Oregon Understory

Twitter in the newsroom: hate it, love it — why we can’t shut up about it»

In this episode of Oregon Understory, I interview reporters, editors and anchors in Oregon, Washington and California about that much-critiqued social media tool: Twitter.

Stop rolling your eyes — this is more than just a Twitter love fest. We talk about why journalists aren’t using it, why it’s changing how the PR industry views reporters and why it really doesn’t matter if Twitter blows up and disappears in the next few months.

On this week’s show [...]

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Nonfiction Articles

Empty: The story of a boat, an abandoned town and $17 million worth of pot, pt. 2»

Night is falling. The tugboat towing the Saja is slowing down. They’re 22 miles up the Columbia River, and in the dim light the crew can see a forest of pilings sticking out of the water on the south shore. This is a ghost town. This is Bradwood Landing.[...]

Journalism

Hey media startups: J school students need your help (and you need theirs)»

I spent the better part of last weekend at the University of Oregon’s journalism school. On Saturday I was a panelist at the Building a Better Journalist conference, and on Sunday I took part in the Redefining J School barcamp. I don’t have a journalism degree. In fact, I don’t have a college degree at all. But this weekend I learned this: Professional journalists and their news organizations need to start thinking about how we can help students get the training they need.

It was a weekend of contrasts. I came away amazed by some sessions and depressed by others. The conversation during the barcamp was so fast and sharp at times it was almost impossible to take notes; the new media sessions at the conference had a great range in topics as well. Of course, there were also a few tedious veterans yabbering about “change.” I get cynical and bored with people who wave the word “digital” around like it’s some kind of healing wand without ever examining what has actually changed in our industry. Journalism students need answers, not aphorisms…

Digital Journalism Camp

Updated: Digital Journalism Camp has a schedule»

I’m posting this a little belatedly. Ok, really belatedly. Over at the conference site I have a schedule for Aug. 1, as well as list of a few of the presenters, panelists and moderators.
I just added Carolynn Duncan, founder of the startup incubator Portland 10 to the list. Her presentation is called “Square peg, wrong hole: Why your news product doesn’t meet consumers’ needs” [...]