J2 News

"A columnist must be quick and nimble with various platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter (and all those other platforms you've been avoiding) in order to promote a message with power and reach.  What is your genre of column writing? Pick a niche and own it and use social media to raise your presence to a higher level. Although excellent writing will always be the star of the show, on-line competition requires journalists to set themselves apart. "Create value to a column with reporting," Avlon said. Facts, studies, quotes from experts, new angles and research will add to a columnist's reputation as a go-to resource.  Although reporting is vital, capturing the emotion of an issue creates universal resonance.  Avlon said, "Storytelling with compassion cuts across ideologies." To craft a standout blog or column, Avlon offered these elements: A strong point of view Expertise Research A compelling read"

"As a part of our advanced curriculum, broadcasting students are offered a chance to create documentaries, and many of our students have gone on to receive national recognition for their films."

"Photographs do more than document history - they make it. At TED University, Jonathan Klein of Getty Images shows some of the most iconic, and talks about what happens when a generation sees an image so powerful it can't look away - or back."

"Serial's moment came on the heels of other successful audio moments. A couple of years earlier, a little podcast about design, "99% Invisible," became the most funded journalism Kickstarter ever. The resurgence has given a bounce to everything that radio now means: podcasts, NPR, crowdfunding and non-traditional storytelling delivered in non-traditional ways. It's in that last camp where I think journalism professors can be more committed and daring to the benefit of three key groups: themselves, their students and audiences beyond their classrooms. I know because as I continue to try and figure this out, my students' stories are getting aired throughout the U.S."

"The Futuro Media Group is an independent non-profit media organization dedicated to producing multimedia journalism that explores and gives critical voice to the diversity of the American experience."

"Using the first section of the story as a kind of microcosm - and encouraging you all to read that much, at least - I offer the following critiques: 1. Most of the visual elements violate the essential credo of effective storytelling: Not to give away too much too soon. 2. Time and again the visual elements "step on the narrative." 3. There is a "kitchen sink" feel to the visual aspects of the story. 4. The first section of text feels out of tune with the second. 5. Most of all, there is no harmony between what I would call the Voice of the story and its Vision. Let me expand on these, in order:"

"ate yesterday, Getty announced a new system for photo-sharing on its platform: embeddability. Some 35 million(!) of the agency's photos are now free for pretty much anyone to share-for, at least, noncommercial purposes. Which is big news, not only for the web publishers whose ranks are growing daily, but also for what the move says-and concedes-about the digital economy as it exists in early 2014. "

"I often use commercials as ways to teach journalists how to write compelling stories. Budweiser's "Puppy Love" Super Bowl commercial gives me one of the best examples of video storytelling that I have seen in years. So let me walk you frame-by-frame through the ad. The story teaches us how to build tension, how to use the "rule of threes," how to find narrow focus and how to build to the big explosion at the end of the piece - the payoff."

"Dr.  Mu Lin is a digital journalism professional and educator in New Jersey, United States. MulinBlog is a place for Dr. Lin to share his research and thoughts about digital/multimedia journalism with students, instructors and media professionals."

"Need to brush-up on your digital journalism skills? You might want to check-out some free or low-cost, online courses being offered within the next few months."

"This week's RJI Futures Lab explores tools that make it easier to turn text into video, to create multimedia explanations and to create digital magazines."

"The Transom Online Workshop (TOW) is an experimental learning environment for conveying the art and craft of multimedia storytelling, supported by the Knight Prototype Fund. The mentor is Scott Carrier, Peabody Award-winning producer and Communications Professor. You can look and listen in at the TOW 0.2 Facebook Group page. We have started our final beta test, TOW 0.3. This workshop is now full and accepting no more testers. At this point we do not know if they'll be another instructor-led workshop. We will, however, offer an instructor-less (free) web-based path thru the learning materials, due out February 2014."

"Imagine an online environment for learning the art and craft of multimedia journalism, a place for media consumers to become media producers. We think this goal realizable because … we're doing it. In the Transom Online Workshop (TOW) a bunch of wanna-be producers come together as a group on Facebook, where a couple of instructors lead them through four basic exercises that require the students learn to use the tools and software involved in photo journalism, radio, and video production. It's not easy, but they figure it out, with help from each other. It's a prototype and we've made some mistakes, learned a lot. This is where we are now, starting the second beta test (Knight Prototype Fund-ed). We designed the workshops so people could quickly become better storytellers, and so we, the designers, could observe the way someone acquires a creative skill, such as storytelling."

Multimedia graphic storytelling

"Al Jazeera America's (AJA) Jared Keller and Dominica Lim created an interactive map inviting anyone affected by Hurricane Sandy to tell their stories using text, photo and video. This is one way AJA plans to recognize the devastating storm's first anniversary and offer context as part of its continuing Sandy coverage. This interactive map is smart for two reasons (if not more):"