Time is the Enemy
I know Russ talked about our issue with deadlines a couple of times last week, but I wanted to weigh in on the issue as, well, sort of a devil’s advocate.
We produce an issue every Wednesday, the middle of the week. After signing up for stories, most of us have one or two classes that afternoon and/or night, usually lasting into the evening. So that afternoon is shot. The next two days are filled with classes and work, which doesn’t allow much time dedicated for stories, at least not in-person interviews, which we would prefer.
That means that most articles are written during the weekend (not business hours, obviously) or on Monday. We have very talented writers in our program, but given that our deadline is usually late Monday night, one day to write a story can be difficult, especially when we demand heavy multimedia.
Since I am the Flash-0bsessed member of our cohort, this can be even more frustrating. Flash takes time. Not even that… creating the wireframes to base the Flash on takes time. Design takes more time. Execution… even more. I posted last week on my blog that I was creating a timeline for Black History Month, but unfortunately my Monday and Tuesday were completely filled with work, and even though the reporter got the information to my by Tuesday afternoon, having everything ready to go by publish time on Wednesday was next to impossible. Coffey did me a favor by pulling the plug on that one, otherwise I would have been even more stressed out and tired come production time.
I suppose my point of this entry is to remind people that the American Observer is not the only thing we do, and that perhaps our problem isn’t meeting deadlines, but rather communicating to editors when we have problems. I like that we have started teaming up to cover stories so that the responsibility doesn’t just fall on one set of shoulders. I think that’s an easy first-step to our problem.
So take heart, Observers and Observer fans. This is a learning process.
Cross posted to American Observed and American Observer.
Continuing down the rabbit hole…
After last week’s lovely Flash that I created for the American Observer, I was approached by one of our most talented reporters, Nick Schwellenbach, to come up with a time line as an accompaniment to a story he is working on. A smile instantly spread across my geeky face.
I love using time lines to tell stories… it’s a very simple visual way to get information across, and it requires the user to engage (in this case, clicking) in the project in order to get the information they want. Plus, it gives me another chance to work out my Flash skills. I might even try ActionScript3 with this one. I know, I know, it’s been out for awhile, but I’ve been so intimidated by it. I’m really excited, though, at the same time.
Nick has already sent me over some preliminary information, and I’ll start working with that in a little bit. In the meantime, I want to direct your attention to this great post on the 10,000 Words blog. In the post, he talks about seven great different examples of time lines, proving that there are more options than just the horizontal line drawn across a sheet of paper. Included are links to Dipity and Timetoast, where users can create their own time lines. My favorite? Internet memes. Warning, it is a colossal waste of time. Do not use it at work. It’s nearly as bad as FailBlog.
let’s make a pretty
I’ve been playing with flashy-like things since 2002, when I lived in Italy for a brief time. My aunt needed a Web site designed for her new company, and I needed something to keep me busy during the day. It was the first professional site I had designed (pure html code what-what), and for the intro, I used the trial version of SWiSH, which, at the time, I thought was the coolest thing ever. It got me used to seeing animation in layers and timelines, so when I was reintroduced to Flash as an undergrad, it wasn’t completely foreign.
Flash, to me, is one of the best tools in design because of its ease and attraction for the user. People like clicky things, especially pretty clicky things. I like to give them options, so it works for both sides. Now, I’m not as good as some of the infographic specialists at the NY Times (hello, Aron Pilhofer), like this little gem, nor can I do the fun interactives like this (let’s not get into the fact that it’s technically not interactive), but I’m working on it. One step at a time, right? I know I have the ability to get there, and for now, that’s enough.
So stay tuned to this week’s edition of the Observer. I hope to have a large, impressive flashy clicky pretty thing for you to play with. That is, of course, if I get all the multimedia and such I asked for from our dear reporters. 
Other Cool Flash Sites:
Now just make it searchable, dangit!
Appropriate VDay Images
Because sometimes, you need a soft blog post. All images ripped from the Internet.
The Nut Grafs
So last semester our good friend Cooper decided that the graduate journalism students needed to put together an intramural basketball team. AU offers things like that, and so all of us were stoked when he decided to head up the effort. The team currently consists of Seung-Min, Nick P, Manuel, Lori, Meera, Lauren, Cate, Caroline, Neil, and Coop, of course. I’ve been to all of their practices (2) and I’ll admit, the kids are good. I wasn’t so sure about their skills when the team was formed, but now I’m convinced… these guys are what could save journalism.
