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Brevity tip of the day
OK, I've been slothful after the better part of a week in Florida (not to mention beginning the publishing cycle of the school's newspaper here), so I should call this the "Brevity tip of the month." So sue me ...
But a few recently culled from the output of august news organizations I hope will make up for it:
Below the freezing mark = below freezing
Around the holiday season = around the holidays
Carry on into the future = carry on (as opposed to carry on into the past?)
Will grow at a 10 percent rate = will grow 10 percent (percent is a rate)
Have I done my penance now?

Good Blog
John Rains, writing coach at The Fayetteville Observer, has a good blog at
http://www.smalltownpress.net/blogger.html

Blogging Blues for the Copy Desk?
Tom Mangan, features editor at the San Jose Mercury News, hits the nail in his discussion of the copydesk's future in the world of blogging (Leonard Witt's pjnet.org interview). If you buy his theory that "eventually almost all news will be posted blog-style," the implications for the copy desk are tremendous. "Every time big stories break, blogs pop up out of nowhere," Mangan writes in this IM interview. Why? Because, he says, news organizations are slow to react when people go searching for breaking news on the Net. "What the bloggers are exposing is the fact that despite all our training and professionalism, a lot of time amateurs can best us at our own game."

With assigning editors already bypassing the copy desk and posting to the Web in some cases, the challenge for copy editors, according to Mangan, is to not cede the online real estate, "to be zealous in insisting we are the guardians of the newspaper's credibility, which is a kind of capital equipment we can't afford to squander."

All well and good, but it rests on Mangan's assessment that bloggers' typos, errors, etc. cost them credibility and that, "Our readers will forgive us for being five minutes late, but right, far sooner than they will forgive us for being first, but wrong." But I wonder if this old-fashioned ethic still holds in cyberspace. Some research suggests that people are more tolerant of errors on the Web -- and during breaking news cycles -- figuring it can be updated quickly. I've had some editors tell me they buy into that, too -- put it out there, then correct it. Hmmm ...

See more of Mangan's other thoughts on his Prints the Chaff blog.

Connecting with your community:
Sometimes, if we stop and think for a minute, chances to connect with our community are right in front of us. Consider this situation an editor called me about a few days ago. Seems the state highway department, in its wisdom, is doing away with the "bypass" designation for highways. So now the old bypass becomes the regular route, the old regular route becomes "Business" whatever -- and the Post Office is ignorning it all and sticking with the old "Bypass" addresses.
This is not inconsequential stuff in small cities, and this editor wanted guidance on what style to use. We talked for a while, swapped some questions and thoughts, and then came to the idea that maybe the best answer was to ask the public: How do you want us, your local newspaper, to refer to these roads? What will make you most comfortable?
I don't know if the newspaper will do that, and maybe even if it does, there won't be a consensus. But what a wonderful way to say to the community, "We know this is important to you, and we care what you think." It's so much better than the Zeus-like attitude we sometimes take, handing down our style pronouncements.
Look around. I'll bet you find your own similar opportunities.

Editors note:
Here's another worthy weblog for editors: editorsweblog.org at the World Editor's Forum. Director Bertrand Pecquerie is keeping it filled with good things.

Not a long post from today's Poynter session; we did a lot, but a fair amount on ethics and restructuring curriculum -- all stuff that involves information about rather identifiable institutions and individuals that shall remain unidentified. ...

But two things struck me: The Orlando-Sentinel and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel are interesting convergence models. With senior editors who serve as buffers between all the media, and who have significant staffs to help write broadcast, do radio, etc., this seems to be the gold standard for doing such things. But, now that Orlando has severed its ties with its 24-hour cable station, it will be interesting to see if it lasts.

Out of the ethics discussion came one "ah ha" moment: While convergence gives us more freedom, it also might well limit our independence. Consider a case where you, as editor, have qualms about a story, but one of your convergence partners wants your reporter on air? Sound easy to say "no"? What about if the GM of that broadcast station calls your publisher or, worse, the group VP, and says, "Hey, we're paying thousands of dollars into this partnership" ... etc. Sound so simple now?
Something to think about.

Two things from today at Poynter's convergence conference. If you want more perspectives, hop on over to the conference's own blog, the Converged Oyster.

First, Janet Weaver, former executive editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune and now dean of faculty at Poynter spoke about what professionals want in new hires. Weaver was "czarina" (as she puts it) over the newspaper, a Web site and a cable-
TV all-news channel. First, her observation that the most resistant people to cross-media work seemed to be those right out of college. Second, what she looked for:

• Not someone who can do it all. Instead, someone who can find information, knows public records, and is more than a quarter-inch deep in one or two areas.


