Add blogging to your application and your in. Well at MIT at least

Student blogging has finally infiltrated higher education! The Massachsetts Institute of Technology is one of the many collges incorperating blogging into its admissions process.  Amhurst,Bates,Wellesley and Vsssar College have student blogs too. Vassar’s blog has four student bloggers that look a little generic and plaster the college logo everywhere. But MIT is bold enough to allow current and prospective students blog, without any editing,on the admissions homepage about pretty much anything.

According to an article in The New York Times current students ”offer advice on the application process and the institute’s intense workload; others write about quirkier topics, like warm apple pie topped with bacon and hot caramel sauce, falling down the stairs or trying to set a world record in the game of Mattress Dominos,”  Theres probably an added incentive since these bloggers are paid $10 an hour. Not bad for posting your opinion online. 

After visiting the blog, theres obviously is not a specific criteria or subject for posting because topic range from a freshmans experience to a bunch of half-naked guys playing in office chairs.  It seems like a great way to learn about a college campus from actual students and not from a generic brochure with statisctics about the school.  “Blogs can certainly help humanize the process,” the senior dean of admissions,Art Rodriguez, said in an article with The New York Times.  In the near future, spring 2010, blogs will be as common as campus tours.

If MIT is allowing students to post their thoughts and opnions about their alma mater then eventually the “bad” post will leak through. No college campus is great alll the time. If UAlbany started an admissions blog then eventually a post about how bad the dining hall food is or that it snows way too much in Albany would be posted. Having the good mixed in with the bad would give prospective students a more realistic idea of where their $70 application fee is going.

MIT is known  for its intense science and technology programs. Class,study,eat, more studying, sleep and even more studying; that would be my assumption of how MIT students spent their time.  But somewhere in between sleep and studying these students have time to write blogs too! An overachiever of you ask me, but no one is asking me.  Christie Chinea, a senior of MIT,  who writes for the admissions site blog confessed “I didn’t know about the anime club. I would have never guessed that people at M.I.T. are interested in anime. Oh well … +1 on my ‘Why should I go to M.I.T.’ list.” in a recent article in The New York Times.  MIT is onto something big.

It’s cold ouitside but someones gotta do it.

The first day of has come and gone and colder weather is approaching, Times Union columnist Fred  Lebrun navigated 150 miles of the Hudson River last week. The Hudson River Chronicles, as Lebrun refers to it, was initiated in 1998 to document the entire 315 miles that is the Hudson River with photos, live video footage and of course articles written by Lebrun.  Alhtough he is not from the generation “Y” he is still uploading photos, video and blogging about his trip.

This time around Lebrun traveled 150 miles of the Hudson River stopping at only seven key destinations along it. He started at Mount Marcy and ended at end at the Hudson River in Albany. The goal of this trip, Lebrun suggests, is “to see what we can see, good and bad, and take our readers along with us.”   Instead of travelling 18 days by canoe, raft, and power boat Lebrun choose a seven day journey that “The heart is willing to consider a longer journey, but the knees are not.”  he said.

 

     I commend this man. When I think of the Hudson River the last thing I think of is how massive and dynamic the river is. I don’t wonder how the river has changed in the last 11 years or what interesting things might be happening along the river. Flight 1549, dangerously polluted water, airplane crashes, that’s what I think of.  When I freshman I was on the Crew team and spring practice was downtown on the Hudson River. I remember the water looked opaque and filthy I was more afraid of getting splashed by the tainted water than drowning. Its interesting that he still ventures out to do what joutnalist do:report and write.

“The heart is willing to consider a longer journey, but the knees are not.” – Fred Lebrun

     And Lebrun is probably well aware that the Hudson’s negative reputation but even so he still jumps, at his age he probably slowly slipped in, into a raft to do his journalism.  After looking through the 1998 Hudson River Chronicles I started to wonder how much Lebrun was paid to do this. Being outdoors for hours at a time for 18 days straight could not have been easy.  Unpredictable weather, strange locations and navigating a small raft or boat with a crew of people trying to make their deadlines about the Hudson River chronicles seems more comical.   

 

     I want the gossip.  Give me an article on how someone lost their camera in Glens Falls because they were goofing around in the raft tipped over causing all their stuff to be lost. That’s not really funny or good gossip but I wanted something else besides an 18-day chronicle of birds and water. More power to Lebrun and his crew but I’m a natural indoorsman or indoorswoman to be politically correct. I’m in my element with a sofa, television and internet.  Maybe this Hudson River Chronicles will change my idea about the tainted Hudson River but until then I’m safe

Who owns the content??

