Universities Beginning to Crack Digi-Books

Could you imagine hearing “Students! Take out your laptops and go to URL http://Ur395fg34…” from your Journalism professor instead of pulling out your  text book?

Maybe you’re already hearing something similar to this in your classes.

In that case, you are exactly where Eric Newton wants you to be: in the intersection of journalism education and the digital age.

A recent article on the Poynter Institute’s website entitled, “Journalism textbooks have seen their future and it is digital”, profiles Newton, a journalist and senior adviser to the Knight Foundation president, and his idea that digital journalism should be taught mainly in digital form. His website “Searchlights and Sunglasses”, a digital book/online teaching tool embodies this theory. The digi-books are updated as weekly, monthly or in some cases, hourly, as opposed to the one to five years it takes for conventional textbook updates.

With the benefits of using a digital textbook, the question lies: have classrooms seen the last of the traditional printed textbook?

Howard University’s Assistant Professor of New Media Ingrid Sturgis doesn’t think so.

“I use print because not everybody learns in the same way.” Professor Sturgis says, “I think everybody takes the information in a certain that is best for them. If you go without a textbook [there may be] a student that might want to read something in print and they don’t really want to see it on a screen. I have some students that don’t want to do anything on a screen!”

Cameron Smith, a senior Strategic Communications major at the Missouri School of Journalism thinks otherwise. When asked if he sees textbooks being phased out of his journalism classes, he says “I have noticed over the past year that teachers really aren’t using books anymore. They’re giving us “E-Res” links. So we do all our reading through the E-Reserve which is nice because you don’t have to pay for anything.” Smith likes the fact that digital books are being constantly updated, something he believes is more practical for students learning journalism.

Sophomore Journalism student at the Missouri School of Journalism Sequoyah Moore found herself somewhere in the middle seeing the continued benefits of printed textbooks and convenience of online textbooks.

Moore states, “I prefer to study from websites or other online resources. The ease of being able to simultaneously read from a digital textbook and take notes on programs like Microsoft Word makes studying much easier. The traditional method of highlighting in textbooks and taking handwritten notes seems to take much more time and energy.” But then counters, “I don’t see printed textbooks phasing out completely in classrooms any time soon. Many of my own journalism courses have only used digital resources, but there are staples like AP Stylebooks and the like that probably won’t leave the hard copy format for a while. Relying on digital resources is incredibly useful in classrooms, but it’s not always dependable simply because the use of computers is not always dependable or productive.”

While there is no stopping traditional print forms of news and other media from moving more and more onto digital platforms, there does seem to be a happy medium between the two realms that Newton’s “Searchlights and Sunglasses” recognizes: each page of the website allows users to download and print out PDF versions of the page.

Sadiyyah Rice is the digital intern for the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force, recording secretary for the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and video editor for Higher Education Channel Television (HEC-TV).

Why YOU Need To Submit A Workshop Proposal for #NABJ14

I joined the National Association of Black Journalists’ Program Committee in 2009, for the Tampa convention. I remained on the committee for the San Diego conference in 2010. I was deputy program chair for Philly in 2011, and served as chair for New Orleans in 2012 and Orlando in 2013. Suffice it to say, after all that time, I have some knowledge I can share as planning for the 2014 convention in Boston begins.

Every year after the convention programming has been revealed, people say the same things: “there’s no programming on INSERT TOPIC HERE;” “where is the INSERT TOPIC HERE workshop?” “I’m so sick of seeing INSERT WORKSHOP TOPIC every year;” “Why did they choose INSERT NAME” to do INSERT TITLE workshop?” “That INSERT TASK FORCE NAME HERE always has more than one workshop;” “There are too many INSERT TYPE of workshops'” and “These workshops don’t offer anything to me, an INSERT TYPE of journalist.” I could go on, but you get my point.

My answer to these folks was always the same: what workshop proposals did YOU submit?  Nine times out of 10, the answer was the same — they didn’t submit one at all.  Understand that the Program Committee looks to you, the membership, to propose the vast majority of workshops. They need you and your fellow panel members to offer your expertise with other members. So if you haven’t seen your programming in the past, then consider submitting a workshop proposal for 2014.

And it’s not enough just to throw something together. Think about what you want to see and what your fellow NABJ members want and/or need.  Consider workshops that stress mastery of reporting, writing, editing and other journalism cornerstones.  Maybe you want to show off new and emerging technology.  Or take a look at panels that emphasize innovation and entrepreneurship in the dissemination of news and information.

The categories for 2014 are: Engage – Young Journalists and New Professionals; Immerse – Mid-career Movement and Culture Immersion; Specialize – Learning the Beat; Inform – Communications and Media Professionals; Learn – Technical and Fundamental Skills; and Know – Hot Topics.

