will be held May 15-20, 2011, in Los Angeles. The one-week boot camp plus 6-week online learning program is designed for 20 competitively selected digital entrepreneurs with great ideas for community news and information initiatives in the public interest.  Applications are due Jan. 14, with final participants chosen March 7.

If you have any items that I’ve missed, please drop me an email via the DJTF Yahoo! Listserv or at regaviationqueen AT yahoo DOT com.  Thanks!

Friday Fast Five + Five – The 10000Words Edition

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

This week I thought I’d switch it up and make this an all-10000 Words edition of Friday Fast Five.  This blog is on the top of my Google Reader, and I’m a HUGE fan of blog creator Mark Luckie.  But since he sold the blog to MediaBistro parent WebMediaBrands on Oct. 5, more writers have been added to the blog, and they bring even more insight to an already-great blog.  So enjoy these picks, along with the rest of your Thanksgiving holiday!

1. Mark S. Luckie – 5 Things I’ve learned about building a personal brand and why everything you’ve heard is bogus.  I like this post because it has offered me sound advice as I continue to develop my own personal brand (Aviation Queen) as the only woman of color (that I know about) in the aviation journalism business.
2. Lauren M. Rabaino – Kinetic typography as a storytelling technique.  Early in my career, I took a graduate workshop in typography and my life hasn’t been the same since.  So this demonstration and tutorial on how to use kinetic typography is just another arrow I’ve placed in my multimedia quiver.
3. Mark S. Luckie – The top 7 technologies that changed modern journalism forever.  I’m pleased to say that I’m very familiar with six of the seven technologies.
4. Ethan Klapper – Top 5 free Android apps for journalists.  I use a Blackberry Curve for work and an iPhone 4 for personal use. But there’s a growing swell of Android devotees out there, so the blog shows them some love.
5. Mark S. Luckie – 7 Ways you can improve your Facebook page now.  Most of us have a Facebook account, but they tend to straddle between the professional and personal posts.  I’ve done 4 of the 7 things Mark suggests, but 2011 is the year I tighten up my social media profiles and this will be part of that process.
6. Chris Dunn – Why – and how – you should update your photojournalism portfolio.  I am NOT a photographer.  But as our newsroom continues in its digital conversion, I bought myself a DSLR digital camera and began shooting away. The result is a professional Flickr account with more than 4,000 aviation-related pictures that have been featured in our magazines and websites. So maybe it’s time for me to create my own photo portfolio.
7. Chris Dunn – 3 reasons why you should keep a photoblog.  This is the follow-up to the post, above.
8. Mark S. Luckie – 3 Unique ways to record, edit, and publish your audio.  I’ve played around with AudioBoo (thanks Dr. Syb), but was unfamiliar with the other two suggestions.
9. Mark S. Luckie – How to avoid creating a snooze-worthy PowerPoint presentation. 2010 was the year I had many speaking engagements dealing with aviation and social media.  This post was a Godsend in helping me spruce up my presentation and make people sit up and take notice!
10. Mark S. Luckie – The 10 basic web skills every journalist must have.  I actually did an NABJDigital blog post on this topic on Oct. 22.  I was pleased to see I had 8 of the 10 covered.

NABJDigital Reviews Knight Digital Media Center Trainings

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Are you looking to jump-start your continuing transition into digital media?  The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has extended the workshop application deadline for its Jan. 9-14, 2011, multimedia training to Monday, Nov. 29, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.  The workshop will also be held May 15-20 2011. The deadline to apply is March 18, 2011, by 11:59 p.m. PDT.

The Multimedia Reporting and Convergence Workshop offers intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production, from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.

Participants are taught skills they need to produce quality multimedia stories including:

• Video recording and editing
• Photography and audio slideshows
• Audio recording and editing
• Voice coaching for narration or stand-ups
• Photoshop and Web design concepts and
• Producing Adobe Flash interactive story graphics

KDMC is also offering its Web 2.0 training workshop Feb. 14-18, 2011, and June 13-17, 2010.   The deadlines to apply for each session are Dec. 10, 2010 at by 11:59 p.m. PDT and April 5, 2011 by 11:59 p.m. PDT, respectively.

