Why Does the New York Times Have Trouble with the Word Plagarism?

I am a regular reader of the NYTPicker blog, which covers the good, the bad and the ugly surrounding the Gray Lady. On Feb. 14, the blog mulled the curious case of business reporter Zachery Kouwe after receiving a letter from Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson.

In the letter Thomson said parts of an article written on Feb. 5 by Kouwe were “identical or nearly identical” to an article published by WSJ hours before the NY Times version was printed. After an investigation, Times editors investigated and discovered there were more examples of Kouwe lifting parts from published stories.

On Feb. 15, the NY Times’ Editor’s note acknowledged that Kouwe “appears to have improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organizations.” Sounds like plagiarism to me, although that word never appears in the note. When questioned about the status of Kouwe, the paper declined to comment, citing they don’t discuss personnel matters.

Fair enough. But yesterday’s NYTPicker cited a case where Kouwe was condemned for doing something similar in December 2008. So my question is – with all these accusations and pretty substantial proof, why did it take until yesterday for the Times to take action? No, I take that back, because Kouwe ended up resigning yesterday, according to the Times' own story. According to the Times, he was facing “disciplinary action, including dismissal.”

OK, call me cranky, but the first lesson you learn in your journalism class is the definition of plagiarism: “The act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation.” (Cited from The Free Dictionary) And the penalty for plagiarism is immediate firing. Or at least it was back in the day.

NYTPicker Blog Focuses on New York Times Foibles, Errors and Conflicts

For good or bad, blogs -- and free blogging platforms -- have given a voice to a new crop of citizen journalists that focus on everything from the environment to the media. I have become obsessed with reading the NYTPicker blog, written by a group of anonymous journalists who write daily about the good, the bad and the ugly at the Gray Lady.

What makes it so interesting is that they're right about things far more than they're wrong. The Feb. 7 post reports in detail about how the New York Times is handling its coverage on the unfolding Toyota recall scandal. "But what these stories have failed to show is that the NYT been consistently late to report on details of the unfolding scandal," according to the NYTPicker. The blog also details how the New York Times' coverage -- published later than other news outlets -- seems very similar to stories published earlier by the Los Angeles Times, among others.

The Jan. 31 blog post outlines how a "puff piece" Sunday New York Times profile by Andrew Martin on "Richard Eitelberg, the founder and president of Hartsko, a company that lends money to small businesses to tide them over on pending purchase orders," was missing one important fact -- that the subject had pled guilty in May 2003 to felony charges of computer intrusion. "Did Martin had access to information about the case of 'USA vs. Eitelberg' -- which pops up as the lead item in a Google search of 'Richard Eitelberg' -- and choose not to include it, or did the reporter simply fail to adequately research his profile subject? There's been no comment yet from New York Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty and New York Times business editor Larry Ingrassia to NYTPicker on the story.

But the New York Times did respond to a Dec. 27 post that blasted regular freelance contributor Prof. Mary Tripsas, a business-management expert and member of the Harvard Business School faculty. Tripsas, who studies and writes about customer innovation, wrote a glowing piece on 3M on that very topic. The problem was, noted NYTPicker, Tripsas didn't mention that she and other researchers were flown to St. Paul, Minn., for a visit and picked up the tab on their travel and accommodations, which violates the newspaper's rules. NYTPicker's Jan. 3 post reported that Tripsas was fired, with New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt writing a column calling the situation "an embarrassment" and acknowledging NYTPicker's revelation. The newspaper also issued an editor's note about the situation.

But I also like the fact that NYTPicker is ready to admit when it's wrong, which happened in a Jan. 20 post about the New York Times pay meter story. It will also praise New York Times reporters on their good work, which was the case on the paper's coverage of Haiti in a Jan. 15 post.

The New York Times, like most newspapers, has had to carry out layoffs on the editorial side as it tries to balance keeping its place as one of the world's premier newspapers against the face of continued drops in advertising. It's inevitable that things will fall through the cracks at newspapers, and wecan be sure that blogs like NYTPicker -- unheard of only five years ago, will continue to grow and expand their watchdog role.

MediaShift Offers Keys To Finding That First Journalism Job

In 1985, when Ronald Reagan began his second term as president, the unemployment rate hit 7.4%. There was no Internet, CNN was only five years old and the three main networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- only competed with newspapers on the dissemination of news. 1985 was also the year I started my career, after graduating from American University with my journalism degree.

