Resources

DJH in Action: Map Mashups

mapmashup

Last year I received a free copy of the The Digital Journalist’s Handbook by Mark S. Luckie through a Twitter contest (I was the first to respond with the meaning of HTML — hypertext markup language FTW). It’s a great guide for student journalists or those who are interested in branching out into new mediums like audio, video, programming and Flash. It also has some good information on social media, blogging, social media optimization — basically a crash course for digital journalists. The book is more informational than instructional, meaning you won’t walk away knowing exactly how to write a program to analyze data or be able to make an infographic in Flash. In actuality, a book that could provide those results would have to be about 10 textbooks in one, but the Digital Journalist’s Handbook is a good primer and a great launching off point, providing some ideas...

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More advice for small-school journalist jobseekers

Okay, my school wasn't that small.

I'm obviously biased, but editors at small schools/newspapers often have to be well-rounded, resourceful and willing to take the initiative to make things happen.

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jQuery: Bylines and extensive editing

jQuery: Bylines and extensive editing

Q: I am an editor at a smaller publication, and sometimes we find ourselves short on content when deadline rolls around. Every so often, we have to publish poorly-written articles that require extensive editing — even to the point where our copy editor is literally rewriting whole paragraphs and rearranging the structure of the piece. I feel bad because the copy editor is doing so much work while the reporter gets to take credit for the article. Would it be okay to give the copy editor the byline instead, and name the original reporter as a contributor? A: Ideally, this situation would never happen. Ideally, you have more than enough available content every week, and only select the best pieces for publication. Ideally, you have a strict editorial schedule for your publication and have adequate time to work with a writer and help them revise their piece before your...

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jQuery: Dealing with an unmotivated editorial staff

jQuery: Dealing with an unmotivated editorial staff

Q: I’m the editor in chief of a college newspaper. My staff is relatively small and there are several positions that have gone unfilled. I’m having a hard time getting some members of my staff to do all of the work they have been assigned – much less take on extra work to make up for the missing staff members. Everyone complains that they are too busy with school and other obligations, and some only do certain parts of their job duties. I feel that I’m to blame because I wasn’t assertive enough in the beginning — mainly because I was so desperate for editors — but I’m starting to feel extremely overwhelmed by all the extra work I now have to take on. Firing them obviously won’t help decrease my workload, and there’s no one to replace them. How can I get my staff to start pulling their...

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Survival Guide: Managing a small college newspaper staff

meeting

This time last year, I, along with the rest of the staff at my college newspaper, boarded a plane to San Diego, Calif., for the 2009 Associated Collegiate Press College Media Conference. Coming from a relatively small weekly newspaper, I was surprised that so many college publications have circulations that rival my hometown paper. The concept of being in college and publishing a daily newspaper was beyond my comprehension. As a panelist for the “Publishing a College Newspaper in Tough Economic Times” discussion, I was greatly outnumbered by large, advertising-funded newspapers. However, while speaking to other conference attendees, I found that many I spoke with worked at smaller college newspapers, and could relate to the unique challenges that go along with that. A smaller newspaper means a smaller staff, fewer resources and often the lack of a consistent standard or protocol for the publication of the newspaper. You will...

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