It will take participants through the progression of reporting news for multiple digital platforms, starting with quick text posts and moving through photos and video and finally ending with a full multimedia presentation. The workshop provides hands-on training using Twitter and Facebook for reporting and driving web traffic, creating data-driven map mashups, dynamically updating a blog for breaking news, publishing photo galleries and audio slideshows, producing videos and editing videos using Final Cut Pro. Participants will leave with new tools for reporting and with fresh insights on how to serve new and emerging audiences.

During five days of intense, hands-on instruction, the fellows selected for the Web 2.0 training will:

• Blog breaking news using Twitter
• Post photos in interactive news maps
• Produce and publish photo galleries and audio slideshows
• Create and edit videos with Final Cut Pro
• Incorporate user-generated content in breaking news stories
• Use Facebook and publication widgets for news distribution
• Learn technical specifics for optimizing breaking news rankings in Google

The Knight Digital Media Center encourages print and broadcast journalists who want to develop multimedia skills to apply for both workshops.  The fellowship covers all lodging, meals, and instruction costs, but the cost of travel to the workshop must be paid by the applicant’s news organization.  You are also required to get an organizational investment commitment from your company as part of your application.

An online application form and instructions are available here. You do need to create an account on the Knight website, which takes less that 2 minutes.   And your application can be saved and completed in several sessions. For more information, contact Alisha Diego Klatt, program specialist, at kdmcinfo@journalism.berkeley.edu or (510) 642-3892.

Our Local Media Missed the Story

TSU’s NAACP Chapter Shows the Power of One Vote

By Sara Phipps Carr

Sara is a journalism major at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.  She produced this story on TSU’s NAACP’s  voting campaign using an iPhone.

The story is also on Sara’s podcast channel TSU’s NAACP Chapter’s Voting Campaign.

Multimedia Journalism Student

One of the most compelling stories I had to cover this semester was Texas Southern University’s student NAACP chapter’s campaign to register new voters.  However, I was disappointed that our local media simply ignored the story.

I have been taught that journalists should cover stories that have impact in their communities.  Certainly this story met the basic criteria to be covered. It was organized by students who were hungry to have their voices heard.  They were passionate and meticulously organized.

Months before November 2, 2010, they met on the university campus, in their dorm rooms or anywhere they could shape a plan to get their student colleagues to the polls.  These young architects of change were fed-up with all of the talk that associated their generation with being indifferent and out of touch. 

While statistics certainly showed that young voters did not go to the polls in droves in November, these new champions of civil rights did not accept the lackadaisical attitude of those who sat out the election or buy into the status quo message the media had trumpeted for months.  Perhaps that media message effected the turn out.

The students’ in your face campaign, pitching the power of one vote to any student who would listen, was the talk of campus.  The campaign worked.

More than eight hundred students were registered to vote.  But that wasn’t enough.  They took the plan to the next level.  On November 2, at high noon, they met at the student center on TSU’s campus.  They had bright blue and yellow signs showing pride in what they were about to do.  They called the media and told them to be there.  They wanted to send a message that they understood the sacrifices made by their forefathers and mothers.  They were going to vote.

So they marched.  The scene was reminiscent of a 60’s style rally.  They chanted and sang civil rights hymns.  Then they arrived at their final destination, Lockhart Elementary school.  They walked into the building and casted their votes.

If only our local media had covered the story. The humbling thing for me is that I was there.  I covered the story.  Yes, I covered the story that our local media missed.  It’s on the Internet. And now Houston and the nation can see that there’s a group of college students in Houston, Texas who taught us all a very valuable lesson – one vote does count. Maybe the Internet was just what they needed to get their message to the masses when traditional media, for whatever reason, failed to cover the story.

Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, “The time is always right to do what is right,” would have been proud of these foot soldiers of the 21^st century.

Members of TSU's NAACP chapter voting - Photo by Sara Phipps Carr

Calendar of Multimedia Training and Events

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

• Webbmedia Group has a great calendar of events that catches things not covered below.  If you want to subscribe to the calendar, click here. You can also subscribe to this calendar so the information appears on your personal Google Calendar. Just go to the Webbmedia Google calendar, click the “+Google Calendar” icon at the bottom right, and then click “Yes, add this calendar” in the dialog box.)
• Mediabistro is holding the webinar “Reinventing Print Content for the Web” for six weeks on Tuesdays from Nov. 23 to Jan. 4.  The 6-week course will teach the essentials of creating successful magazine sites and what that means for print magazine writers and editors.  The cost is $425.

• The 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship will award 15 grants to journalists to help them hone their social media skills and learn about SEO, strategic tweeting, and other information about the Internet.  The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The International Women’s Media Foundation is taking applications for its Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital Media Frontier grant program.  The Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier grant program is designed to diversify the emerging digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs.  In addition to financial support, grantees will receive ongoing technical/skills building assistance in the areas of business management, the news and digital media. The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is holding an online webinar “Writing Business News for the Web: Online” Dec. 1-2.  The webinar, taught by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jacqui Banaszynski, will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency. Participants will study story approaches and language use that enhance the readability of Web copy.
• Funding Post is holding a venture capitalist and angel investor event Dec. 2 in New Haven, Conn.  The panel of investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing, including how to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check! The session will discuss trends in Early-Stage Investing, hot sectors, sectors that these Angels and VCs look at, things that are most important to them when they are considering an Investment, the best and worst things an entrepreneur can do to get their attention.  The cost is $350.
• The 38th annual Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar will be held Dec. 3-4 in Atlanta, Ga.  The seminar seek to promote the highest standards of photojournalism through an annual educational conference and a photography contest judged by working photographers.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Track Your Traffic: Web Analytics for Journalists,” Dec. 9 at 2:00 p.m.  Learn the tools, process, and vocabulary that will help you better understand your site and your audience, and help you build an effective online design.  The cost is $27.95.
• The Knight Digital Media Center has spaces for 20 fellows at its Interactive Census Hands-On Workshop Dec. 12-17 at the University of California-Berkeley.  KDMC is offering a customized visual storytelling workshop to train journalists on new ways to process data from the 2010 Census. Fellows will illustrate the information using visualization and mapping tools to create a clearer, more meaningful picture of the complex statistics gathered in the national survey.
• The Donald J. Reynolds Journalism Institute is offering the Webinar Writing Business News for the Web Dec. 1-2.  This Webinar will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency.
• The Ford Foundation, with additional funding from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation, are taking applications for the International Center for Journalists’ International Reporting Program for Minority Journalists.  Eight minority journalists will be trained as foreign correspondents, mentored by ICFJ, and linked up with local reporters and sources on the ground around the world.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 13.
• The International Reporting Project is accepting applications for its spring and fall 2011 fellowships. The fellowships allow U.S. journalists to do original, in-depth reporting projects overseas covering neglected, “under-reported” stories of global importance.  The deadline for the spring application is Dec. 20; the deadline for the fall application is April 1.
• The Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion is offering stipends ranging from $5000 to $25,000 for American journalists to report and write these stories, illuminating how religion crosses geographic, temporal and ideological borders as well as how it establishes real and virtual boundaries.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 17.