Now, 25 years later, I have a career that I love and I've had to reinvent myself and how I work to remain relevant -- and employed. I decided to take on a labor of love, reviewing resumes from students and those just starting out who are members of the National Association of Black Journalists.

I had some great people help me out at the beginning of my career, so I strongly believe it's only right to do the same for these young people. Competition is fierce out there, and anything that can give young journalists an edge -- including an employer-friendly resume -- I'm willing to help out.

Which is why I really enjoyed this post -- Flexibility, Freelance Key for Journalism Grads in Tough Job Market -- on PBS's MediaShift blog. It is tough out there, and students need to really think outside the box to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

The MediaShift blog post covered how students are freelancing, volunteering and taking non-traditional jobs as ways to get in -- and stay in - journalism. I see resumes that are full of work done in school. This is a good start, but you need more. Options include freelancing or even volunteering to write for local newspapers or online news sites; starting your own blog on your beat of interest; and going to graduate school.

For those just getting out of school or are stuck in that first job and are ready to move on, research the beats you write about. Are there competing publications or Web sites that may have job openings? Is there a trade association with its own magazine/newsletter/Web site you could write for? Is there an independent online news site (like California Watch, MarylandReporter or Texas Tribune) that you might consider? Is there a way to create your own journalism-based Web site, like what former Washington Times sports reporter Mike Jones has done? These are all options that are available for journalists trying to get their foot in the door.

Do you have any ideas you can share? Let me know in the comments section. And good luck with that job hunt!

Taking Your Job Hunt to the Next Level

In my day job, I cover the business aviation/private jet industry. Even people with no interest in the topic have seen the beating the industry has taken in the media. That, coupled with the global economic meltdown, tight credit markets and companies scared to buy jets, has caused a large amount of people being laid off in the business aviation industry.

I became "friends" with Clint White, an unemployed corporate aviation pilot who took his job hunt to Twitter (@tdwnds1) and via his blog, Aviators' Thoughts. I would offer links to his blog via one of my company's blog. I also had the chance to meet him at a major industry trade show this fall, where he wore his uniform and networked like crazy, telling me "you never know who you might meet."

After more that a year of relentless optimism and searching, White finally got not one, but two offers during the traditionally slow Christmas holidays. And he credits hard-core networking and a social media campaign for getting him those two offers, one of which he ended up accepting.

I have recently been critiquing resumes for young people either trying to get into the market or looking to move up to the next level. Yes, the market is especially tough, but there's no reason why you can't craft your own job search campaign. And I'm happy to say that the advice I've given young people on their resumes matches well with the Web sites I'll be leading you to that offer tips on how to do this.

First, the list is long, but the Interview Angel offers up 101 Ways To Find A Job. Angel offers an exhaustive, but informative list of tips that can ramp up your job search. My favorite tips include:

• Proofread your resume - during my critiques, I was amazed how many journalists had typos, grammar errors and sloppy editing.
• Customize your resume - don't use one resume for 12 different jobs. Craft it for the job you want.
• Use your blog as a platform - Clint White can attest to the power of this one.
• Create an elevator pitch - My blog post on this tip is here.

I'm a big fan of the Mashable blog, my sherpa for all things social media. Last month, writer David Spinks did a great post: HOW TO: Boost Your Resume Over the Winter Break. Among his best tips are find a mentor, take your blog to the next level and volunteer.

Yahoo! News has a great article: Smart Networking For Job Searchers. I am not only a true believer in the power of networking, I can attest to its power when looking for a job. How? The last time I actually applied for a job was in 1992, when I was hired for my first job in aviation. Ever since then, I have either had jobs created for me or been recommended for jobs after making inquiries. You can also get some great networking tips from this Mashable post: 4 Steps for Effective Online Networking.

The SquawkFox blog tells you 6 Words That Make Your Resume Suck. When reviewing resumes, I am no longer amazed when I see writers using these six words -- and plenty of them do. I advise using strong action verbs with descriptions and the numbers (if relevant) to back it up.

I always recommend that job seekers include their social media activity -- but only if it is professional. I have managed to create a personal and professional profile on Facebook and my personal Twitter account is locked. The Digital Inspiration blog posts on Why Job Seekers Should Worry About Their Online Reputation.

If you have any other tips or tricks, I'd love to hear about them.

Life Without Print Newspapers?

I spent the holidays on the West Coast with my family. As I've written in the past, I enjoy debating my father -- an avid newspaper reader -- over the delivery of news. When I'm visiting family, I will pick up the newspaper, because it's there.

