Link: First shout-out

Maegan Carberry calls for leaders who will recognize the value of user-created content in her second Editor & Publisher blog on "new journalism."

Visit "Young Journos and The Social Contract 2.0" to read the Editor & Publisher article.

Carberry references TrueMilitaryWivesConfessions.com as an example of a user-created and user-centered Web site that provides the sort of information and community only a newspaper or women's group might have been able to a few years ago.




"Women who use the site are submitting their own material, speaking in an authentic and comfortable tone, building supportive relationships with one another and using a Digg-like model to prioritize their most compelling content" Carberry writes.

Specialized Web sites like this can provide newspapers with story ideas and interdependence through co-operation. Newspapers can work with these outlets for content and specialized Web sites can generate traffic by working with media companies. Reporters can use TrueMilitaryWivesConfessions.com to find sources and mold a story proposal by paying attention to the discussions. The newsroom work can work with the Web site to provide information for graphics and supplementary text boxes. Slideshows can be created by asking the users to submit photos.

Reporters spend so much time looking for the human angle of larger stories. The more specialized communities and specialized Web sites develop on the Net, the easiest it is for journalists to find these sources.

Side note: Thanks to Maegan for using a quote I submitted by e-mail. It's cool to have the first reference to my blog.

Link: Where's journalism going?

Maegan Carberry suggested journalism students focus on being versatile in her first Editor & Publisher blog since its introduction last week.

Visit "Do Young Journos Have a Future? And Will It Be Dumb?" to read the Editor & Publisher article.

She suggested that journalists need to recognize that they are storytellers. Gather the facts and be skilled enough to present the information in a variety of mediums. She also suggested that young journalists figure out ways newspapers can foster new revenue streams.

Honestly, her blog entry doesn't say too much I didn't already know. Journalists need to be innovative and versatile. Researching, interviewing and writing no longer make up a sufficient skill set. Journalists need to be unafraid to record audio for podcasts, produce short videos and interact with readers more than in the past.

It all doesn't seem to be new to me.

And I've been thinking a lot about this.

I think newspapers are soon going to find themselves in the position of college newspaper editor trying to hire a graphic designer. When I was the editor in chief of The State Hornet, I used MySpace to hunt for staff members. I searched for majors and minors in journalism, government-journalism, public relations, communication studies, photography and graphic design. I made my pitch and tested interest. Graphic editor was my last hire before the start of the semester. It was also one of the most difficult.

Graphic design majors were either too skilled or not skilled enough. Talented graphic artists could find better pay elsewhere and the newbies weren't qualified to be an editor. I was lucky to find the person who would become the graphic editor.

Newspapers might soon get themselves in this position. Students are being told that they need to be versatile. They're told to have a variety of skills, and while they build these skills, jobs are cut and hiring freezes continue. Students will look elsewhere.

I wonder, where will the young journalists be when, and if, the hiring freezes end?

The Sacramento region doesn't offer too many internship and entry-level positions since The Sacramento Bee decided not to replace many entry-level positions in the Sports, News and Features departments. Many positions at media organizations are unpaid, for-credit internships. You'd need to cobble together a bunch of jobs to make ends meet freelancing. I know that's the name of the game; it doesn't make it any more reassuring.

So, skills are one thing. Access is another.

Link: --31-- is the new 21

I'm going to keep it short today.

Editor & Publisher is launching a new blog about "how younger journalists can shape the future of news and storytelling." Maegan Carberry, a multimedia consultant who has worked as chief of staff for The Huffington Post, will write the blog. Her other work can be read here.

Read "Introducing a New 'E&P' Feature on the New 'New Journalism'" to learn more about the new feature.