Twenty years ago, I'll bet a lot of people told Mark Potts he was crazy for eschewing the printed newspaper to focus on creating electronic outlets for journalism. Today, I'll bet a lot of people are apologizing to him.
Now, here's your chance to take a stab at innovation, which, as you realize, is not so easy. Write about what you would do if you were given the freedom to create a new product or means of distributing news? It could be a device (like an iPad or SmartPhone), or a niche service that provides information for a specific audience or on a particular topic, or it could be a way of gathering information in a unique manner.
Remember, the means and method may change, but many skills and requirements of reporters remain constant: gathering and disseminating truthful information in an responsible manner while remaining accountable and free from outside influence. Those who have taken JOUR 300/600, Ethics, recognize much of that comes from the SPJ Code of Ethics.
Post your replies by Monday, Oct. 3, at 12 noon. Thanks.
Alan
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This past Thursday began like any other Thursday. I pressed the “snooze” button on my alarm twice, which afforded me just enough time to take a quick shower, throw on some clothes and catch the bus in time for my 9:30 a.m. Sociology lecture.
ReplyDeleteRight before hopping on the bus, I considered picking up a copy of The Diamondback. I wanted the news, but I was tired. My mind was still waking up, and reading seemed like too much effort. So instead, I pulled out my iPod and listened to some hip-hop.
During that 15-minute commute to class, I began thinking about my decision to not pick up the paper that morning. “I wish someone would just read it to me,” I thought.
That’s when it hit me. Someone should invent an iPhone application that makes that fanciful thought into a reality. Imagine waking up every morning, and instead of picking up a bulky newspaper or navigating the Internet to find a particular website, you just press a button on your phone and a soothing voice begins reading articles from your favorite news outlet.
There would be no fear of painful paper cuts, no concerns over the accurate pronunciations of various Middle Eastern cities and no hassle.
Getting the news shouldn’t be a chore. It should be a relaxed and calm experience. And what could be more calming than being read to? Just because you grow older doesn’t mean you don’t secretly miss your mom reading bedtime stories to you. After all, isn’t that one of the main reasons books on tape were invented? Outside of being convenient, they’re relaxing.
As I considered this idea, I started getting excited. “What if you could customize the voice that’s reading to you?” I thought. It’d make the whole experience even more enjoyable if you could give the voice a particular accent—much like you can do with many GPS systems.
Although I’ve just scratched the surface of this idea, I know it has an incredible amount of potential.
We live in a stressful world. It seems that everyone’s constantly complaining that 24 hours doesn’t afford enough time to cross everything off our daily to-do lists. This idea would take away—even if it were in a very small way—some of that anxiety.
There aren't a lot of great options for news these days. It's a time of change, and news outlets seem stuck in between.
ReplyDeleteMany are moving on to internet outlets for news, but many of these are hardly professional or reliable. Newspapers may have moved online, but with their diminished resources, they can't cover nearly the same ground as they once were.
For the educated and time-blessed absorber of news, it isn't difficult to scour the web for multiple opinions instead of relying on one voice from a blog. But what about the rest of us?
The solution is to have someone else do that for us. With someone to read over hundreds of pages each day and condense the most important and most interesting (as decided by the reader, of course) into a few pages for each interested person.
With only a few tags for each story or news item, the program could largely be automated, and done on the cheap. Imagine selecting topics that interest you, and each day logging in to find the latest news on them neatly arranged by what you've decided is most relevant.
Sure, there are easy ways to find what your looking for on the internet, but the convenience is practical. While this potential distribution is certainly a type of middleman, it won't be long until other websites are lining up to be a part of it.
Staying up to date with all the newest technologies and Internet crazes is a near impossible task for even the most savvy of young folks. Because changes are happening so rapidly older generations have a hard time keeping up with progress.
ReplyDeleteMy job requires me to provide technical support to many older individuals so I know first hand that they are reluctant to upgrade and change with technology. The main reason many of them feel this way is because no one takes the time to explain how things work. They miss the days of the thick book of directions that came in boxes with new devices.
Because of this there is a market for a website or blog with articles that walk through how to use new technologies like iPods, printers, Microsoft Word, flash drives, anti virus software and other devices.
This website would publish articles about how certain Internet crazes like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are great ways to keep in touch with relatives. It would explain how to set up privacy protections and how linking Facebook to other accounts can make “liking” articles and other items simple.
The articles would also give these people links to resources they may not have known how to find on the web. It would help them discover applications like Skype and give them tips on how to pick out the right cell phone or computer.