So I read this post from the Comms Corner blog with interest. The deal is that blogger Adam Vincenzini is swearing off reading a print newspaper for the next year. He notes the importance of doing this, since he's a PR professional that needs to feed his news habit. Under this experiment, he will:

• rely even more heavily on digital channels.
• spend more time on the websites of the papers I'd normally read.
• experiment with more apps, gadgets and widgets to deliver content from those outlets to me.
• My Factiva alerts and the like take on greater significance.
• probably read e-editions where possible (like the version of The Metro delivered to my inbox each day at 6am).

I stopped my delivery of the Baltimore Sun more than a year ago, so I have been there, done that as far as Vincenzini's experiment is concerned. The news, for me, now comes via NPR and the News Feed Elite app on my iPod Touch. For a mere $1.99, I have access to almost 200 media publications and blogs, including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and my Sun.

It will be interesting to follow Vicenzeni this year, and it will be even more interesting to see if he goes back to reading print publications in 2011. Watch this space!

Including Those of Color in Future Journalism Efforts

The National Association of Black Journalists has a very active listserve on Yahoo Groups. Some of the bigger discussion topics are about including journalists of color on all the new media sites -- ones like Mediaite, Gawker, local ESPN networks like ESPN Boston and Huffington Post -- and of giving us access to the resources needed to become entrepreneurs and create our own new media models. You can read a post about that on the NABJ Digital blog here.

So it was with great interest that I read a post on the PaidContent.org blog about NPR beginning to staff up its new local news effort, dubbed Project Argo. Project Argo won $3 million in foundation support from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Knight Foundation to tap a dozen unnamed local stations in the NPR network and setting them loose to offer “in-depth topical coverage of issues with broad national relevance and a strong local focus,” according to the site.

The funding is still being finalized but NPR is putting the pieces in place for a summer launch of its ambitious local news effort, known internally as Project Argo. Named by digital head Kinsey Wilson with Jason and the Argonauts in mind, this project is in search of a different kind of golden fleece—armed with $3 million in foundation support and a dozen stations committed to Wilson’s explains what NPR hopes to accomplish: “We want to demonstrate that we can build both authority and audience around the coverage of particular beats in these communities.”

When this project was first announced, I remember seeing a flurry of postings on the effort and how NABJ members could become involved. NPR has been up and down with hiring journalists of color, laying off what was seen as a disproportionate number in 2009, including several right after NABJ held a fundraising event at the station’s headquarters in October. NABJ President Kathy Times and VP-Broadcast Bob Butler sent a letter Oct. 27 to NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller taking her to task over the layoffs.

In her Oct. 29 response to Times and Butler, Schiller offered a more focused breakdown of people of color on NPR’s staff. She defended her organization’s effort to maintain diversity and admitted that NPR could do better, saying she was working to boost the numbers.

To that end, NPR announced Dec. 15 that it had hired Keith Woods, currently the dean of faculty at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, as its vice president of diversity in news and operations, effective Feb. 1. This is positive step, and we can only hope that Woods is able to back up Schiller’s commitment. Getting some journalists of color involved with the Argo project would be a great start.

Friday New Media News Roundup

• Three industry forecasts predict that online will take in more advertising dollars than print by 2015, reports PaidContent.org. The blog post includes several charts that illustrate the point.
• A week after the Federal Trade Commission's 2-day workshop on the state of journalism, the Online Journalism Review blog asks what should the government do help journalism.
• Former Time.com managing editor and new BusinessWeek Editor Josh Tyrangiel has a YouTube video on storytelling across different platform.
• CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves offers his optimism on the local media business an in interview with Variety.
• Now that the Comcast-NBC Universal deal has been officially announced, NBC CEO Jeffrey Zuker has only nine months to prove himself to his new bosses, reports Bloomberg.
• Finally, the 24/7Wall Street blog posts about 1o brands it predicts will disappear in 2010. At the top of its list: Newsweek magazine.
  

Is It a Good Time to Go into Journalism? Are You Thankful to be a Journalist?

I have a confession to make. Despite the love I have for my career as a journalist, I think it's pretty natural to sometimes be depressed about the prospects for my industry as we continue to read about layoffs and publications folding.

