It's All Journalism

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Matt Pearl, a solo video journalist at NBC's Atlanta affiliate. He also discusses writing his recently published book, The Solo Video Journalist: Doing It All and Doing It Well in TV Multimedia Journalism. Find out more about Matt at his blog, Telling The Story.[http://tellingthestoryblog.com]

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell interviews Sachin Kamdar, co-founder and CEO of the data analytics platform Parse.ly. They discuss how a better understanding of data analytics can help media outlets grow their audience, improve reader engagement and make more informed decisions about their editorial content.

On this week's It's All Journalism, host Michael O'Connell talks to alt-press legend John Wilcock about his long career, including helping to launch the Village Voice in the 1950s and hanging out with Andy Warhol in the 1960s. John is currently living in assisted care in Southern California. His friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for John's expenses.

Steve Buttry, longtime educator, journalist and friend of our podcast, died of pancreatic cancer on Feb. 19. He will be missed by the countless journalists whose careers he touched with his steadfast encouragement and enthusiasm for the future of our industry. Steve was a really nice guy. He was funny and modest. To honor Steve's memory, we're reposting our first interview with him from the early days of our podcast. We were still figuring things out and he was happy to come into the studio and help three of his former students from American University on their strange side project. Thanks for everything, Steve. Michael O'Connell

Journalists and comedians have a fair amount in common. Both have jobs that require them to talk to strangers, often at length, knowing that every motive is questioned and every word is criticized. Saundra Sorenson might have stumbled into journalis...

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, producers Michael O'Connell and Nicole Ogrysko talk to Saundra Sorenson about her winding road of a career from community news, the alternative press, courts reporting, standup comedy and Cracked.com.

On this weeks It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Drew Cullen, editor-in-chief of The Register, a UK-based technology news website. They discuss Section 40, which Cullen calls a little time bomb that was placed into the law that could spell dire consequences for press freedom in the UK.

Journalists in the U.S. are protected by the First Amendment — the importance of a free press was of the utmost importance to the founding fathers, something for which we should all be grateful today. But what protections are available for journal...

The geography hasn't changed but everything else about the White House will take some getting used for USA Today reporter Gregory Korte (http://www.usatoday.com/staff/2055/gregory-korte/) and his fellow White House correspondents. A few weeks ago, the White House press corps was used to briefings from senior Obama Administration officials before major announcements were made, giving them a chance to digest the information before it was made public. “There was a predictability and an orderliness to it that even affected the press operation,” Korte said. “With President Trump, it’s much more fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants, spontaneous. They’re scheduling executive order signing ceremonies before they know what executive order the president is going to sign. What we’re going through is not just a 180-degree shift in policy but really a completely different style even of how they deal with the press.” The Trump Administration has openly called the press the “opposition party,” Korte says, a “political message” he hopes doesn’t impair the ability of the White House press corps to do their job. “Think about this: They’re going to reporters to tell reporters that reporters are the opposition. They are using us as a foil but, at the same time, they are using us as the means to deliver that message. It’s an awkward sort of position.” Political reporters who find themselves at the White House have dealt with their share of “cantankerous” politicians and staffers along the way but remain dedicated to doing their jobs. Korte likens the press corps inside the White House as the U.S.-equivalent to Prime Minister’s Questions. It’s not an exact likeness — the Prime Minister goes before Parliament weekly to answer their questions and challenges but without a similar arrangement where the president must address Congress weekly, it’s the reporters inside the White House who rely on access to the president to gather information to provide to the public. “What we’ve seen in the past week of the Trump Administration is that they’re playing this hurry-up offense. Before we can collect the facts, they’ve moved on to a new executive order or a new policy that they’re announcing,” Korte said. “I think it’s a deliberate strategy to keep us off our toes. We’re trying to keep up as best we can. You see it even in press briefings with Sean Spicer — short questions with short answers,” compared with longer, multi-part questions from reporters and longer, more analytical answers from Obama’s press secretaries. This administration is unlike any the White House press corps has seen before not only because of Trump’s embrace of Twitter as a platform for sharing his “visceral” thoughts at 3 a.m. but the way in which he orchestrates and uses executive order signing sessions. Obama might have signed an order in private and announced the action later, but Trump creates an environment reminiscent of his time on The Celebrity Apprentice, signing orders with staffers behind him and cameras in front of him. Despite this public display of office, the details of those orders often aren’t immediately known. “Here’s what we’re resorting to. There are photographers taking pictures of these ceremonies, he loves these ceremonies,” Korte said. “He will sign them and he’ll hold them up for the cameras. What we’ve been doing is taking these wire photos and blowing them up as big as we can — if they’re in focus just right, we can read some of the operative language on these before released by WH or posted on WH website.” — Amber Healy (mailto:phfyrebyrd@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Gregory Korte (http://www.usatoday.com/staff/2055/gregory-korte/),

