Video promo for Friday's conference

Oprah and her followers ... Twitter followers

"Oprah's appearance on Twitter may have helped boost the site's traffic by 24 percent."
I've always known that Oprah has followers and now there is a number on that online mob. This is crazy. However, according to this link,
there are fewer people getting hooked on Twitter than Facebook. In the realm of social media that's an important trend.

My research project is going slow thus far. I have focused on the video component because I am having a difficult time finding sources. I have interviewed Director, Tom Hodson, Russ Eisenstein and Jerome Tillman. I am thinking I should focus on what changes has occured and then explain how they impact sports journalism. I hope to speed things up over this weekend.

Progress on Paper and Multimedia Video

Don P. Jason III
Dj320306@ohio.edu

This post deals less with the content of my paper and more with my progress on the assignment. So far I am 80% done with my paper and I have shot three interviews for my video.
Tonight I am shooting my three stand-ups for the video, finding background music for the video and shooting the informational slides with my voice behind them. Tomorrow I will edit the pieces all together.

I feel confident about my project. And look forward to sharing it with the class at the conference.

This week I did do an over the phone interview. Ira Dye, a recent graduate of Ohio University helped bring wireless broadband internet to rural Meigs County. He first gathered a group of resident together that wanted broadband and he had them sign a petition, which he took to a local wireless provider of this type of internet. Dye spent seven months researching the technology behind broadband and the business model and profitability for a company who would bring wireless internet to Meigs County. The company determined that it would nearly $300,000 cheaper to put up a wireless tower; Infrastructure that could later be used as the building block for future technology, than to run cable through wired fiber optic or telephone lines. Also physical limitations on fiber optic lines prevented the company from laying these type lines. Fiber optic Lines can only stretch 18,000 feet from a central office, which are generally located in urban centers. The work of Dye got Meigs county broadband, which raised property values of the 500 plus homes in the area. This is an example of a technology success story for Southeastern Ohio.

Business Blogs

In my research about professional blogging and the importance of blogging, I thought it would be important to discuss how businesses use blogs and why they're important to those businesses. I found a book titled "Blogging For Business: Everything You Need To Know and Why You Should Care" to help me with this idea.

So far, the paper writing is going okay. I only have about five pages, but I'm struggling with going into extreme detail since blogging is such a broad topic. I'm trying to focus on ethical issues when you're blogging as a professional, as well as focusing on what makes a blog professional and how professionals use blogs.

How to make money by giving content away for free

For those of you who are examining different types of free business models for online publications, I hope you've found Chris Anderson's blog. If not, check out a long, useful list of classifications for business models of companies giving their content away.

You may know the name from Wired magazine or his Long Tail theory, which has been very useful in explaining online business models (and the structure of the blogosphere). His next book, Free, is coming out this summer and based on the title and his background, I'm certain you can deduce its content.

Digital Divide Interviews: Local solutions to a global problem!

By: Don Jason
Dj320306@ohio.edu

I conducted two interviews with experts in the area of bridging the digital divide. Susan Urano, the director of the Athens Foundation and James Hill, the Assistant Director of the Nelsonville Library.

I first was introduced to Ms. Urano last quarter when she spoke to Dr. Stewart’s Jour 415 class about a possible partnership with The Athens Foundation and ATHENSi.com through a Knight Foundation grant. According to the Knight Foundation Web Site, http://www.knightfoundation.org/home/, there mission is as follows: “We are a national foundation with local roots. We choose, as the Knight Brothers chose, to seek opportunities that can transform both communities and journalism, and help them reach their highest potential. We want to ensure that each community's citizens get the information they need to thrive in a democracy. And we ask, as we evaluate opportunities and grants, ‘Is this truly transformational?’ Because grant making requires a sound financial base, we preserve the Knight Brothers' gift through prudent investment and careful management.”

Ms. Urano said that The Athens Foundation is applying for a grant to get money to use cell phones to bring the internet to rural areas in Athens county where broadband and dial-up internet can not possible reach. She also said that the Athens Foundation is hiring two multimedia interns for the summer. These interns will shoot video on flip cameras and post it on the Foundations’ Web site as well as go out into the community and show people how to operate the technology.