Come up with an informative and snappy headline, along with up to 250 words of compelling copy that will convince the committee to choose your workshop and members to attend it. If you don’t feel up to the commitment of putting together a workshop, but have expertise to share, sign up to be a speaker.

The 2014 NABJ Program Committee is hosting a “Workshop Proposals 101” webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8:00 p.m. ET.  In this hour-long webinar, Convention Chair Charles Robinson and Program Chair Deirdre Childress Hopkins, along with their team members, will answer your questions on what goes into creating a successful workshop proposal and what types of workshops they are looking for.  Editor’s note: a link to that webinar is here. 

If you’ve never submitted one before, this is your chance to engage and learn how it’s done. The deadline to submit is Dec. 1. As journalists, we face deadlines every day, so please respect the process and get yours in by the deadline. And remember — you can’t complain about the workshops if you don’t submit a proposal!

Below are 10 broad workshop ideas to get you started.  Good luck!

1. Job search/career transition
2. How to start doing data journalism
3. Copyediting tips and tricks
4. Effective ways to crowdsource your stories
5. Demonstrate tools and technology for journalists
6. How to break into INSERT BEAT HERE
7. How to develop and produce multiplatform stories
8. Plan and write long-form stories
9. Creating a freelance journalist business
10. Legal implications in a new media world

Benét J. Wilson serves on the board of the Online News Association. She is the immediate past chair of the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and was the 2013 NABJ Program Chair. She is currently the social media/eNewsletters editor for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and a freelance aviation journalist and blogger.

#TryitTuesday

It’s time of #TryItTuesday, where the goal is to encourage you (yes, YOU) to try just one thing as you continue your digital journalism journey.

Today’s try-it is FOIA Machine, which allows users to automate their Freedom of Information Act requests. It also allows users to track the progress of requests, keep efforts organized, set reminders for yourself and more. It was created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and successfully funded through a $50,000 Kickstarter campaign.

Please feel free to share your tools!

Benét J. Wilson serves on the board of the Online News Association. She is the immediate past chair of the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and is the social media/eNewsletters editor for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  She is also a freelance aviation journalist and blogger.

 

Calendar of Multimedia Training and Events

OCTOBER

• The Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California-Berkeleyis hosting New Media Storytelling, Innovation & Technology Fall 2013 workshop “Writing for Infographics”. Infographics have become an ubiquitous tool for those communicating complex information in an easy to understand visual format. The best infographics are often the product of collaborations between teams of creative professionals. In this two-day Writing for Infographics workshop kdmcBerkeley is teaming with Visually to train a new generation of professionals in the art of research and writing for the infographic. Date: November 19-20, 2013. Tuition: $545. Register by October 29th for a 10 percent discount. Click here to apply.

• Poynter’s News U is holding a free webinar, “Effective News Videos with Videolicious: A Digital Tools Tutorial,” on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Funded by Amazon and the Knight Foundation, Videolicious empowers more than 1 million people in 100+ countries to create sophisticated video productions — automatically, in seconds.

• If you have the skills, passion and determination to be a journalist of the future – a trained professional who knows a good story when they see it and who has the confidence to tell it in a way that best imparts its relevance and importance to news consumers – an 18-month Hearst Fellowship may be right for you. Applications are open from October through January.

NOVEMBER

• The National Association of Science Writers conference will be held Nov. 1-5, 2013, in Gainesville, Fla. NASW members have crafted a slate of professional development workshops, and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing has recruited scientists from all over the country for the 51st New Horizons in Science briefings on emerging research.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is offering 24 fellowships worth $1,500 each for four days of study in business journalism  from Jan. 2-5, 2014, in Phoenix. Fellowships cover training, lodging, materials and most meals. Fellows just have to cover their transportation costs. The seminars will occur during Reynolds Business Journalism Week at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The journalists’ Strictly Financials Seminars teach the essentials of covering financials, from stock markets to financial statements and company research. The Business Journalism Professors Seminar will cover the essentials of teaching a hands-on, university course in business journalism. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1.

• The 35th Annual SND Workshop and Exhibition will be held Nov. 7-9, 2013, in Louisville, Ky. The event is hosted by Gannett Louisville Design Studio. The Society for News Design (SND) is an international organization for news media professionals and visual communicators – specifically those who create print/web/mobile publications and products. Our members art direct, design, edit, report, illustrate, make photos and video, visualize data – and write code.

• The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard offers short-term visiting fellowships to individuals interested in working on special research projects designed to advance journalism.  Those who should consider applying include publishers, programmers, Web designers, media analysts, academics, journalists and others interested in enhancing quality, building new business models or designing programs to improve journalism. The proposed project may be completed during the time spent at Harvard or be part of a larger undertaking. All visiting fellows are expected to be in residence in Cambridge during their study and present their findings to the Nieman community at the end of their research period. The application deadline for the 2014 fellowships is Nov. 8, 2013.

• UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley CA will hold a Data Visualization for Storytellers Workshop on November 8-9. A deluge of data is being made available for public use. In raw-form, large complex data sets are difficult to understand and interpret. Having the tools and techniques to present illustrated data to your audience with aesthetic form and functionality are critical for conveying ideas effectively. Data Visualization for Storytellers is ideal for people interested in a rapid-paced, immersive experience in data visualization tools & techniques. This workshop is ideal for scientists, communication professionals, journalists, bloggers, educators and those interested in becoming proficient in learning to communicate data with clarity and creativity. Tuition: $645.  Click here to register.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “Sourcing with Social Media: Tips from a Corporate Sleuth,” Nov. 13 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT).  Trying to find new sources? In this one-hour webinar Nov. 13, here’s your chance to learn the tools and techniques that competitive-intelligence experts use every day to find people who know their stuff. During this free, hour-long webinar, the principal in a competitive-intelligence firm will teach you how to harness social media to identify “influencers” – both regionally and nationally – in industries you cover, as well as how to contact them successfully.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “SEC Filings Master Class,” Nov. 13-15 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT). Have you ever wondered if you’re missing good stories because you don’t know where or what to look for? This free webinar with Michelle Leder, who makes her living unearthing news in SEC filings, is designed to help you feel more confident in your SEC-document sleuthing.

• Poynter’s News U will hold a free webinar, “Location-Based Social Media with Geofeedia: A Digital Tools Tutorial,” on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 2:00 p.m. ET. User-generated content from social media networks is a rich data source for today’s newsrooms. By leveraging new, advanced tools, media organizations have the opportunity to rapidly identify primary sources at the scene by tapping into rich sets of images, tweets and videos coming from the scene. Geofeedia enables hyperlocal search and discovery of social media across social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr and Picasa. By searching first by location, Geofeedia helps journalists to rapidly identify new data sources that other prominent social media services miss.

• The Graduate School of Journalism UC is hosting New Media Storytelling, Innovation & Technology Fall 2013 workshop “Smile: You’re On Camera“. When someone portrays a great on-camera presence we assume they are a “natural.” The reality is a natural on-camera presence requires training and practice. During this one-day workshop we’ll give you the confidence to become a “natural” through skill building exercises with live on-camera practice. Date: November 16, 2013. Tuition: $365.

• The Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State University is looking for innovative journalists who want to use social media to build a stronger following, develop new sources and better cover their beats. The Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism also aims to sharpen your digital media public-affairs reporting skills, helping you hold government and institutions accountable. We’ll talk Twitter, Deep Web searches, crowdsourcing, public records, spreadsheets and online data visualization. The fellowship runs from Sunday, April 6, through Friday, April 11, 2014 in Columbus, Ohio. Applications are due by Nov. 30, 2013. Apply here.

DECEMBER

•  Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford offers 20 journalists the opportunity to spend 10 months experimenting, testing and developing innovative ideas for the future of journalism. Open to full-time journalists, journalism entrepreneurs and innovators (which can include independent journalists or developers) and journalism business and management executives. Deadline: Dec. 1. Apply now.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “The Fracking Revolution: Finding Energy Stories Everywhere,” Dec. 4 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT).  In this one-hour, free webinar, Marilyn Geewax, a senior business editor with NPR, will help you understand how this unleashing of massive supplies of fossil fuels is changing all of our lives. The energy revolution is making U.S. manufacturing competitive again and soon could be generating millions of jobs from Maine to California. And it’s having a broad impact on the environment, tax revenues and politics.

• The CBC-UNC Diversity Fellowship Program is an intensive hands-on workshop led by professionals at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C. and the University of North Carolina journalism faculty in Chapel Hill, N.C. The program, scheduled for March 12-16, 2014,  is geared toward college seniors pursuing broadcast careers as producers, reporters, photojournalists and web editors. The deadline to apply is Dec. 15.

2014

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Investigating the Business of Government,” Jan. 23, 2014, preceding the Winter Convention of the Kentucky Press Association Jan. 23-24. If you dread analyzing the annual municipal budget for news and wonder how to tie government contracts to campaign-donor lists, come hone your skills at this workshop taught by investigative reporter John Cheves. The workshop will be held at the Hyatt Regency, 401 W. High St., Lexington, Ky.

• The Reynolds Fellowship in Community Journalism is accepting applications. This fellowship is be awarded to “a journalist of accomplishment and promise who is committed to the role of the community press.” Open to journalists working at a U.S. daily and weekly newspapers with a circulation less than 50,000, journalists doing online work for community newspapers, or journalists who have established independent local news websites in communities where the circulation of the local newspaper is less than 50,000. Must be a U.S. citizen. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2014. Apply now.