         On the first day of introduction to journalism you learn that a good journalists’ goal should be to produc news stories that are fair, accurate, impartial and attribute.  If the story was about a car crash then getting who, what, when, where, why and how are first priorities.  Next priority is attributing the sources of the information.  “A date which will live in infamy.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt said during his speech addressing Congress about the Pearl Harbor bombing. Attribution like that is the merit of a good journalist.  Gawker.com employee Hamilton Nolan neglected to properly attribute his solitary source of information.  Unfortunately there are hundreds of Hamilton Nolan’s on the Web blogging without proper attribution. Whether it’s a novice blogger or a professionally trained journalist, fair usage and proper attribution is necessary.

          After reading the Gawker post by Hamilton Nolan and the Washington Post article by Ian Shapira, it is evident that majority of Nolan’s post was lifted verbatim from Shapira’s article. However, he did add his own original interpretation and insults about the “generational consultant”, Anne Loehr. The direct quotes from the Washington Post’s article were posted in with large red parentheses around them which implied they were actual quotes but Ian Shapira was never attributed as the source of these quotes. What if Pricechopper started labeling their products with Hannaford labels, without letting Hannaford know or even worse not share the profit? That would never go down.  This may seem innocuous mistake but it contributes to the larger problem within the journalism industry of who owns the content.

 

          What followed was a “blight”, a blog fight, between Shapira, Gabriel Snyder and other news blog sites.  Was Nolan wrong for essentially stealing the Washington Post article? Yes he was wrong. In his response article about Nolan’s thievery, Shapira criticizes how stealing original work undermines real reporting. Real reporting as he puts it is “making me even more nervous about my precarious career as a newspaper reporter who enjoys, at least for the time being, a salary, a 401(k) and health insurance.”   Considering our unstable economy it’s probably not a good idea to lose your job or start looking for a new one.  And bloggers like Nolan seem unsympathetic about preserving a journalist’s job. 

         I counted 440 words total in Nolan’s post and 227 of them were quotes from Shapira’s article. If you did the math, that’s 48 percent of unoriginality. Nolan’s article was short, informative, and funny. He defended his position, mixed in a few insults with actual quotes from the Washington Post article and his post was done. It was not that bad and I actually preferred reading his slightly bitter opinion post compared to Shapira’s longer piece. And that was probably his goal, to attract more traffic, but failed to have journalistic integrity.

       However, Rachel Sklar from Mediaite.com makes a good point that “it’s hardly fair to blame Gawker for a form that has become institutionalized across the blogosphere. (Not to mention all those times that major newspapers picked up stories first broken by blogs without crediting!)” in her post titled “Did Gawker rip off the Washington Post? Yep.”  Even if a newspaper stole a story that originated online, there was probably thorough time and money dedicated to reproducing that same story. The New York Times, for example, covered the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident at the MTV Video Music Awards a day after it happened.  The Times even posted the video. But the story and video leaked to the Web minutes after it happened. Everyone seen it and read about it before the Times covered it. But throughout the article it is clear where the information was from.

          Then there’s the problem of the newspaper. Blog sites are not afraid to post newsworthy and non-newsworthy stuff, regardless of original reporting. Attribution is not discouraged but not promoted as highly as traffic numbers are. Shapira spent time interviewing Loehr, sat through a two-hour seminar, transcribed 3,000 words of notes and assembling it into a 1,500 word article. The Gawker employee spent about an hour maybe an hour and a half writing that post according to Shapira’s article “The Death of Journalism.” But that is expected because blogs are usually short sweet and to the point, while newspaper articles are longer and more in depth.

       Bill Grueskin of the Columbia Journalism Review pointed out that Hamilton Nolan did provide links in his story to help readers navigate to other sites about the same topic. But two of the eight links were links back to the original article.  Ian Shapira’s article was very long and even if the link was properly placed, I highly doubt the average reader would have taken the time to read the entire 1,500-word article. Was that a slap in the face to all journalists who dedicate time and energy into writing a story or is it time for newspapers to change their business model?

