Comm 361-Online Journalism, George Mason University

Dick Morris, a political commentator, FOX News correspondent and former presidential advisor, spoke about his experiences in American politics on C-SPAN 3.

Morris discussed the 2008 presidential election, among other topics.  He claimed that white voters in 2008 became more Republican, while younger voters became more Democratic.  He believed that the influx of young, Democratic voters to the polls helped propel Obama into the White House. Continue reading →

Chapter 8 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook discusses the importance of using video in news stories.

Briggs compares two video journalists: David Pogue of The New York Times, as well as Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal.  Briggs shows that Pogue’s video stories are much more polished than Mossberg’s, mainly because his recordings are aired on CNBC. Continue reading →

Chapter 3 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook discusses how reporters can utilize their readers to gain the best story possible, also known as crowd-powered collaboration.

Briggs described three new reporting methods in the chapter: Continue reading →

Bob Schieffer, “Face the Nation” moderator and Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News, spoke about recent changes in the news industry and his career to college students on March 3, 2010 on C-SPAN 3.

Layoffs at ABC News sparked the conversation about the direction of the news industry.  Schieffer sourced the downsizing of people needed to get the job done to the expansion of television channels and shrinking of advertisement revenue in the past decades.  Continue reading →

Chapter 11 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook tells about the changes that news organizations face today in regard to the return that they will receive on a story or video content.

This directly involves to ratings for TV stations, and link visibility online. Briggs claims that newspapers measure everything they do.  He uses The Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel as a perfect example of this phenomenon.  The Sentinel explains to its employees, every morning, how their newspaper, both in print, and online, did. Continue reading →

Chapter 10 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook discusses the changes that journalists face with the onslaught of social media networks and other online communities in regard to their news reporting.

Instead of just reporting the news to a mass audience via television in a lecture style, Briggs says that journalists now have to become more conversational. Continue reading →

Chapter 6 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook explains the importance of photography in online news stories.

Briggs explains that copyright is very important in online news stories.  A writer cannot simply ‘lift’ an image he or she finds online to use in their story.  Permission is needed to use the photograph.

Advice for taking the best picture possible is a cornerstone of this chapter.  Briggs suggests that flash should be avoided at all costs, and that the best photographs are taken in overcast sky conditions. Continue reading →

The effects of mobile media on the journalism industry is showcased in chapter 5 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook.

The chapter explained London newspaper reporter Nicola Dowling’s experience of filming soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo’s car crash in a London tunnel.  Her Nokia cell phone allowed her to record high-quality video and pictures from the scene of the accident that would have not been possible up until recently. Continue reading →

Chapter 9 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook deals with how to manage a highly-digitized life as a journalist.

We all have an e-mail inbox that we, hopefully, check at least once daily.  Others are constantly on Twitter or Facebook.  Everywhere we look, we see somebody tapping on their cell phone, writing a text message.  How do we keep track and organize these digital elements of our life? Continue reading →

Chapter 4 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook focused on microblogging, which is a way of writing very short blog posts to a wide audience.

According to Briggs, Twitter started the trend of microblogging with a post limit of 140 characters or less.  However, he said that microblogging can be traced back to instant message programs and text messaging.  Facebook status updates are also a form of microblogging. Continue reading →