Lauren Michell Rabaino » journalism

Reinventing the definition of "journalist"

Lauren Rabaino — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:35:57 +0000

Last week I had somewhat of an identity crisis.

As I briefly contemplated redesigning my website, I threw together a quick mockup in Photoshop. The nameplate across the top read: Lauren Michell Rabaino: designer/journalist.

Then I paused. Wait– am I still a journalist? Was I ever really a journalist? Hell, what is a journalist?

And, like any other intellectually conflicted moment in my life, I tweeted.

I received a lot of responses from the twitterverse, but the general consensus is that yes, I am indeed still a journalist. The responses from twitter can be categorized into two types:

1. The people who share the same sense of distance from the act of reporting, but still call themselves journalists.

“I still call myself a journalist and I don’t even work in the field anymore.” - P. Kim Bui

“I haven’t written in a year, but I still consider myself both a designer and journalist.” - Leo Post

“Definitely still a journalist. we have to broaden the definition. I havent reported in a while.” - Gabriel Sama

2. The people who tried to rationalize why I could still be considered a “journalist.”

” You still care more about journalism than half the people I know in the field. I think the title fits.” -Juana Summers

“If you apply journalistic practice to our work, you’re a journalist. Applies w/ design, online, producing, etc.” - Brian Manzullo

“If you were a newspaper designer you’d consider yourself a journalist. Why any different designing for a journalism app?” Scott Karp

But none of these reasons seem good enough to me. Does caring about a topic make you an expert and professional of that topic? I care about climate change, but I’m not an environmental scientist. I also apply ethics to my work, does that make me a philosopher?

The reason all the people in the first set of responses consider themselves “journalists” is because at some point in some capacity, they’ve all worked/written for a news publication. Traditionally, that’s been a good determinant (and the only determinant) in qualifying whether someone is, indeed, a journalist. But now, contributing to the finding, organizing, and distribution of news can take many different forms (like, for example, building a news app used by journalists).

This might start to sound like a discussion on citizen journalism, but it’s not (although it is a related tangent). I’m not addressing this discussion at the bloggers out there who have no affiliation with a traditional news outlet and questioning whether they are journalists. I’m directing this conversation at the people who have worked at newspapers and been trusted reporters — when they stop reporting, do they still get to keep the title?

My answer, after much contemplation, is yes. As long as we stay committed and passionate about the act of journalism, we can keep the title.

I am a journalist — not as a profession, but as a way of life.

It’s a way of life for many of us. Increasingly, society tweets happenings that are relevant to others or take photos of crashes from the driver’s seat with an iPhone.

But that’s not what I mean when I say journalism is a way of life for me; it’s embedded deeply into the way I think and approach news consumption.

After working at my high school newspaper, a few local papers, my college paper, as a radio reporter, etc., there is a journalistic nature to my thought processes that I will never lose. It’s a trait that distinguishes me from a “citizen” journalist. I think about leads and transitions when I read a news story, analyze use of sources, think of missing gaps. Although this process is not unique to a trained journalist’s news consumption habits, in my case, my habits are defined specifically by my background in journalism. And at any point, I would be able and willing to jump into investigative reporting, sifting through court documents or transcribing hours of notes.

But that’s not to say that the random dude on a metro with a video camera who records a murder isn’t a journalist; I would most certainly consider him one too. Would I expect him to put “journalist” on his Twitter bio, though? Certainly not. And that’s where we get to the next point of discussion…

The journalist spectrum

So what is a journalist these days? There are many answers to this question. I’m a different kind of journalist than the on-call beat reporter for a local TV station, and she’s a different kind of journalist than the kid with a Flip Cam.

There are different kinds of journalists now.

Initially, I was inclined to place them in a hierarchy as follows:

But there’s a problem with categorizing journalists into any form of hierarchy; you imply that there are journalists who are more valuable or credible than others. This is an entirely false assumption.

In shaping a new definition of “journalist,” we need to place the different types on a spectrum. A spectrum accounts for the differences among the different kinds of journalists, but also gives them equal value:

Although still imperfect, the spectrum approach gives more clarity to the different kinds of journalist in the new era of news. Of course, there is tons of overlap among the different aspects (citizens can investigate; pros can capture news with their iPhones).