The first game is tonight against The Bush Administration. Oh yes, you read it right. The Fourth Estate v. The Former Estate.
Journalists everywhere, you now have a team. Join the Facebook group.
Check out the awesome shirt designed by Lori!
(consequentially, when the date of the first game was announced, I thought it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it until this morning, just now. I agreed to watch Kennedy, my little cousin tonight. I wish I could just take her to the game, but I doubt my aunt would go for that. So I have to miss the first one. Don’t be angry, kids.)
War Game
If you haven’t read this article on the NY Times, you really should. It’s called Battle Plans for Newspapers, and a small but varied group (it includes Craig Newmark and Rick Rodriguez) weigh in on what may be lost and what can still be saved in journalism. If the article itself isn’t enough to keep you reading for awhile, the comments certainly will.
Incidentally, the part written by Edward Fouhy comes from a series of interviews he did as a consultant for J-Lab, while working on a very large video project we are getting ready to release.
Some of my favorite bits:
“With the current model of free online content, newspapers have essentially turned themselves into shoppers — but, ironically, still with great quality, created by the same culture and people whose work consumers used to pay for. This is complete suicide.” -Steven Brill
“I am confident that the next big thing on the Internet — Web 3.0 if you like — will be a layer of professionally curated information sitting on top of the amateur Web 2.0 layer. Rather than slithering into the democratic swamp of crowd-generated content, smart local publishers should focus on their core expertise — the organization and curation of information by professionals.” – Andrew Keen
“What’ll work? No one knows, but we need to experiment.” -Craig Newmark
The Kitchen Sink Adds 10 Pounds
So, back before I left Austin my friend Amy and I would get together at her house and make dinner together. Or rather, I would make dinner and she would watch and ask inane questions. We decide to film a few of those, which we did, mainly for her to consult after I left so she wouldn’t starve or exist solely on Wendy’s and Chipotle. No, I’m not going to show those to you. If you do enough digging, I’m sure you can find them.
I really enjoyed doing the shows, and I’ve begun to wonder if I shouldn’t try doing some again and posting it somewhere. It’d be great to have guests on the show… not that I know anyone famous enough to be considered a special guest, but it’s a possibility.
I posted this idea to my Facebook earlier today, and a friend from Austin said I should try to do what the Cola Sisters do…. it’s kind of hard to describe those two, but they are basically trailer trash (I mean that in the nice way) Austinites with an appreciation of TexMex and alcohol. They are a trip. Check out a video of them on Austin360. I could totally do that.
I just need a good co host. Since Amy doesn’t live here, I’m open to suggestions.
Plug!
The other day, at DC Media Makers, I stood up and made an announcement about J-Lab giving away money and called it a “shameless plug.” The people in the audience corrected me and said that anytime a group is giving away money for a good cause, it’s not shameless to promote it. So here it goes.
As some of you may know, I am a graduate assistant J-Lab, which is the institute for interactive journalism. We have three big grant projects every year, but the one we’re focused on right now is New Voices. In the past, some people have used the money to fund citizen journalism Web sites, focused in on a very small community that other metro dailies didn’t pay much attention to. Others have created forums for niche networks… such as Family Life Behind Bars, a site for those with family members currently incarcerated.
And how much, you ask, is the grant? Up to $25,000: 17k for the first year and up to 8k in matching funds for the second. It really is a great opportunity, especially if you’ve had an idea floating around in your head about news and the news media but have previously lacked the wherewithal to get it going.
Take a look at all the grantees here, and fill out an application here.
Remember, deadline is this Thursday, February 12.
Best of luck!
My Boogieboard Missed A Wave
So I didn’t find out about the Fem2pt0 conference until this morning when I saw some lovely lady Twitterers talking about it. I checked out the description and was instantly bummed. I should so be there.
Check out some of the highlights:
- Feminists & the Media – Speaking Out
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Tech and Web 2.0 but Were Afraid to Ask
- Bloggers and Activists: An Intimate and Frank Conversation
I also realized that this is a conference that J-Lab should have been at, since we like giving money away, and we really want to give some money away to women in particular.
So I sent our intern down to the conference to drop off fliers all clandestine-like. Go Natalie! Sorry to blow your cover.
March 31 is the deadline for this year’s New Media Women Entrepreneurs grant competition. Basically, we want to give $10,000 to three women-led projects for ideas that will improve or redefine news. To apply, people should go to www.newmediawomen.org. If you have questions, by all means give me a ring at 202-885-8100.
