journalism « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

journalism

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9
Oct 14

Things that remain

This was on the dessert stand in the cafeteria at lunch:

I did not eat any of them, nor did I even try to use my standard rationale: I ran five miles this morning. I can eat a cake. I think it was something about the message. Why does one eat love? How does one eat faith? You could go the metaphorical route, aim for the biblical teaching or, like me, just be a little weirded out by pink icing.

If you stare at those for a second you realize someone wrote all of those out by hand. That’s another thing. How do you expect me to eat that? You wrote faith on a cake square and now I devour it in two bites?

And what of the hope? 1 Corinthians is hardly complete without it.

Man, this is a great diet plan I’ve discovered, huh?

So, yeah, five miles. I can do six miles, no problem. (I do not know what is happening … ) I once knocked out eight miles around the neighborhood, with a fair bit of walking in it. But, still, eight miles. Here’s the problem: I need something to ward off the boredom. Around mile six I’m just ready to move on. Any tips?

Things to read … because you can always find helpful tips if you read enough.

I’m a big fan of making sure students never ask a rhetorical question in their copy. There are times it works. Too often, though, it leads to things like this non sequitur, “Are you a Red Bull Drinker? Do you want to be?” Red Bull Settlement: How to claim your piece of $13 million

There’s a great line in this story, which is always a difficult one to tell, Jury hears emotional testimony from Leonard’s father during sentencing hearing:

Wright, who wore clothes he borrowed from Leonard, pleaded with the court to spare his son, who is facing the death penalty for fatally shooting three people and wounding three others during a party at the former University Heights apartment complex on June 9, 2012.

The dad is in and out of prison, he tells the judge and jury he was never really in his son’s life. He’s actually been hauled to this hearing from his prison sentence. And he’s had to borrow his son’s clothes. The reporter told me he’d noticed that the tie was familiar. He’d seen the defendant, and now his father, wear it. That’s the sort of reporting you can’t get over the phone or in a rewrite. Message: Go to the place you’re writing about.

The trend continues, Marketwatch editor: Most stories will now be less than 400 words:

We need to reshape how markets and financial stories are told to better reflect how they are consumed. What do I mean by that? Like most news sites, MarketWatch still leans too heavily on the 750-word story — a legacy of print newspapers that has outlived its usefulness. We want to go shorter – and longer.

The majority of our stories will soon be under 400 words — breaking everything down into short bursts of news and insight that cut straight to what is most important to readers, without all the empty calories and filler journalists love to stuff in the sausage . We will also do longer, deep dives on important stories that warrant such treatment. This is the way the digital news is going: tall and venti, no more grande.

Let’s play ‘Can you find all the snippy bits?’ The “priesthood” is real and we do not need another one.

Perhaps you’ve seen a list like this before. This one has alternatives! And, yes, it has a gif, but it is from “Princess Bride,” so it gets a pass. So many qualifiers! 5 weak words copywriters and bloggers should avoid (and what to use instead).

Mobile news consumption hits the tipping point:

Now that mobile traffic is at or near 50% at many newspapers, editors and publishers need to put ever more of their thinking – and resources – into optimizing products, content and advertising for not only smartphones and tablets but also for such emerging devices as smart watches, smart televisions and whatever smart stuff comes next. As discussed below, mobile publishing is as distinct from web publishing as web publishing is from web printing.

And it is happening fast, too, as expected. (For a few years now I’ve noted that the mobile move was one thing that was outpacing the web’s legendary rapid adaptability.)

Well now, CDC Director on Ebola: ‘The Only Thing Like This Has Been AIDS’.

And, to end on a happy note, this is a video package worth watching:

I had to look four different places to find an embeddable version of that story, but it was worth it.

journalism / links / Samford / things to read / Wednesday — Comments Off
8
Oct 14

Oh, this is awkward, but deliberately so

In class today we talked about different story forms. I got to discuss the circle lead, one of the best tricks in a writer’s quiver. I’d use them all the time if I could, but if you don’t get it just right that arrow in your quiver becomes a whacky splinter, spinning out of control.

They have to be done well. There is an art to them. You see these often — the ending in some way refers back to the beginning, with a phrase or a callback so that your news story comes full circle — and some are definitely better than others.

(Watch, I’ll do a bad one below.)

There was a story in the Crimson about another awareness month — October is just full of them for some reason. Only in this particular one, nothing seems to be happening. But you are aware! There is a feature on Yik Yak. Our features editor interviewed the CEO. Turns out they know some of the same people. There was also a column comparing cats and engagement rings.

You can find them all, and more, on the site, which is due a relaunch here in the next few weeks. Looking forward to that.

Things to read … because I always look forward to reading.

