Media Coverage
CyberJournalist.net in the News
Cincinatti Enquirer, Aug. 30, 2004 "Convention blog watch"
The American Press Institute again offers a list of convention bloggers with
links (www.cyberjournalist.net).
Denver Post, Aug. 29, 2004, "New eyes on politics"
For commentary on and links to political blogs, go to
www.cyberjournalist.net/cyberpolitics_blog/.
Investor's Business Daily, Aug 25, 2004, "GOP blog ranks fairly thin"
Cyberjournalist.net published a list of 20 Web bloggers, including Alan
Nelson of Command-post.org and Oxblog.com as among those ready to give "yet
another set of perspectives from the convention."
The writers include independent bloggers, media types and delegates. More than
120 bloggers wrote during last month's Democrat Party convention.
Online Journalism Review, July 31, 2004, "Big Media Try to Steal Bloggers' Thunder at DNC"
The gatekeeper efforts to collate political blogs were a mixed bag. Jonathan Dube had a nice comprehensive list of bloggers at Cyberjournalist.net.
— Mark Glaser
Charleston Post and Courier, July 30, 2004, "Good Morning Lowcountry."
If you want to know who is blogging the convention, the American Press
Institute is keeping track at www.cyberjournalist.net/news/001461.php.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Knight-Ridder and Tribune newspapers, July
27, 2004, "Bloggers take aim at media bias."
A list of many of the Web sites with convention blogs is available at http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/001461.php.
Providence Journal-Bulletin, July 27, 2004, "Citizen journalists find
their place at 'Bloggers Boulevard"
For more, visit conventionbloggers.com and technorati. com/politics, which are
both collecting posts from the convention bloggers. Cyberjournalist.net lists
the bloggers, as well as the delegates and journalists who are known to be
blogging.
Cincinnati Enquirer, July 27, 2004, "Un-conventional coverage in Beantown"
According to the American Press Institute, at least 37 individual bloggers have
received press credentials for the Democrats' bash. Check out the institute's
site, www.cyberjournalist.net, for a list and links.
The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2004, "Meet the bloggers"
CyberJournalist.net has been compiling a list of bloggers who say they have
credentials.
The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, July 25, 2004, Web offers solace for
political junkies
And where do you find these Webloggers? A special politics page at
CyberJournalist.net (www.cyberjournalist.net/cyberpolitics_blog/) lists the
Webloggers given credentials by the Democrats.
Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2004, "Meta-blogs surf convention blogs"
The Democratic National Convention is the first time a major party has issued
press credentials to a large group of bloggers. At least 68 people will blog
from Boston, according to this list from
Cyberjournalist.net.
Many of them are already in Boston, updating their websites.
— Lisa Stone
CBSNEWS.com, July 26, 2004, "Blogging it in Boston"
Links to the convention bloggers can be found at CyberJournalist.net.
— Larry Magdid
Wired News, July 22, 2004, "Open Arms for Open-Source News"
Jonathan Dube, the publisher of CyberJournalist.net, agreed that increasingly easy-to-use technology is encouraging a new generation of community journalists.
"Participatory journalism, or citizen journalism -- the idea of people in the community actually gathering and porting information to other people -- is a new and evolving concept that increasingly is becoming more common with the rise of the Internet and, in particular, the rise of tools like weblogs."
....everyone seems to agree that the Web version offers the true glimpse into the future of community journalism. That's because of the immediacy of the medium and the fact that any content that fits a publication's standards can be published, unlike in the paper edition.
"The website is key to this," said Dube, who wrote about the Voice project on CyberJournalist.net. "You could not possibly do something like this that involves the community without the Internet. It makes it extremely efficient to get all this information from these citizen reporters."
Meanwhile, some may be surprised that such a groundbreaking project is coming out of a rural area of Bakersfield and not, say, San Francisco or New York. But not Dube, who thinks that large cities are not ready for such projects -- and may never be.
"The whole idea of using the Internet to interact with the community better and to tap people as journalistic resources probably has the most potential not on the national level or even the regional level, but on the hyper-local level," he said. "Because there's such a keen interest among people who live in a small community for information about very, very local events, such as small school news, church news (and) youth sports scores. And those types of things are rarely covered well by mainstream media, primarily because mainstream media's aiming at a much wider market."
The Voice's coverage is very much as Dube describes.
— Daniel Terdiman
Poynter Online, June 4, "Ideas From the Idea King"
At the recent Online Leaders Seminar at Poynter, one of the sessions was "60
Ideas in 60 Minutes," which featured creative ideas for website news leaders
from a variety of Poynter employees and friends. One of the contributors was
more prolific than most -- Jon Dube of MSNBC.com and Cyberjournalist.net. Now
Dube has published his full list of "101 ways to improve your news site." Plenty
of great ideas are on that list. One of my favorites: Buy a TiVo for your
newsroom so that reporters can pause and rewind anytime there's breaking news on
TV –- or a live press briefing –- and get exact quotes.
— Steve Outing
Editor & Publisher, May 21, 2004, "The Google News EPpy Controversy"
One frequent suggestion was to create a new award for the likes of Google News.
"I think the idea of having an Internet Service or News Aggregator category has
value," said Jonathan Dube, managing producer for MSNBC.com and editor of
CyberJournalist.net.
— Carl Sullivan
Dan Gillmor's E-Journal, May 20, 2004, "Kramer: Google News Not
Journalism"
From Cyberjournalist.net: Larry Kramer, head of CBS Marketwatch, says Google
News -- however valuable in its own way -- should not be confused with
journalism. I agree. Aggregation by robots of other people's work is not
journalism.
— Dan Gillmor
Interactive Media Associates report, May 13, 2004, "Google News: Is It
Worthy of News Site Designation?"
Whether or not the average Web reader even knows - much less cares about - the
difference between Google’s software-driven news packages and the edited
packages of most news Web sites was never adequately addressed at the
conference. But one of the best sessions on content included a demonstration of
rich media editorial by MSNBC’s Jonathan Dube.
Dube took the audience on a tour of truly interactive, game-like applications
that have undeniable news value. The best of those was a game that demonstrated
the pressure and difficulty of being an airport baggage inspector by simulating
the conveyor belt X-ray system and challenging the player to make the right
decisions inspecting the baggage, complete with unruly passengers complaining
about the inconvenience.
That’s one that a Google robot will never be able to re-create.
— Len Muscarella, E&P Conference Chair
Editor & Publisher, May 12, 2004, "Online Publishers Struggle With
Competitors, Ad Technology"
On the content side, MSNBC.com Managing Producer Jonathan Dube warned that news
sites that don't get interactive and engage their audiences risk losing their
audiences for good. Several speakers throughout the day mentioned the increasing
amount of time that young people are spending with very untraditional media
devices, including cell phones, other wireless devices, and even video games....
Another major theme of the day was the preparation for the next wave of
technology. The industry must figure out how to effectively publish in the
mobile environment, Dube said. There are more cell phones today than there are
land lines or PCs, he said, so why aren't we formatting our content for phones?
— Carl Sullivan
BusinessJournalism.org, May 11, 2004, "Accuracy Trumps Timeliness in
Online Business Journalism"
Many sites make the mistake of placing emphasis on “immediacy overriding
everything.” To avoid such a trap, online articles should adhere to certain
guidelines, suggests Jonathan Dube, managing producer for MSNBC.com. Dube
recommends that facts be be double-checked and stories focus on content. “Just
because online journalists can publish information immediately doesn't mean they
should,” Dube says. “Information should be verified before publishing, or else
we risk losing our credibility and potentially influencing the markets and
people's lives if we print misleading information.”
... As always, use all of your site's exclusive resources to make the experience
a truly unique one. Doing so will bring the audience back time and time again.
“One of the best things sites can do is to offer robust, compelling content that
readers won't find elsewhere online,” Dube observes. “So much similar
information is available from so many sources online that the sites that offer
exclusive information, and do so in an easy-to-read and engaging manner, are
more likely to attract and keep readers.”
— Kevin Sweeney
Poynter Online, May 5, 2004, "Al's Morning Meeting"
My Poynter Online colleague
Jonathan Dube
alerted me to a
collection of fallen soldier sites he has pulled together on
CyberJournalist.net. Jon's collection includes
the War Memorial on The Seattle Times' website, which includes several
elements:
— Al Tompkins
Poynter Online, May 4, 2004, "The World Wide Resume"
Jonathan Dube is a pioneer of what I think of as the World Wide Resume.
