During Week 5 I had my LA Weekly news colleague Simone Wilson stop by. She's a master at using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to "background" subjects. Wilson can turn an otherwise ordinary story into the extraordinary -- and drive traffic -- by unearthing tidbits about people in the news.
One of her main examples was her coverage of Reggie Doucet Jr., a young man shot by cops in Playa Del Rey after a night of partying at Drai's in Hollywood, a fact she found out through social-network mining. She also found out he's a promising college football player and a sometime model.
Showing posts with label online journalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online journalism. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
UCLA Extension New Media Reporting: Week 3 Summary
LA OBSERVED
We started week three by discussing our homework, analyzing three days worth of LAObserved. Perhaps students' most-uniform observation was that they felt like outsiders -- that the blog was written for an specific audience to which they did not belong and that it had a narrative that they felt they were parachuting into.
That's okay. That's what a niche blog is -- a diary of a community that speaks mainly to that community. I suggested that students join that community and read LAO everyday, as it's the virtual water cooler of Los Angeles journalism that serves as a cheat sheet for assignment editors.
Others noted that its navigational features were weak or useless. I commented that that's the case for most publications. Search features at most outlets are almost useless, and I recommended using Google.
Finally some of you noted the vertical design of LAObserved -- classic blog. What's hot is on top.
I mentioned that this is a labor of love from a top-flight local journalist, yet it is almost wholly aggregated, respectfully so.
WHERE TO FIND NEWS?
We started week three by discussing our homework, analyzing three days worth of LAObserved. Perhaps students' most-uniform observation was that they felt like outsiders -- that the blog was written for an specific audience to which they did not belong and that it had a narrative that they felt they were parachuting into.
That's okay. That's what a niche blog is -- a diary of a community that speaks mainly to that community. I suggested that students join that community and read LAO everyday, as it's the virtual water cooler of Los Angeles journalism that serves as a cheat sheet for assignment editors.
Others noted that its navigational features were weak or useless. I commented that that's the case for most publications. Search features at most outlets are almost useless, and I recommended using Google.
Finally some of you noted the vertical design of LAObserved -- classic blog. What's hot is on top.
I mentioned that this is a labor of love from a top-flight local journalist, yet it is almost wholly aggregated, respectfully so.
WHERE TO FIND NEWS?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)