Putting it all together
17 years ago
Showing posts with label digital journalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital journalism. Show all posts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Journalism's Digital Transition: Unique Legal Challenges and Opportunities
Anyone interested in legal matters of journalism transition, please check this great event at Harvard! Good luck and enjoy!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Revised Proposal for Final Project: Journalists Behind Bars
Based on feedback and research, I have decided to contract the topic "The State of the PRC Press in New Century", which is still so attractive to me, but due to limited human and financial resources, I am afraid of lack of depth in terms of theme and project development. Now, I am to focus on the jailed journalists: their journalistic experience, and the charges against them, and what exact event led them to jail.
(1)WHY: The reasons for choosing this topic are simple: a professional journalist for a decade of working experience in Asia, Africa and America, I would like to share with the general public (the target audience) my understanding of journalism in Communist China, which is claimed to be a People's Republic of China, but actually merely "the Party Representatives of China" a term I coined for its own nature, as it is never a republic, because people are never allowed to exercise their legitimate rights, and only Party officials have and maintain the rights for themselves since its establishment. Today it is still ruled by only one political party-the Communist Party, where the press is under the control of the Party and the government. Journalists who try to seek truth and play the role of watchdog in the interest of the public, often end up behind bars.
It serve the interest of journalism itself, and general public of the world community, to shed spotlight on the fate of journalist who follow their hearts in (the Party Representatives of) China, which claims to have seen economic growth at a double-digit rate, and which is viewed by the outsiders to become a world leader in many fields in the coming decades (before its doomsday, like the USSR?).
Will the world benefit from the development of such an authoritarian regime with growing wealth that disrespects such universal values as human rights and democracy, serves the interest of the ruling Party and elite groups rather than the "proles", and supports other authoritarian regimes such as Cuba, North Korea, Iran, to name a few?
(2)WHAT: If journalists cannot practice their craft the way they should, and often get punished, getting fired, getting in jail, for their professional work, what is it like to be a journalist in that country? What is the state of the press in today's (PR)China? How does the government and the Communists control the press and the journalists? What are journalists doing in day-to-day work? What happened to those journalists who tried to perform their roles?
(3)HOW: I would take advantage of multimedia tools to show the reality of the working environment, by interviewing journalists, both local and international, working in that country, and experts on the Chinese press, and post texts, photos, audio, and video materials (and perhaps cartoons).
With interactive map technologies, readers and viewers can track the tragedies of journalists who were arrested and/or beaten for their reporting, and where these sites are, and when and how these happened, particularly, those behind bars for their journalistic work.
Data mining technologies will help readers/viewers find out stories of those jailed journalists (24 as of December 31, 2009, according to CPJ).
The website will be designed and developed in a reader/viewer-friendly way, with community function, allowing them to contribute their writings, subscribe to RSS, leave their comments, Twitter their favorite material, share on their FACEBOOK, Yahoo Buzz, Digg, and so on.
The above is a third revised draft incorporating feedbacks from peers for further inside and outside classroom discussions. Many thanks for your interest and thoughtful tips.
I look forward to hearing from my classmates and professors and the general public who come across this project idea.
Again, I really appreciate your time and interest.
(1)WHY: The reasons for choosing this topic are simple: a professional journalist for a decade of working experience in Asia, Africa and America, I would like to share with the general public (the target audience) my understanding of journalism in Communist China, which is claimed to be a People's Republic of China, but actually merely "the Party Representatives of China" a term I coined for its own nature, as it is never a republic, because people are never allowed to exercise their legitimate rights, and only Party officials have and maintain the rights for themselves since its establishment. Today it is still ruled by only one political party-the Communist Party, where the press is under the control of the Party and the government. Journalists who try to seek truth and play the role of watchdog in the interest of the public, often end up behind bars.
It serve the interest of journalism itself, and general public of the world community, to shed spotlight on the fate of journalist who follow their hearts in (the Party Representatives of) China, which claims to have seen economic growth at a double-digit rate, and which is viewed by the outsiders to become a world leader in many fields in the coming decades (before its doomsday, like the USSR?).
Will the world benefit from the development of such an authoritarian regime with growing wealth that disrespects such universal values as human rights and democracy, serves the interest of the ruling Party and elite groups rather than the "proles", and supports other authoritarian regimes such as Cuba, North Korea, Iran, to name a few?