Nearing graduation from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in
1996, he created a website that allowed interested editors to read his resume
and browse through his stories without leaving their terminals. Here's what
Jonathan had to say about the pluses and minuses of an online resume in my
textbook, "Reporting and Writing: Basics for the 21st Century":
Obviously someone looking for a new media job would want to create an online website. But I think it could be useful for others as well. An online resume also has the advantage of demonstrating to an employer that you have multimedia skills. I think it's also a particularly good way to go if you're looking for a computer-assisted reporting job.
By now there are dozens of online employment sites where you can list a link to your resume, enabling employers to quickly scan your qualifications and clips. Although most newspapers probably don't look to these sites for journalists, the American Journalism Review does have a pretty good one on its NewsLink site, and I imagine posting your resume there would get a decent response. In general, I'll guess that if you made a good online resume and did a thorough job of listing it around the Web, you'd get good response.
I think the best advantage of the online resume is its permanence. Even after I got my job, I kept my resume online and have kept updating it (when I'm not too busy with my job!). As a result, folks who want to follow my career can do so easily by looking at the website every so often and seeing what work I'm producing. Also, if I decide to look for a job, my resume is already put together. And if I can't find old clips, I can just print them out off my website.
Another advantage of having an online resume is that you can e-mail the address to editors and recruiters. Although there's no guarantee they'll click on the links and read your stuff, they may be more likely to notice it than if it's just one of hundreds of letters they get every day. And if they see you have an online resume, that could also impress them and make it more likely they'll read your clips when you send them. The point being that I wouldn't recommend relying solely on the online resume, but it certainly can't hurt to use one in addition to the old paper application process.
Jon moved in 1999 from a job as a reporter with The Charlotte Observer to ABCNews.com as a senior associate producer. Since Jon shared those insights, his award-winning online journalism helped him move in 2000 to MSNBC.com where he's now managing producer, with front page oversight of one of the largest Internet news sites in the world.
He also created CyberJournalist.net, an online resource which became a publication of The Media Center at the American Press Institute. Jon also writes a weekly Web Tips column for Poynter Online.
His latest resume and portfolio demonstrate the reach and flexibility of the online resume and clip file. Check them out at http://www.jondube.com/resume/index.htm.
I contacted Jon to see if his views on online portfolios had changed at all since he wrote the above. Here's what he had to say:
I'm even more bullish on the online resume for journalists now. I've gotten a number of job offers in the past five years -- including the ones at ABCNews.com and MSNBC.com -- without ever mailing a single piece of paper.
Aside from job hunting, I've also learned it's a great way to build the confidence of potential sources. At times when trying to persuade people to let me interview them, I was able to point them to my work online and earn their trust.
A few tips:
- In much the same way that online writing should be concise and to the point -- even though you have an unlimited newshole on the Web -- your online resume should be as well. You may want to post all of your work online, but even if you do, I recommend highlighting your best work so hiring editors don't have to weed through everything you've ever written and are more likely to read what you want them to see.
- Creating a website now is a piece of cake. Software like Dreamweaver is easy to learn, but you can even make basic Web pages in Microsoft Word. And you can get your own site for as little as $4 a month. (I use TotalChoiceHosting.com, and there are dozens of other inexpensive companies.)
- Your website is a reflection of you, so make sure to apply the same level of professionalism to it. That doesn't mean it needs to be flashy -- in fact, simpler is often better -- but it should be easy to navigate and free of errors.
— Chip Scanlan
ShopTalk, March 17, 2004, "Sree's Smarter Surfing Tip: Cyberjournalist.net"
Broadcasters should bookmark this site focusing on "how the Internet, media
convergence and new technologies are changing journalism." Lots of tips and
ideas from TV and radio websites, as well as other news outlets. The site, run
by the American Press Institute and edited by MSNBC.com's Jonathan Dube, has
been recently redesigned - for the better. My favorite section is the "great
work gallery," available at
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/great_work_gallery/
-- Sreenath Sreenivasan
Poynter Online, March 10, 2004 "It's Your WeatherBug"
I admire the chances that WeatherBug takes. It's practically on its own with its
smart approach of asking users of its free service to "pick a sponsor" to run
for 30-day stretches. The company also has been paying attention to the chatter
here and elsewhere in the world of new media about "participatory journalism."
Jon Dube over at Cyberjournalist.net has conducted an interview with
WeatherBug's product director about this initiative, who says that the service
receives hundreds of images a day from its users. Photos are all screened before
going online. Very smart. Many news sites seem to shy away from such innovation
-- waiting, perhaps, for concepts like citizen reporting to be proven by others.
They'd be smart to watch WeatherBug's experiments.
— Steve Outing
Editor & Publisher, March 3, 2004, "Newsplex Starts Convergence
Newsletter"
CyberJournalist.net at the American Press Institute publishes the Convergence
Chronicle, a blog of tips and articles on the topic.
Billings Gazzette, March 3, 2004, "Sombody Else Found Us"
Check it out: On cyberjournalist.net, a listing of "professional
journalists' Web logs" maintained by the American Press Institute's Media
Center, your local newsrag blog is in pretty good company. You'll find City
Lights sandwiched between The Christian Science Monitor's blog and The Corner,
the blog of The National Review. I've just begun checking out some of these
sites, but there appears to be a lot of good stuff.
-- Ed Kemmick
Village Voice, Feb. 18, 2004, "Blog of Fear"
If you don't believe that the mainstream media are plotting to co-opt the
blogosphere, consider how The New York Times is hyping its new political
blog, Times on
the Trail. In a
recent Q&A, nytimes.com editor Len Apcar described the product as "edited,"
"authoritative," and better than the rest. "I'm not calling it a blog," he said,
"because I don't think it's a blog. It's an updated news service." -- Cynthia
Cotts
Online Journalism Review,
February 12, 2004, "MSNBC freshens up"
For Jonathan Dube, MSNBC.com's managing producer, "the new design really shows
how valuable flexibility and the ability to react quickly is in a news site
design." Instead of having just one front page template to work with, producers
now have six to choose from. "From a reader perspective, all of these changes
mean people are now getting breaking news faster on our site, and they're
getting a much better presentation of the main elements of the story," said
Dube, who also runs
Cyberjournalist.net.
-- Staci Kramer
Dan Gillmor's eJournal,
February 12, 2004, "NY
Times Political Blog Explained"
Jonathan Dube
interviews Len Apcar of NYTimes.com about the paper's new and quite good
political blog,
Times on the Trail. For some reason Apcar says it's not a blog: "I looked at
many blogs and I came away thinking I was not interested in creating a blog, but
I was interested in creating something completely different." No, it's a blog.
Romenesko,
February 12, 2004
NYTer: "I don't think
it's a blog, it's an updated news service"
CyberJournalist.net
Jonathan Dube chats with NYTimes.com editor-in-chief Len Apcar about his site's
new blog-like political feature, Times on the Trail.
Online Journalism.com,
Feb. 12, 2004, "If you digitize it, will they come?"
CyberJournalist.net keyed in on an anonymous tip buried deep inside a Sunday New
York Times feature about the "coming search wars" between Google and Microsoft.
Apparently Google plans to digitize every post-1923 text within the Stanford
University Library, creating an enormous copyright-free resource available
solely to Google users. The ambitious operation is codenamed Project Ocean,
according to The Times' unnamed source.
-- - Joseph V. Cook
E-Media Tidbits, January
30, 2004, "Select a Candidate Via Web Quiz"
I think every news website (that covers politics) this year should have a blind
candidate quiz. You've probably seen them. The idea is that the prospective
voter answers a bunch of questions about their views on a variety of
public-policy issues, then the quiz application reveals which candidate(s) best
match the voter's preferences. This is a wonderful public service and a way for
your news organization to enhance democracy by creating better-informed voters.
Jon Dube at Cyberjournalist.net reviews four candidate selectors at American
news sites.
-- Steve Outing
E-Media Tidbits, Jan. 6,
2004, "Biggest Online-News Stories"
What were the biggest stories in our little world of online media in 2003? Jon
Dube of Cyberjournalist.net has produced his annual list of the top 10. Go be
nostalgic.
