Media Storm Workshops

*Logo from Media Storm website Copyright © 2008.

Media Storm, one of the upcoming and premier multimedia journalism organizations, is offering intense courses for reporters who want to update their reporting for new media market jobs in journalism - the fastest growing, multimedia.

These workshops are only offered seasonally. For summer, the workshop will take place on August 16th-22nd. The workshops cover advance multimedia reporting including post-production editing of video and hands-on training with the best multimedia journalists in the industry.

Last years workshop featured editors from The Washington Post, The New York Times and more. Here is a look at a behind the scences footage from participants and instructors of last year's workshops.

Plus a sample of some of their work during the week long training: The Naked Cowboy (I chose this one because of its unique subject and viewpoint).

For further information check out the workshop schedules: Apply to the Media Storm Workshops.

Translate InFocus instantly

Screenshot on Mac from flags.com

Tired of coming to my blog and unable to read my posts in your language - well guess what? Now you can. This is for my international and Spanish speaking fan base, I know you will definetly appreciate this move. How do you do this...well go to the right corner side of my blog under the InFocus description space and click on the Babel Fish application. The application features more than just Spanish it includes: Italian, Japanese, Korean, French, Portuguese and much more (just click on the designated flag to translate my entire blog and links).

Let me know if you like this new feature and if there is any other things that need to be added to improve the quality of readership and content of this blog. Thanks.

Sharing is Caring

You may now share and subscribe to my blog anytime you like, just click on the side links of my links list and presto! By adding this option you may be able to share my posts with anyone on your social networks and receive weekly blog posts of my latest entries to this blog by e-mail...think of it like a newsletter if you will.

You can also share individual posts from my blog anytime you click below the SHARE + logo post I've entered on every posted item. Let me know if you like this new feature or not. Ciao!

The ethics of news & the future of newspapers

SIDE NOTE: Photos by CM © 2008. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From left to right: (top) Mary Anne Ostrom, a political reporter from The San Jose Mercury News, Josh Richman, a political blogger, Judy Nadler, former mayor of Santa Clara, Brian Baer, a staff photographer for The Sacramento Bee, and Phill Trounstine, former political director of the Mercury during an ethics panel discussion at SJSU. (Left) Trounstine talking about the future of journalism in a digital age, (right) Ostrom discussing the decline of readership from the Merc.

Recently, San Jose State University hosted a journalism ethics panel about political coverage of the presidential race - but another topic was widely discussed as well and that was the future of newspapers in today's ever changing media world.
Among the guests were current and former journalists from The San Jose Mercury News as well as political figures like Judy Nadler, former mayor of Santa Clara.

Moderating the ethics panel was Associate Public Relations Professor Mathew Cabot. The panel was mixed with writers, photographers, editors and political directors from the San Jose area. Each brought different things to the discussion while trying to figure out honest ways of answering audience questions. In my estimate there was only about 10-20 people at this event; mostly journalism majors like me interested in politics.

For the most part each panelist talked about their experiences in journalism and how they try to befriend their political sources but hesitated to look like chums with them in public - out of fear of journalsim whiplash.

Mary Anne Ostrom, a political reporter from The Merc explained it like this: "They give you the information you need and then you provide the spin they want - of course you try to be fair and state the truth of what you are reporting."

One panelist in particular really stood out to me - and frankly, talked the most - was Philip Troustine, a former veteran political editor of The Merc and Gov. Gray Davis' former communications consultant. He explained the complexity of political reporting and how reporters manage to cover politics fairly and on deadline. Troustine also made comparions to how the political world works and how the journalism mind set is at most newsrooms - sensational and narrow minded.

He explained by saying that most journalists really don't know how the inner workings of politics and compromise actually work when your a public official. He show cased his experiences both in the inside and outside of both his former jobs - how journalism is set to only see the surface (trying to break into political circles to produce outside material for the reader) and politics observes the inner workings of policy while trying to balance outside community response to their decision making.

Every reporter, photographer and politician in the panel agreed on one thing - access is everything. Both the reporter and the politician want the event to be covered (if public and convenient). Photographers are set up to be in the front rows to shoot political set ups and reporters are there writing every last thing coming out of the politician's mouth...while the politician crafts his speech to be solid and on message as possible. Both parties then are happy: one with the needed footage, the other with publicity.

Perhaps the most interesting and engaging part of the whole panel discussion wasn't about politics but how newspapers will cover politics in the age of the declining newspaper industry. How newspapers will survive the blogasphere and readers ever-changing tastes.

Josh Richman, a political blogger for The Bay Area News Group (a wire news service), raised a very important question to audience members: "How many of you, honestly, read or pick a newspaper every day?"

Half raised their hand - and they were young (but also the panel was talking to journalism junkies and students majoring in journalism - so that probably isn't a well conducted survey of newspaper readership declining. But there is some good news - according to a recent survey conducted by The World Association of Newspapers, newspaper readership has been going up in the last few years around the world from 3-5 percent increase + revenue. However the U.S. is the fastest developing country to move away from the trend and instead increasing online readership of newspapers by 31 percent.

Richman believes that the newspaper won't die out completely here in the U.S., but it will be fueled to move its advertisement methods in a more aggresive and innovative way online so they can still be competitive in the news business (as well as read by web users).

Ostrom expressed deep concern for the quality of news that is being produced in newspapers in such a rushed 24 hour news cycle and continuing job layoffs of veteran reporters in the industry.

"There will be no institutional memory left in the news business if we keep laying off good journalists like this," she said. But all is not doom and gloom, Ostrom also expressed her excitement on how media is changing the world and leaving the younger generation to explore better ways of communicating a story globally.

"As long as their is a need for reporting the truth, their will always be newspapers - maybe not in the way our generation or your generation know of, but a much more broaden and interactive site of information to be dispursed to anyone in the globe, not just your local city or town."

For more on the panel and what they discussed check out this Spartan Daily news article.

Also additional pictures and personal story from one San Jose Mercury staffer - Flickr photos from Designer Martin Gee

Strobist lights the way

Caption: David Hobby demonstrating a flash technique at a public library in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo Credit: USA Today © 2008.

The internet has allowed for new celebrities and creative tools to emerge from old media into newer and far reaching ones on the web. Blogs are a part of this trend and have a place in photography. From portfolios to marketing photos, photo blogs have become as common as picking up a brand new pair of shoes. If your a photographer, chances are you have a blog...but not all blogs are as viewed and/or commented on as blogs that serve a purpose for the reader. Yes I'm talking about those blogs that don't just promote your site, thoughts and work but those that produce excellent tools for others to learn with and profit from --- I'm talking about the much read and viewed, Strobist.

Strobist is a blog that was created by David Hobby, a staff photographer from The Baltimore Sun who took a one year leave of absence to pursue his blogging interests. His story is an unlikely one and successful at that. He never thought that Strobist would become such a well-known established blog in photography circles. His blogs focus on lighting subjects and simplifies flash photography techniques - he doesn't only reach professional photographers through his blog but amateurs who take his advice and use it. His readership surpases that of many large cities populations and is website is more popular than any photo magazine. The catch...he runs the whole site himself, while making a large amount of money. It really doesn't get any better than that.

It seems in order to captivate readers attention you have to find a way to create material that is worth the read and serves a unique and needed purpose. That's something all of us blog heads are trying to figure out how to do - so maybe we can catch in as well.

For more on Hobby's life-changing story read this article from USA Today.

Also check out some of his readers succesful flash photography galleries on Flickr.

** I will most likely use some of his techniques for my own photos - stay tuned for more posts on this subject.