I would also like the website to have a forum for people to ask questions or request that an article about a specific topic be posted.
In essence, this would be a technology blog geared toward the less computer savvy people in the world. Since many of these people will be staying in the work force until their late 50s and early 60s they will need to keep up with at least the basic changes in technology. This website would be a place for them ask questions and not feel like they are slow or behind the times.
One of the most interesting things that I find about the internet today is the ability to really personalize websites based on each individual’s interests and preferences. Now, we have Stumbleupon where people can create an account, specify topics that they’re interested in and the website will direct them to certain pages, videos and other interesting information about those topics. People can literally spend hours clicking through things like this. And while some may argue that this is a waste of time, you have to admit that you’re giving people exactly what they want with relatively little effort.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that it would be incredibly interesting to make a sports website with a similar idea in mind. During the Australian Open tennis tournament, you can go to the tournament’s website, and while, watching video of the matches, you can specify your favorite players, after which the website knows to show you matches and scoring updates featuring those specific players first.
If I could create a niche media site, it would be involving sports, and in particular, it would have those visiting the site create an account, specifying their favorite teams and players in professional, amateur and college teams. Then, every time that the user visited the site, they could be updated on only the players and teams that they’re particularly interested in.
Depending on what newspaper or news source you read, you’re always going to be given information and scores about the teams in that area first, and depending on the publication, sometimes information on other teams may not be readily available. By asking users to specify the teams that they’re most interested in, this ensures that the information that they’re most interested in is provided first. After that, they can access other scores and statistics.
Essentially, this idea would just eliminate a lot of clicking around a sports site to find the information that you want. Usually on sites like ESPN and the major television networks, information is grouped based on sport, so you could either view all NFL, all MLB, etc., but with this idea, the user would be viewing information across all sports, so they could see a page of scoring and stats featuring NFL, MLB, NBA, and college sports all at once. When I go to ESPN.com to get my sports news, I usually want to only see a few NFL teams, some college football outcomes and other sports like swimming and tennis. These are sports that are usually not on the same page, but with this type of site, it would help to eliminate this problem.
With the obsession with social media and connecting with people these days, this type of site would also be useful is it were able to make suggestions about users in your area who share your interest in teams. On Facebook now, when you view someone’s profile, it indicates what sort of interests you have in common with that person based on your personal section. If you are asked for your preferences on sports teams, you can find other people who share these interests and interact on the website.
When it comes to being creative or innovative, I am the last one that should be called.
ReplyDeleteBut for once, I may actually have a good idea.
I was using my mobile application of Twitter on my iPhone the other day walking to class when I realized that all I wanted was some sports news. I wasn’t interested in what SuzieQt85 was eating for lunch; I just wanted to see some highlights of goals scored or homeruns hit.
Turning on ESPN wouldn’t help, as I wasn’t in front of a television, but all I wanted was a recap of the Red Sox collapse (as a Mets fan, we take pleasure in not being alone).
So, what if there was a sports twitter – or “Spitter,” if you will – that thread short, two minute video recaps of games on a mobile iPhone or Android application? It could list all professional and college sports in video, recap format, and breaking news alerts as they break.
With a search function, I could specifically search for the New York Giants highlights tomorrow morning that I missed because the game wasn’t aired in this area. I could see Maryland’s victory over Towson on my little cell phone screen.
The possibilities of technology are expanding, and so should we. If a sports twitter that streamed video recaps was available, I would definitely spend some of my iTunes gift card on it.
My idea hit me surprisingly fast. As I stood on Ludwig Field, listening to Sasho Cirovski, head coach of the University of Maryland No.3 ranked men’ soccer team, I looked over at a fellow reporter as he held his voice recorder between his fingers. The reporter was frantically transcribing Cirovski’s comments on a small notebook he held in the same hand.
ReplyDeleteOff to the left, behind the pack of reporters huddled around Coach Cirovski, stood a camera crew interviewing senior forward Casey Townsend about the game. That’s when my light bulb started flickering. What I got from Mark Potts’ lecture (and most of my early journalism classes) is the need to be experienced in many forms of journalism, from blogging to broadcasting and everything in between. So if new age journalist must be multi-dimensional, why don’t we have a tool to help us with this?
Ladies and gentlemen I give you the JackKnife©
Well obviously you can’t see my imaginary device, but let me channel my inner Billy Mays and sell you on it.
It’s a tablet-like device, but it’s so much more than that. It’s not a generalized device for the general public, but a tool designed and catered towards journalist.
