Hi Students,
Please be sure to revise your OpEd on same document in our google docs drive. For many of my comments, you can simply “accept”: HERE.
As we finish our final weeks of the semester, I ask that you continue to consider the role of mobile and social media journalism. In “Forces at the Gate” (pages 1-22), Journalism Professor Anthony Adornato speaks of the radical shift in how news is both delivered and consumed [see mobileandsocialmedia]. Rather than simply produced by “gatekeeper” media outlets in “one way” fashion, news is now a “two-way” conversation thanks to mobile devices and social media tools that have dramatically changed the media landscape. Today, the public can play an active role in the news production process; almost anyone in fact can become a journalistic “player” (or “social influencer”) in the media landscape, with the right “know-how” and insights.
What’s clear is that to become a journalist today, one needs the ability to use a variety of social media technologies. Simultaneously, the working journalist of today needs to be aware of multiple media venues.
These tools include but are not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Also useful to know about are outlets like Substack, Longform, and Twitter’s new Revue (a digital newsletter in which you can build an audience base) . It’s also useful to master a variety of tools for making videos, podcasts, and websites (like Squarespace).
We are coming to the end of our course, but advanced Journalism classes would focus on these technologies (as does a major in Communication Design).
For those of you interested in furthering your journalism talents, I recommend the Journalism and Media Studies B.A. program at Brooklyn College and the Master’s Program offered at the CUNY Gradutate Center.
Here are some interesting articles to ponder, which relate to the effect of new methods of newsgathering, distribution of news, and audience engagement, driven by our digital landscape.
One article focuses on how media giant Conde Nast is transforming itself to correlate with new digital trends. The second article is a fun one that shows how an “influencer” used Tik Tok to critique the recent Advent calendars put out by Chanel. It’s a somewhat silly piece but a reminder of how powerful social media tools can be in changing the minds and perceptions of large swathes of “linked in” media consumers.
To end the semester, I ask that you check out my journalism project (hosted on SquareSpace) that I’ve been working on for a few years. It’s entitled “City of Print: New York and the Periodical Press.” [To enter the site, use password: cityofprint2020]. Specifically, I ask that you “take” one of my virtual walking tours through a particular New York neighborhood that focuses on its important print history (choose either the Waterfront, Printing House Square (by City Hall), Union Square, the East Village, or the West Village). [On upper right of site, click on the icon/link called “virtual tours“]
In your final post, please let me know what tour you “took” and what you learned. In your post, please also describe a journalism project you might like to do in the future (or are currently doing) that might involve social media tools. You could discuss the way you might expand your OpEd, for example, into a website or a run of articles on, say, substack. Perhaps you want to write a longer piece for a particular magazine such as Ebony or The Atlantic Monthly. This post will be your final assignment for me.
FINAL POST DUE: Monday., Dec. 20. Reminder: To post, go to top of this post, click “comments” , then type in your comment.
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