SEJ2008

Concurrent Sessions 4: THE CRAFT: Not-So-Idle Chatter: How Blogging and Social Media Can Build Your Career

Here's the audio file (MP3/17.4MB/1:16:03) for this Saturday, October 18, 2008, session: Download C4_Craft

Freelance journalist Amy Gahran and Leonard Witt, Professor of Communication at Kennesaw State University, discussed blogging and social media and how it can boost journalists' careers. The two panelists examined how to use programs like Twitter and blogging software like WordPress to help media stay relevant in public discourse.

Gahran, an avid blogger, asserted that blogs are beneficial in that they are allowing mass media to be more "human than in the past." According to Gahran, blogs allow anyone access — therefore they have a broad social appeal. Gahran suggested that journalists should use blogs as a tool to increase their notoriety in the media world. "Blogs help establish your personal brand," said Gahran, which is important because, according to Gahran, "There's no loyalty in the business. Zip. None. News organizations are laying you off like fleas."

Witt, who in addition to his teaching position is the author of the public journalism blog pj.net, said that blogs have a tremendous value — although it's not always instantly obvious. "Initially, I would say 'this is a waste of my time'," said Witt. After further investigation, though, Witt is now a proclaimed advocate of blogging. "It gives you more authority," he said. "It's paid off for me with a 60k grant and about 10 other things I can mention."

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE CRAFT: The Freelance Pitch-Slam

Here's the audio file (MP3/18.5MB/1:20:58) for this Friday, October 17, 2008, session: Download C2_Craft

As a freelance writer, it is critical to get a top story. Not only must a freelancer have a well-written story for it to be published, they also have to be able to give a good story pitch.

The panel gave several tips to the session’s many attendees. Having good, well coordinated visuals with an article is a good way to make the reader think about the environment. Journalists should look for new ideas and new innovations to get the attention of mass audiences, as most companies are not particularly looking for articles that have already been extensively covered.  High quality writers find different approaches to make their angle on a story important to readers.  As panelist Peter Aldhous stated, “Impatient audiences do not wonder what’s going to be on National Geographic websites, instead they go to Google news or the main website of National Geographic to find links to other pages.” Unique stories presented with an interesting headline and good pitch is what grabs the reader’s attention to actually click links.

When journalists presented their story pitches to the panel, most often their topics were criticized as being too broad.  The panel also encouraged freelancers to seek topics with global effects to make their stories more marketable. Often, target audiences reside in different countries, so stories should include the “wide angle view,” tying in issues of international concern.  Panelist Ted Chamberlain suggested that freelancers ask themselves “What would my article look like in a magazine” to get the best results.  

Moderator: Sharon Guynup, Freelance Journalist and Editor, State of the Wild: A Global Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands, and Oceans
Panelists:
Peter Aldhous, San Francisco Bureau Chief, New Scientist
Ted Chamberlain, Managing Editor, National Geographic News
Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor, National Geographic Magazine
Nicole Dyer, Senior Editor, Popular Science
Louise Lief, Deputy Director, International Reporting Project
Tara Rae Miner, Managing Editor, Orion
Mark Spellun, Editor, Plenty

Audio: Concurrent Sessions 1: THE CRAFT: Environment Reporters of the 21st Century

Here's the audio file (MP3/16.7MB/1:13:06) for this Friday, October 17, 2008, session: Download C1_Craft

What are the characteristics of environment reporters of the 21st century? How do specialized journalists compare to general journalists in the United States?

David Sachsman, Mike Mansur, and Bud Ward discussed the findings of a study conducted between 2000 and 2005.  The results showed that environment reporters are very similar to general reporters with only a few minor differences. One notable difference is that environment reporters often have more science education than other reporters. In addition, the study found that, when it comes to a newspaper’s ability to carry specialized reporting, bigger is, in fact, better.  Results of the study showed that the larger the newspaper’s circulation the more likely it is that it will have specialized coverage of issues.

 

The biggest question that contemporary environment journalists are trying to answer is whether it would be more effective to adhere to the traditional standard of objectivity or to evaluate the facts and only present what they see as scientific truth, a method seen by some as advocacy rather than journalism. The quandry comes out of a tension between the traditional school of thought that journalists need to be completely objective, and the feeling of responsibility felt by many journalists to communicate a more subjective idea of truth, especially when it comes to covering pressing environmental issues. The blurring of the lines between objectivity, advocacy, and ethics is becoming more and more a prominent question for specialized reporters of the 21st century. The panel tries to open conversation on how the modern journalist can balance these issues.