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Gregory Korte, the White House reporter for USA Today, about covering the first few weeks of the Trump administration. He contrasts the more staid Obama White House to the Trump team's "hurry-up-offense" approach to handling the press corps.

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, producer Michael O'Connell talks to Kerri Hoffman, CEO of the Public Radio Exchange, about a recent PRX release outlining nine trends for podcasting. They also discuss the importance of good audio editing and what makes a successful and sustainable podcast.

When PRX was started in 2003, Kerri Hoffman wanted to find a way to preserve “great radio shows … being aired once and lost forever.” Now she’s helped to build a thriving network of podcasters through support, innovation and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of creative people interested in picking up a microphone and putting on headphones. “Over time, we created the first mobile app for public radio, created a distribution system for public radio, the first one, that rivals the satellite system,” Hoffman said. PRX, an “early adopter” of podcasting, was a nonprofit media company established to preserve audio and, through a series of what many would believe to be very fortunate events, now helping to distribute some of the biggest names in the format, including This American Life, On Being and Reveal. Now PRX — Public Radio Exchange — has a system in place to help young entrepreneurial podcasters get started, which can be a lonely process. “We’ve been doing this since the early 2000s, we’ve had a front-row seat at the kind of skills required now to be successful,” she said. “You have to be marketers and fundraisers and you have to understand the ins and outs of talking to people at ad agencies and know how to talk to designers. Some have that whole package and they’re like a rocket ship. More commonly, producers are great sound engineers, they’re great interviewers, they’re great sound artists. We take care of all of that technology infrastructure that allows you to be distributed far and wide.” Hoffman also likes to look forward to remain on the cutting edge of podcasting. So what does she think will be of particular importance in 2017? Included on a list of trends for podcasts this year, published by Radiotopia, Hoffman suggests that podcast will be more important than ever to encourage lifelong learning. “The thing about podcasts is that there are so many niches,” she says. “Compared to broadcast radio, (which is) a curated experience for you ... think of podcasts as bite-sized books. You can go in a lot, you can go in a little, it’s niche. You can binge. It’s got the intimacy of a real connection of experience.” Podcasts also are a great way for people to consume information without having to look at a screen, so listeners can learn about any given topic while commuting, grocery shopping or at the gym, Hoffman says. Another trend to monitor is the role podcasts will play in troubling times. This isn’t necessarily a political statement but rather a comment on the magnitude of shifting perceptions in the world. “One of the great things you can do (with podcasts) is you can match your listening to your mood," she said. "We all need that variety, we all need a little bit of comedy, a little bit of entertainment, a little bit of broccoli with the ice cream. The real driver is the authentic voices and the intimacy people have with podcast hosts and producers. There’s a real connection that’s very power that listeners have with the shows they listen to and it extends to social media. It’s both short-form and long-form all at the same time.” — Amber Healy (mailto:phfyrebyrd@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, producer Michael O'Connell talks to Kerri Hoffman, CEO of the Public Radio Exchange, about a recent PRX release outlining nine trends for podcasting. They also discuss the importance of good audio editing and what makes a successful and sustainable podcast.

