OJR: The Online Journalism Review

The OJR Discussion Board

Welcome to the discussion community for readers of the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review. This is the place for OJR readers to post items they would like to share with others:

  • Questions about Web publishing technology
  • Advice on business models and strategy
  • Personnel moves
  • New features on your site you would like to promote
  • Anything else you'd like to talk about

Have a question, comment or news item to share?
Taming Small Dinosaurs
From Noah Barron: What can small niche newspapers--like the Los Angeles Daily Journal, a comprehensive law daily--do to maximally profit from their presence on the Web?
 5 responses
Oct 14, 2009, 1:37 AM (MST)
Survey on hyperlocal citizen media released
From Robert Niles: A University of Maryland report looks at 31 initiatives to cover communities with reader-contributed reporting.
 3 responses
Oct 14, 2009, 1:37 AM (MST)
Looking for Web journalism teaching tips
From Mac Slocum: Web journalists are expected to know the basics of Web tech. What tips and techniques do you have?
 9 responses
Sep 16, 2009, 5:11 AM (MST)
News anchors: Where do they come from?
From Chet McMaster: What kind of background do most news anchors have before they do on camera? I know what types of degrees are preferred, but what types of previous (news) work experience?
 4 responses
Sep 16, 2009, 5:08 AM (MST)
What do online journalists think of the Santa Barbara mess?
From David White: What do you think about the struggle the journalists at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press are going through?
 6 responses
May 7, 2008, 10:15 AM (MST)
Move over drudge, story reports is here!
From William Rains: A new web site that features all the major top news stoires in an easy to read format: www.storyreports.com
 1 response
Feb 21, 2008, 4:23 AM (MST)
Freedom of the press on college campuses
From David White: Freedom of the press on college campuses: would the facts come out?
 No responses
Nov 27, 2007, 12:54 PM (MST)
Webcasters observe day of silence
From Kim Pearson: In an effort to protest royalty hikes that they say will drive most Internet radio broadcasters out of business, webcasters across the country are turning their signals off today.
 1 response
Sep 24, 2007, 6:15 PM (MST)
Young Journalist with Slow Skills Fears a Fast Departure
From Chet McMaster: I'm 22 and working for Public Radio. I love my new job, but I'm afraid I'm going to be forced to leave if I can't turn around stories more quickly. Any suggestions for a newbie?
 7 responses
Sep 7, 2007, 10:46 PM (MST)
New FCC rules are a partial victory for open-network advocates
From Kim Pearson: The New York Times has says the new rules for an upcoming auction of the broadband spectrum are a partial victory for Google.
No responses
Aug 1, 2007, 10:30 AM (MST)
Newspaper redesigns
From Craig Stoltz: The Tribune Co. is rolling out virtually identical site templates across its news properties. See re-dos of Chicago Trib, Baltimore Sun and South Fla Sun-Sentinel.
 No responses
Jul 23, 2007, 3:11 PM (MST)
Politics beat story idea: Track a troll!
From Robert Niles: Consultants are offering campaigns an "army" of paid shills to post comments to blogs and discussion boards. Who's doing it in your area?
 No responses
Jul 17, 2007, 11:10 AM (MST)
Information systems used by press?
From Arnaud Hulstaert: I have to identify them and to evaluate their quality (=fitness for use). For that, I need your remarks and your councils.
 No responses
Jul 3, 2007, 2:07 AM (MST)
Houston Chronicle website attacks new NFL rule with Web spoof
From Robert Niles: The football league is now limiting news organizations to posting no more than 45 seconds per day of Web video of its players and coaches.
 No responses
Jul 2, 2007, 3:29 PM (MST)
Survey: A comparison of blogs and print media as sources of information
From Katrin Siems: Suport needed: In the context of my final thesis I am currently doing a research project regarding the use of blogs and print media. Please fill in my questionnaire!
 1 response
Jul 1, 2007, 4:13 PM (MST)
NCAA Live Blogging Ejection
From Mac Slocum: The NCAA tossed a live blogger from a college baseball game, but can they really enforce a ban like this?