Under this spectrum, nearly everyone is a journalist because everyone has something valuable to bring to the table. Trained, experienced, traditional journalists can curate, contextualize and investigate, and that job is enhanced by bloggers, tweeters and YouTubers. There is a need for both, but we’re still working on finding the appropriate balance.

What does “journalist” mean to you?

Student views on modernizing j-education

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:15:05 +0000

Students at the 2009 Associated Collegiate Press Conference in San Diego, Calif. discuss ideas on modernizing journalism education in the 21st century. This video was produced as part of my internship at the Center for Innovation in College Media.

Professors: We take the risks, you should too

Lauren Rabaino — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:12:27 +0000

This week’s #collegejourn chat resulted in a plan to help professors get on board with the 21st cenutry:

Who: Professors, students, journalists, professionals
What: “Bring a professor” chat
When: Sun., Feb. 22
Where: www.collegejourn.com
Why: To discuss ways to modernize college journalism education

Us vs. them

I hate to make this us vs. them, but to be honest, this is an us vs. them situation. Some would argue that “we’re all in this together,” both the professors and the students. But it’s not that way. The students and the industry are in this together. But the professors aren’t impacted directly. If they fall behind, they don’t see the direct consequences of falling behind and thus have no incentive to change.

It doesn’t have to be us vs. them though. Professors can eliminate the us vs. them by taking the risks students are expected to take. The classroom should foster that innovation, not hinder it. We can take the risks together.

“Communication in a communication department would be a start,” said the Mustang Daily managing editor Giana Magnoli when the topic came up in our newsroom. And that’s what #bringajprof chat is about. Bringing that communication between staff and students to a national worldwide level.

I recently wrote a blog post that sums up the changes I’d like to see in journalism education:

Scrap print as a track: There is no such thing as a purely print publication. Thus a solely “print” concentration is pointless. Replace it with a “multimedia” track and keep very minimal print aspects involved.
Make video a must for all concentrations: Public relations and news editorial both need to know video editing. Broadcast students who already know how to shoot/edit video need to know how to get it on the Web. All three need to know how to live stream and incoroporate a live chat.
Create a class about social media: Not about platoforms or social networks, though. A class about the community, the conversation, the two-way dynamic of the Web.
Create media business course. Joey Baker said it best in his recent blog post: ”What we need more than anything else is a business model for our industry that is sustainable. Why need students not only to be aware of the problem, but contributing to the brain storming that will eventually lead to a solution.”

There’s more to add since I last wrote that blog post. The following tidbits are the result of a discussion with my boyfriend Ryan Chartrand — former editor of the Mustang Daily who graduated from Cal Poly’s journalism department in June and now works as the lead content producer for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Even since his graduation 8 months ago, social media has blown up and rules have changed
Faculty should have acknowledged the problems within their industry (of which they were unaware) and recognized the new trends of news consumption early
By acknowledging and recognizing, they could have then incorporated that knowledge into their coursework
Instead, they figured that teaching the fundamentals of journalism were more important than the tools you report with (they were wrong)
They didn’t understand how much the tools and the medium had changed the game
When the game changes that much from the tools alone, the fundamentals change too
Ultimately, they were teaching fundamentals that didn’t apply anymore

In summary, professors go back to college not to simply teach what they already know. They should come back to continue learning, because they miss that knowledge and keeping up with it. I may be speaking for myself, but as a student, that’s the expectation I have from my professors.

What I’m asking of journalism faculty everywhere:

A thirst for knowledge within their industry
Willingness to learn new media with us
Creating an environment that allows students to innovate

Fixing Cal Poly's journalism department

Lauren Rabaino — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:18:34 +0000

At Cal Poly, we’re adding a “new media” track to our journalism department (as a supplement to broadcast, editorial and public relations). But in an economic crunch when money and resources are low, we shouldn’t create a new track– we should revamp existing tracks.

Current situation:

There is one “new media” class in our entire journalism department: applied multimedia reporting, JOUR 410. I put “new media” in quotes because that phrase bugs me. It’s not really new anymore, is it? That already puts us behind the curve when we’re thinking of it as something new and emerging. It needs to be integrated. It needs to be like breathing. When it’s “new,” it’s scary. Students don’t like scary.

