Annual count of women’s bylines shows little progress | Poynter.
VIDA Women in Literary Arts has released their annual count of women’s bylines. The New Yorker is just one of many publications that they surveyed that continued to show a preference for men’s bylines.
VIDA’s website has charts on the byline breakdown on a number of publications, including The Atlantic, The New Republic, Harper’s, Boston Review and more.
The Making of ProPublica’s Pipeline Safety Feature
Here’s a great example of data and journalism love.
The above link will take you to Lena Greoger’s first hand account of how she’s used a dataset to compliment her reporting. Lena made ProPublica’s Pipeline Explainer, which makes sense of 26 years worth of records on pipeline-related accidents — explosions, leaks, fires, and spills. From the data set, which gave her the dates, cost, deaths and locations of the incidents, Lena created an interactive map so readers can find the incidents closest to their homes.
After almost 25 years as a reporter, I’m convinced a good journalism education turns out students who think carefully and deeply.
That might sound strange, given my background. I didn’t go to journalism school. Instead, I stumbled into the field in my 30s, after a few years as a freelance writer. I needed more than a couple weeks to learn the 5 Ws and 1H, but a stint as a night cops reporter gave me some chops.
Along the way, I learned that powerful journalism springs from questioning and probing, skills I was taught as a liberal arts major. If I wanted a memorable article, I had to do more than get quotes from the school board meeting. I had to challenge assertions, perceptions and assumptions – including my own.
Otherwise, I wasn’t a journalist. I was a stenographer.
"— By Afi-Odelia Scruggs, In defense of journalism education: The 3 essentials it teaches (Poynter 10/11/12)
— Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
… that I haven’t written in my (physical) journal for ages. I’ve kept a journal since third grade, and I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long without updating it.
Sure, I’ve been busy, but I think it’s also because I no longer need such an outlet. As a journalism student, now I get to write every day about topics that fascinate me and inspire me to learn more about my community and the people that live in it. In some ways, then, it’s like I’m still writing in my journal - except instead of filing the entries away, I’m sharing them with others in the hopes of fascinating and inspiring them in turn.
East Chagrin, Ohio, found an interesting way to cover a bear sighting.THISis the kind of hard-hitting, self-aware, tongue-in-cheek journalism I aspire to.
Awesome.
…then there is the matter of how we learned about the decision—and the media reports, notably by CNN and Fox News, that got it wrong. There are lessons there, several of which were drawn out in a seven-thousand-word post Tom Goldstein, of SCOTUSblog, wrote about how the story unfoldedbetween 10:06 and 10:15 A.M. E.T. on Thursday, June 28th. Some of them we already know—for example, that SCOTUSblog itself did an exemplary job. But there’s more, too, with some conclusions that go beyond this case.
Click-through for six lessons to take away from the misreporting: http://nyr.kr/Mgu6VR
— Why The New York Times eschews formal social media guidelines for staff | Poynter.
(via onaissues)
After reading this New Republic article by Michael Lewis, I was struck by how much the journalism industry has changed since Lewis wrote in 1993.
In his article, Lewis accuses j-school (or at least the Columbia School of Journalism, where he gathered material for his story) of being a disseminator of jargon and false promises, a waste of money for aspiring reporters hoping to break into the industry. He quotes news editors who insist that j-school does not make a difference in hiring new talent, and in fact sometimes detracts from the applicants that list j-school programs on their resumes.
I can see how, in 1993, j-school perhaps wasn’t necessary for most aspiring journalists. Real experience counts for a lot, and if a writer could land an internship or job out of college, they could slowly begin to build their career. Plus, it’s tough to teach good writing (even at Columbia) if a student doesn’t have the knack for it. I get that. However, I also can’t help but wonder how much Lewis draws upon his own experience to inform his opinion of j-school. After all, he graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a degree in Art History and went on to become a journalist and a writer. No j-school degree helped him achieve his success.
But the industry has changed, and so has the economy. Now, having other skills besides reporting and writing makes journalists much more attractive in the job market. And for students like me, who were unable to major in Journalism during their undergraduate careers and did not gather a ton of clips, enrolling in a graduate j-school program seems like the perfect way to gather the additional skills and experience needed to find a job. At Syracuse, I will be learning some graphic design skills, which will enable me to understand typography and basic design principles of print layouts (and help me make a fancy resume). I’ll also take a formal class on ethics - rather than just winging it, which can lead to trouble - and I’ll learn how to use social media effectively as a tool to publicize my writing, crowdsource for research, and maximize the visibility of my employer or publication’s work on the Web. J-school is no longer just about learning some fancy jargon, obsessing over proper grammar and spelling, and writing weekly articles on topics that don’t matter. J-school - or, at least, Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications - provides journalists with the experience and skills needed to keep them afloat in the tumultuous, mashup, print-digital-iPad industry that will continue to evolve and change after graduation next year. And when I leave Syracuse in July 2013, I’m excited to know that I’ll be prepared to meet the demands of this brave new world - and contribute my own unique perspective to it, using the knowledge of graphic design, social media, writing, and editing that I’ve gained during my time at j-school.
Hi! I'm Ellie Wilkinson. I'm currently working toward my master's degree in magazine, newspaper, and online journalism at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Before Syracuse, I graduated from Princeton University in 2012 with a B.A. in English.
I use this Tumblr as my blog, as well as a place to share news, photos, videos, and other interesting tidbits. Topics that especially interest me include journalism, social media, design, science, and technology.
Check out my website and follow me on Twitter @ebwilkin.
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