Online Journalism

>This semester, you’ll learn to use a variety of tools that will help you tell your story more effectively: Online journalism is about effective story telling.

This item from the PaidContent blog points out a number of programs, sites and tools that utilize and demonstrate good online story telling. Also, note the web writing techniches (mainly the extensive linking) I utilize in this blog item. You’ll learn to do this, too.

This Inauguration Will Be YouTubed, Flickred And Even ‘Photosynthed’

By David Kaplan – Mon 19 Jan 2009 10:15 AM PST

There will be no shortage of places online to experience Barack Obama‘s presidential inauguration and the attendant festivities. Rex Hammock has created an open post on his blog to list coverage he finds particularly notable. NYT’s Bits Blog also has a rundown of some of the options.

— YouTube has created a special channel for the event here [don’t use and link words like “here”]. The site has been up for about a week and already has 13 videos promoting the president-elect’s volunteer initiative, National Day of Service.

— Aside from videos, there is also the official inaugural committee’s Flickr page for photos, and a Twitter site.

— Over at CNN.com, Hammock is particularly impressed with the cable news channel’s use of Microsoft’s Photosynth feature for The Moment. Photosynth reconstructs a scene or object from a bunch of flat photographs. It will take photos from the event and combine them all at the exact moment President-elect Obama is sworn in.

— Think you have the rhetorical skills to help out the president-elect on his inaugural speech? The Guardian’s Jemima Kiss points readers to the Inauguration Speech Generator.

— Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress’ official inaugural site will not only provide live streaming of the inauguration, but also has coverage of the inaugural lunch menu, plus recipes (PDF); the three-course meal includes herb roasted pheasant with wild rice stuffing (yield: 10 portions).

My favorite is the New York Time’s Inaugural Words: 1789 to the Present, a look at the language of presidential inaugural addresses. The most-used words in each address [called tag clouds] appear in the interactive chart, sized by number of uses. Words highlighted in yellow were used significantly more in this inaugural address than average.