The future of video in online journalism
Predicting the future of anything is tough, especially in online journalism and certainly when it comes to video. I remember a time when “multimedia” was everything at conferences and in j-school classrooms. Those days faded and were replaced with “social media.” Now it’s all about data and applications.
My point is that discussion about the “future” of online video has really faded into the background in forward-thinking journalism circles. I certainly don’t know what that future looks like, but as both a consumer and producer, I can make a few guesses based on my personal expectations. Continue reading →
Posted in Carnival of Journalism | Tagged carnival of journalism, future of online video, jcarn | 2 Comments
Inside the Seattle Times’ basement
This morning I ventured into the Seattle Times “press room,” which I expected to be a room for press conferences. But, nope. It was the other kind of press room, where they actually printed the paper years ago. The whole experience was like entering a time capsule back to 1994. Everything was untouched, as though everyone got up and left, never to look back.
There was still ink in the canisters and open log books with pens sitting atop. There were even coats and gloves in the lockers. An eerie place.
It’s so strange that an entire floor of a building with levels of heavy machinery and dozens of workers was required to publish a piece of content, and today all I have to do is click a pretty blue button.
Posted in just for fun, life | Tagged adventures, history, newspapers, personal reflections, seattle times | 2 Comments
An ode to George Ramos
He was always proud to say that his Cal Poly class ring said both “BS” and “’69″ — and he wasn’t afraid to make an inappropriate joke about it in front of 60 parents at graduation.
October 2006. George talks to Granite Hills High School journalism students about the Mustang Daily, Cal Poly's student newspaper.
George Ramos was never afraid to show his true colors — even in what should have been a very official, professional role as Department Chair of the Cal Poly journalism department. He was a riot. He was sometimes inappropriate. He cursed a lot. But he knew his shit, and he knew it well.
It’s funny, maybe ironic, that I’m sitting down to write a blog post about the death of George Ramos — the very man who taught me how to write obituaries.
But this post isn’t so much an obituary as it is an ode to all George Ramos did to shape me into the person I am today. It’s an ode that I think will resonate with those students who knew him as a professor and editor. So, let’s start at the beginning. Continue reading →
Posted in life | Tagged cal coast news, cal poly, dead, george ramos, personal reflections, professor, pulitzer, san luis obispo | 4 Comments
AP’s new “linking” policy is not real innovation
And in an act of irony, I’m duplicating my efforts and re-posting this on my personal blog. I, unlike the AP, though, am inline linking to the original source.
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If anything, the AP’s decision to start linking to original sources is a hindrance. Because now, in addition to news outlets everywhere reproducing the same exact stories, they will all include unlinked bit.ly URLs.
Trust me, I’m all for hyperlinking. It’s the fabric of the web, what makes the web functional, and I think more newspapers should be doing it — and more often. But what we have here is a technology problem and an ideology problem. I’m sure if the AP could write through stories using HTML (and, of course, have that HTML stripped once it hits the print CMS), they would do it. Or at least I hope they would. But their solution of including bit.ly links — in parentheticals — isn’t the way to credit newspapers or drive traffic. Continue reading →
Posted in journalism, new media | Tagged associated press, efficiency, hyperlinking, rants | 1 Comment
My life as an undocumented immigrant. I finally had a chance to read this in full. It’s the first-hand account of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked at The Washington Post, HuffPo, etc., who has taken extreme to keep his illegal status a secret, all the while reporting on the truth for high-profile publications. It hits a chord with me because so many of my Filipino family members came here, including my father, just about 25 years ago. Read it. And read WaPo’s response about why they didn’t publish it.
What I’ve been up to these past few weeks
Phew, what a crazy three weeks it’s been!
I’m writing this post from Seattle, where I’ve now been officially living for a full week. Yesterday was my first day at The Times. Here are a few highlights about the move and about the job (following suit of Heather, who has been blogging about her first few days at WaPo).
It was the longest drive of my life. We (boyfriend and I) started in Santa Barbara. Spent four days in our hometown of Porterville, Calif., (four-hour drive) where we packed up the UHAUL with furniture from storage. Then did an eight-hour drive to Santa Rosa, where we stayed for a night to catch some shut-eye. Then, came the long haul, from Santa Rosa to Portland, which (coupled with gas stops, pit stops, nap stops, food stops) took 19 hours. Finally, we did the drive last Tuesday morning from Portland to Seattle, which only took four hours with the UHAUL. That puts us at a grand total of 35 hours of driving.
Posted in life | Tagged apartment, job, life updates, long drives, personal reflections, seattle, seattle times, seattle washington, the 411 | Leave a comment
Seattle WP Meetup Friday. Just found out Matt Mullenweg is hosting a last-minute meetup tonight at the Pike Pub & Brewery downtown. Headed down there now. If you’re here and you’re free, come join us. Yes, that means I made the 20+ hour drive up here from California and am now officially living in Seattle. More on that later.
I’m headed to The Seattle Times
Big news today in the life of Lauren Rabaino: I am taking a job at The Seattle Times as a resident producer.
For those of you who don’t know, I left Publish2 at the end of December. Since then, I’ve been blogging, doing freelance design and lounging on the beach — all while searching for the right job. I have finally found it.
The Seattle Times is the second-largest newspaper on the West Coast and has a newsroom of about 200. The team I’ll be working with, led by Eric Ulken, is awesome and loaded with good ideas — and exciting changes on the way.
Posted in journalism, life | Tagged announcements, eric ulken, new job, seattle times, seattle washington | 5 Comments
California Supreme Court rejects noncompete clauses. This is old news but I discovered it today from a lab technician in Santa Barbara. I’ve signed a few noncompete agreements in my day, and apparently they’re void here in California. “Californians have the right to move from one company to another or start their own business and can’t be prohibited by their employer from working for a competitor in their next job.”
If your website’s full of assholes, it’s your fault. Anil Dash is spot on. Part of maintaining a news website is maintaining community and having high standards. He outlines five steps every website should take to keep their community in order. Because whether we like it or not, quality of our comments reflects on how our organizations are perceived, and the quality of comments that will come up moving forward.