        After sifting through another 1500-word article written by Ian Shapira, “The Death of Journalism (Gawker Edition)”, the answer seems like it’s time to change the business model.  If bloggers are going to steal and prominent newspapers do not have an effective method for preventing journalistic piracy, and journalists careers are in jeopardy, than it’s definitely time to change it up  

           If the obvious debate between the Washington Post and Gawker.com was about attribution etiquette, than relevancy and rivalry was the unspoken brawl. According to “Death of Journalism” by Shapira, after initially reading the Gawker post he “was flattered,” And part of that is a journalist goal because if you spend two days writing an article than you want someone to acknowledge it. You want someone to blog about it, comment, say they loved it, or even say they hated it; staying relevant and interesting keeps the journalism industry alive.  But his flattery turned into resentment after his editor convinced him that it was wrong to take it as a compliment. If the news revolution includes more stolen opinion-driven content and less original reporting than “A less cumbersome way for newspapers to head off the threat of blogs would be to beat us to the punch line.”  as Gabriel Snyder from Gawker.com said.

Shirky Video response

While watching Shirky’s speech on how social media is making history I kept wondering why he did not mention Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or YouTube.com.  Ask any college student if they’ve logged into Facebook within the last 24 hours or updated their Twitter status and the answer is probably yes. Ask any college student if they’ve read the updated news on their Google Reader or added a link in an RSS feed and I bet two meal swipes and some Munch money that their answer is no.  

Then I realized Shirky was applying the growing popularity of social media to international and national events, like elections and natural disasters, which traditionally don’t get social media attention outside of a hard news story. When he talks about the earthquake in China it reminded me of 9/11. Videos of former President Bush calmly reading to a class of children when he received the news about the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center were posted to YouTube a few months later. YouTube served up news in the form of a video that the newspapers and White House might not have covered. It was important that people knew what and how the president reacted when he got the news.

He credits Nigeria for using the “unappreciated” cell phone during an election for inspiring “Citizens of Observation” Web sites in the United States during the presidential elections.  Shirky emphasized that common technology like cell phones and media like the World Wide are not just commonalities to take for granted. I started to feel like an elitist with my fancy Facebook and YouTube accounts. However, Facebook and YouTube are vital organs in the body of social media.

For example, when the Virginia Tech shooting happened, Facebook created a profile in dedication to the victims. People could donate money and post their condolences. Another example is with Twitter. Soledad O’Brian, a CNN special investigations journalist, posted videos and tweets about information that didn’t make the cut into some of her documentaries.  They served to “convene and support groups” as Shirky said. To bring it back to Shirky, I think he may be a part of the “old school” and just recently be grasping the social media boom. But in time I am sure that the generations will be calling MySpace and Twitter a thing of the past and will be writing blogs about my “old school” social media.

You think you know but you have now idea!..welcome to the real world!!

this is the cover of a book written by Collen Kinder

My biggest concern now as a junior in college is what I will do when I graduate.  I’m 40 credits away from graduation but I’m light years away from being prepared to join the working field. Since the economy has not been its strongest and jobs have been suffering it makes me even more worried about my future.  All of my major classes focus on how to develop my journalistic skill while learning how to adapt and excel in the journalism industry.  If a degree guaranteed success and job stability then there would be no need for me to write this bog.  But having a degree does not mean that; so I have to learn how to become an excellent writer, editor, and reporter, take great photographs, be knowledgeable about changing technological trends and be proficient in journalism related software like Photoshop and publisher.  The industry is getting smaller more specialized so the standards are higher which means that our skills have to be exceptional. I am competing with so many other college students for jobs, resources and experience just so there will be a cozy journalism job waiting for me in 2011. I read an article on the Poynter Web site how colleges are introducing more aggressive journalism courses. The courses are designed with the future tech-savvy journalist in mind.  For example there is a university in London that will add new masters programs in Online Journalism, Social Media and a few more. Other colleges were listed that are here in the US. I think it’s great that colleges are improving their journalism programs because it shows me that there is renewed interest being invested into the future of our scared journalism industry.  But I do worry that will not enough.  I could have started working for a newspaper or Web site straight out of high school while working towards a degree on the side.  By this time I could have some of the basic skills that now I am struggling with.  I feel like the time I sit in class writing papers and stressing over quizzes are sometimes spent in vain. With the omens that my professors give me and the failing economy its obvious why I am scared.  But a lot of then essentials that journalist need to know involve active involvement. College is the medium that is supposed to provide basic resources and support.  So while I doze off at the sound of my professor’s voice I think about the different places and people I need to contact to get an internship, what Web sites I need to remember to add to my Google reader and what interesting status I will put up on Facebook.  I don’t think any journalism program, or any other college program, can ultimately prepare its students for the real world. Not the Real world on MTV but the real world with deadlines, high expectations and alarm clocks. I know a career is not lining up to meet me but I’m working to change that.