The JackKnife will not be a slim piece of hardware, but a device with some weight to it, the thickness of say three issues of ESPN the Magazine stacked and the size of a 15 inch laptop screen. The features of this device include:
• Built in voice recorder with Speech-to-Text capability. For reporters on deadline, a lot of time is wasted scrolling through the recordings and re-listening for the correct words. With this feature, it’s as simple as copying and pasting quotes for an article.
• Built in camera. Let’s say your paper can’t afford to send a photographer, you can take pictures yourself. Sure it won’t be Sports Illustrated quality, but you can get quality shots and edit them with built-in Photoshop.
• Built in video camera. Heather Dinich and her requirement to shoot videos for her blogs inspired this feature. It would be flip camera quality, easy to use and also come with its own editing program. You can basically shoot interviews or yourself from anywhere. Special tripod included.
• All business. No music capabilities, no games (not even Angry Birds) and no useless apps. Obviously, it would have a word processor to write stories with.
• Link up. All photos, articles, drafts and videos are automatically sent to another computer (work, personal, etc.) All articles would automatically go up on Twitter and/or Facebook as well.
• Digital Notebook. For those who want to be a little old school, the JackKnife comes with a stylus you can write and takes notes with.
• Read Aloud Capability. Once finished with your story or article, JackKnife can read it out loud. Sometimes it helps to hear your story aloud to see if everything makes sense.
• Comment/Page View. If your story is for the web, the device can give you updates on comments made on your story by readers and show the number of page views it has.
So there it is, the Jackknife, a multi-dimensional tool made for the multi-dimensional journalist. So do you love it? Hate it? Would you buy one? Think about it for a second. While you’re doing that, I’ll start making my pitch to Steve Jobs.
As a sports journalist and even more so as a sports fan, I've been craving an immediate, up-to-the-minute video service that offers highlights as they happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's happened to us all. "Hey, Patrick. Did you see that ridiculous catch in the Patriots game?" (The fact that I'd never be watching a Patriots game is beside the point.)
For the times when the answer is no, there seems to be an excruciatingly long wait until the average fan can get a hold of it.
But, it's infuriating having to wait for Sportscenter or scrolling through game recaps in hopes that they'll have every great moment you missed while you were at church, at your TV-less aunt's house, or simply taking a bathroom break.
In short, we need a video-based twitter. Among many benefits, a video Twitter would give journalists another medium to reach more audiences.
Though, I guess this also means that we'll now receive videos, as opposed to just excessive tweets and pictures, from your epic "Turkey sandwich Tuesday!"
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Have you heard ____ new song?" NO! NO! I Haven't! Artists release new music almost everyday and almost everyday I miss hearing their new song. It's not until I go to about 6 to 7 different blog sites to hear fresh new music from every genre I like. It's hard to keep up and of course I never have the God awful radio on.
ReplyDeleteIn efforts to keep everyone up to date with the latest music I would create an app solely focused on the music industry. The app would contain the most newly released songs from most genres. The problem with most blogs is that their bias or focus on only one or two genres.
The app would let you download the single straight to your phone, if the artist released the song for free of course. If the artist or record label didn't release the single for free, I would just stream the song without giving people the ability to download it. The main page would have a list of songs that was released that week and a brief description of each. It would also contain an archive section and a search bar.
Because your favorite artist song is new and seeing as though you're his/her biggest fan you have to learn the lyrics. The app would have that too along with album release dates.
On the day new albums are released I will have a review of the album and 30 second samples of some of the songs. It would be impossible to not know about your favorite artist new music.
When I first realized Google tailored my searches to my location and showed me that it knew exactly what city my computer was in, I naturally wondered how that was even possible.
ReplyDeleteAfter the initial shock subsided, I knew, of course, with today’s technology and computer tracking, the nation’s web geniuses finally decided to reveal to us how simple it is to find out anyone’s location with the click of a button.
Using this technological intelligence to Google’s advantage, it can make more money if we click on the side bar advertisements that tailor to our specific location and interests.
Similarly, social media sites, like Facebook, have begun tailoring to our interests based on what we click and what we post.
With the variety of smartphones and devices available, from the iPhone to the iPad, businesses have figured out that having specific applications for you to download would increase the success of their products.
These apps have become increasingly popular, such as ScanLife, which allows you to navigate a search with your phone’s camera by taking a picture of a product’s bar code instead of typing words with your keypad. Today, everyone can have anything they want right at the tip of their fingers.