• The Nieman-Berkman Fellowships in Journalism Innovation are a collaboration between two parts of Harvard (the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society). This fellowship involves spending a year in residence in Cambridge, and full participation in both the Nieman and Berkman fellowship communities. Applicants must propose a specific course of study or project relating to journalism innovation. Open to working journalists or others who work for a news organization in a business, technology, or leadership capacity. Independent journalists are also welcome. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2014.Apply now.

• The Knight-Wallace Fellowships at Michigan are now open to applications. Spend an academic year at the Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Fellows devise a personalized study plan with access to UM courses and resources, and are encouraged to nurture their creative and artistic tendencies. Includes twice-weekly seminars as well as domestic and international travel. Deadline: Feb. 1, 2014. Apply now: U.S. and international.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Perfecting Personality Profiles,” Feb. 5-6 at 4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT). To make your beat coverage more accessible and engaging, you need to focus on people – those in positions of power or influence, and those who consume goods and services, work for wages and pay taxes. In the first hour of this lively two-part webinar, Pulitzer winner Jacqui Banaszynski will explore the characteristics of memorable and accurate profiles, as well as offer a range of profile approaches that can suit your purpose, publication and audience. In the second hour, on Feb. 6, she’ll dive more deeply into the reporting and writing techniques that can help any beat reporter pursue sparkling profiles.

• Investigative Reporters and Editors and National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) will hold their 2014 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in Baltimore, Md., Feb. 27, 2014 – March 2, 2014. Join IRE and NICAR for their annual conference devoted to computer-assisted reporting. Come and learn about tools you need to dig deeper into stories and give readers and viewers the information they want.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Social Media ROI for Journalists,” March 4 at  4:00 p.m ET (noon PT). In 2013, more and more newsrooms will revisit their social media strategy and ask, “What’s our return on investment?” How do we know if our newsroom is doing social “correctly”? What does this mean for our organization’s bottom line? This free, one-hour webinar will help you answer those questions on March 4.

• The best in the business will gather for more than 100 panels, hands-on classes and special presentations about covering business, public safety, government, health care, education, the military, the environment and other key beats at the 2014 IRE conference June 26-29, 2014 in San Francisco. Speakers will share strategies for locating documents and gaining access to public records, finding the best stories and managing investigations. Join the discussion about how to practice investigative journalism in print, broadcast, Web and alternative newsroom models.

If you have items you wish to include, please email them to me at benet AT aviationqueen DOT COM. Thanks!!

Vanessa Deggins Weighs In On #ONA13

After my second Online News Association conference, I can say that I was wonderfully overwhelmed. By that I mean, if there is something you don’t know, there is a session or hands-on workshop on it and there are at least three people who are willing to talk to you one on one. I don’t know if it is the board’s intention, but it’s always been small enough where you’re not in a line out of the door waiting to talk to one person.

This year’s takeaway for me was a lot of encouragement.  I’ve spent the last two years as a freelancer and used this time to build up my professional web site. Before that, I was a reporter and a multimedia producer, so I worried that two years away from a full-time job would be detrimental. Thankfully many people with way more experience than me said that wasn’t the case. Seriously people, WordPress is your friend.

They also let me pick their brains about mobile journalism and what I need to be thinking about for any organization. Also, whatever you think you know, there are a dozen other things you still need to learn.

 One of the best seminars, partially because I follow these people all over the internet, was 20 Tips to Supercharge your Mobile Efforts.  Did you know that many news organizations’ mobile is on track to, or already is, outpacing their main web site’s traffic? Of course you did. But it’s not because they suck.

It’s because everyone has an iPhone or an iPad and none of this is going away. How closely does your organization track these numbers? It’s very likely that you don’t. And by you, I mean me and every place I’ve worked.  How closely do your reporters work with your company’s web team? If you’re just in the same room, that’s not close enough. You need to be in each other’s face. Yesterday.

Even if you’re still a traditional reporter, there are lots of things that can help you. Handling breaking news, public records requests, handling a mess load of data and many more topics. I’m taking what I learned this year – by the way, my website  is now mobile enabled – and putting it to work because by the time I get to the Chicago conference in 2014, I’m sure I’ll have a dozen more questions. I hope to see you there.

Vanessa Deggins is a freelance web/digital reporter and producer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

10 Things Done at #ONA13 I’d Love To See At #NABJ14

I love going to different conventions. The week before going to the Online News Association convention in Atlanta, I was at my company’s annual event.  When you go to different events, you get to see how folks handle their events. Below are 10 things I saw at #ONA13 in Atlanta that I’d love see at #NABJ14 in Boston.

1.  Livestreaming and SoundCloud audio of workshops and key sessions.  I beat this drum for the 2012 and 2013 NABJ conventions without success. But ONA had a Stream Team, and the convention guide included audio and video symbols for sessions being recorded. So if you couldn’t make the sold-out event, you could still follow along.

2.  Storifys of every session.  The ONA social media team created Storifys of every session. And this is on top of the dozens done by conference attendees. Check out the one done for the “Breaking News: Real-Time Takeaways From the Boston Marathon Bombing Coverage” panel.