-- Steve Outing
"Coaching Writers," book by Roy Peter Clark and Don Fry
"Few journalists have the online experience and know-how of Jonathan Dube, a
veteran of MSNBC and the publisher of a valuable Web site, CyberJournalist.net.
In his coaching and teaching, Dube identifies the new standard forms of online
journalism. Some will have little meaning to those yet inexperienced with the
Net. Over time, however, they may become as familiar to journalists as the lead
or the nut paragraph. Here is Dube's list of forms, with brief descriptions
attached. A more extensive version, with links to examples, can be found on his
Web site:
Print Plus: Move a newspaper or wire story to the Web site. Add photo,
art, graphics, links.
Clickable Interactives: A traditional story with this important
difference: readers can click on key elements and call up supplemental material,
including audio, video or animated graphics.
Slideshows: A powerful type of photo essay. Images presented in narrative
order, like a story board, with evocative captions.
Audio stories: In addition to text journalists can provide natural sound
or dialogue or sound bites and link to them from the story. Print editors and
reporters who want to develop their audio skills can begin by listening
carefully to public radio.
Narrated slideshows: Visual images advance automatically, with matching
sound behind them.
Live chats: An interactive version of the question-and-answer format. Requires an attentive and judicious moderator.
Dube cites several more, including the animated story, stories without words, Weblogs, databases, community resources, text chunking and games.
Online Journalism Review, Dec. 18, 2003, "A Look Back at 2003"
"Blogging definitely became more popular on online news sites this year. I've been tracking the number of Weblogs on news sites and during 2003 they increased from under 50 to well over 100. This is a great development, as blogging is a form that takes advantage of the Web's strengths: speed, short bursts of information, interactivity." -- Jonathan Dube, publisher of CyberJournalist.net
"The most important development in online journalism in 2003 was without a doubt the Iraq war. This is a war that in large part played out on the Internet -- partly because of the 24-hour nature of the war; partly because of the incredible amount of detailed information available; partly because of the embed program, which created a ton of information for journalists to publish online; partly because of the information bloggers in Iraq published; and partly because of the global nature of the medium and the story. The coverage online was outstanding -- some of the best online journalism I've seen. The war was truly a watershed moment for online journalism." -- Jonathan Dube
"In the long term, I think the most important thing for the future of online news is for sites to reach profitability and financial stability. That, more than anything, will help ensure the commitment to online journalism and justify media organizations pouring more money into producing online news. And, of course, I hope media organizations pour more money into online journalism. I'd also like to see the end of pop-up ads!" -- Jonathan Dube
Editor & Publisher, Nov. 12, 2003 "Prepare Now for Better Online Election
Coverage"
"At the
Journal-World in Lawrence, Kans., the paper's LJWorld.com also ran a
Candidate Selector prior to last week's election. Questions for the quiz
were taken directly from the paper's voter's guide. Candidates' answers were
presented verbatim, but with no name attached and randomly sorted. Online users
selected the candidate statement that most matched their own views, then at the
end learned who said what. That approach is
probably the smartest and safest, says Jonathan Dube, managing producer for
MSNBC.com. Where you can get into trouble, he says, is in trying to paraphrase
and categorize candidate positions -- a practice that's fraught with the danger
of bias creeping in. For an example of what he's talking about, take a look at
the
Politics Blind Quiz application of SelectSmart.com. This is a nifty
application that helps you decide who to vote for -- with more sophistication
than the newspaper examples cited above, but it's a more dangerous approach for
media outlets which tout their objectivity....
"They'll play a huge role in the 2004
elections, says MSNBC.com's Dube. He especially likes the way they can focus on
the intricacies of campaigns. Details that get reported in journalists'
political blogs often are not what would make it into a printed newspaper
edition or on a TV newscast. They deepen political coverage, are interesting and
often entertaining, and sometimes engage readers better than traditional
inverted-pyramid style news writing.
"Dube, who in addition to his day
job at MSNBC.com operates online-news industry resource
Cyberjournalist.net, also suggests that blogs used in political reporting
are great for smaller news organizations with modest staffs. A couple of
reporters with duties other than covering politics can submit short items to a
political-news blog, which doesn't take as much time yet looks substantial. One
small-paper editor told Dube recently that the blog format makes it easier to
compete with larger news outfits with far greater resources. It looks like the
small paper is doing more.
"Of course, large news organizations also will deploy blogs. MSNBC.com has been
experimenting with "embedded" correspondents who tag along day to day with the
presidential candidates -- filing TV reports for MSNBC cable, and maintaining
blogs about life and news on the campaign trail."
— Steve Outing
The Commercial Appeal, Oct. 17, 2003 "Our daily Web"
"Candy store for newshounds and blog freaks: www.cyberjournalist.net"
— Jon W. Sparks
APME Update, Oct. 10, 2003, "Blogging
Isabel"
Hard news blogging has been around for awhile. The Charlotte Observer produced a
real-time, online column during Hurricane Bonnie in 1998. (Much of this history
is recounted on the excellent Cyberjournalist.net site, produced by Jon Dube.
Dube, now at MSNBC.com participated in that 1998 coverage when he was in
Charlotte.) Dube's site
chronicled some of the blogs that covered the recent Hurricane Isabel. Included
in that list is WVEC.com in Virginia, which posted reports and photos that were
sent in by readers. What a great example of using readers as sources!
— Ken Sands
Information Today, Oct. 2003, 'The Write Cyber-Stuff'
If your need for good news sources goes beyond regularly clicking the TV remote
to the E! Entertainment Network (the only place J.Lo may be able to currently
get a look at her ex-fiance), Marylaine Block, academic librarian and e-zine
creator, recommends CyberJournalist.net (CyberSkeptic's Guide, October' 2003, p.
4). Published and written by award-winning journalist and MSNBC producer
Jonathan Dube, the site offers info pros a current-awareness tool and can also
help users improve their Internet research skills, Web sites, and even their
writing.
At CyberJournalist.net, you can get good, current background
information--everything from 3-D maps of Iraq to an expert explanation of corked
baseball bats. Dube keeps users up-to-date on new search engines and search
features on popular sites. By providing articles such as "Tips for Making PDFs
More User-Friendly" and "Top 10 Web Design Mistakes," Dube shows librarians how
to improve their own sites. Noting that a librarian's reputation depends on how
information is selected, analyzed, organized, annotated, and presented, Block
suggests that "our most essential skill may, in fact, be writing." Again,
CyberJournalist.net offers frequent tips on writing for the online environment.
No wonder Block checks this site out every week for Dube's latest news and tips. — Lauree Padgett
The New York Times, Sept. 29, 2003, "The Role of the Delete Key in Blog"
"One venue for sampling this medium is Cyberjournalist.net, a Web site with
a list of more than 200 Web logs by journalists, whether linked to official news
Web sites or produced on personal Web pages. The site is published by Jonathan
Dube, a managing producer at MSNBC.com and one of the first journalists to use
an online journal. In 1998, when Mr. Dube was a reporter for The Charlotte
Observer, he and reporters used a primitive form of a blog to publish updates
and commentary in a hurricane.
"While many of the blogs on Mr. Dube's list are written by opinion journalists,
who are accustomed to writing commentary without concern about objectivity,
others are produced by reporters, who are professionally bound to avoid taking
sides...
"Mr. Dube is organizing a discussion with journalists about blogging best
practices for a conference of the Online News Association in Chicago next
month....
— Michael Falcone
Nieman Reports, Sept. 23, 2003, "Weblogs: A Road back to Basics"
"The most comprehensive list of blogs produced by journalists is maintained
by Jonathan Dube, a senior producer at MSNBC.com and the publisher (with the
American Press Institute) of CyberJournalist.net."
-- Bill Mitchell, editor, Poynter Online
Poynter Online, Sept. 18, 2003, "Blogging Bonnie"
Like many journalists on the East Coast, we've been scrambling at Poynter
this week to come up with ways to cover Hurricane Isabel. Jonathan
Dube, managing producer at MSNBC.com and creator of CyberJournalist.net,
reminded me this morning of his experience covering Hurricane Bonnie in North
Carolina in August 1998. Jon's a web reporting pioneer, a print dog who learned
new tricks about online reporting at Columbia University's Graduate School of
Journalism. He soon put them to use at the Charlotte Observer and now
does the same at MSNBC.com.