2011

• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its 2011 Multimedia Training Jan. 9-14 and May 15-20. The workshop offers intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production; from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.  Applications are due by Nov. 19 for the January training and March 18 for the May training.
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is holding a Five-Day Intensive Digital Media Boot Camp Jan. 10-14, 2011.  Participants will learn the basics of visual storytelling concepts through video production and post-production with Final Cut Pro (for Mac). Participants will leave with concrete skills and a better understanding of the technologies that are transforming the news business.  The cost is $1,195, and registration begins in November.
• The Society of Professional Journalists is now taking applications for its Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information Internships.  One intern works in the offices of the Society’s First Amendment legal counsel in Washington, D.C. The other intern works at the Society’s National Headquarters in Indianapolis.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 14.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Becoming a More Effective Reporter: Telling Untold Stories,” Jan. 17 through Feb. 11, 2011.  This course will help you improve your ability to find and tell stories off the beaten path. It will open your eyes and ears to story ideas buried in plain sight and show you how to mine communities, cultures and individuals for stories that often remain untold.  The cost is $399.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Web 2.0 workshop Feb. 14-18 and June 13-17.  This training takes participants through the progression of reporting news for multiple digital platforms, starting with quick text posts and moving through photos and video and finally ending with a full multimedia presentation. The workshop provides hands-on training using Twitter and Facebook for reporting and driving web traffic, creating data-driven map mashups, dynamically updating a blog for breaking news, publishing photo galleries and audio slideshows, producing videos and editing videos using Final Cut Pro.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 10 for the February workshop and April 15 for the June training.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Independent Journalists Workshop March 21-25.  The workshop will provide journalists with the hands-on training and tools to get started with an online publishing enterprise.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 28.
• The National Conference for Media Reform will hold its annual conference in Boston April 8-11, 2011.  The conference brings together thousands of activists, media makers, educators, journalists, scholars, policymakers and engaged citizens to meet, tell their stories, share tactics, listen to great speakers and build the movement for better media in America.
• Applications are now open for the Knight Digital Media Center’s News Entrepreneur Boot Camp 2011.  The boot camp will be held May 15-20, 2011, in Los Angeles. The one-week boot camp plus 6-week online learning program is designed for 20 competitively selected digital entrepreneurs with great ideas for community news and information initiatives in the public interest.  Applications are due Jan. 14, with final participants chosen March 7.

If you have any items that I’ve missed, please drop me an email via the DJTF Yahoo! Listserv or at regaviationqueen AT yahoo DOT com.  Thanks!

Friday Fast Five

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

1. 10000Words – Location! Location! Location! How journalists can use location-based services
2. Mashable – 21 Creative Blogger Bio Pages
3. Society of Professional Journalists – The SPJ Digital Media Handbook
4. Media Shift – Six Stunning Projects That Show the Power of Data Visualization
5. Social Media Today – 50 of the Best Twitter Guides, Stats, Tips and Tools of 2010 (So Far)
6. Online Journalism Review – Thinking about starting an online news business? Here’s your start-up checklist
7. Blogging Tips – To Use or Not To Use Video
8. Six Revisions – 50 Excellent Photography-Related Tutorials
9. Noupe – 40+ Useful Online Generators For Web Designers
10. Flip The Media – 7 Blogs You Should Be Reading

Listen To NABJ Members Review The 2010 Online News Association Conference

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Last night, the Digital Journalism Task Force broadcast a BlogTalkRadio show featuring a panel of three National Association of Black Journalist members discussing their attendance at the recent Online News Association’s 2010 conference in Washington, D.C., Oct. 28-31.

Now in its 11th year, the ONA conference has become one of the must-attend shows on the journalism circuit because it brings together a virtual who’s who of digital/multimedia journalism.  There are also representatives from  community/content editorial, programming, design, education and traditional and new media outlets.

Our panelists were: Dr. Sybril Bennett, associate professor of journalism at Belmont University and the newly named Programming Chair for next year’s NABJ annual conference; Sarah Glover, staff photographer at the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists President; and Doug Mitchell, chair of NABJ’s Media Institute, co-director of the Ford Foundation’s New U entrepreneurship program and an adjunct professor instructor at the City College of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism.

We discussed issues including: the big topics discussed at ONA; what workshops/panels that stood out and which ones should be at NABJ next year; and having more representation at next year’s ONA.  Click here to listen to the 60-minute program.

