The New, New Journalism

Tumblr Staff: News!

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:27:16 -0400

Everyone, I’m elated to tell you that Tumblr will be joining Yahoo.

Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to…

MediaShift Idea Lab . Lessons from the School of Data Journalism | PBS

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:48:50 -0400

MediaShift Idea Lab . Lessons from the School of Data Journalism | PBS

"We see a dog, it is barking. It could be a K9 unit. We don’t know. It is a dog."

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:04:13 -0400

““We see a dog, it is barking. It could be a K9 unit. We don’t know. It is a dog.”

- CNN (via kateoplis)

it is barking.

(via synecdoche)

It is a dog.

(via chriskohney)

We don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but we can confirm that it is a dog. We can confirm that it is barking. That is all we are confirming at this point.

(via elinorjo)

The moment in which the 24/7 news cycle ate itself.
(via whynotshesaid)

Florida A&M says it can't discuss a student trustee's removal because of FERPA

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:41:06 -0400

Florida A&M says it can't discuss a student trustee's removal because of FERPA:

ferpafact:

Florida A&M University’s student government president recently was removed from the college’s board of trustees. But no one will say why. Officials told the student newspaper, The Famuan, that the matter is confidential under FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The Famuan published a strongly worded column criticizing the university’s decision to withhold information about the trustee’s removal.

“However, people need to realize that by putting yourself into the position of a public figure and joining the BOT, you are subject to scrutiny, and your actions have to be made publicly,” Managing Editor Jorge Rodriquez-Jimenez wrote. “For the university to try to protect a public figure by screaming FERPA makes me question what other lines they are willing to blur to save face.”

Source: The Famuan, Stop hiding behind FERPA, (March 22, 2013)

SPLC Executive Director Frank LoMonte:

So, here’s the thing. In January, the editor of the FAMU student newspaper vanished — and the university wouldn’t say why. Then in March, the student representative on FAMU’s board of trustees disappeared — and again, FAMU wouldn’t explain why.

There’s only one logical explanation.

Killer sinkholes.

Florida’s full of these suckers, they’re fast, they strike without warning — and they’re hungry.

So… on the remote possibility that the campus is NOT full of killer sinkholes — that, instead, FAMU’s student body president was disqualified from the board for academic or disciplinary reasons — is there any reason FAMU can’t say so?

Well, for starters, a Tallahassee TV news station reported March 21 that the former trustee, Marissa West, “resigned” from student government. A resignation from elected office is not a piece of confidential education information, so FAMU clearly can (but apparently won’t) confirm that much.

And FAMU probably can say quite a bit more. By way of reminder, FERPA protects the confidentiality of records — not of facts. If FAMU’s information about the former elected official comes from a source other than education records (for instance, from city police reports), then that information is not FERPA-protected.

As even universities themselves admit (when admitting it serves their self-interest), FERPA does not apply to one-off disclosures — it penalizes schools that have a “policy” of releasing confidential records. What “policy” might conceivably exist here? “Every single time we fire the student member of the Board of Trustees, we tell people why” isn’t (let’s hope!) a routine practice.

The fact that we’re even arguing about this at all illustrates how hopelessly dysfunctional FERPA is. When you run for the highest-profile office on your campus, and agree to sit on the university’s governing board, you implicitly waive a degree of privacy as it relates to your job performance and your fitness to serve.

But because the FERPA statute doesn’t provide for a “waiver by conduct,” it’s literally possible that you could get your grade-point average tattooed on your forehead (by the way, don’t) and yet file a FERPA complaint if the college discloses it.

Bottom line: FAMU legally can (and ethically should) say something about why its students no longer are represented by the elected trustee of their choice. And unless disclosing the basis for the departure necessarily requires giving away a piece of confidential information gleaned from education records, then the college legally can (and ethically should) give the public a full explanation.

Just to be safe, Florida needs to get cracking on plugging those killer sinkholes. Starting with the information sinkhole that is Florida A&M University.

This newspaper correction caused a disturbance in the Force today | Tampa Bay Times

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:34:37 -0400

This newspaper correction caused a disturbance in the Force today | Tampa Bay Times

"I sit here a fool, sickened that I unwittingly led the magazine, a group of caring, diligent..."

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:00:28 -0400

“I sit here a fool, sickened that I unwittingly led the magazine, a group of caring, diligent editors, and our readers into John Boudreau’s troubled world and his web of deceit. I recklessly ran the red lights that arose while writing this story and sped past all of the basic reporting, which is heresy for a 22-year veteran of the craft. For that, I apologize. I should have seen it from a mile away, and I didn’t see it from nose to nose.”

