As my first semester as Multimedia Newsroom Coordinator comes to a close, I thought it a good time to point you, our loyal viewers, to a smattering of our blog posts that I will tentatively call our Best of Fall 2006. I say tentative because "best" is a nebulous term. Below, you will find some of the best writing, best blogging (not necessarily the same thing) and most contentious of our posts. Each story is linked to its original post, so feel free to comment there or on this post. Your feedback is always welcome.

We will not have any new content to publish until the end of January when classes resume. Until then, please peruse our archives and check out our sister-site, tv.ku.edu. Whether you enjoy the holiday season or shout "humbug" at the falling snow (fingers crossed!), meet us back here in January!

Without further ado,

The Best of Fall 2006

Bizarre postcards from Beirut

Posted by Stephen Lynn on August 24, 2006 6:13 PM | Permalink

The usual disappointment settled in when I first read about "Reutersgate."

"It was an honest mistake; I probably would have missed that, too," I thought. After I learned that the dark plumes of smoke hanging over Beirut were enhanced by Photoshop, I realized I was part of the problem, along with Reuters and the New York Times.

I haven't yet acquired enough technoknowledge to determine whether someone had doctored the photo. Sure, I know that Tom Cruise would die if he took the 20-foot plunge on a motorcycle like his character did in Mission Impossible. Anyone could tell that the film's producers used special effects. But the subtlety of the changes in the smoke photo required a trained eye.

Not to mention the blatant photo fabrications, which even casual readers pegged as fakes.

The problem goes deeper. The news media's excessive cost cutting has decreased the quality of journalism. How can these lapses in judgment occur when the industry boasts 20 percent profit margins? The news media certainly have the money to hire technologically savvy workers.

Tim Rutten writes that a year ago, Reuters decided to save money by consolidating all three of its operations into one photo desk in Singapore. Washington D.C.-based Reuters employees refused to relocate to the Southeast Asian country, where they would have earned a fraction of their former salaries.

Recently, the freelancer sent the sham photos from his laptop in Lebanon to a Reuters' photo desk in Singapore where employees reviewed them and added cutlines before they were sent to news organizations throughout the world. Shareholders may be receiving sizable dividends, but at the expense of quality journalism.

And whatever happened to employee background checks? Problem is, it's harder to manage freelancers.

Reuters could have avoided the embarrassment if it had doled out the dough for some decent, fulltime correspondents. But I guess I'll have to deal with the news media's ineptitude until I'm willing to stare at photos in Singapore for $18,000 a year.

I may be lonely but at least I'm real

Posted by Heidi Fedak on September 21, 2006 8:41 AM | Permalink

Caught between loneliness and a lie.
Photo: Heidi Fedak

I have a confession to make.

I don't have a Facebook page or MySpace account.

Yes, it's true: I am a social anomaly, a MySpace misfit, a Facebook-less freak. Feel free to take a moment (or more) to ponder the extent of my social isolation.

Better?

I could try to bombard you with excuses for why I've ignored an entire online genre (I'm too old; the users, too young; I don't have time; I don't know how).

But the truth of the matter is this: I've bought into blogs, perused plenty of podcasts, enrolled in the school of RSS. Yet Facebook, MySpace and others of their ilk have failed to garner my limited attention because those platforms not only exploit personal connections, they make it tough to tell fact from fiction.

I don't care about Lonelygirl15 or a blog written by a body spray.

I will not succumb to viral marketing disguised as social networking. I will not bow to "the man," especially if I can't tell whether he's made up or real (no offense, Mr. Murdoch).

Like many others, the real Rupert sees the value (and by value, I mean revenue) in social networking sites, such as MySpace, Buzz-Oven, Xanga and Facebook. And, as a one-time marketer, I see it, too.

I just don't want to be part of it … at least, not on the receiving end.

I like my advertising – and my friends – straight up. Word of mouth is one thing. Word of mouth by way of money, mystery and make believe is another.