We talk a lot about convergence these days, but it is still a work in
progress. Jon's online reporting from the Bonnie-battered Carolina Coast offers
inspiration and practical approaches for anyone trying to reach an audience
across multiple platforms. Jon provided the following account for my textbook. I
think it's worth reprinting and rereading.
When Hurricane Bonnie hit the Carolinas' coast in August 1998, the Charlotte Observer sent a team of photographers and reporters -- including me -- to cover the preparations and damage. No other news organization in the country devoted the resources we did to covering the storm, and it would have been a shame to use only the information we gathered for the newspaper. After all, by the time the next morning's paper went to press much of the information would be useless.
So several times each day reporters filed dispatches (one of which follows, and includes links to storm photos), and they were posted to the website along with information gathered by Charlotte-based reporters working the phones. (See archived version of hurricane coverage Weblog)
We updated the Web every half-hour all week and broke previous records for pageviews. Our website also provided an outlet for many fine photos which never made the print edition and gave readers up-to-date county damage assessments, insurance contacts, useful weather links, and the ability to print out a storm-tracking chart, (see archived version of coverage)From the reporting end of things, everything went smoothly -- well, as smoothly as possible when you're trapped on an island facing 100-mph winds!
I didn't have to do any extra work for the website that I wouldn't have had to do anyway. I took breaks from my reporting every few hours to write up my notes and file via modem, but I would have done that even if we weren't putting the information on the Web, for two reasons: first, so that the editors in Charlotte were kept up-to-date on the rapidly developing situation, and second, because at any moment we could have lost electricity and telephone connections on the island and thus the ability to communicate.
Just about the only effect our website had on my work was that it kept a lot of it from going to waste. Writing and reporting that didn't make the print edition because of space limitations found a home on the website. And there was the added benefit of knowing that my reporting would be published quickly and have an immediate impact.
We did not use audio or video, and that is the next step for many news organizations. For television stations audio and video come naturally, and many, such as MSNBC and CNN, are already incorporating such features into their Web stories. For newspapers to go down that road would require major training and equipment purchases.
All of the work -- from reporting to writing to editing -- was done by the newsroom's reporters, photographers, and editors, with the same focus on quality as if we were putting it in the newspaper (albeit with never-ending deadlines). The only difference was that once the copy was ready, instead of giving it to layout we gave it to the Charlotte.com producers to upload. The producers also played a big role in creating a great site with useful links.
In my mind, this worked far better than it would have if we had separate reporters for the website, simply because the reporters already covering the story were the ones most knowledgeable about the subject. It's also exciting as a reporter, because it negates some of the frustration newspaper folk feel about TV always getting the story out first.
-- Chip Scanlan
Online Journalism Review, Sept. 17, 2003, "News sites loosen linking
policies"
Jonathan Dube, the publisher of CyberJournalist.net, says that linking
policies will vary depending on a site's mission -- but he doesn't view
restrictions in terms of traffic.
"I think the key issue in deciding whether to link to other sites is not about
traffic, but about what purpose it serves and how trustworthy the information
is," Dube said via e-mail. "As a news source that people turn to for reliable
information, news sites should maintain the same editorial standards for
anything they put online, whether original articles or links to outside sites --
doing so is essential for news sites to maintain their credibility, and thus
their value, to users."
Dube noted that Slate's "In Today's Papers" feature, which links to various top
newspapers online, has been a traffic generator for Slate. Indeed, pioneering
online-only sites such as CNET's News.com and Slate -- as well as newspaper
sites such as the Providence (R.I.) Journal's Projo.com -- have been more open
about linking to outside sites from the start. — Mark Glaser
The Globe and Mail, Aug. 11, 2003, "Love, hate and newspapers"
Another interesting issue concerns Google's cached pages. Long a useful tool for
people who want to see a page that has been removed from a server, Google's
cache is posing legal and financial problems, says CyberJournalist.net, a
service of The Media Centre of the American Press Institute, an independent,
not-for-profit educational organization. —
Jack Kapica
Online Journalism Review, July 22, 2003, "Are
Online Search Tools Lulling Journalists Into Laziness?"
The very exercise of this article proved to be salient for Meyer, as he noted
the efficiency of using e-mail to get him questions that might not have reached
him by phone. But he also had the chance to ruminate over answers, taking away
spontaneity and a quick follow-up question possible during a phone conversation.
Jonathan Dube, proprietor of CyberJournalist.net and senior producer at
MSNBC.com, wrote
a
column devoted to e-mail interview techniques for Poynter. The impetus of
his column was a hoax perpetrated on a ComputerWorld reporter who believed an
e-mail from someone purporting to be a terrorist hacker.
"E-mail interviews can be a great time saver," Dube told me, ironically, via e-mail. "But relying on them too much has disadvantages, the biggest being you don't know who is replying and you don't have the chance to quickly pepper the source with follow-up questions...Yet journalists keep making the same mistakes of not verifying information over and over again." That fact led Dube to start a page on "Cyber Slip-Ups," though they are geared more toward Web site administration mishaps. — Mark Glaser
Ex Libris, July 19, 2003, "Great Journalism Sites"
"CyberJournalist.net, http://www.cyberjournalist.net/, from the Media Center of the American Press Institute, combines a blog (links to useful web sites, articles, interviews, upcoming conferences, and such), with a Great Work Gallery, Tips & Tools, and a terrific Resource List.
"The Great Work Gallery illustrates how photos, documents, maps, audio and video combine with traditional journalistic texts to illuminate both subject and readers; anyone who wants to do online storytelling will learn a lot here. Among the great works are a documentary on the life of Strom Thurmond, an interactive guide to the Tour de France, and panoramic photos of Iraq.
"The Tips & Tools section includes links to such things as "Finding John Doe" (a backgrounder on public records searching), an Affirmative Action backgrounder, "How To Avoid Misquoting Google," "Tracking Iraq's Historic Treasures," and "A High Tech Way of Estimating Crowd Sizes" (weren't you always just a bit suspicious of those numbers in news reports?). Anybody who teaches information literacy should take a look at the Cyber Slip-Ups section, which has good tips on how to verify information, and plenty of funny stories about embarrassing goofs by reporters who should have known you can't believe everything you read on the internet." -- Mary Laine
ResourceShelf.com, June 18, 2003, "Using Google To Search for Popularity"
"Using Google to measure the popularity of X (very popular with reporters)
have been mentioned on ResourceShelf and in many other sources. Jonathan Dube's
recent Poynter.Org article offers an excellent overview. The accuracy,
validity, and meaning of utilizing Google (or any web engine) as a popularity
measuring tool by simply searching the amount of hits the term/phrase returns is
also questionable. However, this is not the focus of the post. So, why this
posting? Well, it seems that when many people use this technique also don't
understand how Google works and forget to place phrases in quotation marks....
"Google's database is distributed on thousands of computers around the globe.
Running the identical search at different times and from different locations
will return different numbers. These numbers are just ESTIMATES. This was also
pointed out by Dube in a follow-up story...." -- Gary Price
Online Journalism Review, May 29, 2003, "FCC Rule Change Could Be a Boon
for Online Media"
"The most interesting aspect of the rule changes could be an increase in
converged newsrooms that share resources to create stronger Web presences.
Jonathan Dube, publisher of
CyberJournalist.net and senior producer at
MSNBC.com, sees this as the main impact online. "We may see more local sites
like tbo.com, the excellent Media General site in Tampa that serves as the
online home for both the Tampa Tribune and WFLA," he told me. "If that happens,
we'd see more robust local news sites -- with better ability to package
newspaper and video content -- but we might also see fewer local news sites and
thus less competition." -- Mark Glaser
American Journalism Review, May 2003, "Online Advances"
An extensive catalog of multimedia packages, journalists' diaries and complete
coverage pages is available at
www.cyberjournalist.net. -- Barb Palser
Poynter.org, May 1, 2003, "Point-Counterpoint:
Reporter Blogging"
"Should staff reporters at news organizations be restricted by their employers
from publishing personal weblogs on their own time? The debate rages (much of it
on Poynter's Online-News
discussion list) following the Hartford Courant's decision to demand
that a staffer kill his personal blog. Cyberjournalist.net's Jon Dube got
two participants in that discussion to argue their respective cases online.
J.D. Lasica
argues the let-them-blog stance, while
Eric Meyer says
editors have the right to squash personal blogs by the journalists they employ."