We saw this in recruitment two years ago, but now it is “official.” Not sure if that’s because an investment firm did some research or that the research got written about in a paper, Teens are officially over Facebook

Somehow, I doubt this particular gentleman’s unfortunate story is far from over, Ebola patient in Dallas hospital dies

Meanwhile, Conn. Health Commissioner Granted Quarantine Power

And locally, CDC Sets Up Mock Ebola Ward Set Up In Alabama:

Time to put on the protective suits. The students use a buddy system to check each other as they pull on each piece of gear – boots, a jumpsuit, surgical gloves, head covering, facemask, apron. Heather Bedlion is a registered nurse and has worked in a disaster zone, but she’s never put on this amount of protection.

It sounds like protocol will mean everything.

Predictable, perhaps unavoidable, and sad, Turkey Refusing to Fight ISIS Right on Its Border

Don’t forget about these folks, South, North Korea ships fire shots at disputed sea border

And, here at home, Jimmy Carter unhappy with Obama’s policies in Middle East:

Carter said it was hard to figure out exactly what President Obama’s policy is in the Middle East.

“It changes from time to time,” Carter said. “I noticed that two of his secretaries of defense, after they got out of office, were very critical of the lack of positive action on the part of the president.”

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was the most recent to criticize Obama, in remarks he made to USA Today while promoting his new book, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace.”

Carter acknowledged that the ISIS situation is complicated and he thinks the United States waited too long to respond.

“First of all, we waited too long. We let the Islamic state build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” he said. “Then when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”

Carter is just stating facts, and the facts as he sees them. He’s always just a moment or two away from returning to that most annoying of political institutions, the critical ex-president.

Long has there been a tradition of great men — and even the lesser men that have held the office — of retiring and holding their tongues. Some people just can’t help themselves, though. Jimmy Carter can be one of those guys. Harry Truman was the same. And that’s, perhaps, the most Trumanesque thing he can muster. We’d perhaps all be better off if he simply returned to the great post-presidency work he’s done. That’s the strongest arrow in his quiver.

(See?)

I do not know what is happening. / journalism / links / running / Samford / things to read / Tuesday — Comments Off
7
Oct 14

On betterment

Time to get better. Got in a nice little run this morning, because, I’d decided, the offseason was over. I hadn’t done anything in a week, hadn’t run in 10 days, so a 5K seemed a good place to start. The offseason was over. Let the sweating and straining and suffering and self-improvement begin.

Meanwhile, the Ironman world championships are about to take place in Hawai’i, which means there are way to many profiles of struggle and triumph and achievement and sheer cardiovascular stubbornness floating around. I might share one or two. Here’s a man more than twice my age who’s probably six or eight times in better shape: No Such Thing as “Aging Up”:

Scott had chest pain during a bike ride a decade ago, and did what any triathlete would do. He rode his bike to his doctor’s office. After an examination, his suspicions of cardiac disease confirmed, the doctor wanted Scott to head to the hospital for a cardiac cath. Scott agreed and started to put his helmet back on to ride his bike to the hospital. The doctor would have none of it and Scott was transported in the usual fashion. After a stent placement and recovery, he went on to set the Kona age group records for the next age group (75-79) as well.

Now, Scott, 83, is a 14-time IRONMAN World Championship finisher and course record holder in three age groups.

A multiple of six or eight might not be enough, actually.

Things to read … because I’m not a 14-time Ironman.

Just the Facts? This Dossier Goes Further

Tracking consumers across platforms is key to mobile ad revenue

Twitter Sues the Government for Violating Its First Amendment Rights

10-Step guide to auditing your school’s compliance with the Clery Act

‘A Terrible Slaughter Is Coming’

We were in the mountains of eastern Tennessee when this story broke in 2012, in a place where the cell service wasn’t good, so we were driving and looking for bars and hoping these rumors wouldn’t pan out. Sadly, horribly, they did. Desmonte Leonard found guilty of capital murder in shooting deaths of three people

I assume that this is one of those things that gives some measure of completion to the people who were directly touched. If that really happens or not, I don’t know. This must surely be better than learning of the time they had to delay a hearing because they left this guy at the jail. Or the day we learned that he was caught up in some story about having sex with a corrections officer. Or when he was on the run. I remember we sat at home the night the police sat for hours outside a residential home in Montgomery, thinking they had the guy cornered in an attic. He was nowhere near there.

Here’s a reaction story. Student reactions are always the weirdest and the best, Law enforcement, AU students react to Leonard verdict.

Newspaper night tonight. This is a feisty bunch. They are funny and they know their stuff. And they get done early. We’ve had staffs that worked way into the wee hours of the morning, into a time when the hours were distressingly no longer wee. This crowd is done by midnight, usually. And their work is pretty good, too. It makes the critiques, which we do on Wednesdays, fun. But it also makes it hard to find things to pick on them about.

It is a nice problem to have. Now I get to start challenging them to do bigger things. Time to get better.

journalism / links / Monday / photo / Samford / things to read — Comments Off
6
Oct 14

The first sign of the fall

The maples always give up first. They are always noticeable. This is the first one of the year, and this is how it will go from here on in. Leaves and things falling onto the car, into the yard and showing the thinning trees and the sticks. It is demoralizing, even without the symbolism. But this is how it goes, a bright red, a shocking yellow and then browns and grays and the long, deep holding of one’s breath until the first buds of spring.