And join us on Tuesday, Dec. 7 for our next event:  Making The Transition From Journalism To PR.  Our panelists are:

• Aprill O. Turner, NABJ’s associate member rep and a public relations professional and political strategist with experience working with non-profit and corporate clients;
• Marc Willis, a former television news reporter who now works as a Public Affairs Specialist for the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;
• Manny Otiko, who has worked in the journalism/PR field for more than 15 years and is currently vice president of social and new media at Desmond & Louis Public Relations; and
• Denise T. Ward, who spent 12 years as a journalist before moving to communications, where she is currently a Strategic Communications Specialist with Booz Allen Hamilton.

The transition is not as easy as many would expect, so our panelists will share their experiences on making the move and answer questions on how to transfer your skills to the other side.  I hope you cam join us!

NABJDigital Profiles shades Magazine’s Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig

One of the many benefits of being a member of the National Association of Black Journalists is the people you get to meet.  At this year’s annual conference in San Diego, I made my usual appearance at the Bay Area Black Journalists Association’s (BABJA) Italian dinner.  All those in attendance had to introduce themselves and say what their connection to the Bay Area was (I was born in San Francisco and have relatives all over the region).  Our host was BABJA President Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, who used her introduction to plug her new magazine, shades – Celebrating All Women of Color. The news publication covers stories on women of color worldwide, an audience she says is underserved.  We discuss the creation of shades – which she co-owns with NABJ and BABJA member Z’ma Wyatt – finding news about women of color and advice on creating one’s own publishing company.

 

 

NABJDigital: How did you come up with the idea for shades?

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig: It started as a dream, a vision almost 20 years ago. I have always been involved in diversity and women issues.  I had a desire to work with women on empowerment and uplifting issues. I wanted to use writing and storytelling to give women voices they didn’t have in the traditional media.

ND: Why did you decide to cover all women of color instead of focusing on one, like black?

MFC: This goes back to beginning. I just feel that in traditional journals, the voices of women of all colors aren’t heard.  We carry uniqueness among us that white women don’t have.  There have been magazines out there, but they’ve fallen by the wayside.  And when we do see magazines targeting ethnic groups, it’s usually only one at a time and they often times are superficial, covering things like makeup and fashion trends, but not the news. I wanted to be inclusive of all women.

ND: You have a diverse group of writers. How did you choose them?

MFC: They are women and one man who I’ve worked with before.  It’s actually the second coming of shades.  It was originally launched online in 2002, but that was nothing compared to what people are doing online now.  It lasted 1.5 years.  Life got in the way, so it was put on hiatus.

Over the last 5-7 years, I’ve been on the editor rather than the reporter side.  The people I met and networked with over the years, there was just something about them, and I just knew they would fit. They also said they wanted to do something like this, and it was a perfect fit.  But I looked for writing abilities and for people I felt would have a good voice for the various ethnic groups.

ND: How do you decide what stories go into shades?

MFC: Part of it is that we look at what’s in the news to create the news peg.  I’ve seen a lot of issues over the years, but I’ve read very little about myself.  I’ll see a small angle in a story and say ‘wow, I didn’t know this. The mainstream media didn’t want to do this story.’  Some stories are directly from the writers. And the Internet is a jewel, because you can find everything out there, including pieces of stories on women of color.

ND: Who is your target audience?

MFC: First and foremost, it’s all women of color.  Then as I re-launched it, I’m also including underserved groups like lesbians, single mothers and seniors, since I don’t see publications for them.  My goal is whenever we write a story, we put out an issue that is interesting to everyone.

ND: You have the weekly mini magazine and the full monthly magazine. Why did you decide to split formats?

MFC: I did this for many reasons.  I wanted to get shades out on the Internet before we did an actual print issue.  The plan in 2011 is to do a quarterly print edition.  And depending on the industry, it may become a print monthly.  We want people to have access to shades every day, so we’ll be aggregating stories every day, do shades stories weekly, then do the magazine.  Women can go to the site and get the information that they need.