(2)WHAT: If journalists cannot practice their craft the way they should, and often get punished, getting fired, getting in jail, for their professional work, what is it like to be a journalist in that country? What is the state of the press in today's (PR)China? How does the government and the Communists control the press and the journalists? What are journalists doing in day-to-day work? What happened to those journalists who tried to perform their roles?
(3)HOW: I would take advantage of multimedia tools to show the reality of the working environment, by interviewing journalists, both local and international, working in that country, and experts on the Chinese press, and post texts, photos, audio, and video materials (and perhaps cartoons).
With interactive map technologies, readers and viewers can track the tragedies of journalists who were arrested and/or beaten for their reporting, and where these sites are, and when and how these happened, particularly, those behind bars for their journalistic work.
Data mining technologies will help readers/viewers find out stories of those jailed journalists (24 as of December 31, 2009, according to CPJ).
The website will be designed and developed in a reader/viewer-friendly way, with community function, allowing them to contribute their writings, subscribe to RSS, leave their comments, Twitter their favorite material, share on their FACEBOOK, Yahoo Buzz, Digg, and so on.
The above is a third revised draft incorporating feedbacks from peers for further inside and outside classroom discussions. Many thanks for your interest and thoughtful tips.
I look forward to hearing from my classmates and professors and the general public who come across this project idea.
Again, I really appreciate your time and interest.
Friday, January 15, 2010
A Few Thoughts on Managing Multimedia Projects
Living in a digital globe, we are becoming more and more digitalized the way we live, and the way we work.
For journalists, today's industry is getting digital by the minute. Print or broadcast media are all becoming digital ones.
The New York Times, for example, has a wonderful website: you can read the news stories, listen to and watch its podcasts, free, day and night, in the air or on the beach. It is a multimedia platform to engage with both editor, journalists and the audiences!
That is why I am taking this multimedia course at Georgetown University, and other courses with focus on multimedia techniques.
From the first class on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010, I learned a bit more about the teaching plan, and I must say, I like it very much. And I would be honest with myself, this is the most pleasant first class I have even taken in years - relaxing, and interactive, and eye-opening!
I like Professor Carlos Roig's "Big Idea" in managing multimedia projects, as I've always feel like to see a forest rather than a tree over the years. Of course, I realize that with so much in detail to achieve before any multimedia projects can be done successfully.
Having said that, I am expecting to gain not only strategic mindset in initiating multimedia projects, but feasible management skills that I can apply to my journalistic work,and beyond.
Of course, to take on any multimedia project will require team work, ideally with expertise on sound, video and still image management, as projects are getting more and more complicated.
With my years of practicing journalism in both traditional broadcast media and website, blogging, and twittering, along with newly-acquired skills in video production, I am confident that the "Managing Multimedia Projects" class will be very productive in spring 2010.
Here are some of my favorite websites that show excellent multimedia ideas:
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/
http://www.virginia.edu/
http://web.mit.edu/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
For journalists, today's industry is getting digital by the minute. Print or broadcast media are all becoming digital ones.
The New York Times, for example, has a wonderful website: you can read the news stories, listen to and watch its podcasts, free, day and night, in the air or on the beach. It is a multimedia platform to engage with both editor, journalists and the audiences!
That is why I am taking this multimedia course at Georgetown University, and other courses with focus on multimedia techniques.
From the first class on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010, I learned a bit more about the teaching plan, and I must say, I like it very much. And I would be honest with myself, this is the most pleasant first class I have even taken in years - relaxing, and interactive, and eye-opening!
I like Professor Carlos Roig's "Big Idea" in managing multimedia projects, as I've always feel like to see a forest rather than a tree over the years. Of course, I realize that with so much in detail to achieve before any multimedia projects can be done successfully.
Having said that, I am expecting to gain not only strategic mindset in initiating multimedia projects, but feasible management skills that I can apply to my journalistic work,and beyond.
Of course, to take on any multimedia project will require team work, ideally with expertise on sound, video and still image management, as projects are getting more and more complicated.
With my years of practicing journalism in both traditional broadcast media and website, blogging, and twittering, along with newly-acquired skills in video production, I am confident that the "Managing Multimedia Projects" class will be very productive in spring 2010.
Here are some of my favorite websites that show excellent multimedia ideas:
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/
http://www.virginia.edu/
http://web.mit.edu/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
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