Online Journalism

Class, great first meeting today.  Remember, to check this blog every week after class for the week’s assignments.

Before next week you need to:

• Register for a Twitter account, if you haven’t done so yet.
• By Wednesday, send me an email (smussenden@jmail.umd.edu) with the email address at which you prefer to receive class correspondence, the URL (Web address) of the blog you set up, and your Twitter handle.
• Please register for a Publish2 account. We’ll start using it this week, and registration takes a few days, so please do it before Friday.  In the registration form’s “news organization” field put the name of your blog. In the “How Did You Hear About Publish2″ field, please use my name, and explain that you’ll be using it to learn about curation in an online journalism at the UMD j-school.
• If you still aren’t familiar with posting on Wordpress, review the first few screencasts on using the content management system. If you’re still having trouble, email me or come see me in room 3201 Knight Hall, email or call.
• Read the two articles linked at right.

Blog and Comment Assignment

• By Friday afternoon, post a 400-500 word on this topic: review several days worth of posts on an individual blog on the site you’ll be reviewing for the semester.  Discuss how this form of journalism differs from traditional story forms found on the site (or other news sites).   Provide an example or two.
• Before class next Monday, comment at least two times on posts of other classmates.  As soon as you get me the URL of your blog, I’ll provide a blogroll so you know where to find each others’ blogs.

Blogging Tips

Since many of you are new to blogging, I’m not expecting you to pick it up immediately.  Don’t get too worked up about doing it wrong.  We’ll talk a lot more about blogging next week, but here are a few tips to get you started.

• In some ways, blogging shares many of the same attributes as traditional news stories.  Accuracy is paramount.  Don’t get sloppy with poor spelling, grammar.  Don’t plagiarize. Follow AP style as much as you can.
• Link.  Don’t make it hard for me to find something.  Readers are lazy and busy.
• Remember that blogging is not a one-way publishing medium.  It’s part of a larger conversation.  Refer to the work of others.  Comment, and when people comment on your posts, jump in and continue the conversation in the comments.
• Traditional story form conventions strip out all personality. Blogs give you freedom to inject more voice into your writing.  Have a little fun.  Showing some personality in blogs is a plus – it’s a good way to connect with readers, and connecting with readers builds trust.

Here’s who’s covering which site:

Huffington Post: Marie, Gab, Michelle, Jessica, Rosemary

MinnPost: Alex, Tahira, Amanda, Chineme

Voice of San Diego: Emily, Stephanie, Abby, Ilana

BBC News: Laura, Alix, Karen, Tam