So when I saw this post on the Flip The Media blog -- Why It’s a Good Time to Go Into Journalism -- my first reaction was "what is he smoking?" But the title was intriguing enough for me to read the post, and writer Mark Briggs, CEO of Serra Media and publisher of Journalism 2.0 (free!), makes an effective case. In his post, he offers three premises:

1. Journalism has a bright future. "Experimental news operations are popping up all over the Web as this decade draws to a close. Some have become sustainable businesses in a very short time. Others are still searching for viability while finding new ways to cover issues and communities," writes Briggs. I have written about these organizations both here and over at the National Association of Black Journalists Digital Journalism Task Force blog. Some of the ones of interest are MarylandReporter, Baltimore Brew, Voice of San Diego, and Texas TribuneDNAInfo, to name a few.
2. That future is in your hands. "Journalism needs you. It needs someone who can bring a fresh approach without the baggage that burdened earlier generations," he writes. I see myself straddling between old school and new school journalism, and this old dog is working hard to learn new tricks to stay relevant in the future.
   
3. Journalism will be better than it was before. "Transformation and evolution are messy, emotional processes. When they produce advancement for society and business, they are seen as healthy and worthwhile, but not necessarily to those on the front lines," writes Briggs. I have seen first hand my old school brethren continuing to resist making the changes needed to be relevant. They want to stick to the old ways, convinced that the old ways are still the best ways. I firmly believe that you can stick with the basic tenants of journalism while taking advantage of all the tools and technology out there that enhance your journalistic efforts.

And this gives me the perfect transition, to a post I saw on the Knight Digital Media Center's Online Journalism Review blog: How thankful are you for your role in journalism today?

The poll, done by Robert Niles, is completely unscientific and only had 58 respondents. But I still think the numbers are worthwhile as media companies continue to adapt -- sometimes painfully -- to the new journalistic world order. Thirty percent say they have a job in journalism, working for someone else, and are thankful for it. Fifteen percent say I have a job in journalism, working for myself, and am thankful for it.

I encourage you to take a look at the poll and take your own temperature on the issue. Despite everything, I still love journalism in general and my job in particular. I don't know a whole lot of people who are paid for their lifelong hobby, like me!

Friday New Media News Roundup

• For those of you keeping track of layoffs, here's the latest: Thomson Reuters has cut 240 staffers at its legal publishing division, reports PaidContent.org; Washington Times has cut 40% of its 370 employees as it moves toward an online format, reports the New York Times; the Miami Herald cuts 24 jobs, reports the New Times; and Gannett lays off 37 and brings back furloughs, reports PaidContent.org.
• YouTube has launched a channel dedicated to citizen journalists, reports the Telegraph. The new channel lets media organizations "request, review and rebroadcast YouTube clips directly from YouTube users.”
• Bloggers can now get free legal help from the Citizen Media Law Project, reports Online Media Daily. The project targets independent journalists who write about matters of public interest, with those adhering to standards of "truth, fairness and transparency" receiving first priority, according to the program's FAQ.
  
• The Telegraph has a profile of Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington. And you can read her thoughts on the new path for journalism, written for this week's FTC 2-day workshop here. You can also see my NABJDigital blog post on that topic here.
  
• And former National Association of Black Journalists president Bryan Monroe's guest post on Huffington Post -- Why New Media Looks A Whole Lot Like Old Media -- is a must read.
  
• Do journalists actually look like this? asks the 10000 Words blog. None that I've ever worked with!!

Hey! People Are Still Reading Newspapers!

I just spent the Thanksgiving week home in San Antonio with my family. My Dad loves to walk out to the driveway and pick up his San Antonio Express newspaper and spend time in the morning with a cup of coffee reading it from cover to cover.

I tease him about being a dinosaur, but I admit I do enjoy doing the same once he's finished with the paper. But it's something I don't do at home, having recently canceled my subscription to the Baltimore Sun. A new report from Scarborough Research find that my Dad is not alone: 74% of U.S. adults, or nearly 171 million people, read a newspaper ‐‐ in print or online ‐‐ during the past week, it found. Other findings include:

• 79% of adults employed in white collar positions read a newspaper in print or online
• 82% of adults with household incomes of $100,000 or more read a printed newspaper in print or online
• • 84% of adults who are college graduates or who have advanced degrees read a printed newspaper in print or online

This is a bit of good news for those working at newspapers. But looking at the bigger picture, my question is -- how long will it last? We've all seen the statistics about the younger generations relying strictly on the web -- and not necessarily newspaper sites -- for their news.