Mr. Hill from the Nelsonville public Library was a great person to talk to about libraries in Athens County because Nelsonville has the head library for the county. Nelsonville Library gets information directly from Franklin county libraries in Columbus. Mr. Hill talked about the programs and classes that his library offers to the community. He mentioned a technology van that the library rented from Columbus that was stationed at the Library for a week. This van had the latest computer technology and experts who travel around Ohio teaching people how to use the technology and software. He also mentioned classes that ranged from basic computer awareness to in-depth computer usage, geared towards library patrons of all ages. Mr. Hill said some patron do not want technology in their lives so the library does not push technology on to people; however, they do make it available and assistance available to those who request it.

The Athens County libraries got new computers 10 years ago from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; however the libraries use their own money to repair and replace these computers as needed. They libraries are due to get new computers soon from the same charitable foundation.

Polling, politics and new media

I'm adding another few things to my paper. I found a couple of pieces about the integrity of polling. One author asserts that the growing numbers and types of media outlets have caused political polls to become more plentiful and less reliable. The shift in polling is negatively impacting the public's understanding of political races, according to these articles. This is definitely something I need to look into further.

I have some work to do on my video still. I'm planning to include interviews and narrate the rest of it myself. More info on that soon...

Crunch Time

This week, I focused on tweaking my paper. I wrote my introduction and conclusions, and my final part left to complete is my abstract. I did quite a bit of citing work as well, but I know I am going to have to go back over many of my references. I was unsure of how to deal with several of them.

Working on my paper and video has been hard this week since my computer came under attack by several viruses. After several minutes of freaking out, I realized how much I love my jump drive. Luckily, (after six hours of starring at my computer screen and a 50-dollar purchase for new virus software), my computer is back o track without any work lost. Thank goodness.

Because I wasted so much time yesterday (which I planned on being a time to get a lot of work done), I spent much of today shooting some more video. I felt very silly, sitting in my kitchen discussing Twitter with myself on camera. But I think this is the best way to do my video project, through a few interviews and talking about it on camera. Data and stats would be really boring for my topic, and it would not really work very well because the numbers that go along with Twitter’s stats seem to change so much. In my paper, I did not talk about numbers too much either because of this.

I am finding it hard to know what to say in my video presentation because there is so much content in my paper. I feel like I am speaking too generally at some points, but going too in depth seems like a bad idea as well.

Tomorrow, I plan on spending a good amount of the morning trying to edit. I read several tutorials online about how to use imovie, so I am hoping it goes somewhat smoothly. Nothing can compare to the computer problems that I already experienced this week.

How is everyone else’s project coming along?

How to get readers to pay

This article from the New York Times gives a pretty good overview of the debate over whether more newspapers should charge readers for online content. It explains that most newspapers had hoped to make money through advertising on their Web sites. They've since changed their minds, but are still worried that readers won't be willing to pay for something they're currently getting for free.

The article offers a solution: give the readers something extra to entice them to pay. Examples of this is the non-journalism world were bottled water, cable TV and now luggage and food on airplanes.

I thought that this was a very interesting solution and one that makes a lot of sense. I suppose it's why papers in niche markets (like The Wall Street Journal) have been able to successfully charge readers for content -- they're giving the readers something they can't get anywhere else. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, other newspapers try to do with this in the future.

On the subject of my paper, I'm having a little trouble finding information on my topic. There are plenty of newspaper articles, but few scholarly ones. Does anyone have any ideas about where I might be able to find more?

On my way

I have spent the past few weeks writing my final paper about my topic, the moderation of user-generated content on news Web sites. I have been able to find plenty of sources, and I feel that I am well on my way to finishing the paper by the end of this week. I hope to have final revisions done, if not by the end of this week, then by the middle of next week.

For the online portion of the presentation, I am planning on using iMovie to put together a slideshow-type presentation that I will narrate. I will try to put together some screen shots as well as statistics and create a script that will highlight the main points in my paper. I will then use my computer's microphone (which isn't the best, but it will work) to read the script and sync it with the rest of my content.

