Category Archives: HonorTagProfessional

Online Community Newspapers for Sale: Out2 Media Group Is Out To Nurture “Hyper-Local” Citizen Journalism

Want to own your own online newspaper? Bob Leonard, CEO of Out2 Media Group, may have a deal for you. He will set you up with a “hyper-local” local online presence. He will train you to be a newspaperman and a businessman. And he wants your reporters to get paid. Leonard believes all media isContinue reading “Online Community Newspapers for Sale: Out2 Media Group Is Out To Nurture “Hyper-Local” Citizen Journalism”

Citizen Journalists at the Gates

For a profession where the practioners’ names are connected to every story, journalism is a bed of insecurity stuffed with pathos, where journalists bemoan their lot in life as if the act was as essential as breathing. Forget that a journalist’s job is so important that it is written into the U.S. Constitution, the questionContinue reading “Citizen Journalists at the Gates”

In a World Full of Strangers, Everyone is a Suspect

I wrote a newspaper column nine years ago about the perils of living in a world full of strangers – nobodies, if you would. Now that I am an official Nobody I decided to pull out that old column to see if it still had resonance today. Following is an excerpt from that piece soContinue reading “In a World Full of Strangers, Everyone is a Suspect”

Death Becomes Moussaoui — Now What Becomes of Us?

Before I started blogging, before I went into PR and marketing communications, I spent several months of my journalism life talking to convicted murders on Death Rows throughout the United States, and many more months writing about the experience for a book. I was a capital punishment expert, a frequent guest on radio talk showsContinue reading “Death Becomes Moussaoui — Now What Becomes of Us?”

“Unbundled Journalists” Revisited: Reporters — and Good Journalism — are What Matter Most

If the web is alive, as Newsweek proclaims, then conversation is the oxygen that makes it so. But conversation also has a nasty habit of making you think, and a recent comment from John Cass of Backbone Media has had me thinking to the point of obsession, like that song you can’t seem to getContinue reading ““Unbundled Journalists” Revisited: Reporters — and Good Journalism — are What Matter Most”

“Unbundled Journalists” Revisited: Reporters — and Good Journalism — are What Matter Most

If the web is alive, as Newsweek proclaims, then conversation is the oxygen that makes it so. But conversation also has a nasty habit of making you think, and a recent comment from John Cass of Backbone Media has had me thinking to the point of obsession, like that song you can’t seem to getContinue reading ““Unbundled Journalists” Revisited: Reporters — and Good Journalism — are What Matter Most”

One More Question: Helen Thomas Wheels A Final Blast of Truth to Power

Journalism used to have icons, larger-than-life figures that blasted through television screens and tore through newsprint like banshees. They went on missions not assignments, were driven by purpose instead of paychecks, and remained dead serious when someone referred to their roles as fulfilling a public trust. Those days – those journalists – are gone. ButContinue reading “One More Question: Helen Thomas Wheels A Final Blast of Truth to Power”

San Jose Mercury News: Paper Turns to a Little PR – and Pride – To Save Itself

Hell hath no fury like the heartfelt kvetches of ink-stained wretches. Save The Merc, a web site published by employees of the San Jose Mercury News, is appealing to the local community for salvation, or at least support in their bid to save a “vital civic institution.” They want readers to sign a petition andContinue reading “San Jose Mercury News: Paper Turns to a Little PR – and Pride – To Save Itself”

Death by Google: What News Must Do to Earn Back its Brand

CARNAGE IN IRAQ, tears over missing teens, stories of lost hope in New Orleans. Cue the music. Run the graphics package. Lights, camera, action. We have seen this so much we have come to expect it – the “big” news story arriving with its own jingle and logo. Newspapers do the same with special sections,Continue reading “Death by Google: What News Must Do to Earn Back its Brand”

The Chosen One: Richard Edelman and the Path to the PR Promised Land

I was glad to hear Richard Edelman say that journalists are no longer Gods (thanks for the heavenly tip, Media Orchard). I assume he meant print media and not CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who not only is a God, but also, as we learned from his Hurricane Katrina coverage, can walk on and well as throughContinue reading “The Chosen One: Richard Edelman and the Path to the PR Promised Land”