I’d like to recommend to you some of the articles in the most recent edition of the Nieman Reports from Harvard.
There are a few interesting articles by people I had the good fortune to meet over the last year while at Stanford.
You can find the entire report here but I would like to draw your particular attention to a few stories filed by friends and colleagues.
Professor Clifford Nass explores the issue of multi-tasking here.
Knight Fellow Krissy Clark looks at geo-location in reporting here.
Mike Liebhold, a researcher from the Institute For the Future and a speaker at Stanford at a number of events looks at augmented reality here.
And past Knight Fellow Burt Herman looks at how journalists and computer scientists can work together here.
In full disclosure, I did a speculation on what the semantic Web could mean if some of the visions of standardized linked data become true for this same magazine.
It was a pleasure to work with editor Melissa Ludtke and her team and I can recommend it to other journalists who might have the opportunity.
Earlier this year I took a look at some of the opportunities in what is called hyperlocal coverage.
There are quite a few sites that occupy this “space” (as they like to say here in Silicon Valley) running the spectrum from sites created for and run by the public to those that are staffed by professional full time journalists…and a growing number that merge those two concepts in various ways.
Here are a few that those interested in hyperlocal content might want to glance at:
She will talk about: “How to marketing your personal brand. How to turn your passion into print. How to become a thought leader. How to build credibililty in a new category (Social Network applications using the “social Graph”) and an established category (Innovation).”
Tom Kosnik, the GEM professor, has strongly endorsed her book and makes it required reading for this class.
This is from the Media Law Resource Center at Stanford:
“Digital publishing is our present and surely in all of our futures.
May 6 and 7, 2010
Join MLRC, Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, and the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University in Palo Alto on May 6th starting at 1:00 p.m. (PST) through noon on May 7th.
In addition to an opening session on the ins and outs of online advertising,
the sessions will include:
** Legal Issues for Internet Advertising Technology and Business Models ** Ethical Issues in the New World of Journalism and Content Distribution ** Government Policy Developments: What the Government May Do To You ** Do I Need Permission for That? : Copyright, Fair Use, the DMCA, and New Open Licensing Models ** Legal Frontiers in Blogging, Social Networks and the Internet **”
A number of the Knight Fellows are taking a class in the Graduate School of Business called the Power of Social Technology. It is taught by Jennifer Aaker, one of the marketing professors. The class has many themes…”what is social good”, goal setting, design thinking, and visual storytelling all ending in a presentation that is supposed to change the world (the life of one person or many).
Ben Hess presented a video as a summary of some of what has been accomplished in this class to date.
I had lunch recently with David Nordfors, the head of Innovation Journalism, a group connected with Stanford that is focused on how journalists cover innovation.
They are starting the planning for their convention in June. Click here for the updated conference page.
Attached to this will be a discussion on Journalism That Matters where they will be discussing “What do we know and what do we want to know at the intersection of journalism and innovation?”
If you would like to know more about innovation journalism, click here for one item that talks about the ideas behind it.
“Your assignment is to document a single day in the life of a compelling person that you think the world should know about and showcase how that person is making a positive impact in his/her community.”
“There can be no liberty for a community which lacks the information by which to detect lies.” Walter Lippmann
“Good news travels fast, sometimes as well as bad.” Mark Twain
“Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” William Shakespeare
“The power in the freedom of the press is a flaming sword! That it may be a faithful servant of all the people … use it justly … hold it high … guard it well.” Opening lines to the radio series Big Town, 1937-1952
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.” Douglas Adams
“Lady Middleton exerted herself to ask Mr. Palmer if there was any news in the paper. “None, none at all,” he replied, and read on.” Jane Austen
“I am unlikely to trust a sentence that comes easily.” William Gass
“A newspaper is a battery, and it must have something to batter at.” Hugh Henry Brackenridge
“English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education – sometimes it’s sheer luck, like getting across the street. E.B. White
One of the services offered to the Graduate School of Business students is executive counseling. I had a chance to spend a little time with one of those who provides this expert advice, John Cronkite, one of the Leadership Coaches affiliated with the Center for Leadership Development and Research.
John, who established the Dirigo Consulting company (the name comes from the state motto of Maine which means “I guide”) works with students on a range of interpersonal dynamics, part of the “touchy feely” instruction the GSB offers students which one observer said was to teach them not, “how to make a buck. It’s how can we all get along.”
I asked him about the benefits of asking questions in the workplace, John said there were three virtues that he could see. It helps you to be seen as not being arrogant, it helps you challenge your thinking process and it helps you not have a habitual response to situations, in other words, it can help you practice new behaviors.
One of the most vital points that he has identified for beginning to ask questions is when there is the potential for conflict. As John put it, “Whenever you get furious, get curious.” He says it is important to at least ask what is going on with you (for at least half of a conflict is what you are thinking and doing) and in such situations, ask yourself “What’s the self talk as you are thinking about this situation?” He also recommends asking yourself “What evidence do you have?” and “How reliable is that evidence?”
He says that when people he is working with do this, they find themselves asking two more questions. “What are the alternative explanations?” for the other person’s actions and asking “So what?” to help them decide how to proceed. To help other people move towards these kinds of questions and resolve conflict, he recommends asking “Tell me your understanding of the situation?” “What is your view?” “What where you trying to accomplish? three questions that can help establish common interests. To help someone decide what is the best resolution, three more questions: “What’s really important to you?” “What do you want from —?” and “What do you want in return?”
Learning how to effectively question is something that can help introverts, those engineers and finance people who are very competent in their fields but by personality, are less likely to be considered for CEO positions as in contrast to their colleagues in sales. Questions help them begin to engage others in relationships and help them tune in to others.
Given that one of the most critical times to ask questions is when interviewing someone, I often ask managers for their favorites. John recommends questions about behavior in certain events, asking questions like “Tell me about when…” or “What did you feel when…” which can lead to deeper questions like “What was the cost/benefit to you?” or “What did you learn about yourself?”
As you may know, I always like to ask people for their favorite books. John shared that he is a fan of “The Resilience Factor” and “Learned Optimism“. Thanks to John for his time and great sets of questions.
“Is something missing in your local media landscape? Are you craving news and information sources that energize, engage and build a sense of community and connection? Are you ready to be the media you wish to see in your town?
J-Lab: The institute for Interactive Journalism invites you to apply for funding to launch a participatory news venture in your community. J-Lab will select eight projects in 2010. Each project may receive up to $25,000.
Proposals are due March 1, 2010.” Click here for more information.
and…
“J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism and the McCormick Foundation are seeking to fund four women-led projects that will rock the world of journalism.
We will fund individuals who have original ideas to create new Web sites, mobile news services or other entrepreneurial initiatives that offer interactive opportunities to engage, inspire and improve news and information in a geographic community or a community of interest…
The McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs program will give one-time funding of $12,000 to women who have the vision, skills and experience to launch a new venture. These can be solo ideas or team projects spearheaded by women.
Deadline: April 12, 2010″ Click here for more information.
Ideas for how journalism can work in the new digital era. Resources and connections for journalists who are internal innovators or who want to be entrepreneurs.
Andrew Finlayson
Andrew Finlayson is a SVP for Digital Media Strategies at SmithGeiger. Views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SmithGeiger or any of their clients.
Full Disclosure Statement:
Past and current affiliations and responsibilities Knight Fellow, Stanford Past Consultant, OurNews, News Corp Author, Questions That Work Editor of Questionswork.com Leader, Live Video Streaming Group on Linkedin.com. Advisory Board Member, Fizwoz.com Director, Online Content & Business Development Fox Television Stations Co-founder, head of news content acquisition, LiveNewsCameras.com