- Philadelphia magazine author on getting duped on a story about a Marine sniper http://jimromenesko.com/2013/04/05/philadelphia-magazine-apologizes-for-fabricated-sniper-story/ (via politicalwhore)

"Eleven elephants. One plane. Hurtling together across the sky. The scene sounds like a dream..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:58:52 -0400

“

Eleven elephants. One plane. Hurtling together across the sky.

The scene sounds like a dream conjured by Dali. And yet here it is, playing out high above the Atlantic.

Inside the belly of a 747, 11 elephants are deep into a flight from South Africa to Florida. These are not circus elephants, accustomed to captivity. All are wild, plucked from game reserves in Swaziland. All are headed for zoos in San Diego and Tampa.

The date is Aug. 21, 2003 - a Thursday morning that stretches on and on. The elephants are confined in 11 metal crates inside the 747’s cavernous hold. They have been sedated. They are woozy and not particularly hungry. A few snake their trunks toward a man who moves up and down the line, replenishing their water.

“Calm down,” says Mick Reilly, 32. “It’s not so bad.”

”

- http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/02/Life/Zoo_story__The_New_Wo.shtml

"Writing is the flip side of sex - it’s good only when it’s over."

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:05:23 -0400

““Writing is the flip side of sex - it’s good only when it’s over.””

- Hunter S. Thompson, from “Fifty Pieces of Writing Advice from Authors”

The Pressure Points of Life

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:03:31 -0400

The Pressure Points of Life:

300-word writing experiment by Times staff in 2007

"I believe for every person who stumbles upon your tweet via hashtag, you’re likely turning off many..."

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:12:11 -0400

“I believe for every person who stumbles upon your tweet via hashtag, you’re likely turning off many more who are put off by hashtag overuse. We need not banish the hashtag, but let’s start putting more thought into when we’re using it.”

- “Hashtags considered #harmful” in Nieman Labs

Another backpack journalist Christmas gift item, from Photojojo,...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:49:37 -0400

Another backpack journalist Christmas gift item, from Photojojo, includes wide-angle, fisheye and telephoto lenses for your iPhone

"American news media has never been in better shape. That’s just common sense. Almost anything you’d..."

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:28:00 -0400

“American news media has never been in better shape. That’s just common sense. Almost anything you’d want to know about any subject is available at your fingertips.”

- “The Glory Days of American Journalism,” Slate. Basically a rebuttal to the Pew Center’s State of the News Media annual downer.

Video

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 21:02:56 -0400

How Much Should A Writer Be Paid, If Anything?

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:14:27 -0500

How Much Should A Writer Be Paid, If Anything?

anthonybourdain: The brief apex of my television career....

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:40:07 -0500

anthonybourdain:

The brief apex of my television career. Tonight at 10pm on Archer.
All downhill from here…

Bumper!

"The world of science has some new advice for people who want to increase their Twitter following,..."

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:10:27 -0500

“The world of science has some new advice for people who want to increase their Twitter following, and it may sound something your mother used to say: If you don’t have anything nice to tweet, don’t tweet at all.
…
Another bit of advice based on the findings: Stop tweeting so much about yourself.”

- http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/205411/science-reveals-what-really-increases-twitter-followers/

"I would like to propose engaging in a relationship where once in a while I supply you with fully..."

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:34:25 -0500

“I would like to propose engaging in a relationship where once in a while I supply you with fully developed stories (completed articles) that you can publish under your byline, with or without editing, at no fee.”

- “– PR man’s pitch to a newspaper reporter” is the way Romenesko puts it. WTF file material.

"Over the 400 heads in the audience at the 8th Annual Student Government Debate, a large..."

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:24:50 -0500

“Over the 400 heads in the audience at the 8th Annual Student Government Debate, a large 3-foot-by-3-foot replica of Johnny Castillo’s bearded face bobbed on a giant popsicle stick.”

- Great lede as an alternative to the usually humdrum Student Government debate story, Gainesville Sun

Tweet This Assignment panel on social media in the classroom at...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 10:52:05 -0500

Tweet This Assignment panel on social media in the classroom at #JiConf. I tweeted it. Very meta.

"TAMPA — At 6:59 a.m. Wednesday, one minute before college football prospects were allowed to..."

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:00:07 -0500

“TAMPA — At 6:59 a.m. Wednesday, one minute before college football prospects were allowed to sign and fax their national letters of intent, South Florida coach Willie Taggart walked into a secretary’s office carrying his breakfast of a ham and cheese omelette and with ketchup poured on top of his potatoes. There was no place to sit down.”

- “Signing With the Bulls,” USA Today