-- Steve Outing
The Sacramento Bee, April 10, 2003, "Want alternative news on Iraq war?"
"A big help to journalists covering the war is CyberJournalist.net, which maintains, among other things, the Great Iraq Conflict Coverage Gallery (www.cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html). The gallery features links to some of the best online war coverage, including war blogs, video and still images, special reports and interactive graphics. If you are interested in how reporters work, the site is also full of links and resources that, while intended for working journalists, can be viewed by anybody." -- David Hoye
Poynter.org, April 8, 2003, "AOL's War News: Not Bad"
Jon Dube at Cyberjournalist.net has some
kind words for AOL
and its coverage of the war in Iraq. Among the very cool ideas (available only
to America Online subscribers): AOL members are uploading photos of and letters
from soldiers abroad; and AOL News has a feature called "U.S. Forces Alerts,"
which enables AOL members to receive war news alerts whenever particular
military units they care about are covered in the news. These are available for
76 specific units across all four U.S. military branches and are delivered
either via e-mail or to cell phones or pagers. -- Steve Outing
Time Magazine, April 7, 2003, "Best Of The
War Blogs"
Want to find some war blogs on your own? There is no central index, but one
site usually leads to others.
Cyberjournalist.net has loads of links to
reports from writers embedded with the troops (at cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html).
-- Anita Hamilton
The Washington Post, March 28, 2003, "Blogging the War: A Guide"
"CyberJournalist.net War Blog: A blog of war-related news from CyberJournalist.net, part of the nonprofit American Press Institute's Media Center." -- Cynthia L. Webb
New Zealand Herald, March 28, 2003
For a blog about blogs check out www.cyberjournalist.net/ weblogblog.htm.
The Guardian, March 27, 2003, "The sites you need to see "
"As the war continues, the web can only become more useful as an information
resource and an archive of events, as well as providing a forum for the debate
over the rights and wrongs. If you want to know more, Cyberjournalist.net has an
extensive list of links to more warblogs, reporters' journals or other
Iraq coverage online." -- Jane Perrone
The Oregonian, March 27, 2003, "Blah, blah, blogs"
CyberJournalist.Net War Blog: The American Press Institute's blog is directed at electronic journalists but contains lots of interesting tips such as where to find an interactive map of Baghdad. www.cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqwarblog.html
Bangkok Post, March 26, 2003, "Internet Site of the Week"
There is only one news story this week. Mostly, the Iraqi conflict is not about IT, but in our little window on the web here, we can at least point you to some more web-based coverage of the war in Iraq by introducing the ``Great Iraq Conflict Coverage Gallery'' at Cyberjournalist.net - www.cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html#embeds - which features links to weblogs from several ``embedded journalists''.
This site, hosted by the Media Centre of the American Press Institute, features links with succinct summaries to over 20 weblogs posted by news reporters who are covering the war as ``embedded journalists,'' travelling with the coalition forces as they move towards Baghdad.
Never before in history has there been such coverage of a major conflict, on television, on radio and now also on the Internet, and the resources that are provided here by such news-gathering authorities as CNN, PBS, the BBC, NBC, ABC and the Christian Science Monitor are extensive indeed.
In addition to the weblogs and diaries, there are links to many other war-related resources, including some excellent maps and graphics presentations about Iraq from the BBC and CNN, as well as links to the major news sites' coverage of the conflict.
For those with broadband access, there are video and audio links as well. - Tony Waltham
Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2003, "'Blogger' Tries to
Make Name..."
"The Agonist has definitely been drawing attention of late," says Jonathan Dube,
a senior producer at MSNBC.com who has been tracking journalists' war blogs for
CyberJournalist.net, a service that studies the Internet's effect on journalism.
"Since the war has started it's been one of the Weblogs most linked-to from
other Webloggers, which is one of the best ways to gauge a site's relative
popularity in the weblog community." -- Ian McDonald
Online Journalism Review, March 24, 2003, "Why the Internet
Rules (and Annoys) with War Coverage"
"Cyberjournalist.net's Jonathan Dube provides
a great listing of weblogs from embedded journalists as well as top sites'
in-depth news packages." -- Mark Glaser
The Washington Post, March 23, 2003, "Operation Commentary
Storm "
"The American Press Institute's Media Center (www.cyberjournalist.net) includes
its own war blog, encapsulating coverage of the fighting from many sources." --
Leslie Walker
Internet Magazine, March 19, 2003, "'Site of the Week"
"Now that US and British forces have stormed into Iraq, more people than ever
are watching the news online. And, whether for or against armed conflict,
everyone's question is the same - how do I find out what is REALLY going on?
"This is where Cyberjournalist.net jumps into the spotlight. This site (created
by the non-profit American Press Institute) is a fantastic gateway to some of
the most innovative, journalism on the Web. It boasts the Internet's most
comprehensive list of J-blogs (personal weblogs written by professional
journalists). And it will direct you to some of the more original multimedia
offerings from many major news organisations.
"Visit the special "Great Iraq Online Coverage Gallery" to read personal J-blogs
from reporters embedded in Iraq, working for publications with a wide range of
political agendas. Bulletins from Seattle Post-Intelligencer journalists
on-board aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, musings from CNN's Kevin Sites,
and question and answer sessions with Christian Science Monitor's online
producer, Ben Arnoldy - they're all here.
"The gallery also links to great journalism that exploits the immediacy and
multimedia potential of the Internet - an interactive map of Iraq from Newsweek,
official weblogs published by BBC reporters, audio reports by the Jerusalem
Post, a map of military deployments from CNN, Canadian cartoons....
"Essentially a text-based portal to news sites around the world,
Cyberjournalist.net is admittedly dull design-wise. It is also overly reliant on
US news sources. But, during a war in which many mainstream media appear to be
unquestioningly gung-ho about military action, and "alternative" websites seem
to limit their coverage to anti-war protests - it pulls up an interesting
selection of stories, and a nice opportunity to make up your own mind." --
Heather Walmsley
MSNBC Weblog Central, March 20, 2003, "Blogging the War"
Jonathan Dube of CyberJournalist.net has amassed quite
a comprehensive index of online Iraq coverage, as well as a
war blog of his own. One of the links Dube lists is
Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Weblog by Seattle Post Intelligencer
reporter M.L. Lyke describing what she and photographer Grant M. Haller hear and
do as “embedded” reporters with U.S. forces." -- Will Femia
The (Allentown, Penn.) Morning Call, March 7, 2003
J-Blogs: The American Press Institute maintains a list of journalism blogs by
major news organizations and independents. -- By Tim Blangger
Columbia Journalism Review, January/February, 2003, "Newspapers Online"
“Newspapers are no longer willing to just write the Web site off as a
money-losing proposition,” says Jonathan Dube, a weekend producer for MSNBC who
also runs Cyberjournalist.net. “We already see much less free information.”
Poynter.org, Feb. 12, 2003, "You Won't Read This In Print "
"This is just a sampling -- to give you an idea of some of the quality columns
and weblogs that are running on newspaper websites. (For a fairly comprehensive
list, see
Jonathan Dube's links to online-exclusive weblogs/columns on
Cyberjournalist.net.)" -- Steve Outing
Poynter.org, Feb. 5, 2003, "The Weblog: Tough to Beat on Breaking News "
"As Jon Dube pointed out in
an item on his Cyberjournalist site, the Landing Journal helped Florida
Today get 'the news out fast and (provide) readers an easy way to see the
latest news without having to comb through long articles and figure out what's
been added since they last read it.'" -- Bill Mitchell
Online Journalism Review, Feb. 4, 2003, "Shuttle Fallout"
"The coverage of the coverage at Lost Remote, Jim Romenesko's Media News,
Jonathan Dube's Cyberjournalist.net and the Washington Post's double-punch of
Media Notes and Filter gave me a more complete picture of the media's
performance under pressure....Jonathan Dube gave a
helpful roundup of screen shots of top news sites." -- Mark Glaser
OnlineJournalism.com, Feb. 4, 2003, "Net response to Columbia tragedy"
"CyberJournalist.net's Jonathan Dube quickly posted a feature analyzing online
coverage, including screen shots from national, Texas and Florida news sources.