• People who know how to interview and how to systematically develop a story. That means they know how to get the document, to think about the photo.


• People whose writing is clear and concise and who know how to work with photographers because she's found those are the people who understand how to connect the visual to the written word. These are the kinds of people who go to the page designer before they start writing to find out where the story will break and what picture is going with it.


• Those who don't talk about "my" story or "our" story. She says it's the community's story, and our job is to get it to them as accurately and quickly as possible. (Al Tompkins challenged a bit on this, noting that current industry structure favors individuals, and, besides, if you're not going to pay people that much, you've got to give them some ownership.)


• Those who understand the need for speed, that if I have the information solid, I publish, but that I can't sacrifice accuracy for speed.


• And finally, those who understand it's all about accuracy and that the rules of the game have changed: If you get it wrong, you get it wrong across platforms morning, noon and night. "Do not ever say to me, 'I think' or 'it seems like,'" Weaver says. "You'd better be able to tell me 'I know and this is how I know.'"

There's darn little in there about the technology.
Weaver's my hero.

---
Second, is just an observation based on the presentation by Andrew DeVigal who has helped develop a lot of the multimedia component of San Francisco State University's program.
DeVigal showed us a lot of great stuff that's been done around the country. His www.interactivenarratives.org is worthy of bookmarking for anyone interested in the potential for multimedia journalism.
But I came away from his presentation with a little skepticism only because much of what he showed us was filled with Flash-based eye candy. Forgive what seems like a slam; it isn't. Admittedly, this is really good stuff -- the kind of stuff that attracts audiences. But once again I find myself asking how many different programs we'll have to learn to be effective in the classroom.
Yes, DeVigal has a good point, that there are experts in most of these somewhere on campus, and we need to seek to partner. But that's often easier said than done, and any benefit a partner is likely to derive from such a venture would be from a big showcase project. Yet the real problem will be at 4 p.m. on a Thursday when a student on deadline frantically wonders how to do something, and you're the only one in the classroom or newsroom.
Stnadards would be nice, but then comes the worry about stifling innovation.
Until then, we muddle along.

Thoughts from Poynter – Day one
I'm listening to Kansas j-school Dean Jimmy Gentry discuss reasons for convergence in the industry, and as soon as I hear the top three -- brand extension, more and better content, and cross-promotion and marketing – I find myself thinking these are the same things many j-schools face inside their institutions. So if there’s a reason to at least consider teaching it ...

Howard Finberg on the future of news reinforced what many of us forget: Many of our students already use media much differently than we might. As two younger Poynter staffers noted, one of their important ways of staying abreast of things is their social network, the "Hey, have you seen this?" method of agenda setting.

But let me suggest a radical notion: the medium is not the message.
Well, OK, in a sense it is because technology will let the audience have more hand in shaping the individual messages its members want to receive.
But good, solid journalism at its core already is multimedia.
The best reporters already strive when covering a trial to try to get copies of the exhibits (in the brave "new" world, think raw material for creating a database, links to document images, etc.). The best ones covering the budget, and who want front-page or A-block play, are thinking about how to tell the story visually – both in words and pictures (and maybe in the new world, we add sound). And that way of thinking should apply to any story: get as much of the raw material as you can so you can be sure of what you write or speak, and look for ways to connect with your reader, viewer or surfer.
We need to be teaching a mindset, not necessarily a specific skillset. If this basic journalism is taught and done correctly, we’ll have the pictures, the documents and the other materials from which we can be build the multimedia our desires promote and our resources allow. Without these basics, all the Flash in the world won’t help.

I’d rather have a journalist who puts the extra effort into the input – the reporting – than one whose efforts are so diluted by cross-media output that the basic reporting never is done satisfactorily.

I'm in Florida for a Poynter seminar on teaching convergence, so will post irregularly this week. But did have a chance to visit the much-vaunted TBO/WFLA/Trib Newscenter (independently of the Poynter stuff), and for now, it appears that "convergence" has hit some doubts. Several folks said there still are a lot of internal "silos," and there are some new internal instructions that "clarify" how stories can be withheld from other platforms. None of this is any surprise; we're going to continue to have this ying and yang as long as the output platforms are separate. So these newsrooms appear to be no more along the "convergence continuum" than "coopertition." Still, it's a start. But stay tuned. I think you'll hear more about the problems here. I hope Media General continues to be as open as it has been, even as the problems become more apparent. It's the only way we all can learn, and I applaud the company and its officials not only for what they have tried, but for being willing to share with a minimum of spin.

