Reading:
-Read JournalismNext – Forward (p.xiv to xix)
-Read JournalismNext – Intro (p. 1-8)
-Read JournalismNext Chapter 1 – We are all Web workers now (p. 9-22) but skip
section on Web design (p. 23-39)
-Read JournalismNext Chapter 2 – Advanced blogging (p. 40-67)
-Read “Out of Print” by Eric Alterman, New Yorker Magazine
-Read the Cyberjournalist.net’s Blogger Code of Ethics

How Penn State student website evolved from ‘online coffee house’ to breaking news by Daniel Victor (Poynter.com)

Takeaways?

WHAT IS A BLOG?
Term = web + log
Content-wise a blog can be whatever the author wants it to be.
Common Components:
-online journal with postings in reverse order
-headline
-post or entry
-images
-links (be a source of useful information, even if it is not on your page – think yahoo vs. google)
-time stamp
-permalink
-categories
-blogroll
-it generates a RSS feed

A feed is a constantly updated information of what has been posted or commented on your blog. It’s the text without the design. When you post on your blog, you are creating a feed. To see the feed for the class blog, type in http://mbgjournalism.wordpress.com/feed

WordPress offers a nice description of feeds.

For a free, web-based feed reader like Google Reader.

COMMON TYPES OF BLOGS
Individual blogs, Political blogs, Aggregators, Group blogs, Photoblogs, Vlogs, Microblogs (ie Twitter)

SOME BIG NAME BLOGS
Technorati’s Top 100
BoingBoing – a directory of “wonderful things”
Lifehacker – making life more productive
Mashable – online tech stuff
Drudge Report – political news and gossip
Huffington Post – political news and opinion
Post Secret – people’s secrets on postcards
i howd – how to do things
TMZ - celebrity gossip
PerezHilton – celebrity gossip
Deadspin – sports gossip
Gawker – NYC media gossip
DailyKos.com – political commentary (left)
PowerLine – political commentary (right)

BLOG SEARCH ENGINES
Technorati – “what’s percolating in blogs now”
Google Blog Search
Blogdigger
Blogs.com

SOME AWARD WINNING BLOGS
The Bloggies

SOME PHILLY/NJ AREA BLOGS
Philly.com blogs
NJ.com blog list
Philebrity
uwishunu
215 Magazine
Beer Lass
Beerleaguer
Broad Street Review
Broad&Market
Cheap Eats in Philly
Citizen Mom
City Girls World
Comic Vs Audience
Daily Candy
Design-Phandesignphiladelphia
Drink Philly
First Person Arts
Foobooz
Free Library Blog
Geekadelphia
Independence Visitor Center
Irish Philadelphia
Jefferson Square Park
Head TV
Kitchen Play
Leslie McDermott
Mac & Cheese Review
Malcolm X Park
McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail
Menu Pages Philadelphia
Metroblogging Philadelphia
NFT – Philadelphia
NMAJH Blog
Not For Tourists: Philadelphia
Oh Joy! (local finds)
Phawker
Philadelphia Bicycle News
PhilaFoodie
Philebrity
Philebrity TV
Philly Future
Philly Nightlife Gay
PhillyBlog
phillyskyline.com
PhillyStyleMag
Savvy Grouse
Straight From The Farm
Streettalkin
The Art Blog
The Clog
The700Level.com
TheIlladelph
Unbreaded
Urban Vegan
Used Wigs

BEAT BLOGGING
The type of blogging I am asking you to do is journalistic in nature. Again, I’m requiring something called beatblogging.org, which has been defined as “any blog that sticks to a well-defined beat or coverage area, whether it is the work of a single person or a team, whether it is authored by a pro or an amateur journalist.”

“Content-wise, a beat blog presents a regular flow of reporting and commentary in a focused area the beat covers; it provides links and online resources in that area, and it tracks the subject over time…. When beat blogs are part of a pro reporters work, the best ones are not incidental to the reporter’s work but an integral part of it; sometimes the blog is the main platform for the beat.”

EXPLORE SOME EXAMPLES OF NEWS BLOGS
NYTimes.com blog list
Philly.com blog list
NJ.com blog list

SOME ADVICE FROM JOURNALISM NEXT

“Every college journalism student should have a blog.”

“A good blog is a continuing conversation.”

“Blogs are not magic. Be warned: writing a successful blog takes dedication and determination.”

A blog can be beat journalism at its core.

“You have to read blogs in order to write an effective blog.”

“Learn the language:
-Post
-Permalink
-Trackback
-Blogroll”

“Determine the goal of your blog.”

“A good name, a short catchphrase, and a mission.”

Learn how to use blog software and content management system. For this class, I suggest WordPress.com. Explore. You won’t break it.

