Archives for category: General Journalism

@MacDivaONA is now @MacDiva

March 16, 2011 //

A long time ago in an Internet culture far, far from where we are now, it was normal to use a handle online. As the founder of a Macintosh enthusiast webzine (remember those?), I was known as MacDiva. People liked the name: It was catchy, meaningful and easy to remember.

In 2007, like many of you, I discovered Twitter. That same year, I joined the Online News Association conference planning committee with the intention of sharing what was happening with as many people as possible, even if they couldn’t be there in person.

At the time, I couldn’t post to the conference website; that was reserved as the showcase for the student newsroom. I couldn’t post to the ONA website; that would have presented problems of its own. So I turned to Twitter, created @MacDivaONA and began recording what I saw.

I’ve been involved with the ONA conference planning board ever since, experimenting with different ways of bringing a virtual version of the annual event to anyone who wants to be a part of it.

The conference isn’t the only time I use Twitter, though, and ONA isn’t the only organization I’m actively involved with. And as Jennifer 8. Lee recently pointed out, people who don’t know my IRL name often do know me as MacDiva — though they don’t always remember the ONA ending.

So now that there’s a brief lull between journalism and technical events, I’m simplifying — for all of our sakes: On Twitter, I’m now @MacDiva.

Have you recently decided to change your online name? What urged you to action? Share right here, or ping me @MacDiva.

Categories General Journalism

NICAR Newscamp at CAR2011

February 23, 2011 //

It’s true what they say: You might graduate school, but you never stop learning.

Tomorrow is the start of the annual CAR Conference, where “computer-assisted reporters” (affectionately referred to as data nerds, jounocoders, and “those spreadsheet geeks over there”) get together for deep education. As one attendee puts it, it’s where journalists learn and demonstrate how to do things. And that’s pretty great.

I’ll be in town to attend the NewsCamp data visualization workshop, where luminaries like Amanda Cox, Daniel Lathrop and Martin Wattenberg will teach a gamut of dataviz skills. The unofficial attendee list looks pretty spectacular too.

If you’re attending and we haven’t met (or seen each other in a while), say hi. If you can’t make it, Computerworld’s online managing editor Sharon Machlis will be collecting notable info in the window below. You can also follow along via Twitter by searching on “NICAR.”

Tags conferences, IRE, NICAR

Categories General Journalism

The Visual Appeal of Super Bowl Sunday

February 6, 2011 //

In case you haven’t heard or seen, Super Bowl XLV TV coverage begins on Fox Sports at 2 p.m ET today, with the kickoff at 6:29 p.m. ET.

Fans, sponsors, and more are pulling out the stops for what’s being described as a classic matchup between two old-school, cheerleader-less football franchises in an unexpectedly icy stadium.

For a sport that has never failed to capture national attention, it’s interesting to see the size of each team’s respective fan nations are in landmass — and to notice how the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers areas are almost evenly matched.

Here’s graphic designer Jared Fanning‘s take:

A slightly different, visually exciting version was posted on I Love Charts :

National spectacle knows no bounds, however, and Visa, smartly, is taking advantage with dynamic visualizations of Twitter chatter, including a look at football-related trending topics in the days leading up to today’s big game:

Not everyone will be focused on Super Bowl pre-game coverage, or at least that’s what Animal Planet is counting on.

The Puppy Bowl is back, offering entertainment to those who prefer tumbling fuzzy animals to the charging bulls of the gridiron. Broadcast starts at 3 p.m. ET (tape delayed to 3 p.m. Pacific).

Meanwhile, advertisers have put up big bank to be a part of today’s big game. “Fox was seeking between $2.8 million and $3 million for 30 seconds of time,” writes AdAge, which rounds up facts on all the spots.

Tags Maps, sports, Super Bowl, twitter

Categories General Journalism

How to Be a Better Journalist

December 22, 2010 //

In the course of my career, I’ve spent a lot of time asking about the things that appeal most to editors, those gatekeepers of bylines, the masters of purse strings. Every single one has said, in some fashion, that they want a good story.

On the one hand, you’re probably saying, “Duh.” But you might also be asking, “How do I improve?”

Journalism is as much craft as profession. And the only way you get good at craft is to continually practice and polish. For me, that means reading. A lot. Especially at the end of the year, when I turn to anthologies from the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt “Best American” series.

The first time through, I’ll read for the pleasure of reading. But when there’s a particularly striking story, I’ll go over it again and pick out compositional structure, think about the questions that were asked and the author’s angle, listen for turns of phrase, look for holes.

Approaching the collection so deliberately takes time, which is why it takes me until December to get around to reading books that were published in January.

This year, I’ve collected the 22 articles from “The Best American Science Writing 2010” on Delicious and mirrored them on Pinboard. They’re by some of the biggest names in science writing, which, in my opinion, is one of the toughest subjects to cover for a mass audience, and therefore, the most interesting to study.

Read, enjoy, and tell me which are your favorites and why. If you get really ambitious (or nostalgic), have a look at the 2006 collection.

For something completely different, read “Trying Really Hard to Like India,” a really funny article by Seth Stevenson that was part of the 2006 “Best American Travel Writing” anthology.

Tags anthology, best of, writing

Categories General Journalism