Introducing Guest Blogger Curtis Brainard

By Curtis Brainard

Hello, all. I cover science and environmental news for Columbia Journalism Review in New York. This is my third SEJ conference and always one of my favorite events of the year because it reminds me what a great time it is to be an environmental media critic. As Virginia Governor Tim Kaine noted at the opening dinner tonight, our beat has moved out of “the shadows” to front and center in American and global consciousness.

Tonight’s awards ceremony was testimony to just how impressive environmental journalism has become in the last five years or so. Indeed, though my title is media critic, I often feel that I spend more time lauding recent innovations in environmental reportage than I do criticizing its faults. As case in point, on the plane to Roanoke, I wrote a column (link to come) for CJR rebutting a recent article from MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman, which attempted to cast environmental reporting as hollow and gutless, and which riled up a number of SEJ members.

Bootcamp Speaker Suggests Back to Basics, Immersion

Susanne Rust, science reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, told SEJ Bootcampers that reporting on science is not hard to do.  It takes practice.  She warned a group of new and seasoned environmental journalists that the best way to understand the science is to immerse themselves in it. 

Susanne was one of my favorite Tuesday speakers.  She outlined how she and two colleagues put together an investigative story on Bisphenol A, which was one of many published as part of a series of articles. 

Tips to Better Reporting

In adddition to providing some basic information on reporting on climate change, biologist George Kling of the University of Michigan presented 10 suggestions on how journalists can do a better job reporting science.  His list follows:

1. Prepare beforehand.

2. Email a list of questions prior to the interview.

3. Make your deadline clear.  Lead time is appreciated, as journalists and scientists don't have the same expectations about deadlines.

4. Understand the scientist's dilemma of uncertainty.  (Scientists can't always predict what's going to happen, just like weathermen can't always predict the weather.)

5. Prepare for a lack of concrete answers.  (Decide how you will use the information by providing context for the reader.)

6. Ask for an analogy (sports, music, theater, etc.), or examples used in a classroom.  These analogies can help your readers understand abstract information.

7. Use the scientist's words and don't substitute  (e.g. "natural event") unless you get the scientist's permission.

8. Don't lead with the highly unlikely scenario.  (Cultivate the relationship with the source so that you can return to her for more information.)

9. Repeat your understanding.  "So you are saying that....right?"

10. Send story passages for the scientist to check for technical accuracy before it goes to press.

Message from New Blogger Sharon Stringer

Hi, I'm Sharon Stringer.  I'm a communication instructor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and will be attending the SEJ conference for the first time.  This is also my first attempt at blogging.  I thought the blog would be a good opportunity to keep my students in my environmental journalism class posted on my activities while in Roanoke. In addition, my students have been assigned to use TRI data to identify the biggest chemical polluters in their hometown, while I am away.  I instructed them to look at scorecard.org for interpretation of TRI data, however, the most recent scorecard data is from 2002.  Any suggestions on this assignment ???

E-journalism & the economic crunch

Hi, folks -

   With SEJ's 18th annual conference just a few days away now, I can't help but wonder what the future holds - for our country, for the environment, and for our journalistic calling.   My own concerns were echoed in an email recently from Seth Borenstein of the AP, who suggested a conference session on the following question(s):

Can we afford the environment and environmental coverage?

With the current financial meltdown situation, talks of spending freezes (McCain) and cuts, is the environment a luxury that we can no longer afford? What will happen to environmental policies, environmental agencies, environmental groups, and most importantly environment reporters? Do editors want environment stories when they could instead have a financial one?

   Our conference agenda is already pretty well set, but the questions Seth poses here are what I consider to be the undercurrent of this conference.  We'll all be talking about them, if not in the formal sessions, then between and after hours.

Introducing guest blogger: John Sutter

Hello from Roanoke! This is John Sutter, a guest blogger on this site. I'm in Roanoke early for a fellowship with the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. The weather is beautiful, the leaves are turning and the class sessions have been quite informative so far.

I live in Oklahoma City and recently started an environmental news blog at http://concretebuffalo.blogspot.com. My portfolio is up at http://jdsutter.com.    I'm pumped for this week full of learning and fun, especially a rafting trip down the James River, where we'll learn about the impact of agriculture on water quality. That particular trip interested me because Oklahoma's attorney general is suing several poultry companies over alleged water pollution. I made my first hike in the mountains here on Saturday with a friend who works for the Roanoke Times. She was an excellent tour guide, and the view of the Blue Ridge from "sharp point" at the top of the hike was stunning. 

Roanoke Times articles on EJ

On the eve of the Roanoke conference of the Society of Environmental Journalsts, the Roanoke Times published two fine articles by SEJ members yesterday:

Tom Henry wrote:

"All great environmental writers I know take offense at any   suggestion that we're environmentalists. After all, great cop  reporters aren't called cops, and great political reporters aren't  called politicians.

"Journalists are in the business of holding people accountable. Period.