I think it will be harder this year.

Slept a lot of yesterday afternoon away. I was just so tired all weekend. Of course by the time I’d recouped enough to feel close to normal evening had arrived. By the time my third wind arrived I was wide awake for the witching hour. So I got a few things off the DVR, at least.

Up early this morning, and then subsequently at ’em. If they ever figure out we’re at ’em things are going to change. No one ever discusses that, but it is a distinct possibility we have to consider.

Class today and then office stuff and helping with a few story ideas. I had dinner at a place where the menu said one price and my ticket indicated another, higher one. I pointed this out to the server, a cheerful woman who has seen me enough to offer a really solid — but incorrect — guess about what I was having for dinner. She laughed it off. I’ll remember that when I don’t go back anytime soon.

After dinner, this was my view:

Which wasn’t bad, really. The maple leaves are getting drunk and falling down, but the temperatures are still nice and comforting and warm.

Things to read … because reading is comforting, and can keep you warm — if you’re someplace warm.

A tragedy, an eventuality, and I agree with Dr. Joyner, this was poorly handled. US Marine First Casualty in Fight Against ISIS.

There’s a great sadness, and surely a great number of people who cared, who now wish they’d had a way to help. A terrible loss, Hazel Green community mourns death of football standout Julian Jones.

He might not be presidential timber, but he’s an interesting man. This is another little insight into the man from Massachusetts, Mitt Isn’t Ready to Call It Quits.

So one team’s quarterback gets hurt. No one else on the team can play the part. So a guy from the other team comes over to take a few snaps, High school quarterback helps opposing team during their time of need.

Are you interested in media law stemming from the Boston Marathon bombing? Well, New York Post’s Shoddy Reporting Leaves Legal, Ethical Lessons.

This is another great piece from last week that should have been written in the last decade, How journalists are embracing the innovation of Twitter.

The Cluetrain, happily, is still making plenty of stops.

I parked under a tree today. Now all of the crevices are filled with tiny leaves. The elms are taking cues from the maples. Quitters.

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2
Oct 14

Sigoggling

Sometimes you spend all day in your office, doing office things. Sometimes you do office things and it doesn’t even seem like you’ve done office things. But, then, sometimes, you spend all day doing office things, questioning your progress on doing those things and then walk outside at just the right time.

And that, as they say, is its own reward.

My other reward was veggies.

Things to read … because reading makes us big and strong.

(That’s what you’ve been told your entire life, anyway.)

Help for victims of sex trafficking: priest Becca Stevens wants Birmingham to do more

This will stick with you, How to Spot a Trafficking Victim at an Airport

Here’s the trailer for American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, detailing the nation’s best sniper. As movie trailers go, that’s incredibly intense.

This story never gets old, Sportsmanship allows middle school boy to live football dream:

Dalton, diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, had just realized a long-time dream — playing football for his beloved Bears. Dalton had been hoping to dress with the team all season. Finally approved to participate, assistant Bears coach J.T. Lawrence and the other coaches had an idea.

“We thought it would be a great experience for Dalton and for the rest of our kids if he could get into a game and score,” Lawrence said. There was one problem. Dalton did not need to have any physical contact.

Lawrence talked to Prattville Christian athletic director Sam Peak and asked if his school would allow Dalton to go into the game and score a 2-point conversion if Billingsley scored a touchdown.

“That was an easy answer,” Peak said. “We coach our kids to be thankful for each opportunity to touch someone else’s life. This was an opportunity for us to do something good.”

A friend found the video:

UAB gets $47M grant for low-income education initiative

The Cult of Neil deGrasse Tyson

One System, Two Media: How China, Hong Kong Are Covering The Protests

The second half of this is great, Young Protesters in Hong Kong Have Found an Ingenious Way Around Cyber Censors

Occupy Hong Kong: Macro scale, micro-adaptations

Speaking of adaptations:

Could have told them that at the beginning … Facebook is more important to news distribution than you think, and journalists are freaked out:

At ONA, anxiety about Facebook’s increasing control over our traffic revealed itself in lots of questions: If I have 250,000 fans of my page, why don’t they all see everything I post? Why does my journalism seem to reach fewer people than it used to? Is Facebook trying to pressure my news organization to spend money to boost my posts or take out ads?

But there are more existential fears behind this conversation, too: If Facebook isn’t interested in exposing users to content that might be important but won’t result in high engagement like softer news and quizzes do, what will happen to news literacy? What will happen to civic engagement? What happens to The News That Matters, if only Facebook gets to decide what matters?

From the department of obvious things that could be understood but for interest, Editors who don’t use Twitter undercut their pleas to innovate.

If you’re from anywhere near where I’m from, this sounds a bit like home:

The sounds are the same, but those North Carolinians have their own unique vocabulary. You get the sense that even that language is falling away. Some of those words were things a parent said, some of them took some recollection. Good that it has been recorded in documentary form — and I want to see the full thing. How else would we have seemingly random blog post titles?