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Monthly Archives: November 2004

Publish Your News by Webfeed (Online Media Outreach, Part 8)

November 30, 2004 – 10:53 am

If you think you’re succumbing to e-mail overload, imagine how a journalist feels!
Journalists routinely get bombarded with solicited and unsolicited press announcements and news by e-mail. Also, conversations I’ve had with journalists indicate that many of them don’t have the best spam filters. The result: journalists get overloaded with e-mail and STILL manage to miss [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Media Musings, Real World Writing | Comments (1)

Joe Davis on Secrecy and the Memory Hole

November 19, 2004 – 11:13 am

I asked my friend and colleague Joe Davis – editor of the SEJ Tipsheet, which I write for, and respected expert on information access and the media – to comment on my previous article. Joe was at the FOIA breakfast workshop I mentioned. He was not the reporter with whom I discussed The Memory Hole, but he had some interesting points to make when reviewing my article. I share his views here with his permission…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Adventures, Media Musings, Net Effects on Society | Comments (0)

The Memory Hole, Secrecy, Credibility, and Journalism

November 19, 2004 – 10:18 am

In an age of disappearing information, how can journalists continue to gauge credibility? This question has been sticking in my mind ever since a brief discussion I had last month with a top-notch, old-school reporter…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Adventures, Media Musings, Net Effects on Society | Comments (1)

No PDF Press Releases, Please! (Online Media Outreach, Part 7)

November 18, 2004 – 4:04 pm

Perhaps the most common gaffe I see in online press rooms is when organizations post press releases only in pdf format. I understand why this usually happens: In some organizations, it’s easier and faster to take the release you created for print or fax distribution in a word processor and simply save it as a pdf file. That’s great from the publisher’s perspective, lousy from the journalist’s perspective. Here’s why… (NOTE: This is part 7 of a 10-part series.)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Content Style & Business, Media Musings, Real World Writing | Comments (6)

Make Your Releases Easy to Link to (Online Media Outreach, Part 6)

November 18, 2004 – 2:24 pm

Returning to my series on online media outreach, I’d like to highlight one of the most annoying problems I’ve encountered in online press rooms: Press releases or other informational materials that you can’t link to directly — at least not easily…. (NOTE: This is part 6 of a 10-part series)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Content Style & Business, Media Musings, Real World Writing | Comments (1)

Wetware: The Best Tool for Journalists

November 16, 2004 – 4:55 pm

Back at the SEJ Geek Dinner, the evening ended with a discussion about how journalists can make the most of the most powerful tool in their arsenal: the human mind. This seems obvious, and it is – so obvious that this core journalistic tool routinely gets overlooked…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Adventures, Real World Writing, Resources | Comments (0)

Triage Editing

November 16, 2004 – 2:42 pm

Often there isn’t enough time to edit a document thoroughly. What do you do then? Triage! The goal of editorial triage is to clarify the key points while eliminating the most significant obstacles to flow. Here’s how I accomplish this quickly…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Content Style & Business | Comments (4)

Yes, I\’ve Been Busy…

November 11, 2004 – 12:49 pm

I haven’t posted to CONTENTIOUS is more than a week, so I should let you know what’s up. I’m buried in a major editorial project that is consuming most of my mental energy at the moment. I should be past the big hump shortly, then I’ll finish my series on online press rooms and catch [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Adventures | Comments (3)

Free Beer for a Good Open Office Word Count!

November 1, 2004 – 2:23 pm

Over the last several months I’ve been ridding myself of Microsoft products as much as possible. Therefore, on my new Linux desktop computer I’m running the free Open Office open-source suite of applications. It’s a more-than-adequate replacement for everything I used to use in Microsoft Office. EXCEPT: The word processor included in Open Office has one glaring omission. Currently it only allows you to do a word count for a complete document, not for a paragraph…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Adventures, Real World Writing, Resources | Comments (5)