 3 responses
Jun 29, 2007, 1:19 PM (MST)
PBS to Credential Bloggers for June 28 Democratic Presidential Forum
From Kim Pearson: Bloggers are invited to apply for credentials to cover the next Democratic candidates' forum in Washington.
 No responses
Jun 21, 2007, 5:18 AM (MST)
Online Journalism Job Titles -- Who's that Guru?
From Scott Phillips: What do you call your Blog Czar, your Infographics Guru, your Forums Flibbertigibbet? And don't say Steve.
 2 responses
Jun 11, 2007, 8:57 AM (MST)
ONA panel at the Los Angeles Times -- June 7
From Eric Ulken: News at Internet speed: How the velocity of buzz affects traffic, accuracy and how we work
 No responses
May 28, 2007, 9:17 PM (MST)
Let's never speak of 'hits' again
From Robert Niles: It's time for news organizations to remove from their style guides this misleading term for Web traffic.
 1 response
May 22, 2007, 7:50 AM (MST)
Need a Senior Online Editor
From Anthony Moor: Live in the sun and work in a transforming newsroom. We need a senior online editor who focuses on newsroom staff content development and management for Web projects, interactivity, community and sports.
No responses
May 14, 2007, 8:29 AM (MST)
Social media vs. the movie industry
From Robert Niles: Popular news aggregator Digg.com grinds to a halt as a battle erupts over the public distribution of a DVD encryption key.
 4 responses
May 4, 2007, 3:07 PM (MST)
Proposed federal shield law would protect bloggers
From Kim Pearson: The Free Flow of Information Act bill has been introduced in the US House and Senate under bi-partisan sponsorship. The bill's definition of journalists would include bloggers.
 1 response
May 4, 2007, 11:08 AM (MST)
News Web sites: Destinations or network hubs?
From Rich Gordon: The strategy of building news Web sites as destinations has not worked. Suggest, instead, approaches for news Web sites that will make them hubs of personal and content networks.
8 responses
May 1, 2007, 7:51 PM (MST)
CubReporters.org open for journalism jobs and internships
From Mark Grabowski: CubReporters.org is a website for college and early-career journalists.
No responses
Apr 25, 2007, 9:51 AM (MST)
Wilson named new dean of USC Annenberg
From Robert Niles: Dr. Ernest James Wilson III to succeed Dr. Geoffrey Cowan as dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, effective July 1, 2007.
 No responses
Apr 19, 2007, 7:31 PM (MST)
Dangers of Citizen Journalism?
From Mac Slocum: An on-scene report from Virginia Tech shows a citizen videographer engaging in risky behavior.
 5 responses
Apr 19, 2007, 5:09 PM (MST)
AsiaMedia Event: A World of Conflict
From Angilee Shah: AsiaMedia presents veteran war reporter Kevin Sites' documentary about Yahoo!'s international experiment in online journalism
 No responses
Apr 19, 2007, 12:01 AM (MST)
VA Tech shooting and grassroots Web journalism
From Noah Barron: Today's tragic shooting of at least 32 Virginia Tech students has spawned an instant outpouring of citizen journalism coverage on the Web.
 2 responses
Apr 16, 2007, 8:58 PM (MST)
about earning through cj
From Pallab Mukherjee: discussion on revenue from affiliate links
 3 responses
Apr 15, 2007, 5:13 PM (MST)
Open positions at ImpreMedia Digital
From Mary Zerafa: We have six open positions. Details can be found here.
 No responses
Apr 12, 2007, 4:31 PM (MST)
Google introduces improved custom Map tool
From Robert Niles: You no longer need the API or third-party tools to create a personalized Google Map with multiple points of interest.
 No responses
Apr 12, 2007, 9:44 AM (MST)
Updating news stories for the web
From Ric Jensen: Help needed--teaching how to update news stories for the web
 1 response
Apr 6, 2007, 10:28 AM (MST)
Techie Envy
From Noah Barron: As journalists interested in science and technology, will we always be second fiddle to the actual techies doing the groundbreaking work?