3. Cutting-edge topics.  With all the rapid change going on in journalism, we need to hear from those who are in the forefront of affecting and making those changes. Some of the #ONA13 sessions included: InformaCam: Sign, Seal, and Securely Deliver Media from Citizens and Photojournalists in the Field; Practical Security For Journalists; Data Journalism: The Tower of Babel Problem; and Journalism in the Age of Surveillance.

4.  The Midway. While ONA had the traditional exhibitors, there was also this space, where attendees could try out different tools and tech, and also listen to presenters do quick talks on their products. There were also rest spots and and walls were used to post jobs and allow attendees to list their skills for opportunities.

5. List of speakers on the conference website. Every speaker, along with photos, bios and contact information were included, making it easy for attendees to keep in touch.

6. Unconference sessions. Attendees were allowed to submit workshop topics that weren’t on the official schedule. We were allowed to vote, and the best ones were put on the schedule.  One I liked was ” Save People, Not Journalism.”

7. Lightning talks.  I experienced my first lightning talk at SparkCamp in June 2012.  Presenters had exactly five minutes to do a slide presentation on whatever topic to choose. Some favorites:   Journalism and Porn; Blowing Up the Live Blog; and Death of the Talking Head.

8.  Whiskey tasting. Muck Rack sponsored a whiskey tasting as the last event in the Midway. What made it really clever was that drinks and glasses were set at most of the tables occupied by Midway vendors. 

9. Buttons and ribbons. We’ve all seen the typical ribbons in different colors for conference attendees: First-Time Attendee, Board of Directors, Presenter, Speaker, etc. But at #ONA13, there was a blank white ribbon where you could write your own designation. Mine were #MediaDiversity and #AvGeek. You could also choose a button, numbered 1 through 15, which let folks know how many ONA conferences you’ve attended (I wore number 4).

10. Time. Yes. Time. Although there were sessions on top of sessions, conference organizers also built in time for attendees to chat with exhibitors, stroll through the job fair, try out toys in the interactive Midway and just chill.

10 Things I Learned At #ONA13

Benet Wilson, Crystal Garner, Anthony Cave and Gabi Wright at ONA.

My head is still bursting with everything I learned at last week’s Online News Association conference in Atlanta.  I have so much stuff I brought home it will probably take me a month to sort through. But I still have enough brain synapses left to compile this list of 10 things. Enjoy — and I hope to see you in Chicago Sept. 25-27, 2014!

1. The next generation is doing quite nicely. I have a tradition of taking the student journalists of color who are on ONA’s student projects (headed by NABJ member Michelle Johnson) out to dinner (see photo, above). Crystal’s essay on living in 20 homes in her 20 years was amazing. Anthony did a great piece on newsroom diversity.  And Gabi explored the relevant question “Is Breaking News Broken?” including an interview with NABJ member Rick Hancock of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
2. Michelle Johnson of Boston University kicks ass! MiJohn was amazing at #ONA13. Not only did she help train said next generation in the student newsroom, she also, with her BU students, picked up TWO awards at the ONA awards banquet for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing.  And she was always there for a kind word or advice despite her breakneck pace of work in Atlanta.
3. #MediaDiversity lives!! I saw it in what I feel was a record number of people of color attending this year’s convention, including a good number of NABJ members. I also saw it at the Saturday afternoon “Disrupt Diversity” panel that featured NABJ member Dori Maynard and a full house.  And 34% of attendees were people of color. This is impressive because there were past conferences where I could count them on my hands and toes.
4. Amy Webb STILL rocks with her “10 Tech Trends For Journalists” session.  Those in the know get to this session early, because it quickly becomes standing room only.  If you saw her presentation at NABJ Philly in 2011. you know what I mean. If not, you can listen here or view it here.
5. You can teach an old dog new tricks! I make it a point to keep up with all the new mobile tools and tech. But Jeremy Caplan of CUNY Grad School of Journalism and Alissa Richardson of Bowie State University (who didn’t attend for health reasons but Storyfied the event) did a fast review in “21 Ways to Awesome-ize Your Mobile Toolkit,” which you can also listen to here.
6. Journalists WILL pay for their own drinks. I hosted a #DigitalDiversity happy hour with fellow board members Robert Hernandez and Juana Summers, and the event was packed, despite a cash bar and no food. I vow to have a sponsor next year!
7. Nate Silver talks numbers. The owner of the political website FiveThirtyEight.com (which is moving to ESPN), discussed why numbers are important as part of storytelling.
8. The ONA Midway was a great place to get down and dirty. I got to play with things like Videolicious, drones, CartoDB, Jurnid, Google, Knight Lab and Supshot, to name a few.
9. Some great folks want to be on the ONA board. You can check out the audio from the Lighting Round session, where board candidates made their pitches, including NABJ member Michael Bolden.
10. Hope is not just a town in Arkansas.  We’ve all heard and read about the doom and gloom in journalism. But I didn’t hear one iota of that at ONA.  Recruiters were out in full force, and there were even walls where employers and people could post opportunities.