"
-- Melissa Milios & Peter Sanders
MediaChannel.org, Feb. 3, 2003, "Online Media Did Well"
"While most of us were mesmerized by the endless and repetitive TV coverage of
the disaster ("If you are just joining us, let us recap."), online was the place
to be.... Cyberjournalist.net explained: "Online news sites reacted rapidly and
robustly to the space shuttle Columbia's crash on Feb. 1. Nearly every major
site blew out the top of their site, devoting the top screen -- or more -- to
the story. Several chose layouts they rarely use, to create additional dramatic
impact. Most of the sites surveyed also posted original material online, in
addition to wire reports, and put together slide shows of the tragic images.
"One particularly interesting approach came from Florida Today, which posted
continual updates to its "Columbia landing journal," a temporary Weblog of the
failed landing and aftermath,,,, The journal nicely complemented the site's
comprehensive coverage, including its exclusive close-up video of the Columbia
launch, showing debris possibly hitting the wing. Spaceflight Now's site also
ran Weblog-like updates as news broke, in a feature called "Mission Status
Center."
-- Danny
Schechter
Poynter.org, Feb. 3, 2003, "Covering the Shuttle Disaster"
"Jon Dube, who runs
Cyberjournalist.net, worked hard
to pull together a
terrific collection items about the online coverage." -- Sree Sreenivasan
Jim Flowers' Radio Weblog, Feb. 2, 2003, "Front Page Images"
"CyberJournalist.net has put
together
a gallery of cover snapshots from a sampling of sites and analyzed them.
It is a rather impressive collection of front page images from around the
country. Well worth the look." -- Jim Flowers
MSNBC.com's Weblog Central, Jan. 28, 2003, "Welcome to the
Party"
Via Jonathan Dube’s
Cyberjournalist.net, “Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald columnist Dave
Barry has started a Weblog at
davebarry.blogspot.com, packed with tidbits of Barry-esque humor.” -- Will
Femia
New Media Musings, Jan. 21, 2003, "Salon
on the brink..."
"Really good stuff from
CyberJournalist.net lately, including these new items today:
- Salon, in a last-ditch effort to stay alive, is expected to announce this week that it will require all readers to either buy a subscription for full access to stories or agree to click through several screens of advertising to gain limited access, the Los Angeles Times reports. "There's no free lunch on the Web anymore," Salon founder David Talbot says. "There's no viable media without developing a base of revenue." Sad to say, it's unlikely the new strategy will save Salon.
- Glenn Reynolds, a law professor who quickly became one of the more well-known bloggers as the author of Instapundit.com, has started writing a separate Weblog for MSNBC.com, joining the news site's expanding group of bloggers. "Several times a week, I'll be writing in this space with observations on various happenings in law, politics, music, and technology," he wrote in his first post." - J.D. Lasica
Poynter Online, Jan. 6, 2003, "Inspiration
for Convergence Journalism"
"If you're looking for ideas to break out of the day-to-day hustle of
online-news shovelware, I suggest looking to an excellent resource for
multimedia convergence journalism. You'll find links to excellent work on
American Press Institute's CyberJournalist.net, including links to the Christian
Science Monitor's 'Amtrak: All Aboard?', WashingtonPost.com's 'Rebuilding a
Fortress, Rebuilding a Life,' and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.com's 'AIDS in
the Caribbean.' -- Martha Stone
American Journalism Review, Jan. 2003, "Every Last Word"
"More and more, the exchanges that precede news stories are making it onto
the Web.... Readers aren't the only ones who benefit from this type of
transparency, says Jonathan Dube, publisher of
CyberJournalist.net. Dube considers
the U.S. Department of Defense's Web site (defenselink.mil)
a "journalist's gold mine" of speeches, briefings--and transcripts of every
media interview given by top DoD officials. The site is a prime venue for what
he calls interview voyeurism--journalists can not only spy on the techniques of
their colleagues, but pluck quotes for their own stories since the interviews
are public record." -- Barb Palser
Poynter Online, Nov. 20, 2002, "The Digital-Era Cartoonist"
"I adore the work of Mark Fiore, the San
Francisco-based political cartoonist who specializes in animated Flash cartoons.
He won the Online News Association's 2002 Online Journalism Award for Commentary
and was a finalist in the Creative Use of the Medium category.
Cyberjournalist.net's Jonathan Dube has
an
interview with Fiore. Excerpt: "The medium is so new that editors don't
immediately think of animated political cartoons. The cartoon syndicates
reinforce this by shoving huge collections of cartoons repurposed from the print
world down online editors throats." -- Steve Outing
OnlineJournalism.com, Nov. 20, 2002, "Political cartoons come of age
online"
"Technology doesn't make the cartoon, explained Mark Fiore, the recent
winner of the 2002 Online Journalism Award for commentary and finalist in the
Creative Use of the Medium category, in a Cyberjournalist Q&A session. Fiore
began his career doodling as a traditional print political cartoonist, dabbling
in a short, stifling stint with a major daily before high-tailing it out to work
full-time on animated cartoons. For Fiore, the most important factor in making
an animated editorial cartoon effective is having a strong opinion about a
topic, though he admits that technological advances greatly enhance the
potential for sound and music that add a vast depth and emotion to the
animation. Fiore said he believes that the biggest problem with online news
sites is that they are treated as merely a place to duplicate the newspaper.
Case in point: a bad precedent was set with repurposed print cartoons being
shoved online under the rubric of them subsequently being an online cartoon
without truly taking advantage of the medium. Still, he stressed, technology is
not what gives the cartoon its zing; 'The cartoon, animated or static, still
comes down to the idea.' -- Andrea Hulser
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 30, 2002, "Taking Google News out for a test drive"
"It basically gives people a quick glance of what news sites around the world
are determining are the top stories," said Jonathan Dube, publisher of
CyberJournalist.net, a site that explores the intersection of technology and
media.... Many times, links refer to the same Reuters or Associated Press
account posted by different sites. The sheer volume of links can make it harder
to sort through and find a unique take, let alone the most interesting one. Dube
said without the ability to sift out repeats, "right now, it's just kind of a
novelty." ... Dube said the search engine is more powerful than its competitors
and probably the most useful part of the site." -- Raoul Mowatt
OnlineJournalism.com, Oct. 14, 2002, "Creators discuss online memorial..."
"As the debate continues over the physical memorial to be built in honor of
Sept. 11 victims, the creators of an online, sonic memorial revealed
behind-the-scenes information in
an
interview with Jonathan Dube of CyberJournalist.net. Documentarians Alison
Cornyn and Sue Johnson created The Sonic Memorial Project, recruiting
journalists, artists and historians to collect sounds reflecting the life of the
World Trade Center. Cornyn and Johnson told Dube that they were intrigued by the
challenge of a Web site dominated by sound rather than visuals. They encouraged
the site's visitors to "explore, experiment, and listen" in order to experience
the capabilities of the Sonic Browser, which provides a non-linear experience
for users. The site is an interactive means of teaching and documenting history,
and users can contribute their own stories by contacting the project through the
"Add a Sound" feature." - Alexia Loskutoff
Online Journalism Review, Sept. 11, "The Sept. 11 Media
Frenzy"
"Also of note: Jonathan Dube’s well-organized
CyberJournalist.net guide to coverage (now housed by the American Press
Institute)..." - Staci D. Kramer
E-Media Tidbits, Sept. 10, 2002, "9/11,
and Nothing But 9/11"
"Have you noticed that the news
media (especially in the U.S.) is making a bit of a big deal about tomorrow's
anniversary of the U.S. terrorist attacks? Of course you noticed, unless you
live on another planet or somehow have managed to unplug yourself from all
media. If you're not yet burned out on the anniversary coverage, both
Poynter.org and the American Press Institute are compiling lists of some of the
best media coverage. API's
CyberJournalist.net site categorizes the best types of coverage. And at
Poynter.org (publisher of this weblog), there's a "Chronicling
the Coverage" weblog listing an assortment of great 9/11 coverage,
contributed by Poynter staff and faculty, as well as Poynter.org readers." -
Steve Outing
OnlineJournalism.com, Sept. 8, "More D.I.Y. Web journalism
after Sept. 11"
"People who experienced the events of September 11 firsthand turned to the
Internet to report what they saw, resulting in a great deal of do-it-yourself
journalism online, CyberJournalist.net reported. According to a recent study by
the Pew Internet & American Life Project, after the tragedy many first-person
articles appeared on various Web sites which had never before posted news of any
kind. The study warned that much of this journalism is based on personal
account, rather than verifiable facts. Still, the surge of people turning to the
Internet for additional news has continued throughout the year since the
attacks, CyberJournalist.net reported." - Erin Auerbach
Associated Press, August 26, 2002, "Media Industry News"
"The Media Center at the American Press Institute in Reston, Va., and
CyberJournalist.net have formed a publishing alliance to jointly encourage
better online and multi-platform convergence journalism. CyberJournalist.net is
a Web site for journalists that focuses on the Internet, media convergence and
new technologies."