Sometimes a comma helps:
Saw this sentence today on an e-mail alert I get from a newspaper. A lack of forensic evidence, the easy access to ricin, a nation full of people who have axes to grind and no apparent eyewitnesses add up to making the case hard to solve, experts told xxxxxxxxxx.
It's fine, except for one weakness -- an additonal comma would have helped. We malign this little mark, and it is often oversued. But this little speed bump has a place. Above, for instance, it could promote a bit of clarity and prevent a bit of momentary confusion. As written, a reader might briefly trip over the last two items of that series. Is the writer saying there is a nation full of people who have no axes to grind and who (have) no eyewitnesses (that verb wants to jump the gap)? No, I don't think so. So putting in the comma makes it clear that "no apparent eyewitnesses" is a separate element:
A lack of forensic evidence, the easy access to ricin, a nation full of people who have axes to grind, and no apparent eyewitnesses add up to making the case hard to solve, experts told xxxxxxx.

After a a good sleep and reflection, one other thought from the S.C. Mobile Primary weblog, and that is the way it highlights the worth and necessity of the news resourcer.
Though many news organizations have cut back on the news librarian (see, for instance "News Libraries in Crisis" or an overview from the Institute of New Media Studies (link and scroll down to the libraries entry)), that's likely to be a bad move in a multimedia age.
The news resourcer concept at Newsplex is much more than a traditional "librarian." Resourcers are information gathering and augmenting specialists who must be an integral part of news coverage. It isn't possible for an editor to manage multiple multimedia streams without such help.
Numerous times last night, for instance, I was able to turn to a resourcer and say "Can you find a link to pictures of Edwards' bus?" or "Can you get me some background and links for coverage of the upcoming Michican and Washington state caucuses?" These are the sorts of things that broaden and deepen our multimedia stories.

But it also is more than that. Resoucers are not just "go fetch" specialists. Numerous times, they brought valuable information to me that I as storybuilder had not thought of including. That is the robustness of the position. Resourcers are integral to the modern newsroom and are as much journalists as anyone with a pad, pen or camera.

No longer is the librarian simply a keeper of the clips in a dusty corner. Executives who do not realize the key role they will play in our future are missing the point of it all.

If you'd asked me a week ago when we concocted this that it would go as well as it has, I'd have laughed. For the first time out, I think we showed a lot:
-- This is a viable way to cover an event, especially to augment regular coverage (the same thing might well have worked on the ice storm that paralyzed this state a week ago).
-- Managing what amounts to a large, fairly inexperienced freelance staff is possible with a relatively small staff back at the main office.
-- It's possible to move with alacrity without destroying editorial quality. The news flow manager-storybuilder-news resourcer system works pretty well.
It's not something I'd want to pile onto a regular reporter, photographer or videographer in the field. Maybe that person could e-mail a shot or two throughout the day or in the early evening before the parties get going. But strategically augmented with stringers or noneditorial staff paid a little extra, this could be a good supplement.

The drawbacks:
-- The software is still clunky and would need a redesign for news purposes. One major drawback is that the raw material must be published to the blog before it can be edited.
-- A friend of mine raised the question: What happens if someone logs in and finds a lot of posts favoring one candidate over another. Partly, this is an editorial issue; partly, in the days of all-news cable, it's an inescapable reality society is adjusting to.
-- The traditional blog format, with all the entries displayed on a main page, may be a bit overwhelming. A better design might be an interface page that breaks it up into linkable categories, or miniblogs. (Textamerica does have "categories" but the entries also always stay on the main page.)
-- The format is open to the charge of being fragmented and lacking context. Integrating it into a larger format might alleviate that.

But the bottom line is that it works; that phone cams, already ubiquitous, will only get better in quality; and that means it's an option -- only an option -- that editors and news managers need to consider (especially with things like widespread weather stories).
Been a long day. G'nite.

In the heat of battle, sometimes it's good to have people designated to step back and take a look. One of our news resourcers did that and noticed we have a lot of white faces from the Edwards celebration, and few others. So our two teams have been told to keep a better eye out for diversity.

We finally got the video in. It's worth the hassle to be able to do it, grainy as it was.

It's coming hot and heavy now. Networks and AP called for Edwards as the polls closed. Major agravation right now -- one team has great video of cheering supporters as win announced, and so many dang cell phones being used in the area the team can't get GPRS to transmit. There are times it's wire-LESS.