So that's my plan for the online portion of this class. I'm not sure what others are doing, I think a number of you are incorporating interviews into your presentations if I'm not mistaken, but if you have any feedback for me, let me know in a comment.

Public Information and blogs

The National Institute for Health - National Institute for General Medical Sciences recently launched a blog; however, they didn't call it a blog. They referred to it as their Feedback Loop. In some circles, particularly within the science community, blog is a dirty word. I tip my hat to Emily Carlson at the NIH because she figured out how to provide a great service without the stigma.

Government organizations are bureaucratic beasts with big gears. It takes a while for them to get turning, but once they are moving there is no stopping 'em. However, is it too late?

They see everyone else using it and figure they automatically need it all. However, I disagree. Twitter may not work for every organization. Blogging may not work for every office. Facebook, I think, is a catch-all just because it require little maintenance. Still, I remember when the Air Force had a MySpace page a few years ago. It lasted a couple weeks before took it off due to the onslaught of users defacing their message board. I guess they can always try to figure out the blogging thing.

A Personal Opinion

So, I'm thinking that I should interview My Online Journalism professor, Joan Price, from last quarter for some more information.

Interview questions I'm thinking of:
1. What do you enjoy about journalism online?
2. What makes someone a professional online journalist?
3. Do you blog? If so, why and about what do you blog?
4. What is your take on professional bloggers? What makes someone a professional?
5. Is a random person who just blogs for fun considered a journalist?

That's my start. If you can think of anything else i should ask, please please please comment and let me know!

The Digital Divide: a Global Phenomenon

Don P. Jason III
Dj320306@ohio.edu

I have begun to research the digital divide on a world-wide level and not solely in America. In a case study titled “The Role of Community Based Telecenters in Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Malaysia”, I learned that In Malaysia, the number of people with a dial-up internet access made up 14.3% of the population in 2007, an increase from 2000 when only 7% of the population had access to dial-up internet. In the same time frame the number of people with broadband access jumped from .08% to 5%. The increase in broadband access is more significant in terms of allowing the population to access to many ITC applications.

“The uneven distribution of the basic “info structure” such as a fixed telephone lines or internet connections between the urban and rural area; the cost to be connected to the internet , is still considered to be high by its rural population, as had been reflected by their low ‘Willingness-to-Pay’ p. 352)” However, I don’t agree with the case study. Maybe these people don’t have a low “Willingness-to-Pay,” maybe they can’t afford to pay or maybe they can’t see how the internet will benefit someone from a rural third-world country.

This case study did not only state a problem it tlaks about a solution. It tlaks about how telecenbters were brought to rural Malaysia to teach the residents all about new technology.

Malaysia has a vision 2020, which strives to use ICT applications in every citizen’s life daily. The government hopes that once this occurs Malaysia will be ranked as a developed country. I feel that instead of only allowing a few people to get broadband, Malaysia should make the sacrifice and give everyone in the country, dial-up, so that every citizen can at lease have some sort of internet access. As in America, the governemnt needs to put the needs of the people before its needs to save face with other countries ande members of the global community

Youtubing About Twitter

This week, I started to do some shooting for my video. I interviewed Paul Matson, president of PRSSA, and Gina Beach, Backdrop Magazine publisher. Both were good interviews. Paul gave a lot of information that I happened to touch on in my paper, but he also talked about a few sites that are doing the exact same thing as Twitter. I need to look into those in order to add something about them to my paper because they will obviously be competition for Twitter.

He also talked about the ways Twitter will make money, pointing to the idea that charging for services is a very possible route. Another interesting point was his comment(which Gina also shared) about Twitter's popularity leveling off. It is new right now and people are intriged, but this level probably won't last forever. Still, it is a useful tool that is here to stay(in one form or another).

My next interview is with a grad student, and one of my classmates. He was giving his class a lecture today on how Twitter can be used. I want to see what he is saying about it and why it is worth classroom time. Also, did the students know how to use it for the most part? How can it be used as a classroom tool?