ND: It has been tough for online paid magazines.  Why did you decide to take that route? How did you come up with the $10 subscription price?

MFC: $10 is reasonable.  I didn’t want to charge something to say I’m in it for the money.  I want to target women who will be able to afford to read it.  It’s an income. I’m not going to be rich with this.  I felt because of time we’re putting in and our writers are putting in, I wanted to make sure people were reading it.  When you offer something for free, they don’t want to pay for it.  There is enough uniqueness in shades that people will want to purchase it.

ND: What role is social media playing in your promotion of shades?

MFC:  We are blessed to have Mark Luckie [of 10000 Words] as our digital strategist. We have a Facebook fan page and we’re on Twitter.  It’s not just about promoting shades.  We’re putting out links to stories that are of interest.

ND: What is your advertising model for shades?

MFC: There are ads on the site.  Most of the ads have been more media sponsorships or promotional ads, but we will sell ads on the website and in the magazine.  Those ads will be about anything that would be of interest to our readers.  We won’t take tobacco ads.

ND: What advice would you give to NABJ members who might want to do what you’ve done?

MFC: It’s cliché, but just do it.  A lot of this for me is just following a dream. If you’re really motivated to take your skills experience and put them out there, there’s a way to do it.  Some say I need this money, that money, but…. A year ago, I had the chance to buy a print magazine. The owners said they had started the magazine and made it a success only spending $1000. So I said I can do this too.  There’s always a way to do things digitally.  The Internet has been a blessing for journalists.  Start small and take baby steps.

Calendar of Multimedia Training and Events

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Editor’s note: please join the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force for a panel discussion featuring three members who attended the Online News Association’s  2010 conference in D.C. Our panelists are Dr. Sybril Bennett, associate professor of journalism at Belmont University; Sarah Glover, staff photographer at the Philadelphia Daily News and PABJ President; and Doug Mitchell, chair of NABJ’s Media Institute, co-director of the Ford Foundation’s New U entrepreneurship program and an adjunct professor instructor at the City College of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. The panelists will discuss the workshops they attended at ONA, what they learned and how that knowledge needs to be used to help NABJ members stay relevant in the newsroom. We’ll leave plenty of time for your questions!

• Webbmedia Group has a great calendar of events that catches things not covered below.  If you want to subscribe to the calendar, click here. You can also subscribe to this calendar so the information appears on your personal Google Calendar. Just go to the Webbmedia Google calendar, click the “+Google Calendar” icon at the bottom right, and then click “Yes, add this calendar” in the dialog box.)
• The Online News Association is having a MeetUp Nov. 17 to kick off the creation of its San Francisco chapter.  The meeting will be held at The Bay Citizen, 126 Post St., Suite 500, in downtown San Francisco at 6:30 p.m.
• The Online News Association’s Washington, D.C. chapter is holding a discussion focusing on mobile news apps on Nov. 18th, 6.30 p.m. at Busboys & Poets at 14th & V Street, N.W.
• The Poynter Institute is holding a webinar, Social Media Search: Maximizing Results, on Nov. 18 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.  The webinar will introduce 12 new search tools, techniques and tricks to help you capitalize on social media to find what you need efficiently. The cost is $27.95.

