10,000 Words is a blog written by Mark Luckie. If you are a journalism major, you should be reading it.
Sample Posts:
A is for Audio: The ABCs of Multimedia
10 Ways to make your editor love you
Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer
Why being an unemployed journalist is the best thing to ever happen to me
10 Things I wish they’d told me in J-School
This tutorial will walk you through some of the basics of making an audio podcast with Garage Band. Keep reading →
If you have a .wma, .wmv, or .mp3 file from a digital recorder, you must use a program called Switch to convert it before you edit in Garage Band. Here are instructions for using Switch
Unfortunately, the free version of WordPress will not let you upload an audio file directly to your blog. But you can put your audio file on another Web site and then embed the link into your blog. Here is how to do it.
It will cover:
Chapters 3, 7, and 8 in Journalism 2.0
Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists by Nicholas Lemann (New Yorker Magazine
Create a photo essay covering your “beat” or topic.
Your photo essay must consists of at least 8 images. Use your judgment on how many images are needed to tell your story.
Making your own images is the best approach. Go somewhere and cover an event/topic/person visually. Get full names, first and last. Practice journalistic ethics. Your photographs should show real events, real people, and real places in real time. Do not stage or manipulate your subject or photos.
Make a variety of images that help tell your story. Get a mix of wide, medium, and close-ups. Take more than you need. Make 50 to 100 images. The ones you post should be strong, clear images.
If you are not using your own images, you must get permission and/or give credit to the photographer. Your images MUST NOT violate copyright. Remember: Giving credit does not mean you have permission to use the images. If you are not using your own images, you must be able to make a case that it falls under fair use categories: criticism, commentary, news, teaching or research.
Include captions or text if it is necessary.
Try to tell a story with your images. Think narrative and story. What are you trying to convey?
Grading
Worth 100 Points. Your photo essay must be posted on your site by Saturday, Oct 24. No late work accepted.
The photo essay will be assessed on:
Content
What is the subject of the photographs? Are they related to your topic or beat? Are they informative? Interesting? Do they violate copyright? Do they offer a glimpse into an event, place, person? Do they tell a story?
Presentation
Are images in focus? Are they strong, clear images? Does the presentation fit the subject? Are there necessary captions/text?
Take a tour of at least three of the following news slide shows or “picture stories.” Then pick one and write about it in the comments section below.
Tell us: What is your reaction? What do you notice? What story is the photographer trying to tell? Does this visual photo story work for you? Why?
Gay Rights March in Washington (MSNBC)
Faces of Afghanistan (Reuters)
Japanese bodybuilders (Reuters)
Avakian Covers Own Cancer (New York Times)
Blessing of the Waves (LA Times)
Hairstyles of the Last 100 Years (LIFE)
Oktoberfest (Boston Globe)
China Celebrates 60 Years (Boston.com)
Upstate Girls: What Became of Collar City (Digital Journalist)
Dial P for Photo (New York Times)
1. Educate Yourself
Give yourself an education in photojournalism. Look at books, visit photojournalism exhibitions, and visit photojournalism web sites.
Examples:
Magnum Photos
NYTimes Lens Blog
MSNBC’s Week in Pictures
Reuters Photos
National Press Photographer’s Best of Photojournalism
2. Teach Yourself
To begin to understand why some photographs are better than others, read through the seven steps of composition and then incorporate them into your photography.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
3. Learn to organize and manage your images
Some options:
iPhoto (Mac)
Windows Photo Gallery (PC)
Flickr (Web-based) – need a Yahoo account
Picasa (Web-based) or Download – need a Gmail account
4. Learn to edit your images
Always create a copy or duplicate. Do not edit the original.
Photoshop is the standard editing tool. But there are other programs like Windows Picture Editor, iPhoto and Web-based editors like Picnik, Pixlr, and Photoshop Express.
Learn the basics:
5. Share your photos
Sharing your photos gives you an audience, and it can help provide an incentive to keep at it. Many online news sites also accept user-submitted photos.
Some options:
SmugMug
Photobucket
Flickr Explore
Why We Travel: Reader Photos
JPGMagazine
The official project statment: “Fifty People, One Question is a simple project with surprising results. We go to a place, ask fifty people the same question and film their responses. The project started in New Orleans, LA and received such a warm response that we decided to do it again in New York City. Now we’re traveling to more cities (sister cities to be exact) and asking new questions. Always just trying to capture a little slice of humanity. Whatever happens … happens.”
Cyberjournalist.net