Class ethical guidelines

Under the tutelage of Al Tompkins, the class set ethical guidelines for the use of images, audio and video on the Web:

• Don't mislead.
• Don't add; don't alter.
• Don't lie.
• Tell it like it is.
• Clearly and prominently identify any change.
• Explain the journalism value of alteration.
• Explain relevancy of any change.
• Universal standards apply to all work.
• Be transparent.

- Kate Kennedy

Map of John Seigenthaler Center

Are you supposed to be attending or speaking at the Diversity Institute's Online and Multimedia Seminar? Here's a map to the Freedom Forum's John Seigenthaler Center in Nashville:

http://quikmaps.com/show/40820

-- Kevin Abourezk

Tompkins' Talk: Part II

Al Tompkins is talking about the Foley sex scandal. This should be good!!!

Accuracy, truth and fairness

"You and what you're about represent the future of journalism -- the future of quality journalism," John Seigenthaler (at left) told the group today. Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center and a longtime journalist, shared his story of "Wikipedia and Me" -- how inaccurate biographical information was published on the online collaborative encyclopedia. Seigenthaler called journalism a continuing search for truth. He encouraged the group to ensure that the culture of online represents the values -- accuracy, truth and fairness -- that have guided print journalism.

"The only thing we have to sell," Al Tompkins said after Seigenthaler's presentation, "is truth telling." Tompkins of The Poynter Institute shared Web sites that can be used as reporting resources. But he cautioned the group about being careful when checking sites for sourcing. Use sites such as Facebook as a starting point. Sites should be used "as a clue, not an answer. There is no substitute for contacting the individual."

-- Kate Kennedy

Tompkins' Talk

Poynter's Al Tompkins shared a slew of cool sites to assist us in our investigative reporting. I'm really psyched to use these on deadline....

Briggs lights fire

Mark Briggs, author of "Journalism 2.0" just finished a presentation today (Aug. 13) at the Diversity Institute's Online and Multimedia Reporting Seminar being held this week in Nashville.

Mark is trying to start a fire. And maybe that's what newspapers need -- a swift kick in the rear to wake up to the exploding world of online and user-generated media.

His presentation focused heavily on the need for journalists to become aggregators of information. About how we need to begin tuning into the multitudes of blogs and other information centers on the Internet and how we need to become the "trusted center" for news consumers.

He suggested everyone in the audience begin creating RSS feeds, a new term for me personally.

Essentially, an RSS feed is an online search engine you create that synthesizes information according to particular topics. For example, if you're a courts reporter, you could start an RSS feed that provides headlines from news sources that link to stories about interesting court cases. He provided several examples of RSS feeds that journalists could use, including reader.google.com and netvibes.com.

Mark talked much about how online advertising is rising meteorically, while newspaper advertising is on a fast downhill slope. Newspapers need to take advantage of this rise in online advertising by feeding consumers' hunger for reader-generated media.

Newspapers need to embrace the new media and begin "leaving core resources in commons, where they're free for people to build upon as they see fit." What does that mean? That means newspapers need to become forums. For example, many newspapers have found success in allowing readers to submit photos for everyone to see. By doing that, they are allowing readers to become creators of content.

Mark stressed the need for newspapers to stop being lecturers and start becoming discussion guides.

He offered a number of Web sites that he described as best examples, including http://www.newsvine.com/ and http://www.nowpublic.com/.

He ended his presentation with a slide showing a man holding a flag, signifying revolution.

The fire must be lit, and Mark is the man to light it.

-- Kevin Abourezk

A hunger for connection

People are engaging through the Internet, said Steve Yelvington, which means opportunities for news organizations to facilitate and aggregate conversations and build communities among people. Yelvington, of Morris DigitalWorks, gave seminar participants an inside look at Bluffton Today, hyperlocal Web and print products for a South Carolina community "in conversation with itself."

Circulation of newspapers across the country has been declining for years. But Bluffton Today enjoys a strong readership that newspapers enjoyed in the 1970s. "Participation breeds loyalty," he said. "The relationship with the product changes when people are involved."

He offered these skills sets for success: Community building; conversational writing and listening; presentations and group interaction; guerrilla marketing and promotion; not technology ("This is not fundamentally a technology problem; it's a people problem.")

- Kate Kennedy of the Freedom Forum