• The 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship will award 15 grants to journalists to help them hone their social media skills and learn about SEO, strategic tweeting, and other information about the Internet.  The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The International Women’s Media Foundation is taking applications for its Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital Media Frontier grant program.  The Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier grant program is designed to diversify the emerging digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs.  In addition to financial support, grantees will receive ongoing technical/skills building assistance in the areas of business management, the news and digital media. The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is holding an online webinar “Writing Business News for the Web: Online” Dec. 1-2.  The webinar, taught by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jacqui Banaszynski, will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency. Participants will study story approaches and language use that enhance the readability of Web copy.
• The 38th annual Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar will be held Dec. 3-4 in Atlanta, Ga.  The seminar seek to promote the highest standards of photojournalism through an annual educational conference and a photography contest judged by working photographers.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Track Your Traffic: Web Analytics for Journalists,” Dec. 9 at 2:00 p.m.  Learn the tools, process, and vocabulary that will help you better understand your site and your audience, and help you build an effective online design.  The cost is $27.95.
• The Knight Digital Media Center has spaces for 20 fellows at its Interactive Census Hands-On Workshop Dec. 12-17 at the University of California-Berkeley.  KDMC is offering a customized visual storytelling workshop to train journalists on new ways to process data from the 2010 Census. Fellows will illustrate the information using visualization and mapping tools to create a clearer, more meaningful picture of the complex statistics gathered in the national survey.
• The Donald J. Reynolds Journalism Institute is offering the Webinar Writing Business News for the Web Dec. 1-2.  This Webinar will help writers and editors write with clarity, efficiency, brevity and transparency.
• The Ford Foundation, with additional funding from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation, are taking applications for the International Center for Journalists’ International Reporting Program for Minority Journalists.  Eight minority journalists will be trained as foreign correspondents, mentored by ICFJ, and linked up with local reporters and sources on the ground around the world.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 13.
• The International Reporting Project is accepting applications for its spring and fall 2011 fellowships. The fellowships allow U.S. journalists to do original, in-depth reporting projects overseas covering neglected, “under-reported” stories of global importance.  The deadline for the spring application is Dec. 20; the deadline for the fall application is April 1.
• The Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion is offering stipends ranging from $5000 to $25,000 for American journalists to report and write these stories, illuminating how religion crosses geographic, temporal and ideological borders as well as how it establishes real and virtual boundaries.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 17.

2011

• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its 2011 Multimedia Training Jan. 9-14 and May 15-20. The workshop offers intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production; from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.  Applications are due by Nov. 19 for the January training and March 18 for the May training.
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is holding a Five-Day Intensive Digital Media Boot Camp Jan. 10-14, 2011.  Participants will learn the basics of visual storytelling concepts through video production and post-production with Final Cut Pro (for Mac). Participants will leave with concrete skills and a better understanding of the technologies that are transforming the news business.  The cost is $1,195, and registration begins in November.
• The Society of Professional Journalists is now taking applications for its Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information Internships.  One intern works in the offices of the Society’s First Amendment legal counsel in Washington, D.C. The other intern works at the Society’s National Headquarters in Indianapolis.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 14.
• The Poynter Institute is holding an online webinar, “Becoming a More Effective Reporter: Telling Untold Stories,” Jan. 17 through Feb. 11, 2011.  This course will help you improve your ability to find and tell stories off the beaten path. It will open your eyes and ears to story ideas buried in plain sight and show you how to mine communities, cultures and individuals for stories that often remain untold.  The cost is $399.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Web 2.0 workshop Feb. 14-18 and June 13-17.  This training takes participants through the progression of reporting news for multiple digital platforms, starting with quick text posts and moving through photos and video and finally ending with a full multimedia presentation. The workshop provides hands-on training using Twitter and Facebook for reporting and driving web traffic, creating data-driven map mashups, dynamically updating a blog for breaking news, publishing photo galleries and audio slideshows, producing videos and editing videos using Final Cut Pro.  The deadline to apply is Dec. 10 for the February workshop and April 15 for the June training.
• The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley has opened applications for its Independent Journalists Workshop March 21-25.  The workshop will provide journalists with the hands-on training and tools to get started with an online publishing enterprise.  The deadline to apply is Jan. 28.
• The National Conference for Media Reform will hold its annual conference in Boston April 8-11, 2011.  The conference brings together thousands of activists, media makers, educators, journalists, scholars, policymakers and engaged citizens to meet, tell their stories, share tactics, listen to great speakers and build the movement for better media in America.

If you have any items that I’ve missed, please drop me an email via the DJTF Yahoo! Listserv or at regaviationqueen AT yahoo DOT com.  Thanks!