Benét J. Wilson serves on the board of the Online News Association. She is the immediate past chair of the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and is the social media/eNewsletters editor for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  She is also a freelance aviation journalist and blogger.

#TryitTuesday

I just got back from the Online News Association conference and my head is still about to explode with what I learned, especially things I saw at the interactive Midway space. One of the big takeaways for me was see what’s out there and try new things.

So now, every Tuesday, I’ll offer up a tech tool, app or something else that will help you do your job smarter and better.  One of the vendors on the Midway was the folks who created the Videolicious app. Videolicious allows users to shoot video and it’s magically stitched together and easily embeddable.

Please feel free to share your tools !

Benét J. Wilson is the immediate past chair of the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and is the social media/eNewsletters editor for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  She is also a freelance aviation journalist and blogger.

Calendar of Multimedia Training and Events

OCTOBER

• UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley CA will hold a Data Visualization for Storytellers Workshop on November 8-9. A deluge of data is being made available for public use. In raw-form, large complex data sets are difficult to understand and interpret. Having the tools and techniques to present illustrated data to your audience with aesthetic form and functionality are critical for conveying ideas effectively. Data Visualization for Storytellers is ideal for people interested in a rapid-paced, immersive experience in data visualization tools & techniques. This workshop is ideal for scientists, communication professionals, journalists, bloggers, educators and those interested in becoming proficient in learning to communicate data with clarity and creativity. Tuition: $645- Early Registration Discount of 10% thru October 21, 2013. Click here to register.

• The Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute is currently accepting applications for its fellowship program, Jan. 5-9, 2014. Offered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State Univ., this five-day program immerses 12 journalism educators in the concepts and practice of entrepreneurship, with the goal of equipping them to teach media entrepreneurship at journalism schools. Led by Dan Gillmor, an internationally known speaker and thinker on new media and entrepreneurship. Training, transportation, lodging, materials and most meals will be provided. Deadline: Oct. 21. Click here to apply.
  

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “Data Journalism 101,” Oct. 22-23 at 4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT). Poke behind the winners of most major investigative awards from the Pulitzer to Barlett & Steele to the Loebs, and you’ll usually find a database. Michael J. Berens, who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, calls databases, especially those you put together yourself, the “secret ingredient” in award-winning work.

• The 92nd annual ACP/CMA National College Media Convention will be Oct. 23-27 in New Orleans. The convention is the largest gathering of college journalists and advisers in the world. The Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association have partnered to prepare nearly 400 practical and professional learning sessions ranging from high-profile keynote speakers  to specific, problem-solving breakouts, hands-on workshops and discussion groups.

• The Asia Journalism Fellowship seeks candidates with at least five years of experience from any medium, though preference is given to journalists working for Asian media organizations. Proficiency in English required. The fellowship program, supported by Nanyang Technological University, lasts three months from March 17 – June 6 with a stipend of $1,500 US each month. Travel and shared accommodation fees are covered. Each fellow will complete an independent research project and attend workshops, seminars and outside meetings. Fellows are assigned research advisors to guide them with their individual projects. Candidates must submit an application, three letters of recommendation, an employer’s letter of support (not required for freelancers) and three to five work samples. The deadline is Oct. 25. For more information, click here.

• The Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) will be hosting its fall camp in Essex, Vt., Oct. 25-27.  JAWS supports the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism and works toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society.

• The Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley is hosting New Media Storytelling, Innovation & Technology Fall 2013 workshop “Writing for Infographics”. Infographics have become an ubiquitous tool for those communicating complex information in an easy to understand visual format. The best infographics are often the product of collaborations between teams of creative professionals. In this two-day Writing for Infographics workshop kdmcBerkeley is teaming with Visually to train a new generation of professionals in the art of research and writing for the infographic. Date: November 19-20, 2013. Tuition: $545. Register by October 29th for a 10 percent discount. Click here to apply.

• Poynter’s News U is holding a free webinar, “Effective News Videos with Videolicious: A Digital Tools Tutorial,” on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Funded by Amazon and the Knight Foundation, Videolicious empowers more than 1 million people in 100+ countries to create sophisticated video productions — automatically, in seconds.

• If you have the skills, passion and determination to be a journalist of the future – a trained professional who knows a good story when they see it and who has the confidence to tell it in a way that best imparts its relevance and importance to news consumers – an 18-month Hearst Fellowship may be right for you. Applications are open from October through January.