It's pep talk time for the evening crews. We'll have seven crews out -- one at each candidate gathering we can find and two at Edwards' (it looks as if he might get as much as 40 percent). Had a lot of static images today; could have done better in that area. But some really good images and reporting, too. Now comes the real test -- can we manage the newsflow with three storybuilders as the congratulations and consolations flood in?

Took a few hours off to go teach -- that other thing I do. Back at Newsplex. We're crusin'. It's like being back at the wire service, only better because we can augment the quick stories with links to a lot of other info. "News resourcers" (think news librarian with information biceps) are invaluable. Nothing like being able to say, "Hey, we need some pictures of Edwards' bus to go with this snippet on kindergartners visiting the bus." And she comes up with some and voila. Had a couple cases where teams went out and said "there's no story" -- the old "There was no story about the fair because the fairgrounds were flooded." But it's a learning experience for everyone.

One of the first voters we interview is "John Edwards" -- the "real" John Edwards, as he puts it. How lucky can you get? BTW, he voted for John Edwards -- the other one.

Primary day begins. Teams are out armed with phone cams to capture a mosaic of the day across South Carolina's Midlands. The biggest debate so far this morning -- whether to put bylines on the entries. (The decision: Yes, it's personal journalism.) One can only hope that all issues today should be that easy to resolve. Wireless Election Connection

One of the students just came back with some great reporting from the Kucinich campaign. He wasn't allowed to take a picture, but his description of sleeping bags and such tells more about the campaign than any statement.

The site says it doesn't go live till Tuesday. Don't believe it!

Lost the network at 5 p.m., got it back at 5:30 and began crankin'. I'm amazed at the images we've been able to upload just in some brief testing. The TextAmerica software is clunky -- but with a few last-minute changes by TA's tech staff, it's actually remarkably flexible.
What we've learned so far:
- In the press for speed, folks in the field sometimes skipped inputting text and just sent pictures. That actually turned out to be slower as the storybuilder (me) had to go to the phone and retrieve the information.
- As expected, some of the students came back with great statements -- but not enough info to back it. Hey, it's a learning experience.
- While the blog's a good idea and we can create categories, the first page "main" that most users seee will contain everything -- a bit overwhelming.

Still, we're cookin'.

Blogging the SC Primary
Well, some of the phones don't work, the site has some technical problems, and illness has hit some of the staff -- heck, just another day before the primary day! We're up and running. Starting to get some material in. The Democrats have called off their loyalty oath, and the GOP is reacting. Away we go!

Headline Hints:
Democrats vie for southern votes
The headline writer probably meant:
Democrats vie for Southern votes
Southern refers to the region and should be u/c.

Oh, those dang modifiers II:
GREENVILLE -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry denied slighting the South while in New Hampshire during a nationally-televised debate here last night.

Well, no, he was in Greenville, not in New Hampshire during the debate.

GREENVILLE -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry denied during a nationally televised debate here last night that he slighted the South while in New Hampshire. (And nationally is an adverb; it's not hyphenated.)

Oh those dang modifiers:
My Sunday paper had this sentence: The trend threatens to leave women who become pregnant with fewer doctors in the future, said Columbia physician David Holladay.
The problem is pregnant with. One generally is pregnant with child, but some people also refer to becoming pregnant with someone. Now, you can argue that all but the most addled adolescent mind would make that connection. But as editors, we must edit with those folks in mind, too, and especially when the fix is so easy. (After all, in today's cutthroat environment, who can afford even one snickering reader or listener?)
Edited: The trend threatens to leave pregnant women with fewer doctors ... or, if the writer really wants to leave "who become pregnant" (though lord knows why): The trend threatens to leave fewer doctors in the near future for women who become pregnant.

Yet another reason for a local style guide:
The Gamecock, the University of South Carolina's campus paper, had this question for readers: Should USC retire basketball player B. J. McKie's number? The paper later ran one of the categories as "Who is B.J McKie?" Well, that's half right. The name is BJ McKie, no periods. The BJ does not stand for a first and middle name, but is a nickname. His real first name is Bjorn. I don't know whether the paper has a local style guide, but it's a worthwhile lesson for editors at all papers -- there are some quirky things in your community that should be written down. You can't rely on word of mouth to cover everything, even if your slot is a 35-year grizzled veteran (what if he or she gets sick?). And with today's internal networks, local style guides are easy to keep updated. If you want to see the University of South Carolina J-School's guide, go to this link and click on Local Style Guide under Resources.