Worth 30 points

Email me your URL by the deadline.

Blog Set Up:

Each student will select a beat and set up and maintain a blog. The blog must have a specific focus (i.e., a subject, a neighborhood, a specific topic). Your topic must be approved by the instructor.

Blogs must have the following elements:

• Specific, focused and accessible beat
• Compelling, informative title
• Appropriate theme and complete design
• About Page or text on your sidebar that explains your publication
• Author’s full name – first and last – must be in a permanent location on the blog (ie About Page)
• Blogroll with at least five other online publications or blogs related to beat or topic
• Archives widget
• Blog Stats widget
• Time zone set correctly. (Select “New York” in WordPress)
• Check spelling, grammar and AP style.

Post 1:

Your first post should introduce yourself and your blog topic to your audience. Outline what you hope to accomplish in the coming weeks, what kinds of stories you plan to do, etc. Check spelling, grammar, and AP style.

If you are using the free version of Word Press:

1. Sign Up

Go to http://www.wordpress.com and “Sign Up.” Your username will show up under all of your posts. You cannot change your user name, so choose an appropriate one.

Pick a URL that fits with the title or subject of your blog. You can change the Title of your blog, but not the URL.

Click on Create Blog.

For a video demonstration of this, click here

2. Pick a Theme

Once you are in Dashboard, click on Appearance tab on the left.

Pick a theme that fits with the subject and tone of your blog.

Click Activate to select a theme.

Then explore your theme options.

Tips:
-Two or three column themes are best. Check out some of the other features that each theme has to see if it will fit what you want to do.

-Once you pick a theme, explore some of the options (i.e., some themes will let you create additional pages, select colors, etc).

–A theme with a Custom Header means that you can put in your own image. If you have a Custom Header, put in an image that sets a style and tone for your blog. You can take your own photo. Or if you are looking for free images, try Flickr Creative Commons, Openphoto or some other free photo services.

Don’t steal images you have don’t have the rights to or permission to use. Always give credit to the photographer. See the About page of the class blog for an example of how to give a photo credit.

For more, check out the Themes Support page.

3. Adjust Your Settings

Click on Settings at the bottom of the left hand navigation bar.

Under General Settings:

• Give your blog a title and tagline.
• Timezone – Set timezone to “New York”

Click “Save Changes.”

Also under Settings, click on Discussion
-Make sure your blog allows comments, but select the level of security that you wish to have.

4. Add Widgets

Click on the Appearance tab. Click on Widgets. You can pick from a bunch of widgets which are items that will appear on the side or bottom of your blog. To add a widget, drag it into the box on the right, then click “Save.”

Add a widget for Archives - so the reader can see what you have posted.

Add a widget for Blog Stats so I can get a quick sense of your traffic. This is different than the Blog Stats function in your dashboard, you have to add it.

You can add others if you wish. Suggestions are a Twitter feed, RSS feeds, tag cloud, or delicious.

For more, see What is a Widget?

5. Create a Blogroll

Create a blogroll with a list of at least 5 blogs/web sites that are related to your beat.

Creating a blogroll is a two step process:

1. First add the Links widget to your side bar. Drag the Links title over. Click “Save.”

2. Click on the Links tab on navigation bar on the left hand side. Delete the WordPress.com other ones that are there by default. Click on Add New Link Add new linkyour blogroll links here. Put in the name of the blog or web site and the URL. This will add it to your blog roll.

To find sites for your blogroll, look at the blogrolls of other publications on your subject or try using these blog search engines:
Technorati
Google Blog Search
Blogdigger
Blogs.com

For more on how to add a blogroll, click here.

5. Write Your First Post

Click on Posts on the left hand side navigation bar. Delete the “Hello World” placeholder post. Click on Add New. Write an initial post to introduce yourself, your blog, what you hope to cover over the course of the semester.

See How To Post for instructions.

You can view your blog post in Visual or HTML mode by clicking on the tab.

6. Create a hyperlink

In your post, highlight a word or phrase that you want to link to another Web site or blog with your cursor. Then click chain link icon. Add the address to the Link URL. WordPress puts http:// in the field so make sure you don’t put it in again. Select “Open link in a new window.” Save. Make sure it works.

6. Create Categories and Tags

Tags – a list of keywords that describe your post (5 tags for each post is a good number).

Categories – are broad areas within your blog topic.

For example, if you are writing a food blog, a post titled “Last Night At Burger King” might be filed under the “Dinner” category, but could have tags like, “burger, chicken fries, chocolate shake, dr. pepper”.

For more, see the difference between tags and categories.

7. Take responsibility for your publication.

Your full name must appear on your blog. Create an About page. (Here is info on how to create a new page.) Or you can add some text to the sidebar of your blog using the Text Widget and put your name there.

