Dec
3
Some stuff:
- Free Training for Our Gannett Friends… A generous offer from Amy Webb of WebbMedia Group of free training for laid-off newspaper folk, to help get them launched on the next leg of the journey.
- ‘Curation,’ and journalists as curators. Mindy McAdams on the role of curating in journalism. (Don’t worry, it’s not that scary. In fact, her list of tasks reads pretty much like a job description for what the best editors are doing.)
- The Mad Scientist Bringing Back the Dead… Really. Something I don’t do often enough is point to some really good feature writing. Your mileage may vary, but I enjoyed the hell out of this Esquire piece.
- Newspapers belong in bins not bookshelves. Some interesting thoughts from Andy Dickinson, including the idea that one of the strengths of the newspaper is that we are prepared to buy it and then throw it away.
- Defending the underlying principles of crowdsourcing. Daniel Victor is on to part three of his defense of crowd-sourcing as a way of filling some of the gaps left as newsrooms get smaller. His idea that the community can provide coverage of such things as gas prices and traffic (to cite two of his examples) strikes some commenters are dangerous.
- The Word Detective. I had forgotten all about this gem of a website, dispensing entertaining information on the roots of words and phrases since 1995, until I was recently reminded that it still exists. Great fun for those who love words.
And some stuff on the business of media:
- Rogers lays off 100 media staff. The latest bad news from a big Canadian media company. (Note to American readers: These numbers may not seem that significant when compared to what’s happening in the U.S., but remember that our population is only one-tenth the size of yours.) Related: Newsroom cuts and closures: an ’08 rundown. Ray Regan at The Canadian Journalism Project is tracking Canada’s media situation.
- Where extreme cuts may come at papers. Alan Mutter lays out the contingency plans newspapers have for dealing with an ever-worsening situation.
- My ‘Crisis’ Advice to Newspaper Company CEOs: 11 Points to Ponder. Steve Outing with a very good list, in his latest E&P column. (Note: It seems odd that in 2008 E&P solicits feedback not through comments but through “letters.”)
