Why Blog It?

Hello world,

Welcome to the HofstraJConvergence blog, with the mission of creating an online conversation with the journalism community, and certainly within Hofstra University.

Our profession is undergoing transformational change as information technology advances at a dazzling rate -- at least for those of us who notice those things. For today's college students, who grew up with computers, and are always flipping to their Facebook page, it's just the way it is.

I am a journalist and an educator tasked with responsibly helping college students attain an education and the intellectual tools -- to not only participate in, but to help lead thinking on how we should do and teach journalism in an age of rising social networks, bottoms-up empowerment, instant information and high-speed Internet access. And blogs.

Following this are some sections of suggested readings for a required class in journalism tools. They are my suggestions and I hope will attract comment and suggestions as we consider what resources the students should read as they begin exploring these tools.

Each sector has its own URL and comments section. The penultimate post is all the suggestions in one. The collaborative suggestions will be reposted at the top after the considerations are made.
--mk

Journalism Web Design Guide

Dave Raggett's Getting Started with HTML as posted on the W3.org web, the folks who regulate web standards. Recommended by Robert Niles, editor of Online Journalism Review.

A section from the Knowledge Board website.

The web design section from Journerdism, the blog of Will Sullivan, award-winning Interactive Projects Editor at The Palm Beach Post newspaper.

The Design Desk section, from Poynter.org.

The article, Help Me Redesign the Web, from Roger Black, via MIT's Technology Review magazine (registration required, so very Web 1.0).

Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book ($54.99), via Journalism Education Association.

All-in-one tutorial on Photoshop Express.

Digital Photography Ethics Guidelines for Journalism, via DigitalCustom.

Recording Audio

A tutorial from Adobe.

A compendium of sites, tutorials from the Association of Independents in Radio.

Graphics, Information, and Visuals

Edward Tufte is regarded as one of the top thinker in the field of presenting data and information. A former Knight fellow profiled Tufte in this article in Stanford's alumn magazine. It's a good place to think about what his work introduces into the important conversations we should have on journalism's role in the area of information and graphics.

A primer on graphics and web design, based on Tufte's ideas, from the University of Washington.

Blogs, Podcasts, and Vidcasts

Decidedly-New Jersey oriented, Manifest Technology provides an overview of blogs, podcasts and vidcasts.

Flash Slideshows and Journalism

Roger Galbraith's Digital Photography Insights profiles the Soundslides program that has had a meteoric rise in use in newspapers' online units. It offers a lot of how-they-do-its that are useful for students to read before they are faced with the challenge of gathering audio, taking pictures and producing the piece.

Mobilecasting

An interview with Tea Vui Huang, creator of "Mobilecast," published on About.com. Gets technical, but that is helpful.

My Suggestions, Together (For Printout)

• Web Page Production and HTML for Journalism
• Dave Raggett's Getting Started with HTML as posted on the W3.org web, the folks who regulate web standards. Recommended by Robert Niles, editor of Online Journalism Review.
• Journalism Web Design Guide
• A section from the Knowledge Board website.
• The web design section from Journerdism, the blog of Will Sullivan, award-winning Interactive Projects Editor at The Palm Beach Post newspaper.
• The Design Desk section, from Poynter.org.
• The article, Help Me Redesign the Web, from Roger Black, via MIT's Technology Review (registration required).
• Photoshop
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book ($54.99), via Journalism Education Association.
• All-in-one tutorial on Photoshop Express.
• Digital Photography Ethics Guidelines for Journalism, via DigitalCustom.
• Recording Audio
• A tutorial from Adobe.
• A compendium of sites, tutorials from the Association of Independents in Radio.
• Graphics, Information and Visuals
• Edward Tufte is regarded as the godfather of presenting data and information. A former Knight fellow profiled Tufte in this article in Stanford magazine. It's a good place to start the conversation on information and graphics.
• A primer on graphics and web design, based on Tufte's ideas, from the University of Washington.
• Blogs, Podcasts, and Vidcasts
• Decidedly-New Jersey oriented, Manifest Technology provides an overview of blogs, podcasts and vidcasts.
• Flash Slideshows and Journalism
• Roger Galbraith's Digital Photography Insights profiles the Soundslides program that has had a meteoric rise in newspapers' online units. It offers a lot of how-they-do-its that are useful for students to read before they are faced with the challenge of gathering audio, taking pictures and producing the piece.
• Mobilecasting
• An interview with Tea Vui Huang, creator of "Mobilecast," published on About.com.