Uncle Rick was right

Posted by Daniel Berk on October 19, 2006 9:08 AM | Permalink

I'm going to take a risk here. I'm admitting I may not have had the best intentions when I signed up for this class. I mean, I knew it would probably help me in the long run, but my main motivation was just to get my second advanced media done, and be able to graduate in December.

Well, after listening to Uncle Rick lecture week after week, I'm realizing more and more, that this was a solid class selection and could help put me over the top.

As Rick said last week, I drank the Kool-Aid. I'm realizing how big of a part the web, blogging and multimedia journalism in general is going to play in the future of journalism.

I'm a print guy, through and through. I've tried other areas of journalism, in front of the camera, behind the microphone on radio, but I've always been the most confident behind a computer typing my story on a strict deadline. In fact, my good friend Jimmy Chavez used to say, after a game there wasn't a better thing in the world than sitting in the press room and just listening to everyone type away and get there stories in. The sound of the writers pounding away on their computer was priceless.

Well, it is priceless, but it's not enough. I'm working now for the Topeka Capital Journal, and loving every minute of it. But, combined with the learning experiences from that newsroom combined with Uncle Rick's lessons, I know I need to expand. There's a lot of people out there like me. I like to think I'm special, and my mom has always told me I am, but I know I need something to seperate myself from the rest of the "special" sportswriters.

.The Topeka Capital Journal, my new homebase. Picture from echo-media.com

I think about the newspaper business and realize, especially in sports, If Terrell Ownens, a star player in the NFL, overdoses on pain killers at 7 a.m. in the morning. No newspaper in the country is going to have that story untill it's old news. All day long people will watch about it on television, or go to espn.com, but by the time the newspaper comes out 18-20 hours later, does anyone still care?

This is where I become "extra special." Not, all of those guys I'll be competing against have online producing skills. Not, all of those people have experience with the web. But, guess what, I drank the Kool Aid, and I like it. I'm seperating myself everyday.

A couple weeks ago, I said who knows, maybe I'll be the next Sports Guy. Well, guess what, I am going to be the next Sports Guy. Except, it's a whole new generation of the Sports Guy. I'm going to be the multimedia Sports Guy. That's right, print columns, web producing, behind the mic yelling at sports fans in the morning, in front of the camera for live web updates.

I drank the Kool Aid and I want some more.

Podcasting is stupid.

Posted by Michael Phillips on November 7, 2006 3:40 PM | Permalink

While there are people that would like me to eat my words on podcasting, I'm not ready to concede defeat just yet.

Two years ago, when I was first introduced to the concept, I called it stupid, and said it would never catch on.

The principle is that people will download updated content, transfer it to their iPod, and then listen to it within a very short timeframe. I guess this a cool idea, but its no more than that, a toy in the window of a store that looks fun but is boring after about 15 minutes.

What problem does podcasting solve? What feature does it bring me that I find useful in my daily life? I just don't see it.

How one statistician views the podcasting trend.Screen grab from podcastingstats.com.

Now, it's taken off. Big time. But I can't see a long-term future in podcasting, and certainly not in podcasting-for-profit. The whole thing still has that appealing new-car smell to it, but in a few years, the audience will taper off and what's left of podcasting will return to normal mp3 files, like the rest of the world is using.

Another thing I find misleading is the projection that there is significant growth still to be found in the podcasting market. The statistic on the left shows that as the number of people using iPods increases, podcast listeners will grow with it. I think that podcasting is the sort of thing that only appeals to the early-adopter crowd, and when the late adopters come around on purchasing iPods, they will not become curious and check out podcasting.

Perhaps I'm just extremely cynical, but I see no future in podcasting. My iPod is now five years old, and I still find it useful without hooking it up to the latest podcast content.

When I was six, my parents went on a trip to Norway while I stayed at my grandparents. My Mom brought me back a Norwegian troll. The thing was hideous. She told me unlike the mean troll living under the bridge in the Three Billy Goats Gruff ; Norwegian trolls were nice and friendly.

The real trolls are Norwegian trolls
Photo: Courtesy of SNS products

She also told me that my troll would watch over me. It looked too scary to be nice, but I still put it on my shelf with the notion that it would be my "protector" during the night.

