Getting the Word Out: A Review of David Beard's 10 "Hopeful Thoughts..."

In the past, readers sought media outlets in order to obtain their news and information. Today, the shrinking of journalism forces writers to go after their audience. The writer that passively broadcasts is a dying breed. David Beard's article, available at: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=171011 lends excellent advice and examples of how anyone with a relevant message can be heard by a larger audience, as well as improve their content.

Beard's article will definitely influence the direction of my sports website. And while I may not implement any specific idea that Beard proposes, he's certainly familiar with modern journalistic marketing. He lends novel tips to surviving in the modern "intra-webs," but he fails to give concrete steps to reaching his hopeful thoughts. If I'm catching his drift, the modern journalist needs to be versatile, and full of that "go-getter" mentality that you see on the floor of the N.Y. stock-exchange. Beard illustrates great tactics, but I'd of loved to see what technologies, programs, and skills he recommends that today's communicators must amass to run his playbook.

Ultimately, the quality of any publication is still predicated on how well the writer creates an experience for the audience; however, the marketing of that experience is becoming almost as important. There's no shortage of un-born chicken voices on the internet, so getting heard above the rest of the crowd and reaching a larger audience often determines the shelf-life of today's publications. In terms of my sports website project, I'll certainly need to invent attractive ideas, similiar to Beard's, to make my venture a success.

Web-Host with the Most?

With my group's sports-website project getting ready for construction, we're looking for some feedback from our fellow 417'ers. We're curious if anyone has good/bad things to say about sites like GoDaddy.com and the like. We're hoping not to spend too much out of our wallets, but would like a web-host that is reliable and has an interface that isn't over a novice web-designer's head. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Printing Press to Picture Phones

Clay Shirky's recent lecture on social networking and its effects on mass-media showcases why the news landscape is changing, how technology is accelerating that change, and what that means for who he calls, "anyone who has a message." With supporting anecdotes, including last year's U.S. Presidential campaign and amateur reporting of the tragic Chinese earthquakes, Shirky illuminates how the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and cell-phone technology can make anyone part of the "global conversation." Shirky believes that these innovations have placed us in a revolution on par with the ascension of moveable type.

While I agree with many of Shirky's points, especially the new dynamic in which media consumers have also become its producers; I find it hard not to be pessimistic about the future overall quality of journalism. Just because most of us have the ability to relay a message to countless others, doesn't mean that that message will have any substance or relevance. Shirky's prophecy of a "revolution" is also pre-mature in my estimation. Social networking is still in its infancy, and like other fads, could lose its novelty over time. Equating a website that allows it's users to self-promote and be their own paparazzi (see the self-picture take pose) with a reliable news source seems reckless. If reading Facebook statuses becomes an acceptable means to staying informed, then we're likely to be on par with "yellow journalism" of the past.

Portions of the lecture are available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html