This solitary multimedia class is not a required course; it’s an elective class open to all tracks within the journalism major. It’s taught by the ONE tech-savvy professor in our department, our savior, Brady Teufel.

From blogging to podcasting to soundslides to flash to video editing to HMTL to content management systems, students are expected to learn it all in one 10-week session. Each of those topics separately could fill a cirriculum for their own separate 10 week courses, so you can imagine how rushed it is. That’s not the way to learn. You can’t edit one 30-second video and expect to be a pro. But when we only have one professor and one class dedicated to multimedia– what other options do we have?

To give you a feel for a few classes that are required for all journalism majors: writing for the media, mass media in a multicultural society, mass media law, visual communication, journalism ethics

Print concentrations: copy editing, public affairs reporting, feature writing, advanced newspaper reporting

Broadcast concentrations: Broadcast news, broadcast announcing and editing, ENG reporting, advanced radio reporting, advanced TV reporting

Public relations concentrations: Intro to public relations, advanced public relations writing, public relations campaigns, advanced public relations practice

If our department really wants to take a proactive “new media” approach to prepare its students for the world ahead –while being economical and saving money/resources — this is how it should be done:

1. Scrap print as a track

Although the technical name for the track is “news editorial,” internally, it’s a print track. Instead, it should be called the multimedia concentration, although it would be ok to maintain a few print elements. Why scrap it? Because there is no such thing as a purely print publication (and if there is, it’s sure to go bankrupt soon).

For example, students are required to take a feature writing class with a basis in writing 2,500 word features. For students who want to go into magazine writing, it’s great — but it should be an elective. A required class that could replace it would be a class about newswriting for the Web, since it will be valuable to every concentration.

The curriculum for a web-writing class could include:

Blogging
Tagging posts/articles
Using keywords
Hyperlinking
Writing effective headlines
Effective, web-based research (RSS feeds to find story ideas)
Engaging in discussion with your readers
Crowdsourcing via social networks to find sources
Commenting on other blogs/drawing readership

…just to name a few.

2. Make video a must for all concentrations
Combining talent and resources with the broadcast track, the multimedia track should require students learn how to shoot and edit video. In addition, broadcast students should know how to get their video on the web, since most of them have the editing/shooting down, but are clueless about what a flash player is. PR students need to take a video shooting/editing class too– because what better way to represent a client than to do something viral on YouTube? The concepts apply across all three concentrations.

Structure for the video class:

Video shooting basics
Coordinating teams to shoot video
Video editing (Final Cut)
TV broadcasting basics
Exporting/uploading video to the Web
Incorporating video with 3rd parties (Google Maps, timelines, etc.)

3. Restructure JOUR 410 (Applied multimedia reporting)
This class, which currently touches briefly on many facets of new media, could be more focused. Under the current circumstances, this cannot happen, but if we split it up among professors, it can work. With video taught in a broadcast class, JOUR 410 can focus on three basic topics:

Slideshows/Soundslides
Podcasting
Interactivity: Livestreaming/Live chats

4. Creating a class about social media Let’s face it. Social media is becoming a huge part of the way we find and spread news in the journalism industry, but the average Cal Poly journalism student wouldn’t be able to tell you that. Any public relations professor would be able to teach a class of this nature because it’s about conversation. It’s about creating an image and communicating with the public– that’s what PR is all about. Again, it’s an example of how to use current resources to create modern classes. Whether it’s plausible to stretch our professors any more, I’m unsure. In theory, though, dropping outdated classes for new classes seems reasonable.

This class, however, would not teach how to use existing social networks, although that’s part of it. The real lesson exists in concepts. How to adapt to changing mediums and communicate without compromising your objectivity and credibility. This class could not focus specifically on platforms because you cannot teach something that is continually changing. You cannot make Twitter the basis of a class when something new will exist soon. But you can teach concepts and ideas.

5. Create a course about the business aspect

Traditionally, the business end of newspapers was left to the advertising side. But these days, editorial has to at least understand it and think about it. Andrew Dunn, a student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and university editor at The Daily Tar Heel, created the following plan for what a media business class might look like:

Case studies that focusing on how models have weathered the past few years
Start by looking at models in 1960: How modern newspaper business models developed, from when the large chains began buying up newspapers
Analyze nonprofit/unique business structure. How does that affect its model?
Look at recent business models like Spot.Us, with revenue generated by crowdsource funding, and the Huffington Post, an entirely online-only news site

Read the entire post and course description here.