And even if we have this glimmer of hope, are the ad revenues needed to support readership ever coming back? I don't think so, as witnessed by media publishing companies continuing to scramble to find ways to bring in new revenue. To me, finding new ways to sustain the traditional newspaper business model is the real puzzle that needs to be solved moving ahead.

What New Media Journalists Can Learn from Sarah Palin's Book

Ok, I'm going to admit it -- I did watch Oprah's show interviewing former VP candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin on her new book "Going Rogue." And I have marveled at how she is steely in her resolve to use said book to go after everyone (yes, that's you, Katie Couric) she feels has wronged her.

During last year's election, I became addicted to the St. Pete Times' PolitiFact blog, which fact-checked the promises, pledges, statements and "truths" told by the presidential campaigns. The Internet has made that job a lot easier for anyone, not just journalists.

To this end, I really enjoyed this post on the Talking Points Memo blog on the Associated Press's fact-checking of Palin's book -- even before it hit the shelves Nov. 17. In its fact check, AP found a virtual treasure trove "that detailed where her claims didn't line up with reality," said TPM. You can see some of what AP unearthed in the book here.

"[AP editors] bought a copy, ripped it from its spine and scanned it into the system so it could be read and electronically searched. A NewsNow moved within 40 minutes, followed quickly by multiple leads as details were gleaned from the 413-page manuscript," wrote Mike Oreskes, an AP senior managing editor in an internal memo obtained by TPM.

The point is, with all the tools out there -- free and low cost -- any reporter worth their salt can do similar checks on all types of stories. This kind of work does 2 things -- it helps sharpen our investigative skills, and, most importantly, it gives us a way to offer that extra value to readers -- who might even pay for it!

Friday New Media News Roundup

• Folio magazine offers up the latest on layoffs at BusinessWeek magazine as it makes the transition to new owner Bloomberg.
• The Associated Press ends up laying off 90 employees to meet its goal to cut payroll by 10%, reports AP. And the Gawker blog is updating a list of those being let go.
  
• AOL is handling its layoffs of 2500 employees a bit differently. It's asking for volunteers, reports the Mashable blog.
  
• The nonprofit Investigative News Network has raised another $500,000 in a bid for more than 20 nonprofits to collaborate on journalism, fundraising, and back-office operations, reports the Nieman Journalism Lab blog.
• News organizations including the Washington Post and Huffington Post are using the new YouTube channel dedicated to citizen journalism, reports the Telegraph.
• The Techdirt blog asks why "The Daily Show" -- a fake TV news program on Comedy Central -- has better fact checkers than some real media outlets.
• Two brothers are hoping to compete against the Detroit Free-Press and the Detroit News by launching the Detroit Daily Press, according to the Isak blog.
• And eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is launching a similar effort in Hawaii.
  
• The excellent 10,000 Words blog has a funny post about the types of pictures stock photo agencies use to portray journalists. I've never seen these people in my newsrooms!

Why You Need that Career Blog

Lately, I have been doing resume reviews for young people. Most of them have pretty good resumes, but I've had to help them on putting them in order and getting them to show off what they can really do. I was surprised at how many of them did not have career web sites or blogs to be the home of their professional work.

With the explosion of the Internet and myriad tools to self publish, there is no reason why everyone -- especially those seeking a job -- can't have a professional web presence. And it doesn't have to cost money. Some people will pay for a professional web site, while most will just use free platforms like Blogger or WordPress to create a blog.

The professional web site/blog serves as your calling card. You can connect it to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. It's especially important to use it for LinkedIn, as more employers look to that site for hiring. A trend I'm seeing is companies using LinkedIn exclusively to hire new employees.

There is no one way to create a career site, but the Personal Branding Blog offers four tips to follow when you decide to start one. And don't forget to include direct links to your best work.

Friday New Media News Roundup

There is just way too much news going on in journalism these days. I had 34 items for roundup this week, but that's just too much, so I managed to whittle it down to 12. Enjoy!

• Anthony Moor, deputy managing editor/interactive at the Dallas Morning News has been wooed away by Yahoo to head up its local news page, reports Editor & Publisher.
  
