May 2013
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April 2013
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“What you read is important, but not all important. How you read is the main...”
– Timeless wisdom from 75+ years ago: How to acquire knowledge. (via explore-blog)
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March 2013
4 posts
“Media people who feel smug because they have a Twitter handle, an about.me page,...”
– Hamish McKenzie, PandoDaily, So Columbia Journalism School’s new dean doesn’t Tweet. So what?
FJP: We’d argue that Twitter and this overall social media thing takes more than 40 seconds to learn but Hamish’s argument against Michael Wolff’s criticism of the Columbia J-School — and its appointment...
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books written for girls
theboyhimself:
it’s international women’s day. so to celebrate, here are my top ten favourite feminist books.
1. stiffed by susan faludi. it’s such a beautifully written book. shipyards, baseball, john wayne, rambo, the promise keepers, waco. this is in my top ten favourite books of all time. when we were writing the first album i took more ideas for lyrics from this book than anywhere else....
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Common Writing Mistakes →
amandaonwriting:
Benjamin Dreyer is the VP Executive Managing Editor & Copy Chief of Random House Publishing Group. Below is his list of the common stumbling blocks for authors, from A to X.
One buys antiques in an antiques store from an antiques dealer; an antique store is a very old store.
He stayed awhile; he stayed for a while.
Besides is other than; beside is next to.
The singular...
February 2013
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January 2013
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December 2012
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“I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client...”
– Saul Bass
September 2012
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Michelle Obama's speech
The New York Times: But the main attraction of the evening was the appearance of Mr. Obama’s lead character witness: the first lady, who, wearing a pink-and-gold-speckled sleeveless dress, was greeted with chants of “Four more years!” from the excited arena, to which she responded: “With your help.” (third para. by Jim Rutenberg)
The Atlantic: Those who are fans of the first lady will doubtless spend the next few days dissecting her patterned silk Tracy Reese frock, or her very high pink heels, or how she made them feel. But the first lady is no Barbie doll. What she is is a Harvard Law School-educated attorney playing dress up in America's most old-fashioned White House position. (second to fourth para. by Garance Franke-Ruta)
The New Yorker: Clad in a very pretty pink and silver dress designed by Tracy Reese, which showed off her well-toned arms, she appeared on the bright blue stage to a two-minute standing ovation. (sixth para. by John Cassidy)
Esquire: I sat with the Ohio delegation as she spoke, and I watched from close up as she went from one thing — a woman of glamor and poise, in a dress the color of sherbet and matching heels — to quite another, in the course of a single speech. (eighth para. by Tom Junod) | And when at last she returned to where she started — when she said that her "most important title is still Mom-in-Chief" — even her glamor was gone, for the glitter that everyone saw was no longer the sheen of her dress or the sparkle of her earrings, but rather the tears in her eyes. (penultimate para.)
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6 questions journalists should be able to answer...
What piques your curiosity about the story?
What’s new about the story, and why do you want to tell it now?
Why will the reader or viewer care about the story?
How can we tell this story digitally? (or visually)
What questions will you need to ask to get this story, and what sources will you need to consult?
How much time will you need to produce the story, and how much space/time do you think the story deserves?
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July 2012
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“If you don’t want to propagate more mass murders, don’t start the story with...”
– How to Cover a Mass Murder (via modernprimate)
I meant to reblog this to my personal account, but I’ll let it remain here. Thoughts are with Aurora.
(via ilovecharts)
June 2012
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In Praise of Print
FJP: The Guardian reports on both the success of print magazines, and the symbiotic relationship print and digital delivery can have for a brand. Here are some ideas from the article (http://bit.ly/Ke0hGj).
Marcus Webb: We want to make something which is treasured, which ends its days making the bookshelf, coffee table or toilet just that little bit prettier and more civilized.
Joerg Koch: You don't need print for news any more. But for long, visual-driven stories, it can offer a business model and an immersive focused quality that digital cannot offer yet.
Dave Eggars: To survive, the newspaper, and the physical book, needs to set itself apart from the web. Physical forms of the written word need to offer a clear and different experience. And if they do, we believe, they will survive.
Munro Smith: Computers and video games haven't killed physical toys and games, so there's no reason why the digital world should kill print. Lack of innovation or providing a poor product is far more likely to do that. The amazing range of technological opportunities that can be used to support and interact with print are definitely a bonus, not a threat.
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“We decided to credit editors because they live and breath the stories they work...”
– Hugo Lindgren, Editor, New York Times Magazine. Reddit. I’m Hugo Lindgren, editor of the New York Times magazine.
Hugo Lindgren spent time on Reddit’s IAmA board yesterday to answer questions about his career, magazines and journalism. Here, he’s talking about giving editors byline credits in the...