What the 411?..how i get my news

I like to read newspapers, when they are free, but I prefer to read online. Online has so many options that a traditional newspaper does not offer. For example if I want to read my local newspaper I can pick up the Times Union or visit their Web site. But if I wanted to read about events happening in my hometown of long island there is not a paper that I could buy to tell me that unless I was home. I rely on the heavily on the web for information and events that a newspaper does not cover.  My father reads the newspaper religiously as well as online media and the nightly news.  I personally don’t like to watch televised news broadcast until I have read about an event first. There are no time slots in print unlike televised news.  I think nightgly news has to cut a lot of important infomation out of a story so they can fit in other things too. Although I boast about the endless news sources online I believe that traditional print is necessary. Unless you have a constant internet connection than you will not be able to read about news or topics that you regularly would.  I love magazines because they entertain and inform. As a journalism student I think it is important to have a well rounded news sources. So I read different newspapers, variety of Web sites and blogs.

“Out of Print” – Alterman

The first time I read “Out of Print,” by Eric Alterman I was more involved with deciphering the definitions of words like presaged and ruminations.  As a young journalist, I assumed my vocabulary should be so extensive that I should understand anything and everything I read.  Re-reading it a second time with the definitions has not made a difference.  The semester since I’ve first read the article has not made it less alarming.  But the information I took from it has changed.  This time I read it twice, but no matter how clever or original Alterman writes it is clear that money is and will eventually dominate the journalism industry.  From this article it seems as if the newspaper industry was once honest, democratic and transparent; but has transformed into an internet dominated industry, driven by money and fear that it will disappear.  According to Molly Ivins we should make “Our product smaller and less helpful and less interesting.” and I couldn’t disagree more with her.

Most if not all of my journalism classes dwell on how the newspaper industry is not what it used not be and we should get out of it quick as possible or assimilate with the changes.  Sometimes it is like listing to the story about a war; a war between the almighty internet and the weak newspaper industry; a war that is measured in dropping advertising revenues and decline or increase in readership.  I don’t believe the physical newsrooms will disappear.  But they will get smaller and more efficient. The future of the larger more dominant newsrooms will survive by becoming very efficient and dominate in both print and internet.  For the simple fact they will have the financial power to keep a newsroom full of skilled journalists as well as not professionally trained bloggers.  The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal will not become an object on display in the Newsuem, but become one of the few a trusted sources of “real” news.   Those newsrooms have invested interest in reporting objective and fair news. Blogs and aggregated news may not have those same interests.  There will always be a market for people who want to read about news not from an opinion point of view, but from a trained journalist.  All the hype and panic about newsrooms are real.  I have read about people within the newspaper industry losing their jobs and how companies go bankrupt or bought out.  However, the entire country as well as the world is going through a recession.  So everyone and every industry are feeling the effects economic chaos.

I feel fortunate that I am still in college because I know that jobs are not guaranteed and even less guaranteed within the journalism field.  Writing, editing and reporting were going to be my ticket for landing my dream job; but I am realizing that I will have to step my game way up and become skilled in other areas. My paycheck will be better if I know how to use Photoshop, create a blog, increase traffic, take great photos as well as edit, report and write excellently.  The changing media landscape will become my career filed.  I am sure that the newspaper industry will continue to change.  I am more worried about what will constitute as news in the transition from print to the dominating internet.  Money seems to decide who will succeed and who will die out.   What happens when it is cheap to run a story about a celebrity than run a story on a racist police chiefs remarks?  Some issues need to a professional journalist’s touch to deliver a story without gossip or bias.  If that continues to happen quantity will control the news and not quality.  I do not care if a story is online or in a newspaper, I want to know the truth about what is going on in my world.

Alterman boasts that younger people are not interested in reading news, and I agree.   I hardly ever read an actual print newspaper; partially because I don’t want to spend the time or money getting one, but also because I would rather read it on the internet. On the internet I can surf around other topics that a newspaper may not have. I can check my favorite gossip site. I can check my email.  It allows me to multi task and not waste time sitting down to read a newspaper.  So how will younger generations that grow up addicted to MySpace and Facebook receive and appreciate news? I do not know.  I do not think there is a full proof way to keep younger readers without compromising some journalistic integrity.  “Out of Print” discussed the Lippmann theory of an elite group of people that consume news in its original form; print.  I do not completely agree but I am not totally indifferent.  Print holds the standard of what real news is supposed to be in my opinion and reading online is not bad either. So I guess I like to read print sometimes to feel as though I apart of a group that is too good to accept “news” from the internet.  This goes back to my earlier point that print newspapers will not disappear, but become something that few consume but has good quality.v