• The Mental Floss blog posts about 9 times they should have stopped the presses. Events cited include a profile of Pakistani Prime Minister candidate Benazir Bhutto on why terrorist fear her-10 days after she was gunned down by terrorists.
• It seems surprising sometimes, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt is actually a fan of newspapers and print journalism, as outlined in this interview with the Nieman Journalism Lab blog.
• Speaking of Google, it has launched a function that allows users to customize and curate their own news feeds using targeted key words, reports the Mashable blog.
• The New York Times has launched something similar to what Google has done, allowing readers to create custom RSS feeds of its stories, reports the Resource Shelf blog. Did I mention the venture has 30,000 tags for you to choose?
• The Times also reported a story that the company is laying off at least 25 editorial jobs next year and shipping them to the Gainsville Sun. The Sun is owned by the Times and its editorial staff is not represented by a union, the article noted.
  
• The TweetMeme offers up the top 100 Twitter news sources, including BBC, CNN, LA Times, Reuters, Chicago Tribune and Education Week.
• That Rupert Murdoch! First he plans to put up pay walls at all his newspapers. Then he announces that he will "hide" News Corp.'s Web sites from Google Searches, reports Mashable.
• Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog reports that News Corp. is looking at joining Time Inc. on its "Hulu for magazines" venture.
  
• WYPR's The Brian Lehrer Show has TechCrunch columnist Paul Carr and Jeff Jarvis, professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and author of the blog BuzzMachine.com, discussing the merits of citizen journalism in the wake of the Ft. Hood shootings.
• A copy editor at the Toronto Star shows the Torontoist blog why copy editors -- who are being outsourced at the paper -- are still needed.
• And last, but not least, the UK's Times Online has an interesting column on how the Internet is killing storytelling.
  

Tips to Future-proof Your Journalism Career

In the past week, we've heard about big job cuts at Time Inc.'s myriad publications, along with AOL and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, among others. Right now, we're standing at 14,366 layoffs and buyouts at newspapers in 2009, according to the Paper Cuts blog.

While nothing is guaranteed in life -- or in one's journalism career -- there are things you can do to make it much harder for the powers that be to lay you off when that time comes. Most people don't realize it, but companies tell you what skills and knowledge they value. But some people do not listen.

Back in 2006, our company leadership told us that all things digital was where we were heading for the future. They specifically told us they wanted blogs, podcasts, video, photos and whatever else it took to get us from point A to point B. I heard them loud and clear and began scrambling to attend seminars, conferences, workshops, webinars and whatever else it took to learn these skills.

Am I perfect? No. But in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed woman is king. I've done enough to show my bosses that I heard what they said, took it seriously and took it upon myself to do what was asked. We have not been immune to layoffs. During the last round, I actually got a promotion, and my digital skills were cited as a big reason.

So I read this post -- 25 things journalists can do to future-proof their careers -- on the eConsultancy blog with great interest. A lot of them had to do with using digital media tools. I won't comment on all 25 recommendations, but I will touch on a few of them.

Number one on the list was Blog, and I agree. "Start your own personal blog today. Or better still, start a subject-themed blog. This will be very empowering if you haven’t done it before." I am a big fan of blogging. I've had a personal blog since 2004, which has morphed into this one. I started our publication's first official blog -- Towers and Tarmacs -- in 2006 (thanks to training from the National Association of Black Journalists). And I'm now posting regularly to the new NABJ Digital blog.

Write About Your Passion is number 4 on the list. I am blessed in that I get paid to write about my hobby and my passion -- all things aviation. But if your current beat doesn't do that for you, eConsultancy advises: "Try to write about a passion at least once a week. It will help build out your portfolio. You’ll feel happier about your work. You’ll be able to express your opinions. And you may engineer a way out of a dead end job."

Number 5 is Feeds FTW. The blog recommends setting up RSS feeds for search terms on sites including Google News, Twitter and Digg. For a great primer on RSS, check out this post on the 10,000 Words blog. It also recommends setting up Google Reader to push content to you directly. I don't know what I'd do without mine, which is split between aviation, social media and journalism sites.

Numbers 16 and 17 -- Objectivity Is Overrated and Subjectivity Kicks Ass -- can be a bit hard for some journalists to embrace, especially those used to the old rules. I still write by the rules in my publications, but on the blog, anything goes. We all have opinions, and the industry is moving toward a more personalized style of writing.

Be Platform Agnostic is Number 24. Gone, thank goodness, are the days when there were strict lines between the online and published product. These days, I write a story and decide where it will best fit. My unit has a monthly magazine, a weekly PDF newsletter, a daily premium subscriber web site, a free news site and a blog. I have learned to slice and dice an overall big story and funnel it to the most appropriate place.