InstaPundit.com, August 26, 2002, "Officially
a CyberJournalist..."
"HEY, I'M OFFICIALLY A
CYBERJOURNALIST!
It says so right on CyberJournalist.Net, and I don't see how you could get more
official than that." -- Glenn Reynolds
E-Media Tidbits, August 21, 2002, "Cyberjournalist.net,
API Hook Up"
"Jonathan Dube's Cyberjournalist.net website, a resource for the online
journalism world that covers the Internet, media convergence, and new
technologies, has entered into an agreement with the American Press Institute to
become a service of API's The Media Center. Cyberjournalist.net also will be
incorporated into other information and training services produced by the
Center, according to its director, Andrew Nachison. Dube will continue as editor
and publisher of Cyberjournalist.net and becomes a senior editor for The Media
Center (AND keeps his "day job" as technology editor for MSNBC.com), and
Nachison becomes editor-at-large. (Dube also co-writes a regular column, Web
Tips, for Poynter.org, publisher of this weblog. Where does he find the time for
all this?)" - Steve Outing
OnlineJournalism.com, August 21, 2002, "CyberJournalist.net and API form
publishing alliance"
"CyberJournalist.net and The Media Center at the American Press Institute
have forged a publishing alliance to "encourage better online and multi-platform
convergence journalism." CyberJournalist.net will become a service of The Media
Center, which offers training for online publishing companies and executives.
"The site will remain much the same, but you'll notice a few changes: a new
banner, and a new resources section that now combines the jobs, books, education
and other resources pages," explained a message on the CyberJournalist.net
homepage. Jonathan Dube will remain CyberJournalist.net's editor-in-chief and
publisher and become an editor-at-large at The Media Center. Media Center
Director Andrew Nachison will become an editor-at-large at CyberJournalist.net."
- Ellen Horowitz
OnlineJournalism.com, August 1, 2002, "CyberJournalist.net adds
convergence section"
"CyberJournalist.net debuted a new Convergence Coverage section on Wednesday
that offers "tips and articles on the converging of media." The new feature was
announced at the bottom of a blurb about Southern Methodist University's new $18
million digital newsroom, which aims to train students for convergence by
teaching them how to prepare stories across print, broadcast and online
platforms. "This convergence of different mediums is clearly the trend that
journalism and the big media companies are following," said SMU journalism
professor Chris Peck. "With that in mind, CyberJournalist.net has begun tracking
the latest convergence headlines in a new section," read a message on the site.
- Ellen Horowitz
Poynter.org, July 18, 2002, "Weblogs: Put Them to Work in Your Newsroom"
"The Weblog Blog on CyberJournalist.net. Jon Dube keeps track of news of the
blogging world in this weblog, focusing specifically on weblogging as
journalism." - Steve Outing
WriteThinking.net, July 1, 2002, "Pogo's Web Watch: CyberJournalist.net"
"If you want to know something, ask a journalist. No matter who you are, or what
you're looking for, ask a journalist. Jonathan Dube has his act together,
so take a look at it. He collects interesting headlines to make your morning
brighter. For learning how to write stories that sell, then learn about Online
Storytelling Formats and find out what readers want. Learn how stories are
packaged for news media and benefit from the papers given. Examine the samples
posted for clickable interactives and slideshow stories as examples for your
own. Get writing tips from pros and sign-up for the e-mail newsletter.
"Need help with something? Can't tell whether a site is
trustworthy? Need to convert a TV script into a web format? Here are tools that
every writer can use. Learn how to use a reverse
directory and find out about the Wayback machine to set your surfing skills on
the edge of the cyber universe and get a glance at cybertime with the view of
the Hubble telescope. Need information fast? Learn sharp searching skills and go
on a Treasure Hunt.
"Footloose, in debt, and need a job? Investigate the
top four job sites. If they don't fit your needs, there's only 29 more for
General Aid and 18 for specific companies. Quit procrastinating, click!
"Wannabe educated, cerebral, and intellectual? Improve
your professional skills? Get down to business and check his professional
resources.
"Got a story? Something buzzing in your ears about the
town? Need a model to build your story on? Enter please the Great Works gallery
where you can study the masterpieces of good writing. Searching for the
Holy Grail? Then study storytelling forms. Find out everything about anybody who
uses the net and what they read. If you need something, find a journalist: the
word really means a journal of lists.
American Journalism Review, July 2002, "Journalistic Blogging"
"Meanwhile, a growing number of journalists are blogging on their own time.
(See cyberjournalist.net/cyberjournalists.html
for a directory.)" - Barb Palser
CHOICE Magazine: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries,
July 2002.
"Online journalism is a different world from traditional journalism,
attracting readers looking for the quick fix, the equivalent of a headlines
happy meal with the Internet as the toy. This new news is being written and
designed by cyberjournalists, mostly young professionals in tune with the times
and the technology, who offer a nice story, tight on insight and light on words,
with eye-grabbing graphics, a total package that gets the point across. This
site caters to these online journalists by focusing on the Internet and new
technologies, always looking to see how technology is affecting journalism. The
founder and publisher of Cyberjournalist.net, Jonathan Dube, is the technology
editor for MSNBC.com and has a strong background in journalism.
Cyberjournalist.net appears to deliver on its promise of "recognizing those who
do great work and helping those who don't." A banner on the left side of every
page takes visitors to various sections of the site. Headlines present links to
articles about the intersection of news and the Internet. The SuperSearch page
is a combination of popular search engines and ready-reference sites. The most
useful section of the site for young journalists is the Tips page, featuring
Dube's "Writing News Online" and advice from numerous others. And at Great Works
Gallery, visitors can see examples of online news done right. Readers can leave
feedback on the site or recommend good online news for Dube's consideration.
This site is recommended for lower- and upper-division undergraduates and for
professionals." - R. L. Abbott, University of Evansville
Christian Science Monitor, June 20, 2002, "You, too, can
have a voice in 'blogland'"
"A list of journalists with blogs can be found at cyberjournalist.net."
- Kim Campbell
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, June 6, 2002, "Site of the Day"
"The site of the day is
www.cyberjournalist.net/greatwork.html.
This site has created an online gallery of award-winning articles written
exclusively for the Web. Among the examples is the winner of the 2001 Society of
Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Online Deadline Reporting award,
"Shooting of Tampa Police Officer," from Tampa Bay Online. The authors included
video, audio and photos in a breaking news story about the shooting of a Tampa,
Fla., police officer. Several of the winners were photo essays about the
aftermath of Sept. 11 in New York City. Others came from familiar names in
journalism who are making use of a new medium: Bill Moyers won an award for best
service journalism for his "On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying," PBS.org, based
on a Moyers special TV report. New Web sites also were represented in this
category, including ThemeParkInsider.com for its "Accident Watch" series, a
guide to safety at amusement parks across the United States."