Jason Zaragoza came to Washington, D.C., in the early days of the Obama administration. His journalistic career began during his college years in California while George W. Bush was president. And now that the Trump administration is starting, Zaragoza is convinced alternative news outlets are more important than ever. “I really feel like this is the moment we were made for, that alt papers were built to thrive on,” said Zaragoza, executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) (http://aan.org). “We do have this need, especially with the cuts that have happened in dailies over the past several years, the need for solid reporting but also from a point of view. In particular, alternative news outlets have the flexibility to conduct in-depth research and reporting and remind readers of the historical context of an event without necessarily worrying about offending readers by taking a position. “One of the things that’s been happening over this election, and post-election, is the way the incoming administration changes the narrative in such a way that it completely changes the terms of debate,” he said. “You can’t get sucked into that. The minute you do, we lose, not just as an industry but as a society.” Alt publications can brandish their positions unflinchingly, he said. “When reporting on something like transgender use of bathrooms or the right of someone to marry whoever they want, sometimes a daily might call that a controversy. For us, there’s no controversy. There’s one side that’s right and we’re going to come out and say it. There’s no controversy about basic human rights.” Zaragoza is also gearing up for AAN’s digital conference (http://aan.org/2017-aan-digital-conference-january-19-21-portland-oregon/), scheduled for Portland this weekend (Jan. 19-21) after a long stretch in San Francisco. There are two host papers in Portland, each involved in helping coordinate this year’s event, as well as a partnership with the University of Oregon, which he says could draw young journalists to the conference and help them get started on the right foot. — Amber Healy (mailto:phfyrebyrd@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Jason Zaragoza, executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) (http://aan.org), about why the current political climate might be exactly what the alternative press was designed for. He also discusses the AAN's digital summit, which is taking place this weekend in Portland, Oregon.

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, host Michael O'Connell talks to Jason Zaragoza, executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), about why the current political climate might be exactly what the alternative press was designed for. He also discusses the AAN's digital summit, which is taking place this weekend in Portland, Oregon.

People can make all the jokes they want about journalism ethics, but it’s something newsrooms take seriously, says Steve Buttry, director of student media at Louisiana State University. In a new article for www.current.org, Buttry was asked to do a reported piece on editorial integrity and journalism ethics, looking at the issues of private activity compared to public responsibility. The premise was simple, even if the issues are complex: “What are guidelines that journalists need to keep in mind in their personal activities, or if they’re unrestricted in their personal activities, how might what they do affect their work?” For example, there’s the question of whether journalists who cover local or national politics should vote or get involved in their local party’s efforts. It could just as easily be a question about religion. “Is it OK to worship wherever you want?" Buttry asked. "Well, of course, virtually everyone agrees with that. But there’s a spectrum within each of the areas I asked the questions about. It’s OK to worship and participate in religious activities in the community. But is it OK to belong to a faith-based group that takes positions on issues you might cover? Many more people had a problem with that issue, with that point.” Some might be accepting of a person participating in a given house of worship and even holding a leadership role in their congregation, “but not if you’re going to cover it, because religion is sometimes in the news,” Buttry said. “If you’re a religion writer it’s going to affect what you do more than if you’re a political writer, where you just need to take care of those political issues.” Reporters who restrict their opportunities to become involved in their home communities, whether as a member of the local PTA, homeowners association, congregation, what have you, are shortchanging their own personal life experiences in their community, he says. “It’s fine to be president of the HOA, but tell the newsroom, ‘I’ve taken on this responsibility, if there are any conflicts we’ll deal with them as they arise,’ and then if they arise, OK, how do we handle it? We need more good conversations about ethics.” In light of the recent election, Buttry say he wasn’t as involved in this election cycle as closely as in previous years because he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. Around the time of the election he learned the cancer has spread to his liver and, as a result, he’s stopped treatment. That doesn’t mean he’s sitting idly on the sidelines and refraining from giving journalists advice on how to conduct themselves. “Whatever you think about the candidate, there was a repudiation by the voters in this election for the value of fact-based journalism. We, meaning journalists, time and again checked the facts of what the candidates said. Donald Trump was not telling the truth. … The voters kind of shrugged their shoulders and said, 'OK, but we want him to be president,'” Buttry said. “We’ve got to figure out what is the future for journalism. That independence we talked about, are we regarded, despite our efforts to maintain independence, are we regarded as the liberal media? Should we behave differently to protect our country from this ethic of not caring if people lie? You can like a candidate, but I think if you don’t care whether that person is lying, that’s a pretty serious thing for the country and that’s something journalism needs to work on and figure out.