Unpublishing - some thoughts
In which I discuss my own practices, and why I need to think about unpublishing into the future…
Thoughts on Facebook's Local News Initiative from a Local Independent Journalist
We don't need to grovel in front of Facebook asking them to do fix our problems. We need to double our efforts to build local news that our neighbours read and value funding.…
Don't Open that Email! Journalism and Click-Tracking
The US Government's Environmental Protection Agency is fighting an Associated Press journalist, and its getting ugly. One of the EPA's attacks on the journalist is his email opening history [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/09/07/what-prompted-the-epa-to-attack-an-ap-reporter-over-his-accurate-harvey-reporting/] : "The Environmental Protection Agency is all over Michael Biesecker, a…
The Risk of Being Known for Knowing
It's an interesting dilemma I've encountered as a subject-focused journalist over the years: in order to get information, I have to earn a reputation as someone in the know. However, being known for being too much in the know results in sources assuming your aware of information, and those sources…
Legacy Media in Trouble - On The Left This Time
The race for Mayor of St. Louis is interesting, there is no incumbent, and like most large metropolitan areas the public is demanding action on a wide-range of issues. It has one dominant daily newspapers the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which faces many of the same struggles large newspapers do these…
I Don't Take Free Work - Journalism is Valuable
I do not take free journalism from others, it's contrary to my personal belief in the value of a person's labour. Many “new” “journalism” outlets are based upon a model of publishing the free work of others, aggregation of others original content, clickbait, and worst – exploitation of young people that…
The End Days for Student Newspapers? Or An Opportunity to Expand?
The University of Waterloo student newspaper is facing the challenge of students deciding they want their money back. The student newspaper fee is opt-out, meaning students can request refunds. The Waterloo Region Record reports [http://www.therecord.com/news-story/7063740-uw-student-newspaper-feeling-impact-of-opt-in-movement/] : > The University of Waterloo's student newspaper has been handing over…
Photo-Journalism is an Important Means of Conveying Information
Another thoughts on journalism post Photo-journalism is an endangered form of effectively communicating information. It's a very important form, and the decline of which will lead to a further decline in journalism as a whole. Photojournalism is one of the reasons I still enjoy reading my local print newspaper The…