May 2012
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April 2012
8 posts
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“I’m content to regard the Internet as the best and brightest machine ever made...”
– Lapham’s Quarterly editor Lewis Lapham on machine-made news.
Also see 7 notable books on the future of information and the internet.
(via explore-blog)
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On Loneliness & Technology
FJP: We've been reading different takes on digital social networks and how/if they impact solitude, loneliness, and offline socializing. Here is a mash-up of the conversations we've been following.
The Atlantic: Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill.
NY Times: New communications technologies make living alone a social experience, so being home alone does not feel involuntary or like solitary confinement. The person alone at home can digitally navigate through a world of people, information and ideas. Internet use does not seem to cut people off from real friendships and connections.
The Atlantic: We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier. In a world consumed by ever more novel modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society. We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are. We were promised a global village; instead we inhabit the drab cul-de-sacs and endless freeways of a vast suburb of information.
Slate: Articles about American alienation may well feel true to those who long for simpler, happier times, but they’re built on fables and fantasies. In fact, there’s zero evidence that we’re more detached or lonely than ever.
The New Yorker: M.I.T. psychologist Sherry Turkle, takes issue with the basic promises of digital connection. She thinks that togetherness, far from being strengthened by technology, has been crowded out by “the half-light of virtual community.”
The Atlantic: But it is clear that social interaction matters. Loneliness and being alone are not the same thing, but both are on the rise. We meet fewer people. We gather less. And when we gather, our bonds are less meaningful and less easy. The decrease in confidants—that is, in quality social connections—has been dramatic over the past 25 years.
The New Yorker: Klinenberg’s research suggests that our usual perceptions about life alone get things backward. Far from being a mark of social abandonment, the solo life tends to be a path for moving ahead, for taking control of one’s circumstances. And, rather than consigning individuals to suffer in their solitude, aloneness may come at a cost to the community. The single life is inherently self-interested: it calls for vigilance on matters of self-preservation both large (financial autonomy) and small (dish detergent), and, in many cases, it frees the solitary from the sorts of daily interaction that help craft a sense of shared responsibility.
NY Times: The Pew Internet Personal Networks and Community Survey — a nationally representative survey of 2,512 American adults conducted in 2008 that was the first to examine how the Internet and cellphones affect our core social networks — shows that Web use can lead to more social life, rather than to less. “Social Isolation and New Technology,” written by the Rutgers University communications scholar Keith Hampton, reveals that heavy users are more likely than others to have large and diverse social networks; more likely to visit parks, cafes and restaurants; and more likely to meet diverse people with different perspectives and beliefs.
The New Yorker: Given our digital habits, the question isn’t whether we should use technology to ease our loneliness. It’s how.
FJP (Jihii): Ah, key question. So, where do we stand? I'll quote Michael.
FJP (Michael): What do I think about social media? For my personal use it’s a bit of a time suck and I have to remind myself to step away from it, head outdoors and wrap my mind around something more substantive than the flurry of information I find myself in. For professional use it’s integral to the FJP’s ability to build audiences and engage with them. I can’t think of how we would be able to accomplish what we do without it. Societally, I’m a big believer in tools and platforms that allow people to connect, organize and share information. Social media increases the speed with which people can do so more than any other tool in history. This is great. My fear with it though is that people will increasingly build information silos around themselves and only hear and expose themselves to information that they want to hear, and from a partisan perspective from which they’d like to hear it. (http://bit.ly/HsAnMN)
FJP (Jihii): So yes, the power is in our hands, social media users. How do you choose to use your social networks? I think the key point is to continually check ourselves and reflect on just that.
PS: Sorry for the lack of links. This post format won't allow it. Here are links to the articles. (Note that both the NY Times piece and Slate piece are by Eric Klinenberg.)
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/I22q7e
Slate: http://slate.me/J8BJzY
The Atlantic: http://bit.ly/I0nwmI
The New Yorker: http://nyr.kr/InwNEz
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How We Will Read: Clay Shirky
fndgs:
This post is part of “How We Will Read,” an interview series exploring the future of books from the perspectives of publishers, writers, and intellectuals. Read our kickoff post with Steven Johnson here. And check out our new homepage, a captivating new way to explore Findings.
This week, we were extremely honored to speak to Internet intellectual Clay Shirky, writer, teacher, and...
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In Which Editors Become Brand-Managers →
futurejournalismproject:
Click through to read John Koblin’s piece on the new role editors have had to take on as magazines develop into multi-platform brands. Highlights below.
Some aren’t worried.
Everyone at Condé Nast is supportive of the most important thing — editorial freedom and independence — and, at the same time, I know that financial health is essential and so is getting our work...
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February 2012
3 posts
“Persevere. Plan. Strategize. Focus. Breathe. Write.
Let go: relax. Forgive. All...”
– Mary Anne Radmacher
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