Online Journalism

Mandy Jenkins, Social Media Editor of TBD.com, joined our class today for a lecture on types of social media and the impact they have had on various aspects of journalism.

TBD.com is a local news website that focuses on the DC Metro Area. It even features things like RSS Feeds, Twitter and Facebook to connect more users individually and to the TBD network.

Jenkins explained that local news covers a specific area, while hyperlocal news focuses tightly on a specific area of a community. Patch is a great example of a hyperlocal news outlet, which covers more than 600 communities nation-wide.

When asked about publishing news stories that highlight horrific encounters to gain a broad public audience, such as the recent YouTube video post of a man beaten by teenagers on the Metro, Jenkins replied, “It’s journalism. Sometimes you have to give attention to the bad guys.”

Jenkins also provided a list of helpful social media related websites to use:

• Hootsuite
• Tweetdeck
• Muckrack
• Trendsmap
• Storify
• Extranormal
• Twellow
• MapIt

Claudia Holland, head of the Copyright Resources Office at George Mason University, joined us in class today for a lecture on copyright policy.

Copyright traits include:

• expression of creativity
• element of originality
• fixation

Protected works include:

• music
• movies
• literature
• sound
• architecture

Unprotected works include:

• ideas
• principles
• methods of operation
• public domain
• basic facts
• titles and names
• short phrases and slogans
• generally, anything published prior to 1923

When using a copyrighted source, attribution is always required, except in the case of resources used for school/educational purposes. Although most everything nowadays is copyrighted, you can’t copyright certain mechanisms — for example, you can’t copyright the way a watch works, but you can copyright the design of the watch.

Rights of copyright owners:

• reproduction
• manufacturing
• public display and performace
• merchandise
• digital audio transmission

The Fair Use rule allows people the right to use pieces of a certain copyrighted work, however they must adhere to the four elements of Fair Use, which are:

• purpose and character of the use
• nature of the work
• amount and substantiality of the portion used
• effect of the use on the potential market

http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/73282/what-is-your-media-pyramid/

Usually, I get the most of my news from family members, MSN, the CBS Sunday Morning show, and National Geographic magazine and website. I receive news from these resources the most because they have information that relates to my life and what I am interested in.

In the middle of my pyramid, I list a few newspapers such as The Washington Post and the News & Messenger. I would like to get more information from newspapers, however I find it very time consuming to sit down and flip through each and every page. Usually, I prefer to read an online version of a newspaper because of it’s easier access and readability.

Towards the top of my pyramid, I list a few entertainment resources like Twitter, Rolling Stone Magazine and The Onion. Although these might not have hard-news information, they do detail specific events and serve as a more unique way for getting my news.