8. Spend some time exploring your Dashboard and learning how to use it.

9. Double check everything.

Go back, look carefully at your blog. Look for typos, misspellings, weird things. Always use the spell checker before you publish a post.

For more info, check out the Getting Started help page.

Also check out the links to helpful info on the “How To” page.

2. Nonlinear
Stories do not have to follow a predetermined order. They can be structured to allow users to experience it as they wish.

3. Storage and retrieval
Ability to link to public records, databases, archives, and additional information.

4. Unlimited Space
Unlike print or broadcast which is limited by space and time, the web is not constrained by temporal boundaries.

5. Immediacy
The Internet allow information to be published almost instantaneously.

6. Multimedia
The integration of text, photos, audio, video, and graphics to tell a story or provide information.

7. Interactivity and User-Generated Content
The user participates in the news process and content creation.

Assignments:
-Browse the list of winners of the 2011 Online News Association Awards
Come to class ready to talk about one particular entry.
-Read “Out of Print” by Eric Alterman, New Yorker Magazine
-Read JournalismNext – Forward (p.xiv to xix)
-Read JournalismNext – Intro (p. 1-8)
-Start thinking about your beat

Beatblogging.org defines the term as “any blog that sticks to a well-defined beat or coverage area, whether it is the work of a single person or a team, whether it is authored by a pro or an amateur journalist.”

“Content-wise, a beat blog presents a regular flow of reporting and commentary in a focused area the beat covers; it provides links and online resources in that area, and it tracks the subject over time…. When beat blogs are part of a pro reporters work, the best ones are not incidental to the reporter’s work but an integral part of it; sometimes the blog is the main platform for the beat.”

Start thinking about the “beat” you want to cover for the semester. It can be a specific subject, geographic location, or community.

Here are some things you should consider:

1. You should be passionate about it or at least want to be passionate about it.

2. You must have regular access to your beat and people, places, and events. You will be required to do original reporting. You will interview people, take photographs, gather audio, and shoot video.

3. Think of it as building a publication. What is your niche? Who is your audience? What kind of content would your audience want? What kind of publication you would like to have at the end of the semester?

4. The best blogs are focused on a narrow, concrete subject. For example, “little league in Washington Township” is better than “sports” or “baseball.” And you can’t cover the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, Sixers or fashion in Milan or Hollywood gossip or any other subject that you do not have access to. See point #2.

5. Consider your own conflict of interests. For example, if you are the Student Government President you should not try to cover student government as a journalist.

EXAMPLES OF PAST STUDENT BLOGS
Road to the Winner’s Circle – The equestrians guide to the South Jersey show circuit
A View of Runnemede – Local events and education issues
Backyard Buzz – Do-it-yourself beekeeping in South Jersey
For the Record – Everything from tubes to turntables in Southern NJ
Rescue Me – Animal rescue and adoption in central New Jersey
The South Jersey Rialto – South Jersey community theater
A Flash of Light – Lightning awareness in NJ
Rediscovering the Grove – A historical perspective on Pitman, NJ
40 Years and Counting – A chronicle of marriages that last a lifetime
Second Hand Beat – Used bookshops in South Jersey/Philadelphia
Campus Lookbook – Current fashions on Rowan’s campus
BonaFideFood: South Jersey Style – On a mission to find authentic food created by genuine people in South Jersey

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
• Explore the unique challenges and opportunities of digital journalism.
• Examine ethical and legal issues of online journalism.
• Maintain a website using a Content Management System.
• Author a news-oriented blog on a well-defined beat or coverage area.
• Write blog posts and news articles for the web with effective headlines, structure, links
and key words.
• Use social media as a tool for reporting and audience engagement.
• Gain practical knowledge of basic XHTML/CSS.
• Become proficient in basic multimedia reporting and production including how to tell
a story using text, links, photos, audio, video, information graphics and data
visualizations.
• Produce an online publication with original reporting and multimedia content. If done
well, this publication will be suitable for internship, freelance and job applications.

TEACHING METHODS:
Students will practice online journalism in this course. Practice, in this case, means acting as a journalist and covering a topic for a real audience, not just pretending to do journalism to fulfill a school assignment. Students will select a topic or beat to cover for the semester. Each student will create a blog and then report, write and create multimedia content to cover the topic. All assignments will be posted online for anyone to read. Students will build an online audience. I will serve as an editorial advisor and give the same responses, instruction and suggestions that I would give to professional journalists. This course stresses journalistic ethics, reporting and writing, and multimedia storytelling.

All lecture notes, assignments, articles and tutorials will be posted on this blog. It is also a portal to student work. Students should bookmark the class blog or subscribe to its RSS feed and read it regularly.