We can’t give students the choice of learning “new media” or “old media.” They’re both intertwined into current media. You can’t learn how to write or how to make a slideshow– you need both. Old and mew media are both important and should be treated that way.

Thoughts?

Recruiter: "Content producers are reporters of present/future"

Lauren Rabaino — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:34:49 +0000

I previously blogged about Sign On San Diego’s interactive job fair, and now that it’s live and running, I didn’t miss an opportunity to chat live with a San Diego Union-Tribune recruiter.

Here are the basics of our chat Monday:

[Comment From Lauren]
I’m a journalism student, but very few people I know are actually graduating to get journalism jobs. In the next few years, where do you see the biggest need in the journalism industry? Where should I focus my studies now to ensure I get a journalism job in two years?

Chris Courter: kudos to you: This is an outstanding question. I would recommend learning online skills such as HTML, some common programming languages, and a content management system in an effort to pursue online positions such as content producers. Content producers are the reporters of the present and future.

[Comment From Lauren]
Chris, when you say “content” producer, are you talking editorial-related content (multimedia/interactive reporting?) or more of marketing-related content (such as this job fair)?

Chris Courter: We hire both types on a regular basis and will continue to do so. The variables that distinguishes journalists these days are their multimedia and online skills.

His response, although seemingly good news for a new media enthusiast such as myself, wasn’t satisfying. I still feel like I won’t get a job. So yesterday, I asked a different recruiter a similar question during the live chat.

[Comment From Lauren]
I asked this same question of Chris yesterday, but now I want to hear your perspective. I’m a journalism major but I don’t feel as though I’m going to get a job in the journalism industry, despite my web knowledge. Is there anything else I should focus on to ensure I get a journalism job by the time I graduate in 2 years? Graphic design? Marketing? Or should I just give up on the journalism industry?

Alicia from the U-T: That’s a good question. Only you know if you want to pursue another field.

Alicia from the U-T: Internships are also a great way of getting experience and networking.

Alicia from the U-T: Journalism is a tough industry but I think there still are a lot of opportunities.

Alicia from the U-T: Networking in this industry is key. Consider going to association meetings.

As you can see, even those working in the industry don’t really know how to answer the question. But two key things are taken from these conversations — to get a journalism job you need to know the web and you need to know people. The end.

P.S. I encourage everyone to take a look at the job fair this week. It’s a completely innovative approach to looking for jobs online with speaker session podcasts, resume critiques, company video, live chats and more. The Union-Tribune chat is happening right now until 2:00 p.m. PST.

CNN's Forum Beta project

Lauren Rabaino — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:09:09 +0000

CNN has a new interactive political community called the Forum, but it appears to be pretty buggy from what I can see.

A Google search for “Forum CNN” brings up no results about the feature, indicating that it’s relatively new, although the oldest comment I found was already 18 days old.

Located at theforum.cnn.com, the feature allows users to create a political “badge” that shows which candidate/issues the user supports. This is where it starts getting buggy for me. Each time I try to upload a photo and select my issues, I’m directed to a Symfony error page.

After building a badge, you can go to a “forum comparison” to see where other users stand on the issues. Currently, the most popular issue is the economy, with 62 percent of users ranking it as their No. 1 concern.

The data can also be grouped by age, gender, candidate choice or “voter leage.” There are five voter league options:

It’s an innovative move by CNN to appeal to that “community” feeling that Internet users so desperately long for.

Although there appear to be minor, arbitrary bugs, the system is surprisingly user friendly. In the section that asks where users stand on political issues, the wording is in everyday language.

Example of question wording:

One plan to reduce global warming would have the government set a limit on the amount of those emissions that companies could produce each year. Companies that exceed that limit would face fines or higher taxes, but they could avoid those penalties by paying money to other companies that produced fewer emissions than allowed. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?

As far as the “forum” aspect of it goes, there appears to be a lot of discussion taking place about the issues (economy, energy, health care, security, Iraq, social issues, social security). So far, the economy is in the lead with 1127 comments and social security is in last place with 237 comments.

