RJI news
The Odessan keeps an eye on digital, but depends on print
When she was a girl, Betty Spaar slept on newsprint. She found this was the best option when her parents brought her to the office at night. Her father was a linotype operator during the Great Depression. Today, Betty is the owner of The Odessan, a weekly paper in Lafayette County, Missouri. She represents the … Continued
RJI Fellow’s oral history website shares stories, challenges and inspirations of female journalists
An oral history website chronicling female journalists’ fight for gender equality in the Fourth Estate launches today. Herstory tells the stories of 34 veteran female journalists and the challenges, struggles and triumphs they faced in a historically male-dominated profession. The women were interviewed as part of the 2013-2014 RJI Fellowship of Yong Volz, an associate … Continued
How to make money on digital: The answer is still elusive
The main story that came out of my first stop on the Potter Listening Tour (#potterlisten) is that a small paper can achieve significant success in building a digital audience. However, figuring out how to make money from that achievement is still a tough task. The Houston Herald serves more than 25,000 people in Texas … Continued
Houston Herald: Weekly in print, daily online
When something newsworthy happens in Houston, Missouri, residents expect their local weekly paper to tell them about it — now. “If people hear sirens,” says Publisher Brad Gentry, “they expect us to have the story.” That’s the way the Houston Herald likes it. When its reporters learn of an event, the Herald sends out a … Continued
Small-town paper wish list: Time-efficient means to analyze and implement innovations
What Houston (Mo.) Herald folks want from the Potter Conferences was something of a surprise. Publisher Brad Gentry and his team aren’t shy about dedicating resources to digital innovation although they want to do it in the most cost-efficient way. But with only eight employees to serve 25,000-plus souls in Texas County, they’re spread thin. … Continued
Clyde Bentley, Missouri School of Journalism: 3-D and virtual reality as a cornerstone of future
Clyde Bentley took the long route to academia. He worked in the newspaper industry for 25 years before earning his doctorate in journalism at the University of Oregon in 2000. His dissertation, which examined the impact of consumer habits on newspaper readership, grew out of his prior experiences as a reporter, photographer, copy editor and … Continued
Potter listening tour of community newspapers begins this month
Walter B. Potter Jr. — donor of the Missouri School of Journalism’s Walter B. Potter Fund for Innovation in Local Journalism — will be visiting community newspapers in Missouri this month and next as part of what’s known informally as The Potter Listening Tour. The tour name is inspired by trips politicians sometimes take to … Continued
Seattle’s Best: Mary Bruno
Don’t overlook the home of Microsoft, Amazon, Zillow and other innovative companies large and small when looking for voices in media thought leadership. Below are observations and insights from a handful of the city’s media leaders that I collected while accompanying a Missouri School of Journalism innovation and entrepreneurship class as they visited each venue.
Looking at a photographic image from another point of view: Yours
Good writers can conjure a vivid image in our minds with just words. But journalists also have long relied on illustrations, photographs and videos to enrich a story. Photographs and, by extension, videos have an important limitation. The story is told from one point of view – that of the photographer. The photographer structures our … Continued
Columbia Missourian covers True/False Film Fest using 3-D imaging
The Columbia Missourian took a new tack on “in-depth journalism” by offering its readers 3-D images of costumed participants in the True/False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouri. Missourian photographer Mike Krebs used a Structure Sensor 3-D scanner from the MU3D project to create detailed images of festival participants just before the event and then shot … Continued