Something that concerns me is how I am going to make this video interesting. This is my first real experience with editing. I know that once I am done, or near done, I will be happy to have learned this skill. But for right now, I am just a little nervous.

Research writing meeting

We had a great meeting last Friday, May 8. We covered how to format a research paper using APA style guide as well as the rules of thumb for in-text citations and the reference list.

While buying the APA style guide is a good idea, they are coming out with a new edition in July, so I’m not sure you would want to buy a copy at this point. However, the guide can be checked out at the library and most information can be found online.

Citing electronic sources can be tricky, so please dig around and find the proper way to do it. 

A few people asked about how often we should be citing in our papers or when we had to cite. In general, we should be citing anytime we write an idea, thought, or example that we have learned from someone else or from a collection of sources (you can cite all of them together). This includes direct quotes, indirect quotes, paraphrases, summaries of a situation, and the range of basic to complex ideas. Best rule is to over-cite rather than under-cite. 

Remember a research paper is showing that you've investigated what other people have thought, expressed, or posited  about a certain topic,  scenario, or case study. Your work, as a researcher, is to bring all those ideas into one place (your paper), explore them, weave them into a coherent and organized narrative that walks the reader along your thought process, and draw conclusions or make suggestions (using evidence) that are original, or furthers the discussion, based on what you have found. 

Additionally: Use of third-person is conventional in research writing. Use past tense when writing about findings/ideas that have already happened or have been published.

Below are a few links that I shared that should be helpful in writing and citing in our research papers:

http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html

http://www.apastyle.org/electext.html

http://www.wisc.edu/writetest/Handbook/DocAPA.html

http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

We also discussed formatting. Our papers should have a title page, a separate abstract page, and then on the third page your paper should begin. Please look at The Owl At Purdue Website for the correct formatting for your title page and abstract page.  The basic paper should have these level-1 headings: Introduction, Review (or Literature Review), and Conclusion. See APA style guide for heading levels.

--Jen Lovejoy

Putting It All Together

I have a good start on my paper. Nearly done with the body, I think I need to read it through to see where certain things need clarified. I am worried that because I wrote it from so many sources, that my paper will not flow and feel complete.

An area that I think I need to spend some more time on is what problems are developing with Twitter. I heard recently that there are so many users, that people who use it are having trouble logging on. Also, because I began my research early, I want to do some additional to make sure that there haven’t been any recent developments that I have missed. After today’s meeting, I think the hardest part of this assignment will be finding a way to make this come to life in an interesting way during my video presentation. I want to take more of a reporting approach by interviewing a few different people about my topic. My first interview is with Paul Matson, president of PRSSA. I know he is the Twitter master, and I hope he can give me some useful insight into where this media tool is going. Another person who I think will make a great interview subject is Gina Beach, publisher of Backdrop magazine. I am hoping that she will be able to provide me some information on how student journalists are using or adjusting to Twitter.

My final interview is still up in the air. I want to talk to a professor, but I am also thinking about talking to someone in the community who is using it for business purposes. Any ideas as to who would make a good interview subject?

RESEARCH GOING, GOING, PUTT PUTT

Finding valuable information on this topic is much more difficult than what I expected. I visited a few sites and came across numerous articles that basically say the same thing and that is that media is changing. Most things I have come across states the obvious but one blog did come up that was pretty interesting to me. It looked at blogging and its many criticisms, and explored old vs. young. Old more credentialed journalists criticizing young less trained bloggers and how they are affecting journalism. My research should pick up over the weekend. I hope to get in contact with Plain Dealer writer, Terry Pluto. Also this upcoming tuesday I plan to interview Tom Hodson, who teaches my sports writing class.

ARTICLE FOUND AT:

 http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com/2008/05/future-of-sports-journalism.html

Technology Could Be Good For Mental Health

Don P. Jason III
Dj320306@ohio.edu

I found an article written by Michelle Blanchard and a few other researchers entitled “Rethinking the digital divide.” This article came out in November of 2008. The study looks at Australian Teenagers and measures the correlation between their uses of technology with their mental health.


