Author: Lamar
Pictures of the Year competition judging kicks off Feb. 16 in record-breaking year
It’s a year like none other for the 78th annual Pictures of the Year judging competition, which kicks off Feb. 16 with almost double the amount of judges as normal, virtual judging and a record breaking number of photos submitted. Entrants submitted more than 40,000 images, along with short films and online storytelling presentations, to … Continued
Q&A: Media reparations with Collette Watson
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Reynolds Journalism Institute or the University of Missouri. While Black Americans have held steady conversations for years on how to repair the generational harms enacted by slavery, American institutions have only recently begun to take … Continued
Descript video: Tips and tricks
Innovation in Focus is a series exploring emerging technology and methods of storytelling for newsrooms worldwide. We interview experts, test tools and provide our findings on a different topic each month. This month I tested Descript’s new video editing software to create this video about a local maker and his business. Here are five tips … Continued
From Next City to Next Journalism: Oscar Perry Abello is redefining accountability journalism
Oscar Perry Abello is a New York City-based journalist and senior economics correspondent for Next City, where he covers responses to economic injustice for the non-profit online magazine devoted to inspiring greater economic, environmental, and social justice in cities. I spoke with Abello as part of RJI’s Inclusive Media and Economies project that examines the … Continued
After 7 months reporting, a surprise discovery — Obits are evergreen
Recently I sat down with the Tampa Bay Times’ analytics tool, Parse.ly, to see what I could learn from seven months of obituary reporting. I found something I did not expect. I read author reports each week on the pieces I write, so I see how they did one week after publication. I’ve learned how … Continued
Journalists are creators now, and that’s a good thing
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Reynolds Journalism Institute or the University of Missouri. Journalism’s hostility is understandable, but our denial is not.In 2009, the former editor-in-chief at Thomson Reuters, David Schlesinger, described journalism as one of the great self-declared professions. He wrote, … Continued
Wise up to Markdown
If you produce journalism for the web, Markdown was made for you Markdown is useful for journalists (and anyone who writes for the web) because it’s a reliable, open-source technology with a non-proprietary format. Copy can be written and edited once and then disseminated through multiple websites, mobile apps, etc. For example, if you were … Continued
Unpublishing challenges demand cohesion between pre- and post-publication policies
Newsroom project shows newsmaking and “news breaking” policies go hand-in-hand I met with several editorial leaders of the Columbia Missourian and KOMU-TV recently about our project to develop pre-publication policies that are crafted in consideration of the longtail of publishing. I’ve written about the importance of critically analyzing reporting practices in a previous article. Our … Continued
How visual metaphor helps move our data off the page
And into people’s brains It’s a new year, and as I’m nearing the end of this fellowship, it seems worth pulling the lens back a bit. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about nuts and bolts —how to build a bot, when to opt for quick and dirty hacks over fresh code, if and … Continued
Having a natural curiosity about mundane processes
Data journalism and where it’s headed next Alex Richards is an assistant professor S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. I spoke to him about data journalism and what is in its future. Monnay: Can you describe your history and experience with data journalism? I was a graduate student at the University of … Continued