NOVEMBER

• The National Association of Science Writers conference will be held Nov. 1-5, 2013, in Gainesville, Fla. NASW members have crafted a slate of professional development workshops, and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing has recruited scientists from all over the country for the 51st New Horizons in Science briefings on emerging research.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is offering 24 fellowships worth $1,500 each for four days of study in business journalism  from Jan. 2-5, 2014, in Phoenix. Fellowships cover training, lodging, materials and most meals. Fellows just have to cover their transportation costs. The seminars will occur during Reynolds Business Journalism Week at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The journalists’ Strictly Financials Seminars teach the essentials of covering financials, from stock markets to financial statements and company research. The Business Journalism Professors Seminar will cover the essentials of teaching a hands-on, university course in business journalism. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1.

• The 35th Annual SND Workshop and Exhibition will be held Nov. 7-9, 2013, in Louisville, Ky. The event is hosted by Gannett Louisville Design Studio. The Society for News Design (SND) is an international organization for news media professionals and visual communicators – specifically those who create print/web/mobile publications and products. Our members art direct, design, edit, report, illustrate, make photos and video, visualize data – and write code.

• The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard offers short-term visiting fellowships to individuals interested in working on special research projects designed to advance journalism.  Those who should consider applying include publishers, programmers, Web designers, media analysts, academics, journalists and others interested in enhancing quality, building new business models or designing programs to improve journalism. The proposed project may be completed during the time spent at Harvard or be part of a larger undertaking. All visiting fellows are expected to be in residence in Cambridge during their study and present their findings to the Nieman community at the end of their research period. The application deadline for the 2014 fellowships is Nov. 8, 2013.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “Sourcing with Social Media: Tips from a Corporate Sleuth,” Nov. 13 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT).  Trying to find new sources? In this one-hour webinar Nov. 13, here’s your chance to learn the tools and techniques that competitive-intelligence experts use every day to find people who know their stuff. During this free, hour-long webinar, the principal in a competitive-intelligence firm will teach you how to harness social media to identify “influencers” – both regionally and nationally – in industries you cover, as well as how to contact them successfully.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “SEC Filings Master Class,” Nov. 13-15 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT). Have you ever wondered if you’re missing good stories because you don’t know where or what to look for? This free webinar with Michelle Leder, who makes her living unearthing news in SEC filings, is designed to help you feel more confident in your SEC-document sleuthing.

• Poynter’s News U will hold a free webinar, “Location-Based Social Media with Geofeedia: A Digital Tools Tutorial,” on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 2:00 p.m. ET. User-generated content from social media networks is a rich data source for today’s newsrooms. By leveraging new, advanced tools, media organizations have the opportunity to rapidly identify primary sources at the scene by tapping into rich sets of images, tweets and videos coming from the scene. Geofeedia enables hyperlocal search and discovery of social media across social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr and Picasa. By searching first by location, Geofeedia helps journalists to rapidly identify new data sources that other prominent social media services miss.

• The Graduate School of Journalism UC is hosting New Media Storytelling, Innovation & Technology Fall 2013 workshop “Data Visualization for Storytellers” Learn to create a more meaningful picture with data, tell stories with interactive GIS maps, and create beautiful and effective graphs and charts in this two-day certificate workshop. Date: November 8-9, 2013. Tuition: $645. Register by October 21st for a 10 percent discount.

• The Graduate School of Journalism UC is hosting New Media Storytelling, Innovation & Technology Fall 2013 workshop “Smile: You’re On Camera“. When someone portrays a great on-camera presence we assume they are a “natural.” The reality is a natural on-camera presence requires training and practice. During this one-day workshop we’ll give you the confidence to become a “natural” through skill building exercises with live on-camera practice. Date: November 16, 2013. Tuition: $365. Register by October 22nd for a 10 percent discount.

• The Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State University is looking for innovative journalists who want to use social media to build a stronger following, develop new sources and better cover their beats. The Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism also aims to sharpen your digital media public-affairs reporting skills, helping you hold government and institutions accountable. We’ll talk Twitter, Deep Web searches, crowdsourcing, public records, spreadsheets and online data visualization. The fellowship runs from Sunday, April 6, through Friday, April 11, 2014 in Columbus, Ohio. Applications are due by Nov. 30, 2013. Apply here.

DECEMBER

• Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford offers 20 journalists the opportunity to spend 10 months experimenting, testing and developing innovative ideas for the future of journalism. Open to full-time journalists, journalism entrepreneurs and innovators (which can include independent journalists or developers) and journalism business and management executives. Deadline: Dec. 1. Apply now.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free online workshop, “The Fracking Revolution: Finding Energy Stories Everywhere,” Dec. 4 at  4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT).  In this one-hour, free webinar, Marilyn Geewax, a senior business editor with NPR, will help you understand how this unleashing of massive supplies of fossil fuels is changing all of our lives. The energy revolution is making U.S. manufacturing competitive again and soon could be generating millions of jobs from Maine to California. And it’s having a broad impact on the environment, tax revenues and politics.