In Australia internet usage is most popular between those 15 to 24 years of age. The internet appeals to this group because of its accessibility and interactivity. 94 percent of those 16 to 29 years of age have a cell phone and 66 percent of those 18 to 29 years old use social media sites everyday.


The article says that “Knowledge regarding the social and economic determinants of mental health is growing, including a focus on the role of meaningful relationships in promoting connectedness and belonging…The Internet can be viewed as a virtual community that fosters networks and strengthens existing social ties and lends itself to being a health promotion setting.”


The study continues to say that “The internet offers numerous advantages as a health promotion setting, including its cost-effectiveness, reach and capacity to engage geographically and socially isolated or ‘hard to access’ groups.” Technology access also gets young people participating.


It is disheartening to think that the digital divide is depriving a group of people of the access to community and to the outside world that they desperately need to stay sane. While most people would find it a nuisance to go a few days without checking email, updating twitter or logging in to facebook this article shows that there are people that the internet for all intensive purposes is life sustaining.
The study not only stressed that the internet helps those with mental disabilities but it also helps those with physical disabilities as well. For example people with speech and hearing problems prefer email communication over other more traditional types of communication.


The study also found that young people who wanted to come out about heir sexuality, practiced or “rehearsed” online. This made it easier when faced with their real life family and friends.

Congressional candidate web sites

My research is moving along at a decent pace.

Of particular interest is an article entitled "The Technological Development of Congressional Candidate Web Sites." The authors examined 444 congressional campaign web sites -- using this information, they determined what technological features candidates use or avoid. For example, too much user mobility is thought to draw attention away from the candidate's message.

I now have a whole stockpile of material to work from. But I'm still trying to narrow my focus. More updates soon...

Weblog Ethics

I decided that it is important to discuss the ethics of the internet, just briefly, when discussing blogging. Blogging has it's own set of ethics, and it is important to discuss them. I thought about discussing a few of the differences between the Internet and print journalism when ethics is involved.

I have an Online Journalism book and a few different articles revolving Weblog ethics and print ethics.

Some people choose to avoid technology!

Don Jason
Dj320306@ohio.edu


In my research paper about the digital divide I will focus primarily on the people who want to be connected to the internet and new technology but for what ever reason are not. However, to be fair and present both sides of the issue I want to talk about people who could have access to the internet and technology and for whatever reason do not take advantage of it.


In the article “A third of adults without internet don’t want it: Cost of broadband also is a barrier,” Jack Gillum says that “One in four American adults don’t use the Internet. And may of them couldn’t care less about getting online. A report last month by the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that although price is a barrier for dial-up users in switching to broadband, one-third of those without a Net connection simply aren’t interested in e-mailing or exploring the Web.


This information is not that startling to me because I have many people in my family who do not believe in the internet because they hear stories of people’s identities being stolen and their lives being ruined. Some people might expect only older people to feel this way, but this is not always true. I have friend who is 20 years old and she feel the same way. She doesn’t use email, facebook, or research for classes online. Two years ago she made the transition to college and it was hard for her since most colleges rely so heavily on e-mail communication.


This article does raise another good, but somewhat related, point. People with dial-up internet sometimes don’t switch because the price is often too high. I had that situation myself. In a way having dial-up in today’s world is like having most of the internet censored. When I had dial-up I could not listen to music watch video or even view complicated Web sites, without everything taking an hour to load or without my computer crashing. The dial-up internet would barely allow me to send an email. I explained this to my mother, however she did not understand. She thought the internet was the internet and she was pleased just to be able to log on to it. She didn’t understand that it shouldn’t take two hours for a 3 minute news video from ABC or CNN to load and play.


However, broadband recently became available in our area and we managed to get a discount on it. So she agreed to let us try it. Now that we have broadband and a new Mac computer to go wit it, my mother is hooked. She stays online all the time. Videos load and play instantly. We can watch movies online and listen to online radio without fear of the computer freezing up or crashing. I feel that a program should be developed to let everyone have access to broadband for a discount; maybe the government could subsidize it.