This Week's Assignments

In addition to reading Chapters 1 through 4 of Podcast Solutions, the assignment for this week: Listen to two podcasts and write 250-word reviews for each of them.

I am interested in independent podcasts, not podcasted versions of produced shows. For instance, professional organizations like ESPN and NPR offere podcasts of their shows. I am looking for people producing shows especially for podcasts.

Here is a list at Podcast Bunker where you can find a bunch.

Here is a directory list from Podcasting News.

And no, you do not have to download and listen on a portable device. If someone offers a streaming version or a version you can download to your computer, go ahead and listen that way.

If you have questions, e-mail me.

This American Life

The David Sedaris piece we listened to in class can be found here. Fast-forward to the 51-minute mark.

The story of the old Brooklyn man who takes in homeless prostitutes can be found here.

The This American Life homepage is here.

From the Horses' Mouths

A lot of fanfare has been made over Curt Schilling's new blog 38 Pitches. For the record, I like it a lot. Here is my full take on it.

I add it to a small but entertaining group of celebrities taking their unedited stories directly to the public.

Others...

---Dallas Mavericks owner and Internet guru Mark Cuban

---Actor/writer/director Zach Braff

---Singer-political activist Barbra Streisand

---Actor/writer Wil Wheaton

A Great Piece of Journalism

I don't know if you got a chance to read this soaring piece of journalism from Joshua Green that appeared in November's Atlantic Monthly. But if you have not, you should check it out.

Exaggerations or Lies?

Since we will be talking about audio and podcasting today in class, I thought I would point out this ongoing conversation/debate about truth in what you write and say to a national audience.

As you probably know, David Sedaris is a hilarious writer and commentator. His audio essays on This American Life are classics that people talk bring up years later. Well, in a story (subscription required) in the most recent issue of The New Republic, journalist Alex Heard questions the veracity of a number of Sedaris' pieces.

For the record, Sedaris has admitted to exaggerating for comedic effect.

More recently, J. Peder Zane, writing an opinion piece for the News and Observer newspaper, defends Sedaris and attacks the spirit of the Heard piece. Now Heard has written a letter to Romenesko, defending his own piece.

It brings up a very good question: Even as it applies to humorists, where do you draw the line on truthfulness?

Also, Jack Shafer at Slate looks at this little episode as part of his piece in Slate, titled: Lies and Memories: When Stories Read a Little Too Good.

Back Into the Loop

Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, did a project with his students with WearComp, computers equipped with "eye taps," which allowed them to broadcast everything they saw and heard on the Web.

Mann, quoted in Howard Rheingold's Smart Mobs, says:

What my students and I did -- and continue to do -- is something far more
important than just providing "home movies" and "alternative" images for viewing
on the Internet. We are also engaging in a process of cultural reclamation,
where the individual is put back into the loop of information production and
dispensation.

What do you think of this quote?

Mobile Journalists

http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/eyewitness/0,,1524278,00.html

We will talk about how smart mobs helped to cover the breaking news story of the bombing of the underground in London in 2005.

Pro-Am Journalism

Pro-Am Journalism. A funny phrase. It is being used to describe the
Assignment Zero journalism initiative out of New York University. The project blends the efforts of professional journalists and amateur/citizen journalists in covering various news stories. The project, headed by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen, is getting a lot of national attention.

Journalist or No Journalist?

We keep asking one central question in class: Is this journalism? To continue that line of conversation, I ask you: Is Josh Wolf a journalist?

This Week's Assignment

Before class this week, please pick an RSS Reader and sign up for it, customizing it for yourself. We are going to want to talk about what reader you chose, what feeds you signed up for and any adjustments you have made so far.

Here is more info about RSS readers.

And here is a list of tips for picking the best RSS reader for your individual needs.

A Lesson in Modern Media

A warning: If you are a student and you road-trip to New York City and write about your trip to the big city for your college newspaper, it will most likely be linked to and quoted from in a snarky NYC blog. Then it will get worse. The even-snarkier commenters will post mean (but pretty hilarious) things about you.

Amazon-Style Journalism

I asked in class if anyone thought there was journalism happening at Amazon.com. I am interested to hear what folks have to say. For me, long ago, I realized that sites like Amazon.com that have both editorial reviews and user-based reviews are showcasing some fine journalism. I use it all the time to figure out whether or not to buy something. Often, the user reviews are more helpful to me than the series of 30-second sound clips.

Today I was checking out the reviews for the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CD Some Loud Thunder. The user reviews, as usual, run the gamut from awesome to awful.

The lead customer review, written by Adam P. Newton "Dryvetime," unveils some mighty fine writing. And it assues me I do, in fact, want to pick up this CD.

Newton writes:

So, when news surrounding the release of their second album, entitled Some Loud
Thunder, began leaking out, people obviously began to wonder what might happen
to CYHSY. Would the album be worth anything? Would the band do it all over
again? What was going on?!? The last thing indie rock needed was for its poster
band for true independence to release an album that sucked or, even worse,
actually sign to a label, indie or otherwise. Well, rest easy all of you skinny,
unwashed, messenger bag-carrying masses - Some Loud Thunder is a quality album
that's filled with better songs and greater focus than the debut.

There are less distinguished reviews, like this all-caps one from Chris J. Marksbury:

PRODUCTION SUCKS THE LIFE OUTTA THIS RELEASE. GIVES ME A HEADACHE. WHINING,
WHINING...THE VOCALS ARE REAL PATHETIC. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

But even that I find entertaining and somewhat helpful.

So the answer to my own question: Yes, there is journalism at Amazon.com. And some of it is top-notch.

The Other Walter Reed

Today's class starts here...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html

Comment and Win

We have been talking about comments in this class, and many of you have been employing your own set of cheap tricks to try to elicit comments to your blog posts these past couple weeks.

Over at Gridskipper, they are having a contest to try to allure more commenters.

They write:

Tell you what, 25th commenter this week, will win a Gilette Fusion Power
razor, a copy of Secrets of the Model Dorm and a plastic hand. We figure
that covers pretty much every demographic we have.

That sounds like a mighty-fine prize package. I mean, who could resist?

Journalism's 'Watershed' Moment

In the Miami Herald, columnist Carl Hiaasen nails the way the Anna Nicole Smith story has played itself out in mainstream media.

Hiassen writes:

Don't make the mistake of dismissing the Smith story as an anomaly; it's a
media watershed. If the death of a hapless, doped-up ex-model can knock two wars
out of the headlines, there's no end to the squalid possibilities.

We have seen the future, and it's in the gutter.

Well put.

Assignments

Here is a recap of the two assignments for this week...

Project One: 1,000-word blog post on your first-hand experience being an active member of an online community.

Assignment for no-class week: Write six different blog entries (on whatever topic you want) with the express purpose of eliciting as many comments as possible. Write one follow-up post summing up the project.