Blog critique

Go out on the World Wide Web and find a blog. Any blog will do, but I would encourage you to avoid the super-popular ones. Technorati.com can help guide you to blogs on any topic.

I used it to find a blog about chickens!
In your critique, please tell us:
what you like and dislike about the blog;
how often it is updated (avoid "dead" blogs);
whether the Comments indicate anyone is reading it;
what media elements beyond text it uses.
Post your critique here as a Comment.

TV cooperation

Staffing and Profitability
2011 TV and Radio News Staffing and Profitability Survey
The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that 2010 marked a
turnaround year for local TV news. Stations added 750 jobs last year, recovering all the
losses of 2009 (400 jobs lost) and making a dent in the 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. In fact,
the survey found that anticipated hiring in 2011 could bring the industry back to its precrash
peak by the start of 2012.

Total local television news employment is now 26,522. That's an increase of 2.9 percent
in the last year. That's still 1,295 behind the 2007 peak of 27,817. The American
Society of News Editors (ASNE) reports that newspaper employment rose by 100 in
2010 (up 2/100 of a percent) to 41,600. That's down from 55,100 in 2007.

Overall, there are now 745 TV stations originating local news, running that news on
those stations and another 223 stations for a total of 968 stations airing local news.

10 free programs journalists need

For your downloading pleasure... click here.

Newspaper video assignment

This assignment is due on Thursday, April 15. You can work on it right after you mail in your taxes!
Critique the video offerings of two newspapers.
Find one that offers video and does an effective job with it, and another that offers video but does not do an effective job with it.
Post your critique on your blog along with links to the video offerings.
Sorry, but you can't use the New York Times.

Final Project Guidelines

For the final multimedia project in the class, please choose two (or more) of the forms we have worked on during the semester and tell a fresh story.

You may work in teams or solo.

The only form that is off-limits is the blog, though you will post your project on your blog.

You may combine interactive maps, podcasts, slideshows, audio slideshows, and videos.
Examples: a podcast, slideshow or video that plays out of an interactive map; or a video that combines still and moving pictures.

This project does not require a text component.


Deadlines:
Tuesday, April 27: Post a description of your project on your blog.
Tuesday, May 11, 2:45 p.m.: Project is due at the start of this class period, which is the time set aside for your final exams. The final projects will serve as your final exam. Each team will present its project.

Video Project

Due April 22

Create a video package that runs 1:30 to 2 minutes, and a 400-word text to accompany it.

As with the audio slideshows, create a journalistic narrative with a beginning that introduces the subject, a middle, and an end.

Post the project on iReport.com, and on your blog.

Include sound. This can be natural sound or an interview, or both. It can also include your own narration; however, the project must include sound created outside of your group.

Any music needs to be royalty-free.

The text and the video package should complement each other and not simply repeat what the other says. For instance, a team could put together a video about rehearsals for “Rent,” and the text could review the play.

Rita Bole Slideshow