E-Media Tidbits, June 4, 2002, "Keeping
Up With Weblogs"
"If you're interested in tracking the exciting field of weblogs (and why
wouldn't you be?), there are now some excellent resources. In this weblog,
E-Media Tidbits, we often report on weblog trends. But if you want more, there's
also Cyberjournalist.net's The Weblog Blog page by Jon Dube. And don't forget
John Hiler's Microcontent News. (Hiler yesterday posted a list of "big media"
that are now publishing weblogs, in response to yesterday's addition by
MSNBC.com of several weblogs.)" - Steve Outing
Edmonton Journal, May 31, "Sites to see"
"Cyberjournalist.net has created an online gallery of award-winning articles written exclusively for the Web. Among the examples is the winner of the 2001 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Online Deadline Reporting award, "Shooting of Tampa Police Officer," from Tampa Bay Online. The authors included video, audio and photos in a breaking news story about the shooting of a Tampa police officer. Several of the winners were photo essays about the aftermath of Sept. 11 in New York City. Others came from familiar names in journalism who are making use of a new medium: Bill Moyers won an award for best service journalism for his "On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying," PBS.org, based on a Bill Moyers special TV report. "The judges said they found the guide for doctors on how to understand and handle diversity especially compelling," the site explains. New Web sites were also represented in this category, including ThemeParkInsider.com for its "Accident Watch" series, a guide to safety at amusement parks across the U.S. World Wide Web: http://www.cyberjournalist.net/greatwork.html"
Newsbytes News Network, May 9, 2002, "Award-Winning Online Journalism"
"Cyberjournalist.net has created an online gallery of award-winning articles
written exclusively for the Web. Among the examples is the winner of the 2001
Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Online Deadline Reporting
award, "Shooting of Tampa Police Officer," from Tampa Bay Online. The authors
included video, audio and photos in a breaking news story about the shooting of
a Tampa police officer. Several of the winners were photo essays about the
aftermath of Sept. 11 in New York City. Others came from familiar names in
journalism who are making use of a new medium: Bill Moyers won an award for best
service journalism for his "On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying," PBS.org, based
on a Bill Moyers special TV report. "The judges said they found the guide for
doctors on how to understand and handle diversity especially compelling," the
site explains. New Web sites were also represented in this category, including
ThemeParkInsider.com for its "Accident Watch" series, a guide to safety at
amusement parks across the U.S. World Wide Web:
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/greatwork.html"
Poynter.org, May 7, 2002, "Radio & Online Writing Help"
"Many of you know that my co-columnist and friend Jon Dube runs
Cyberjournalist.net, the best site for online journalism resources. Among the
many things you can gather there are tips about online writing. Tips from Dube
himself -- 'Writing News Online - A Dozen Tips,' 'Online Storytelling Forms,'
'Online Thinking' -- and from others: 'Converting TV Scripts for the Web,'
'Thinking Outside the Templates,' 'Web Writers' Mistakes.' Even if you aren't a
cyberjournalist, you should visit his site to learn about trends affecting our
craft." - Sreenath Sreenivasan
OnlineJournalism.com, April 24, 2002, "A Weblog about blogs"
"Cyberjournalist.net has added a Weblog Blog to the site. The new section
offers links to stories written about 'Weblogging as journalism' and goes back
to two May 2001 articles that appeared in the Online Journalism Review. Since
then, a slew of articles have been written about the trend, most recently in
Howard Kurtz's April 22 column. Cyberjournalist.net also has an extensive list
of blogs and personal sites that are relevant to online journalists." - Ellen
Horowitz
The Florida Times-Union, April 20, 2002, "News Fools"
"April Fools' Day is always full of bogus news stories and broadcast pranks.
Review several of this year's tall tales at this site which includes Napster's
plans to buy Microsoft, the latest on the moon's green cheese and a newspaper
story in Buckley, W.Va., covering an edict that all dogs had to be out of the
county by noon:
www.cyberjournalist.net\features/aprilfools.htm."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 14, "Netwatcher: Net Guide"
Also: Cox News Service, April 15, "Netwatcher: Net Guide"
"CyberJournalist: April Fools' Day was full of bogus news stories and
broadcast pranks. Catch up on this year's tall tales at CyberJournalist.net's
collection. It includes Napster's plans to buy Microsoft, the latest on the
moon's green cheese and a newspaper story in Buckley, W.Va., covering an edict
that all dogs had to be out of the county by noon:
www.cyberjournalist.net/features/aprilfools.htm."
USA Today, April 5, 2002, "Hot site of the day"
"April 1st comes and goes without any real record of the pranks played by
the world's media. Not this year. CyberJournalist offers summaries and links to
this week's funniest Fourth Estate foolery, as well as the top 10 April Fool's
Day hoaxes of all time."
Online Journalism Review, April 3, 2002, "Independent publishers thrive
amidst closures of large scale news sites"
'There are countless such sites out there,' says Jonathan Dube, technology
editor for MSNBC.com and founder of the reporters' resource site
cyberjournalist.net.... 'Most of these sites are done as a labor of love by the
owners, often at a financial loss,' says Dube....MSNBC.com's Dube suggests that
the New Economy crash may well prove to be a boomlet for a new round of lone Web
publishers: 'It's even possible that with the demise of many small online
publications, those who can't find work online will start their own Weblogs or
solo publications simply because they want an outlet.' - Emmanuelle Richard
Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 2002, "Technology Corner"
"CyberJouralist SuperSearch: http://www.cyberjournalist.net/supersearch. This is the latest addition to Cyberjournalist.net, a site run as a labor of love by MSNBC technology editor Jonathan Dube. It brings together on one page most of the search boxes that journalists (and others) find useful. The distinct searches you can conduct include Web search engines, U.S. government statistics and medical dictionaries." - Sreenath Sreenivasan
OnlineJournalism.com, March 16, 2002, "Stats tell journalists what readers
want"
"One of the advantages of online journalism is that it generates statistics,
allowing writers, reporters and editors to see what readers are looking at.
Several sites have made this information available to the public on the Web.
ABCNews.com, NYTimes.com and CNN.com list the most e-mailed stories in a 24-hour
period. MSNBC.com lets readers rate stories on a scale from one to seven and
keeps a tally of readers' top ten picks. Yahoo tracks the most viewed stories
and pictures on its U.S. site as well as the most visited stories in several
European nations, Canada and China. 'Think of these as reader-generated front
pages,' wrote MSNBC.com Technology editor and CyberJournalist.net founder
Jonathan Dube. 'Reading them is like reading news sites where the readers are
making the editorial decisions.'" - Ellen Horowitz
E-Media Tidbits, February 5, 2002, "What Every Online Newsroom Needs"
"Most of the time I'm hearing about how online news sites are cutting back
on any funding of truly innovative, experimental story-telling efforts. Sad news
comes from the folks at the Helsinki Sanomat that their Webortage team, creators
of some truly mold busting story forms, is being disbanded. (Webortage packages
are at the bottom left of the page.) And so it is with great good tidings that I
learned of Tom Regan's new position at the Christian Science Monitor. He is
"executive producer" of a new unit designed to produce one original Web-produced
story every two weeks and a major package every month. One of their first
efforts, My Fellow Americans, was picked by Jonathan Dube in his Cyberjournalist
report as his 'Great Work of the Month.'" - Nora Paul
E-Media Tidbits, January 3, 2002, "The Top 10 Online News Stories"
"Cyberjournalist.net's Jonathan Dube has compiled a list of the top 10
stories in the online news world. No. 1 (of course): Sept. 11 and the ensuing
onslaught of online traffic to news websites. At No. 4, Dube cites the
weblogging craze (of which we're fond here on E-Media Tidbits). Also take note
of this page, which handily links to 17 year-end news packages by major news
sites (and points to a handful of year-end news industry reflections, including
my own)." - Steve Outing
E-Media Tidbits, January 16, 2002, "Breaking Politics News, Anonymously"
"While online media has had a rough ride, there are still signs of hope for
original journalism on the Web. As reported in CyberJournalist.net, the sites
PoliticsNY.com and PoliticsNJ.com have been scooping local media and making
waves recently. Really interesting: the writers won't reveal their identities."
- Steve Outing
The Writer, November 2001, "Recommended Internet resources for writers"
"CyberJournalist.net: Tips on online writing and editing, plus news and
commentary on online journalism resources."
E-Media Tidbits, November 28, 2001, "The Forms of Online Journalism"
"It's not new, but we've never mentioned it here, and it's recently been
updated. Jonathan Dube's CyberJournalist website has a nifty feature and
tutorial that explains the different forms of online storytelling. He includes
lots of examples of how to use the capabilities of the Web to present stories.
The Web is capable of so much more than "shovelware," and Dube provides links to
a bunch of good examples of online storytelling. If you haven't spent time
learning from this Web page yet, I urge you to do so." - Steve Outing
Radio and Television News Directors Association, April 2001, "Site of the
week"
"CyberJournalist.net is an online resource for
journalists who write and edit for the web. The site features online writing
tips and offers commentary about online journalism. CyberJournalist.net also
explores how the Internet and technology are affecting journalism. The founder
and publisher, Jonathan Dube, is an award-winning online and print journalist.
He is currently technology editor for msnbc.com and has also worked for
abcnews.com, The New York Times and The Charlotte Observer."
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