Interesting stuff I saw online, Jan. 27 to Jan. 31
Here’s some of the stuff I thought was interesting while stomping through the Internet from Jan. 27 through Jan. 31:
- Angela Foster: As the recession grows, publications serving Britain's ethnic communities are more relevant than ever – An item that I'll put in our Post-Dispatch blog, A Conversation about Race: "So is there still a need for the black press? Yes. There are still many issues affecting the black community that do not get covered in many mainstream papers – for instance, the disproportionate number of black people in mental health institutions and the high school exclusion rates for black boys." [via the Guardian]
- Editing comments does not make you legally liable | BeatBlogging.Org – This falsehood must stop now. It’s been used — knowingly and unknowingly — by news organizations for years as justification not to allow user comments. [via journalism.uk.org]
- Nieman Reports Article: When Journalists Blog: How It Changes What They Do – "In generating story ideas, blogging journalists don’t need someone to tell them who the readers are and what they want: They already know, because the readers are on their blogs, telling them who they are and what they’re curious about. In this new blogging relationship, editors are the middlemen being cut out." [via Journerdism]
- 10 Steps To Protect The Admin Area In WordPress – Smashing Magazine: "The administration area of a Web application is a favorite target of hackers and thus particularly well protected. The same goes for WordPress: when creating a blog, the system creates an administrative user with a perfectly secure password and blocks public access to the settings area with a log-in page."
- Getting Crisis Communications Right: Miracle on the Hudson – Brief but interesting post: "A crisis is one of the trickiest things that companies, organizations and municipalities can be forced to deal with. That is why the majority has such a hard time doing it right. Why is that?" [via @VandiverGroup on Twitter]
Watching my daughter the dancer grow up
My blog, right? So I get to be the proud papa from time to time. Last weekend, my daughter had a few featured moments during a number for the American Dance Troupe performance. She’s been taking dance classes since she was 4. She’s 17 now and she confessed a few weeks ago how thrilled she was to get cast in this number, to be wearing the tutu in a pointe number.
So, just a few shots of my daughter from last weekend — and growing up on the dance floor.
8 job blogs I’m learning something from
At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I’m working with one of our reporters on developing a jobs blog to tackle The Big Issue of our current economy. Been looking around for examples we can learn from. Here’s what I’ve come up with…and some of what I’ve been trying to learn that we can apply to our own new blog.
- Most of these are reading assignments. In most cases, their items are 10, 15, 20 inches long. Sorry, but this needs to be a breezier, easier read. People shouldn’t feel like they’re getting a reading assignment when they visit the blog.
- They don’t have much personality for the most part. Exceptions, yes, But they need attitude, conversational writing, a sense of humor. It’s a grim topic. Liven it up. Suppose we had a “Tales from Dilbertdom” category?
- They are, for the most part, advice-oriented. Ours should have elements of advice, but we can’t depend on that as a source for blog items. How many times can you explain how to write a resume, effectively network, answer interview questions?
- This needs to be updated frequently. The best ones of these are very current.
And, to be clear, I would really welcome more suggestions if there’s a blog out there you know about. By the way: Got ideas for a name? Read more
Interesting stuff I saw online, Jan. 22 to Jan. 26
Here’s some of the stuff I thought was interesting while stomping through the Internet from Jan. 22 through Jan. 26:
- How I Made a 1,474-Megapixel Photo During President Obama's Inaugural Address – David Bergman: "I made a panoramic image showing the nearly two million people who watched President Obama's inaugural address. To do so, I clamped a Gigapan Imager to the railing on the north media platform about six feet from my photo position. The Gigapan is a robotic camera mount that allows me to take multiple images and stitch them together, creating a massive image file." [Via Pogue's Posts]
- New job challenges in the White House – CrunchGear – "…worst of all, the folks so keen on their Facebooks and Twitters found that government regulations drastically curtail how they can communicate."
- Let’s talk about the economics of great journalism – Media Channel – "Having been in and around journalism, citizen journalism and publishing for a long time, let me suggest we stop talking about the ethics of providing complete and useful information to citizens of a democracy, which are barely changed by the requirements of social media and cloud computing technology, in isolation from the economics of journalism. If someone delivers great journalism on a regular basis, what does it cost to do it? What is it worth to you to get better news coverage of an important issue?"
- NYTimes' Policy on Facebook and Other Social Networking Sites – Posted on Poynter: "Another problem worth thinking about is how careful to be about Facebook 'friends.' Can we write about someone who is a 'friend?'"
6 sites for PR professionals, social media newbies
Erin Ascione
After speaking at the Kentucky Press Association, associate member Erin Ascione asked about places she, a social media newbie and a p.r. professional, could get ideas and up-to-speed.
She’s dived in in a big way already as an active Facebook member. And, shortly after the conference, signing up for Twitter. In fact, she was almost immediately ahead of most new Twitter users because she updated her profile and customized her profile picture!
Here’s a few sites I thought of, and those suggested by others I asked. Please add more!
Social Media Today: Recommended by a Facebook/Twitter friend of mine, Carrie Zukoski, who does p.r. for the local United Way.
MyRagan.com (Carrie also recommends that you sign up for the newsletter). My friend and social media guru Marijean Jaggers also recommended Ragan.com. I’ll come back to Marijean shortly. Read more
Kurt's Tweets- Bravo. RT @pwthornton: "Banning unsigned online comments undermines the media’s role as a forum for debate.” http://bit.ly/bmZsOn
- I would like to just take the two steps forward and skip the one step back. How about that? Would that be OK?
- Still seeking talented journalists to run #Patch sites in two south St. Louis County communities. Know anyone? http://ow.ly/2Axnv
- Waiting for a listings collector to give her more #Patch marketing cards. The work never stops.
- Realizing how woefully out of touch I have been with this part of the county. (@ Saint Louis Bread Company) http://4sq.com/5z5Bfh