• The CBC-UNC Diversity Fellowship Program is an intensive hands-on workshop led by professionals at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C. and the University of North Carolina journalism faculty in Chapel Hill, N.C. The program, scheduled for March 12-16, 2014,  is geared toward college seniors pursuing broadcast careers as producers, reporters, photojournalists and web editors. The deadline to apply is Dec. 15.

• The Knight Science Journalism Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will host a three-day intensive course on energy and climate at MIT’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 16-18. The course will explore the fact and fiction of climate change and the intersection of science and politics. Selected journalists will receive accommodations, meals and a $750 travel stipend. Deadline to apply is Oct. 11. Click here for more information.

2014

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Investigating the Business of Government,” Jan. 23, 2014, preceding the Winter Convention of the Kentucky Press Association Jan. 23-24. If you dread analyzing the annual municipal budget for news and wonder how to tie government contracts to campaign-donor lists, come hone your skills at this workshop taught by investigative reporter John Cheves. The workshop will be held at the Hyatt Regency, 401 W. High St., Lexington, Ky.

• The Reynolds Fellowship in Community Journalism is accepting applications. This fellowship is be awarded to “a journalist of accomplishment and promise who is committed to the role of the community press.” Open to journalists working at a U.S. daily and weekly newspapers with a circulation less than 50,000, journalists doing online work for community newspapers, or journalists who have established independent local news websites in communities where the circulation of the local newspaper is less than 50,000. Must be a U.S. citizen. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2014. Apply now.

• The Nieman-Berkman Fellowships in Journalism Innovation are a collaboration between two parts of Harvard (the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society). This fellowship involves spending a year in residence in Cambridge, and full participation in both the Nieman and Berkman fellowship communities. Applicants must propose a specific course of study or project relating to journalism innovation. Open to working journalists or others who work for a news organization in a business, technology, or leadership capacity. Independent journalists are also welcome. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2014. Apply now.

• The Knight-Wallace Fellowships at Michigan are now open to applications. Spend an academic year at the Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Fellows devise a personalized study plan with access to UM courses and resources, and are encouraged to nurture their creative and artistic tendencies. Includes twice-weekly seminars as well as domestic and international travel. Deadline: Feb. 1, 2014. Apply now: U.S. and international.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Perfecting Personality Profiles,” Feb. 5-6 at 4:00 p.m. ET (noon PT). To make your beat coverage more accessible and engaging, you need to focus on people – those in positions of power or influence, and those who consume goods and services, work for wages and pay taxes. In the first hour of this lively two-part webinar, Pulitzer winner Jacqui Banaszynski will explore the characteristics of memorable and accurate profiles, as well as offer a range of profile approaches that can suit your purpose, publication and audience. In the second hour, on Feb. 6, she’ll dive more deeply into the reporting and writing techniques that can help any beat reporter pursue sparkling profiles.

• Investigative Reporters and Editors and National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) will hold their 2014 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in Baltimore, Md., Feb. 27, 2014 – March 2, 2014. Join IRE and NICAR for our annual conference devoted to computer-assisted reporting. Come and learn about tools you need to dig deeper into stories and give readers and viewers the information they want.

• The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will hold a free workshop, “Social Media ROI for Journalists,” March 4 at  4:00 p.m ET (noon PT). In 2013, more and more newsrooms will revisit their social media strategy and ask, “What’s our return on investment?” How do we know if our newsroom is doing social “correctly”? What does this mean for our organization’s bottom line? This free, one-hour webinar will help you answer those questions on March 4.

• The best in the business will gather for more than 100 panels, hands-on classes and special presentations about covering business, public safety, government, health care, education, the military, the environment and other key beats at the 2014 IRE conference June 26-29, 2014 in San Francisco. Speakers will share strategies for locating documents and gaining access to public records, finding the best stories and managing investigations. Join the discussion about how to practice investigative journalism in print, broadcast, Web and alternative newsroom models.

If you have items you wish to include, please email them to me at benet AT aviationqueen DOT COM. Thanks!!

Friday Fast Five: Your Guide to New Media – Deleting Your Digital Accounts

Do you ever feel like logging out of the Internet on a permanent basis? Maybe your once favorite social media sites don’t seem that great anymore…Maybe you’ve got a pesky “catfish”? Whatever the reason, people often find themselves needing to delete their various Web accounts all at once. Below are five websites that can help you do just that!

1. All Things D – A Handy Guide to Deleting Digital Accounts

2. Just Delete Me – A Directory of Direct Links to Delete your Account from Web Services

3. GoDelete – Escape from the Web and Leave no Trace!

4. Account Killer – How to Easily Delete Your Online Accounts

5. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine – Meet your Real Neighbors again!

Sadiyyah Rice is the digital intern for the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force, recording secretary for the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and video editor for Higher Education Channel Television (HEC-TV).