Therefore, because of my Norwegian troll, I grew up with the concept that trolls were good. Internet trolls, however, are for the most part, generally bad. I'd like to maintain my naivety and just keep believing trolls are good, but with the rise of the bad internet trolls, it's putting a damper on my "good troll" image.

Internet trolls are rapidly hacking into other people's business at an alarming rate. The whole point of an internet troll apparently is to make computer life hell for the person they're disrupting. All an internet troll likes to do is roam the internet undetected and stir up trouble for people. Sort of like standing under the bridge and making trouble for the Billy goats that want to walk across.

I've personally never dealt with an internet troll (knock on wood), but so many people have that there's endless websites about how to spot a troll and what to do after you become victim to a troll.

The craziest thing is that this is such a big phenomenon/problem, the American Psychiatric Association has officially recognized and included in its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Internet Troll Personality Disorder as an official mental disorder. My mental picture of an internet troll is of some creep who lives in their parents' basement and just surfs the internet making trouble all day. Of course they're scruffy, dirty, smelly and overweight.

So as of now, I can't really complain about internet trolls affecting my life. I'm sure once they find me, I'll be checking the how to help get rid of trolls website. For now, I'll just keep thinking of a troll as my Norwegian buddy, who still stands on my shelf to protect me at night; not an internet creep with internet troll personality disorder.

We've all seen them -- those nasty little comments at the end of an online news article or editorial. Some aren't so bad; others beg to be removed entirely. And while most people dislike, to some extent, "internet trolls," I'm hear to fight on their behalf.

Beware: troll!
Source: Creative Commons

Caution: I do not pretend to support and/or condone any comments that are hateful, mean-spirited, or otherwise unwarranted. I do, however, promote the idea that there are different types of trolls and certain comments can cross the line.

For those unfamiliar with trolls, or how to spot them, I recommend this site, which will walk you through some of the tips for identifying potential trolls. Not all trolls are bad. Some are designed merely to entice a reaction, maybe an unfavorable one, but a reaction nonetheless.

Where trolls get their bad name is from the posts that ridicule, insult, and otherwise harass certain people or groups, particularly the author of a given story. If a particular post is intended to hurt, then it is not necessary and should be removed. Just because a post takes an unpopular stance does not mean that it should not be considered. There are always at least two sides to every story.

Many would argue that the best way to get rid of trolls is to ignore them. Sure, this might work, but is easier said than done.

In the end, it is important to protect the rights of all user comments, as long as they are posted in an appropriate way. Yes, we are destined to deal with "trolls" on the internet forever, and rightfully so. Interaction among readers is a great learning tool. We should use it to the best of our ability.

These are big, bad and scary as my driver's license photo
Photo: Caltrans

They're out there! They're trying to take us down! They're ugly and mean and they're so, so rude! They're... They're... Trolls! What are we going to do? How do we stop them? We must launch a counterattack! Our Web site is in danger!

Snickering aside, let's talk about the troll problem. It is a problem, although, I grant you, not the biggest problem I have encountered this week.

Trolls should not be ignored, but they also deserve some perspective. People are rude (although what is rude?), and that's why we won't ever escape trolls as part of the Internet's culture. Internet life mirrors real life, and in real life, not everyone skips with Dorothy.

Nevertheless, we should try to maintain a Web environment of civil discourse.

I say news Web sites should use programs that look for key words and phrases that are obviously offensive, such as profanity, name calling and death threats, just to stem the onslaught. Next, readers should be able to flag a post as innappropriate, and Web editors should review and possibly delete those posts. Also, maybe Web editors and producers should actually VISIT the site from time to time and see what people are posting.

I don't think people should register to post. It's annoying, it's time-consuming and it's not going to deter anyone. If a troll is booted off, all the little stinker needs to do is log back on using an alias. This isn't worth my time logging on and it's not worth the time to banish a troll, either.

However, let's at least make an effort to maintain some limits and values on the Web. We might not be able to solve the problem, but we don't have to sit idly by as rudeness proliferates around us.