 No responses
Apr 4, 2007, 2:50 PM (MST)
Timed reporting tests
From Chet McMaster: Does anyone have any suggestions on how to take timed reporting-tests, or know of any place to find practice tests?
 No responses
Mar 29, 2007, 7:29 PM (MST)
UMD J-school launches citizen journalism Web portal
From Noah Barron: Can a toolbox of Web resources, a venue for publication and a list of ethical and practical guidelines substitute for the hard-earned lessons in j-school classrooms and daily newsrooms?
No responses
Mar 29, 2007, 2:34 PM (MST)
Orange County Register row illustrates risk of anonymous comments
From Robert Niles: A slew of nasty comments on a website article provokes a sharp response from newsroom staffers.
 5 responses
Mar 26, 2007, 9:33 PM (MST)
Pew research details Latino use of the Internet
From Robert Niles: Survey results show that Latinos trail U.S. whites and blacks in going online.
 No responses
Mar 21, 2007, 11:30 AM (MST)
FWIW: A little example of blog popularity
From Robert Niles: OJR's referral logs from the past week provide some data on Web traffic from top blogs and social bookmarking sites.
 1 response
Mar 20, 2007, 2:54 PM (MST)
In search of online publishing middleware
From Jonathan Morgan: Wanted: a central system for web publishing that can accept input from a variety of sources, convert it into a standard internal format so you can manipulate it and prepare it for the web, and then publish it in different formats.
 3 responses
Mar 20, 2007, 5:36 AM (MST)
Making the jump from TV news production to newspaper/online writing
From Chet McMaster: I am wondering if anyone has thoughts on how easy or difficult it is to go from a job at a TV station to working at a daily paper or online equal.
 2 responses
Mar 18, 2007, 9:38 PM (MST)
Oldies are noobs: how to talk about the Internet without scaring the analog news set
From Noah Barron: What I expected to be an illuminating discussion in my print class turned into an Internet bash-a-thon that left Jack Nelson bemoaning the death of reporting and me surprised at the size of the generational and conceptual chasm.
 6 responses
Mar 18, 2007, 8:40 AM (MST)
Pew releases annual report on state of journalism in America
From Robert Niles: The report's online section offers some sharp advice for online publishers. Are you listening?
 1 response
Mar 13, 2007, 6:50 PM (MST)
Any experience with media liability insurance?
From Jen Burke: I'm looking through providers now and reading articles, but I'm certainly open to hearing about folks' individual experiences and recommendations.
 8 responses
Mar 11, 2007, 9:07 PM (MST)
Locating the You in YouTube and the Me in MySpace
From Noah Barron: What rules should reporters observe when gleaning personal information from social networking sites? Are we truly who we say we are, online? What happens when there's a gap between the Web and the truth?
 4 responses
Mar 9, 2007, 11:45 AM (MST)
Why hasn't more payola punditry been uncovered?
From Anna Haynes: Armstrong Williams said "there are others", but only a couple of other payola pundits have been unearthed. Is this because nobody's been looking, or because they're securely hidden?
 5 responses
Mar 9, 2007, 11:36 AM (MST)
Looking for innovation for this year's News21 project
From Jessica Roberts: Besides integrating print, radio and television pieces, what kinds of things can we do that would be considered innovative?
2 responses
Mar 7, 2007, 5:31 PM (MST)
Judging newspaper website success
From Michael Hines: What are people using as a barometer that their newspapers' efforts are worthwhile?
 3 responses
Mar 7, 2007, 2:49 PM (MST)
New website launched for mid-life women entrepreneurs
From Rita Strombeck: OJR reader announces new venture for self-employed women.
 No responses
Mar 4, 2007, 1:28 PM (MST)
Radio: stepping stone or tombstone?
From Chet McMaster: Is it wise to spend time working for a radio station as a young journalist with a passion for writing? Does work away from a print publication make it harder to return after working on a different news medium?
 2 responses
Mar 2, 2007, 2:52 PM (MST)