I’m not sure how long the forum will survive because it’s not the type of community that’s continually updated. It feels as though you put in your information once, snoop around a little, then never return. It’s not the kind of thing you need to experience more than once.

UPDATE: Just found another bug, after submitting responses to where I stand on the issues, I got this message:

djdub63, based on your answers, here’s your political badge!

I definitely did not register as djdub63, but as laumichell. The badge doesn’t match my question responses. I cannot find an option to change my name or my league back to what I registered as. Instead I’m stuck with some random person’s political views on my account. Interesting.

In theory, it’s a great concept, but maybe they should have waited to launch it. I guess they call it “beta” for a reason.

High school + no CMS = learning experience?

Lauren Rabaino — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:16:34 +0000

The online newspaper at my old high school has a nationally award-winning site, although you probably can’t tell from their newest design. Although they update daily, a surprising (and headache-causing) fact is that they don’t use a content management system. It’s all done by hand.

I don’t know whether it’s a benefit or a drawback.

When I worked for my high school newspaper (from 2004-2007) we knew nothing of the advent of a CMS. My first year attending the NSPA conference in San Francisco though, I saw the back-end of the Paly Voice’s CMS and immediately thought, “Hey, that’s cheating.”

We updated everything manually. We created templates in Dreamweaver, copied and pasted the new articles each day, changed all the font sizes and inserted a “print version” link at the bottom. We then pasted the article into a blank HTML page and linked the print version link to it. Then we added and linked the story to the front page again. It was surely and arduous process.

The benefits

I learned all the basics of Dreamweaver
I learned how to create a site
I learned basic HTML
I became familiar with using an FTP client

The drawbacks

I focused on the technical end more than the writing, video and multimedia
Most of my time was spent cleaning up little errors like broken links
It took at least 15-20 minutes to post one article (and it was much longer, near 50 minutes for others in the class)

Looking back, I think it was best that we didn’t use a CMS in high school. Although I didn’t get to focus as much on writing, I certainly would not know how to create a site from scratch had we been using a CMS.

The Grizzly Gazette launched its new site yesterday and I am starting to think maybe it’s time to move on to a CMS.

As they start to get more content and features, the design starts getting sloppy. They don’t have the time to make it look good when they’re writing multiple articles each day along with slideshows and video (and all those are poorly produced too because of the lack of time, I’m assuming). Then, there are other mistakes that there are just no excuses for. How hard is it to take a photo in focus, really?

Each year, the Gazette launches a new design. The advisor says he does this so each new staff of students can “re-learn” the basics of HTML. One problem: only a handful of students are “page editors” who actually see Dreamwever, and even then, they’re likely using design mode. Another student does all the uploads.

What I’m trying to figure out is:

When a publication should start using a CMS?
At would point is it more beneficial?
And do we need more high schoolers learning HTML basics so that they can catch on to the more complicated stuff by the time they get to college?

Let me know what you think. Let’s interact.

Observations on local TV news

Lauren Rabaino — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:06:41 +0000

I haven’t had a TV in more than a year. As a college student on a budget, cable is not something I necessarily want to pay for, and all my favorite TV shows are online anyway. I’m currently visiting my boyfriend in San Diego, and for the first time in a long time I’ve actually been watching the evening news.

It’s not an experience I particularly enjoy.

Each night, I’ve listened to the same news that I read online at 10 a.m.. For example, last night’s big political story was about a speech Obama gave on education. I got the CNN alert for that very story in my e-mail inbox at 11:09 a.m..

So I’m really wondering what people get out of watching news on TV. The local perspective? The sense of community? Entertainment value? Broadcast news isn’t feeling the hit that print is in the online era.

What I’ll be interested to see in upcoming years is how that sense of “community” from local news stations will be replaced online. Although Rob Curley hopefuls would like to say hyperlocal additions to news sites is the answer, that proved to be a failure.

In June, the Wall Street Journal attributed that failure to a lack of community connection:

One reason: the team of outsiders didn’t do enough to familiarize itself with Loudoun County or engage its 270,000 residents.

Four months after Curley left the Washington Post, LoudounExtra.com still exists as a hyperlocal addition to the newspaper.

Still, somehow, people would rather watch two annoying talking heads on a TV screen read old news with a smile.