For a great take on what’s happened to the U.S. magazine business over the past dozen years, be sure to catch Washington Post staff writer Peter Carlson’s latest and last entry in his column, The Magazine Reader. Carlson’s finale is titled “Looking at 12 Years Between the Covers”. In it he chronicles the magazines that […]
J-school grads are mastering digital news skills, freelancers should too
Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School gave the commencement address at the college’s 2008 graduation ceremony on May 21. It’s interesting reading for freelance writers contemplating where they fit into the increasingly digital world of news gathering and writing. As Lemann’s address makes clear, this year’s crop of journalism graduates is leaving school […]
As new media grows, old media goes shopping
CBS is buying purchase CNET and Conde Nast is expected to announce on Monday that it’s buying Ars Technica, the technology blog. The acqusitions are the latest moves by established media companies to use acquisitions to solidify their stakes in the new media business. I’ll go out on a limb here and predict that we’ll […]
2008 Knight News Challenge winners show future of news is digital
The 25 winners of this year’s Knight News Challenge offer a taste of things to come in the news business. And it’s digital. Sixteen journalists, bloggers and technology trend setters received a total of $5.5 million in the 2008 contest for their innovative ideas for gathering and distributing the news, particularly local news. The contest […]
"The current period in journalism is….historic."
If you’re old enough, you remember when reporters wrote stories on IBM Selectric typewriters. Switching to a PC was huge. Well, that’s nothing compared with the changes happening in the news business now. Print is out. Digital is in. Newspapers are suffering, online publications flourishing. While some people lament these changes, others see opportunity. One […]
Magazines: The good, the bad and the ugly
First the good. This year’s National Magazine Awards were announced a couple days ago. National Geographic won three, followed by Vanity Fair, which amidst the uproar over its suggestive pictures of squeeky-clean tween queen Miley Cyrus, grabbed two. Conde Nast Portfolio, the glossy monthly that debuted a year ago, took home one – not bad […]