Some advice all newspapers could follow

Deborah Howell ends her three-year run as readers' advocate at the Washington Post soon, and she offers 10 pieces of advice on how to keep the paper strong. It's written just for the Post, but many newspapers could take heed.

Laura pointed this article out to me and said she thought No. 5 would make me smile. Make me smile? I stood up, saluted Ms. Howell and gave a hearty cheer.

This might help clear up your writing

In searching across cyberspace for good advice on bringing clarity to writing, I found this excellent site. Does a great job of analyzing writing samples to show what brings the fog into some sentences and what keeps it out of others.

I highly recommend it to your attention.

Many scenarios seen for journalism's future

Jeff Jarvis rolls out some possible scenarios for the future of journalism in his Buzz Machine blog. Be sure to read the comments as well.

Wonder what's in the picture at the top of his blog? That's a printing press.

Looking for great stories? Check out Esquire

I've had an on-again, off again love affair with Esquire magazines since the 1960s, captured first by the magazine's famous cover of Sonny Liston in a Santa's hat, enthralled by the writings of Jay Bruce Friedman, John Sacks, Terry Southern, Michael Herr and on and on. I was still a fan when the cover of Muhammed Ali pierced by arrows came out, but lost interest soon after that. I came around again some time in the early 1980s and subscribed for a short time, but gave up again. I still buy it off the newsstands once in awhile and have considered re-uppng the subscription.

But I may just download what the magazine picks as its seven best articles in its 75 years of existence and read those before shelling out the money for a subscription (Vanity Fair is the competitor for my subscription dollars as its stories right now seem top of the line to me). Take a look at those seven stories. They are all worth reading and learning from.

Three articles worth reading

I saw three articles on Romenesko this morning that I thought worth pointing out to people headed into the field of journalism.

Set aside plenty of time to read this article in the Columbia Journalism Review that argues, "To win the war for our attention, news organizations must make themselves indispensable by producing journalism that helps make sense of the flood of information that inundates us all."

Next up is from the Daily Skiff, The Texas Christian University newspaper, quoting Craig Flournoy, an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University, on how the turmoil in journalism today "benefits young people because it allows them to move up the ladder faster."

And finally, check out this article from the Knight Digital Media Center that quotes Jonathan Weber of New West right here in Missoula on the increasing interest in community news sites.

What if we said our punctuation out loud?

Despite my emphasis on how busy I would be this afternoon editing your beat stories, Laura decided to interrupt me. And am I glad she did.

I had the best laugh of the afternoon (not that I was laughing at your stories, of course) while watching this video of Victor Borge reading a story with phonetic punctuation.

Take a break from whatever you are doing and enjoy it.

Thank you, Laura

Saving the Web from becoming a "cesspool"

At the beginning of class today some of us were discussing this article on the state of affairs in the world of journalism today, which a student in another class refer to as "bad news for us journalism students..."

It certainly is a time of transition in the industry, and you will face challenges that my generation never did -- like figuring out a new structure for the whole business to pay for itself and ensure it has a future.

But I take heart from the last couple of paragraphs in the story, that someone very important realizes that without "the trusted news sources readers have relied on . . . the Web itself would quickly become a 'cesspool' of useless information." Some how, somewhere and sometime soon (I hope), someone is going to figure out how to prevent that from happening.

"Depressing . . . but some good stuff"

Laura brought the Steve Smith interview on NPR to my attention. I think her assessment of it is very accurate: "depressing interview for me but he says some good stuff." Worth listening to.

Some encouraging words for young journalists

The chief environmental correspondent for NBC News, Anne Thompson, says the next generation of journalists will be part of the "figuring it out" process of the changing landscape of journalism.

"You should be excited," Thompson said.

Read the article.

"Blogs are here to stay"

So says Technorati in its State of the Blogosphere / 2008 The numbers differ depending on who's doing the counting, but they are very convincing (77.7 million unique visitors in the U.S.; 94.1 million U.S. blog readers in 2007; 22.6 million U.S. bloggers in 2007, etc.).

There's a good summary at pjnet, which is a journalism blog worth bookmarking.

Coming soon: Will's list of blogs he reads each day.

Remember: Election stories due by noon Friday.

What we're always looking for: a story well told

In my daily search for newspaper front pages to hang on my office door, I came across this story on the cover of the Las Vegas Sun. Someone once said every edition of your paper ought to have a special gift for the reader: a story well told, a feature that is simply a treat to read. This story combines sports and an untimely death, which you may not regard as much of a treat. But the writer, Ron Kantowski, puts together the elements of good journalism -- thorough reporting and fine writing -- to tell a gripping story. I recommend it to your attention.

A good one to read before Thursday class

We'll be talking about interviewing in class on Thursday, and here's a look at how some reporters approached the subject of their story.

Plagiarism is so easy -- and so wrong

There will be a lot of talk in this class about plagiarism -- and why it does you, and the profession of journalism, no good. Here's a good article to read going into this class.

What happens to J-school grads? Take a look

Here's the latest survey on where journalism-school grads are employed -- or not. Take a look.

Think newspapers are dead? Read this

Here's a vigorous argument that newspapers aren't dead, despite all the verbiage out there that says they are. It's worth reading and may help keep you going on this career path.

In the future, be a journalism inventor, says dean

Here's another speech given at a Columbia commencement that's worth reading -- especially for students looking ahead to a future in journalism.

A good time to be a journalist, says Post reporter

As we start another year here at the School of Journalism, this is a good article to read on why now is a good time to be going into journalism. Please take a look at this speech given at Columbia University.