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category archive listing Category Archives: careers

David Cohn: Pushing journalism frontiers

May 7, 2008 – 7:49 pm

At the NewsTools 2008 conference last week, I had a chance to sit down with one of the emerging luminaries of entrepreneurial, experimental journalism. David Cohn runs the BeatBlogging project for NewAssignment.net, and he also works with NewsTrust . Plus, he runs a great blog of his own and is a constant presence on [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in blogs, business, collaboration, community, conversational media, innovation, interviews, journalism, media evolution, processes, skills, social media, social networks, video | Comments (2)

Journalism: A Toxic Culture? (Or: Why Aren’t We Having More Fun?)

April 28, 2008 – 11:58 am

Despair, Inc.

Remind you of any journalists you know?…

(NOTE: I originally posted this article on Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits. But I thought Contentious readers might be interested in it, too.)
Most of what I do is help journalists and news orgs wrap their brains around the Internet. Generally I enjoy that work. Lately, though, I’ve been getting quite [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Media Musings, collaboration, community, credibility, culture, emotions, events, fun stuff, journalism, media evolution, mindset, problems, skills, solutions | Comments (1)

Overhauling J-School Completely

April 16, 2008 – 3:04 pm

Sscornelius, via Flickr (CC license)

Maybe what journalism education really needs is to start over from a new foundation.

Well, there’s been a ton of great discussion lately on the theme of what kind of education and preparation today’s journalists really need, given the changing landscape of opportunities they’re facing. (Thanks to Mindy McAdams, James Ball, Paul [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Arranging Ideas, business, collaboration, education, journalism, media evolution | Comments (9)

Newsrooms hemorrhage more jobs than ever

April 14, 2008 – 10:36 am

Further to my earlier point that preparing today’s j-school students (undergrad and grad) mainly to work within mainstream news orgs does them an increasingly grave disservice, Rick Edmonds noted on Poynter.org today:
2,400 Newsroom Jobs Lost: Biggest Dip in 30 Years
WASHINGTON — After years of mildly reassuring numbers tracking the size of newspaper newsroom staffs, the [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in business, education, journalism, research, statistics | Comments (1)

New J-Skills: What to Measure?

April 10, 2008 – 10:02 am

Berbercarpet, via Flickr (CC license)

Journalism sudents need the right tools — and skills — for the kinds of careers and opportunities they’re really going to be making for themselves.

Picking up on my post yesterday, Univ. of Florida journalism professor Mindy McAdams challenged me (and her other readers) to translate my quick list of what j-schools [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Content Style & Business, General, Labels and Metadata, PR & marketing, Resources, Strategy, Wikis, blogs, business, collaboration, community, content management, contributed content, conversational media, creativity, credibility, critical thinking, culture, distribution, education, experience, forums, innovation, journalism, media evolution, mindset, mobile, networking, news, processes, projects, research, search, services, skills, social media, traffic, transparency, world | Comments (15)

Journalism remains a smart career, despite shrinking newsrooms

April 9, 2008 – 9:53 am

Yan Arief, via Flickr (CC license)

Journalism skills work well outside the newsroom, too — maybe even better.

One of my BlogHer friends, Elana Centor, just wrote me to pose an interesting question. She asked: Is journalism a smart career path in 2008?
I’m just one of many people she asked, so I can’t wait to see her [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in business, education, generations, journalism, mindset, problems | Comments (7)

Where’s Your “Personal Brand,” and Why?

April 4, 2008 – 9:10 am

There are lots of different ways to brand yourself.

Yesterday my colleague Jim Kukral wrote about why he’s decided to focus on centralizing his personal brand. He wrote:
“My biggest mistake from the past 7-years or so was not building my personal brand on my own blog hard enough, earlier enough. Some may wonder why someone like [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in PR & marketing, blogs, business, conversational media, search, serendipity, skills, social media, social networks | Comments (5)

Newspaper Biz: Evolution Isn’t the End of the World

February 7, 2008 – 10:36 am

Rob Lee, via Flickr (CC license)

Some ways of approaching what looks like the end of the world are more constructive than others.

(NOTE: I originally wrote this for Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits. I’m cross-posting it here because I think it might also interest Contentious readers.)
This morning I read in the New York Times a cold litany of [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Strategy, business, collaboration, future, journalism, media evolution, solutions | Comments (0)

How and why to get started with blogging: The REAL answer

December 19, 2007 – 10:47 am

afkatws, via Flickr (CC license)

Don’t just start blogging. Spend some time scoping things out first.

Almost daily, people e-mail me to ask me for advice about their online-media careers. I just got such an inquiry this morning. It started out pretty typically:
“I found your Contentious.com recently. I’m very interested in online writing as a career. Can [...]

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Conversations, blogs, business, community, conversational media, experience, media literacy, skills, social media, solutions, tips | Comments (8)