The great J-school debate, revisited

What exactly is the value of a journalism degree? Are J-schools really preparing students for the media jobs of the future? The questions aren’t new, but they’ve come up again in connection with the selection of a new dean for Columbia’s prestigious graduate school of journalism. If you haven’t read it, Michael Wolff’s take in …

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Monitoring social media and more good advice for journalists

You’ve heard of the seven deadly sins, right?  How about the seven social media wins?  According to new media researcher Augie Grant, news organizations need to look at seven primary uses for social media. The following are excerpts from Grant’s article, published in the University of South Carolina’s Convergence Newsletter. 1. Report: The simplest way …

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News organizations interest in Pinterest

Most social media experts will tell you that simply keeping up with trends is half the battle.  Pinterest has been around for more than two years now, but many news organizations are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Jodi Mozdzer recently wrote a piece for Quill that lays out a number …

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Social media and new skills needed in local TV

If you’re working in television, you already know this –local television stations are no longer just in the business of TV. But RTDNA researcher Bob Papper has the statistics to back it up. Speaking at the Excellence in Journalism conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Papper reported that 75% of local TV stations provide content to places …

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For journalists, almost nothing is just personal

Here we go again. Two more journalists have learned lessons the hard way. If they thought their personal lives were somehow separate from their professional lives, they’ve had to think again. And while the two cases were vastly different, the outcome was the same. Both journalists lost their jobs. Lesson 1: What you post on …

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Social media success for journalists

How is journalism changing? It’s “digital and specialized and socialized” says Columbia Journalism School’s Sree Sreenivasan. “Employers are now looking for how much audience you can corral,” said Sreenivasan.  He also said the time to build your social media following is before you actually need it. How do you do that?  Sreenivasan suggests sharing exclusive …

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Social media as a news source

A recent survey of journalists around the world found that more than half of them use social media to find news stories and about 45% use social media to verify stories. In the United States, over 60% find or check stories via Twitter, Facebook or similar sites. But according to the Oriella Digital Journalism study, …

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How mobile journalism makes breaking news better

Picture the scene –you’re cruising Facebook and notice a post about four manatees beached just off the campus of Jacksonville University in Florida. Matt Augustine, of radio station WOKV, says he was the first member of Jacksonville’s media on scene for the story and was there a good hour or so before any of the …

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Twitter’s advantages over Facebook for journalists

Many folks who spend a lot of time with social media will tell you that Twitter is best for breaking news, but Facebook is better for in-depth conversations with the audience. Writing in Advertising Age, B.L. Ochman lists 10 reasons why Twitter is a better branding vehicle than Facebook.  Several points she makes are useful …

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Social TV may mean money and more loyal viewers for news

Forget buzz – the noise surrounding social TV is ear-splitting.  In fact, it’s tough to find a publication dealing with media trends that’s not talking about various efforts to leverage social media and television viewing. But where are all the journalists in this discussion? Well, more than 200 local TV news stations are banking on …

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