And last -- but certainly not least -- Do It Now. "Don’t fear the web. Don’t wait for your boss to tell you to learn some new skills. If you have a mental barrier and have filed yourself under ‘offline’ then slap yourself about the face, have a stiff drink, and then reset your watch." I was scared to death when I started my journey. I am an old school journalist who started her career on electric typewriters. But I love journalism, I love my job and Mama has a baby to feed, so I had to suck it up and jump in with both feet.

I did a quick count of the list and found I was doing 19 of the 25 tips. A nice goal for me for 2010 is to hit all 25! Again, there's no 100% foolproof guarantee that doing all this will protect you from layoffs. But it will make it harder for the boss to target you in cuts, and if the worst happens, you have skills that put you ahead of the game.

They Pitch -- But You Don't Want to Catch

While the vast majority of my career has been in journalism, I have worked on "the dark side," public relations, public affairs and corporate communications. Let me start by saying that I have nothing but respect for the HARD work that they do. If things go well, others usually take the credit. But if things go badly, the finger is usually pointed in their direction first.

Now that I'm back on the journalism side, I go out of my way to be respectful to PR professionals (not that I wasn't before). I thank them for relevant pitches, I send links/PDFs for the stories they pitch (they have to have something to show the client) and I praise the good ones to their bosses. And when I get a pitch from a professional that has nothing to do with my current beats, I send a very polite letter asking them to take me off their media list, since I don't cover what they are handling.

But like with any profession, there are good ones and bad ones, and I think the proliferation of digital and social media tools -- Facebook, Twitter and site-scraping tools, to name a few -- has exacerbated the problem of misdirected pitches. My beat is pretty simple -- anything to do with business aviation/corporate jets. But with so much information and so much technology, I'm seeing a virtual flood of press releases for everything from dating sites to movie reviews (none aviation related) and everything in between.

Recently, I ended up in what became a battle to get myself removed from a list that promoted restaurants. At one time, I covered the airports industry, and in that beat, I did cover new restaurant concepts coming to airports. But I left the airports beat last December. No names will be used (although I'm sorely tempted).

I received several copies of the exact press release on a new restaurant opening in a major airport. It would have been a piece of news to interest for the reporter covering airports, so I replied to the PR person and told her this, also giving her the name, phone number and email address for that gentleman. I didn't hear a peep back. But as the event got closer, I kept getting email blasts pitching the event and asking me if I was going to cover it.

I emailed again several times and tried to go to the firm's web site to remove me from their lists. No reply to the email and I was still getting the releases. I even tried calling the name on the press release and kept getting a community mail box. The releases were coming fast and furious and no one was returning my calls or emails.

So I went for the nuclear option -- I called the firm's client directly and explained what happened, complete with copies of emails, calls made and attempts to remove myself from the list. I assured them that despite their overly aggressive PR firm, a story about the new restaurant would probably appear in the newsletter.

About 10 minutes after the call, I got an email from the PR person blasting me for going over her head and "tattling" to a client. I called her and tried to explain what had happened, but all I got was a string of expletives and threats. I hung up and called her boss, who was much more reasonable.

I did finally get my name off the list, but was all this necessary? No. And it looks like I'm not the only one with this experience, as posted on The Bad Pitch Blog. We're all professionals and we all have a job to do. And those jobs are getting scarcer and requiring us to all do much more with much less. I just hope we can all learn from situations like this and work together for mutual benefit when we can.

Friday New Media News Roundup

It's Friday, so it must be time for the news roundup. Yee HAW!!

• Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington has blasted the new Chicago News Cooperative for a lack of diversity. The for profit/nonprofit CNC will provide Chicago news to the New York Times. Chicago journalist Andrew Patner, in his The View From Here blog, noted that CNC had "no younger people (except a board member, Michael Davies, who owns a website service company with his father), no Blacks, no Latins, no one from the Sun-Times, no investigative reporters, no one from the Reader, no one who doesn't already know everybody else from other boards or service in the Tribune Tower."
• How desperate are some newspapers to bring back print readers? New Zealand's Stratford Press has begun publishing at 3D edition, reports Scoop.
  
• UK-based B2B publisher Emap has announced plans to introduce pay walls for its publications -- including Drapers, Health Service Journal and Retail Week-- within the next two weeks, reports Media Week.
• Speaking of paywalls, long-time Newsday columnist Saul Friedman quit the newspaper, using his last column to publish a letter on why paywalls are a bad idea, reports Techdirt.
  
