Some interesting bits and pieces from the web:
- New twist on internships. The Philadelphia Inquirer to j-schools: we’ll give you an internship spot if you pay us. One of the effects of the decline of newspapers.
- Liquidation unlikely as papers miss obligations. An AP report on newspapers and debts makes the point that it is unlikely that creditors will push newspaper companies into full bankruptcy, given that assets won’t cover debts and that no one is interested in buying them.
- Newspapers Cope With Ad Slowdown: Hold Back On Inventory And Ad Nets. Strategies for dealing with slowing/levelling-of/falling online advertising include creating a little scarcity. Related: Alan Mutter’s latest, with no good news, $7.5B sales plunge forecast for newspapers, and INMA predicts recovery post-2009, with a prediction, not a prescription.
- The Hearst Awards for student journalists. In between preparations for today’s Thanksgiving turkey dinner, I want to spend some time looking at the winning entries in a competition that Mindy McAdams has likened to the Pulitzers for students.
- Why a blog “seal of approval” is problematic….(from a blogger’s perspective). Tish Grier takes a thoughtful look at some of the issues raised by the possibility of an ethics “seal” for bloggers.
- Time to pick up the pieces. The Spokane Spokesman-Review may have been shattered by recent layoffs and resignations of key leaders, but the transparency continues. Colin Mulvany looks at the landscape and writes, “Still, even with all the turmoil of the last week, I remain hopeful. Hopeful I can get back to my roots of just being a storyteller. Hopeful we can all pick up the pieces of what’s left and reinvent ourselves once again into something that will resonate with readers of The Spokesman-Review and viewers of our website.”
- Is effort a myth? Seth Godin on luck vs. effort and how it’s the latter we should be paying attention to. Includes an “effort diet.”
- Focus on ‘what,’ not ‘where,’ in planning your journalism career. Some sound advice for those starting out in journalism.
- Memeorandum Colors Visualizes Political Bias. Interesting: an algorithm that identifies which end of the spectrum a linked blog is by colour. All sorts of possibilities come to mind for colour as a navigation/follow cue.
