What’s it like to run training sessions at a newspaper that has been through layoffs and buyouts and is currently on the block? I found out this week at the Union-Tribune in San Diego leading three sessions for an APME NewsTrain workshop. Great people, intriguing ideas and interesting conversations. But the economic crisis infecting the […]
Archive for September, 2008
Mark Briggs 
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September 22nd, 2008
Change is inevitable. Progress is optional.
I’m traveling to San Diego tonight to participate in an APME Newstrain workshop where several dozen journalists will gather to brush up their skills and hopefully learn something new. (It was originally scheduled for last year, but postponed due to the California wildfires.) My first session is “Covering Communities in New, Cost-effective Ways.” This is […]
September 18th, 2008
Journalism 3.0? Have we already come that far?
Follow-up to my last post … At the ONA conference, several people asked me if the new book would be called “Journalism 3.0″? I’m not sure. I think it depends on whether people think the work being done today that I will highlight in the book is substantially new and better than the work highlighted […]
September 17th, 2008
What do online journalists need to know now?
While I was in DC for the ONA Conference last week, I met with an acquisitions editor to discuss a new version of Journalism 2.0 for the college textbook market. The next step is to submit a chapter outline for the updated version. Here’s a list of topics I drafted this morning. Please let me […]
September 16th, 2008
NowPublic makes it look easy, but it’s not
For my money, the best session at last week’s ONA conference had to be “Mobilize your Audience!” Poynter’s Ellyn Angelotti led NowPublic’s Len Brody through an insightful analysis of the startup’s “crowd powered media” site based in Vancouver, B.C. Brody said lots of mainstream news organizations “think” they are doing this, but “it’s a façade.” […]
September 15th, 2008
Positive energy permeates ONA conference
Reflecting on the ONA 08 conference on the long plane ride back to Seattle, I realized that my pre-conference concerns about whether this conference would be be able to generate its usual positive energy were thankfully dispelled. The group of 750 journalists, technologiests, educators, students and independent media innovators filled the ballrooms of the Capitol […]
September 11th, 2008
Instead of blogging the Online News Conference, I’m going to Twitter
Blogging a conference is so passe. And besides, Twitter is so much easier. If I’m quiet for a while, assume nothing interesting is happening. Or the newtowrking reception has started. Follow along: twitter.com/markbriggs
September 9th, 2008
ONA 2008 Conference: what to expect?
I’m traveling tomorrow to Washington, D.C. for the ONA 2008 Conference. In years past, this conference has been insulated from the funereal atmosphere at other conferences I attend that specifically target newspapers. Talk of layoffs, buyouts and new digital demands didn’t surface at ONA. The halls pulsed with optimism and exceitement. It will be interesting […]
September 7th, 2008
What newsrooms can learn from sports departments
In my last post, I urged newspaper staffs to pick up the pace. Since I’d like this blog to offer ideas at least as often as it points out problems (hopefully more often), here’s one thing every newspaper can do today to move forward and make some progress during these challenging times (at least on […]
September 6th, 2008
Newspapers: welcome to ‘the new normal’
Lost Remote calls it “the same sad song, different sad verse.” I call it “the new normal.” Staffing levels fluctuate at businesses all the time. Those who work in the newspaper industry and avoided this operational reality for so long should be thankful for their good fortune. But this is how the world works. I […]
