How Can Social Media Help You Cover Protests?

The Poynter Institute asks that question of Los Angeles Times' reporter Kate Linthicum, who talks about how she used Twitter to help her get a handle on the Occupy movement.

UCLA Extension New Media Reporting: Week 2 Summary

THE NEW YORK TIMES vs. GAWKER

During our second week of class we read some of your papers comparing The New York Times online to Gawker. You noted that Gawker is more vertical looking and has a breezier attitude, often preferring snark and celebrity scandal to serious news.

The New York Times, many of you observed, looks a lot like a print newspaper on a web page, and maintains a serious tone with a three- to five-column layout familiar to newspaper readers.

SPEND TIME AT LA WEEKLY

I invited class members to come shadow me at LA Weekly for an hour if they wish. (I hope my bosses are okay with that).

THE INVERTED PYRAMID vs. BLOG STYLE

We looked at an AP story about a federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries in California and analyzed how it was written in the inverted pyramid style, which means that the most pressing, important facts are pacted at the top of the story and lighter details are at the bottom.

We then each rewrote the piece in a more bloggy, Gawker-like style, foregoing the inverted pyramid and using snark and our voices and viewpoints more.

STARTING A NICHE BLOG