Category Archives: journalism

general perspectives on the journalism industry

Reinventing the definition of "journalist"

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 … Continue reading

WWGD: A book for journos and non-journos alike

Inspired by Mark Luckie’s recent post about great holiday gifts for newsies, I thought I’d throw in my two cents. I recently read Jeff Jarvis’ What Would Google Do and recommend it as a last-minute holiday gift– for both techy … Continue reading

Could a budget crisis spur journ profs to innovate?

While checking e-mail on my stroll to work this morning, I stopped dead in my tracks. Twice. The first gasp of disbelief was after reading an e-mail from ostensibly one of the most “old-school” journalism professors at Cal Poly requesting … Continue reading

Value doesn't always mean profit for news

I was listening to Biz Stone (a founder of Twitter) talk on the Colbert Report about the fact their social network has no business model yet. He made an interesting point that totally made a light bulb go off in … Continue reading

Want to start a news business? Four stages

Tuesday was the first day of my entrepreneurship class, which I’m taking in case I decide to work at a start-up or create a nonprofit. Although the class has nothing to do with journalism directly, I think about every concept … Continue reading

Grizzly Gazetters: Don't give up hope

The National Scholastic Press Assocation (high school version of ACP) announced its annual online pacemaker finalists, and for the first time since before I was editor in chief there, the Grizzly Gazette did not place. I’m not going to say … Continue reading

Professors: We take the risks, you should too

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 … Continue reading

Fixing Cal Poly's journalism department

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 … Continue reading

Leading CICM's nationwide classroom

You all probably know from Twitter, but for those of you who don’t: I was chosen as the first intern for the Center for Innovation in College Media. It’s a huge honor to be a part of the organization, but … Continue reading

My CICM Internship essay submission

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiuG1H7pQ4c This post is an essay submission for the ICM spring internship.   My resume My portfolio My Twitter My blog

Hudson River crash = Citizen journalism at its best

Time and time again, student journalists in my college newsroom ask where the value is in Twitter.  “It’s just another social thing,” one guy told me just yesterday.  Then something like this happens and changes everything: The photo was posted … Continue reading

Student newspapers: Don't be afraid to break the rules

At the end of last year,  Emily Kostic (web editor of Rowan University’s The Whit) wrote a blog post about New Years Resolutions for college newspapers. A few things struck me on that list: #5 Get away from College Publisher #6 …and in … Continue reading

The changing face of e-mail interviews

I’ve always learned that e-mail interviews are an absolute last resort. The criteria: the interviewee has to be on the other side of the world, on a spaceship or in jail. But as e-mail and other web-based networks (Twitter, Facebook) … Continue reading

Talks with a Yahoo news guru

Steve Enders, Cal Poly alumnus and senior product manager at Yahoo! News, gave a keynote lecture Thursday at Cal Poly’s journalism week and shared some interesting perspectives. A few things Steve emphasized: “I never thought I’d be where I’m at … Continue reading

Facebook: A newspaper's best and worst friend

Guest blog by Ryan Chartrand The problem Newspapers have made some pretty desperate moves in the last few years. They’ve cut pages, cut staff, cut paychecks, but then decided to try to add social networking to their Web sites. Sure, … Continue reading

Google tools to use in the newsroom

Google Calendars Things to schedule: Budget meetings Deadlines Must-cover events Special editions Why it’s useful: Can be shared with everyone on staff Collaborative – everyone can contribute Embeddable Google Documents What to use it for? Stories: If the newsroom server … Continue reading

Make your résumé reflect your talent… visually

If you know a thing or two about graphic/web design, make your résumé mirror your knowledge. When a “new media” journalist has a résumé made off a Microsoft Word template, it shows nothing about the creativity that person has. I … Continue reading

Update: Chicago Tribune redesigns, drops "Trib" rumor

The big Chicago Tribune redesign has been released and, not surprisingly, it’s not the version that was heavily circulated around the Web that featured the title “Trib.” Here are a few before and afters: A prototype that surfaced the web … Continue reading