The next ideal app to gather news would involve combining the location detector and interest detector in one. It would recognize a pattern of how you read and what you read in electronic news outlets, whether it’s the Washington Post or Twitter.
Because most people only read what they are interested in, this app would gather all your news into one easy read, making no two electronic newspapers identical between any two users.
To tie in the location detector, this new app will pull local stories based on your location. For example, if you are going to attend the Washington Redskins game at FedEx Field on Sunday, Oct. 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles, this app will recognize that you are at FedEx Field. Therefore, that football game is at the top of your interest list that Sunday.
As many fans do, they like to arrive at the field early to tailgate and prepare for the game. Why not check up on how your team is doing? You can pull out your phone, open this app, and what lies before you is a plethora of information.
With one click on this app, your phone provides you with news stories specifically related to the Redskins such as how they are preparing for the game, press releases by the Redskins saying who is injured and can’t play, links to the Redskins website to get the roster and player profiles, tweets by players and coaches, and even links to pregame broadcasts that you can watch from your phone while waiting in the parking lot.
And the app does not forget about the visiting team. You can read up on the Eagles as much as you want as well.
Yes, you can find this information by using a simple Google app and typing your queries in the search box. However, because today’s day and age is about speed and accessibility, this app lets you skip many steps and go straight to the content you want because it has registered your location.
While technology has enhanced journalism to a great degree in the past few decades, there continue to be new technological improvements that add new elements and capabilities for journalists. However, there remain obstacles that stand in journalists’ way that if smoothed out could make their job easier.
ReplyDeleteNow to older journalists, I might just sound like a spoiled, lazy young kid, but I’m just trying to improve the world after all.
The main idea I have in improving journalistic technology is to invent an audio recorder that can transcribe its own notes. Sometimes after interviewing someone for a story, I have a hard time getting myself to transcribe my notes to use in the story. I know this is very lazy of me, but I would love to have that done for me.
For this reason, I would want to invent some sort of device that can somehow take the audio and decipher the interview subject’s words and turn them into a written document. As a journalist, you can then interview your subject, plug your device into your computer, take a walk or grab something to eat and then come back and have your interview all typed out and ready to go.
There are some disadvantages to this. The main one is that I find when I go back and transcribe my notes myself, I can sort of already figure out what I want to use in the story, Another is that if a speaker is incoherent, then how will the device be able to transcribe the notes?
I’m sure that if this is possible, however, then there is already something out there that can do this or something close to it. In addition to putting audio in written form, it could also be useful to edit and put audio clips online straight through the device.
This product would make a journalist’s job just a little bit easier, especially when the smallest time-saver is key to making deadline.
You're late for work. You have to make a presentation to your bosses. A promotion -- and by extension -- your career prospects are on the line. Cash is short these days and your wife has one in the oven.
ReplyDeleteTraffic is tight but you see an opening and there are no police cars in sight. Just when you think you're in the clear you see that all to familiar flash of light that might as well be accompanied by the sound of a cash register ringing up a charge -- ching ching!
Speed camera got you. Big brother reached right in your pocket and relieved you of a few shekels.
If I had the knowledge, skill and wherewithal I'd create a website that let drivers know of where police have set up speed cameras. Wiley police change the location of these traps, so the site would allow for updates. For example, if you notice a speed camera you could enter the location on the site and others traveling could be alerted.
A tenuous relevance for reporters exists. Reporters tend to be a traveling bunch, driving here to cover this, then going there to cover that. I assume speeding tickets are the cost of doing business. Maybe this site could help a little.
I sure wouldn't mind not getting rung up for going 40 in a 35.
In the current scheme of things, most fantasy sports players are involved in leagues on different websites. It becomes a chore and quite tiresome to go back and forth between Yahoo(!), ESPN, NFL.com, etc., so my idea is for a third-party smartphone/tablet application that consolidates all of one's teams into one, easy-to-use app.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, this app would consolidate news and player updates from multiple news sources in order to give the user the most information possible regarding the players on his teams in order to make the best judgement possible.
This would alleviate the stress that fantasy owners go through daily, flipping between websites to get the most accurate information and forecasts to adjust their lineups, and try to find out if Adrian Peterson is going to play for example.
The app would also have a social function, as you would be able to interact with others in your leagues who are using the app to manage their teams. There would be a message board for each league, exclusively for those who make use of the app, and private message functions as well.
It was estimated that over 32 million people in the U.S. played fantasy sports in 2010, and this app would be a handy tool for those looking to streamline their fantasy sports experience.