• In an interesting experiment, the Chicago Tribune this week decided not to use any Associated Press content, reports PaidContent.org. But the paper still used copy from other publications, including AFP and Bloomberg.
• But PaidContent.org reports that AP has managed to keep 50 newspaper clients, including the New York Daily News, after revising its service plan. But another 130 newspapers are keeping their 2-year cancellation notices in place.
  
• Alltop's Holy Kaw blog outlines the six types of new journalists. I put myself in the major shift category.
• Al Jazeera English has launched new blogs covering the world.
• Last, but certainly not least, Roland Martin, CNN/TV one journalist and National Association of Black Journalists secretary, used his blog to blast conservative columnist Rod Dreher over his remarks after NABJ sent a letter to National Public Radio expressing concern over its diversity efforts. “Rod, if you have an ax to grind about diversity of thought on NPR, fine. Keep complaining so they can hire a conservative voice like yours. But if you’re going to choose to write about ethnic diversity and dismiss it as not important, learn to do what real reporters do, and that is gain the facts, and write from a position of knowledge and not ignorance," he wrote.
  

Why Now, More Than Ever, You Need To Network

I got an email from my boss yesterday telling us that a mutual acquaintance had just lost her job in journalism. I had just seen her 2 weeks ago at a big industry conference, so I dropped her an email to see if it was true. Of course, it was. I offered my sympathy and said I'd do what I could to help her.

And, amazingly enough I was able to help her. I put in a good word for her with a hiring manager who was looking to fill a job dealing with social media. I was also able to get her a talk with a company looking for a consultant. I was able to do that for her because I have always taken care to cultivate -- and feed -- my network.

I work in aviation, which is an industry where people tend to stay, even as they shift from company to company. I joined the industry in 1992. The last time I've actually had to apply for a job by submitting a resume and being interviewed was in 1993. Every job I've had since then has been because of my network.

Back in the late 1990s, I worked for a company that was sold, and the new management team changed things drastically. I wanted to move on and when I informed my network, I had 3 jobs to choose from. And it's been like that ever since. Even though I am perfectly happy in my current job, I still get calls from companies and people who offer me opportunities. Part of the care and feeding of the network is to reciprocate whenever possible.

As a reporter, I hear about things all the time and I will pass them along to people in my network. No matter how busy I get (and I am busy), I will call or email key people that have helped me in my career just to see what's going on. And you are also responsible to help people in your network who may have fallen on hard times, because you never know when that person may be able to return the favor.

Why You Need That Elevator Pitch

Last week, CNN did a networking/job search event in Washington, D.C. I went because I was hoping to pitch myself as an aviation expert for CNN on future stories. As such, I had a chance to watch as others chatted with the various CNN representatives at the event.

One thing that was glaringly apparent was that many job seekers did not have a good elevator pitch. Mine, at exactly 15 seconds, was simple and to the point -- I wasn't looking for a job, aviation is a big topic of interest to CNN, they needed to have some new -- and more diverse -- people speaking about the industry, and I could help with my expertise in business/corporate jet aviation, airports and airport security and the airlines, tossing in that I've also worked for 2 airlines and an engine manufacturer. I gave them my card, asked for theirs, thanked them for their time and moved onto the next person. Using this method, I was able to get 10 business cards.

But it wasn't easy. The format of the networking was people sprinkled across the room and you ran up to a person with a CNN name tag. The process was a bit chaotic, and it didn't help when people used the time to either tell their life story or drag on about what CNN needed. Had I been searching for a job, I would have visited the CNN job site -- TurnerJobs.com -- to see what openings were available to see what CNN was looking for before going to the event.

I then would have matched my current skills set to what they were looking for and created my elevator pitch around that. One person really stood out, because I kept seeing him say the same thing to every CNN person. He blathered on about how "I can do everything" and "I want to go where I can fit best" then peppered them with questions on exactly where the jobs were in CNN. He didn't seem to have a clue on exactly what he wanted to do. I saw variations of this scenario throughout the night.

These are busy people who know exactly what they need. One, they probably don't know exactly all the jobs available at CNN, and two, they should not be telling you what is available unless they are doing the hiring directly.

You never know when you're going to get that chance to pitch yourself, so you should have one ready. For tips on how to create the perfect elevator pitch, I recommend this post on the Harvard Business Publishing blog. Good luck!

Friday New Media News Roundup

It's Friday, so it's time for the news roundup. Here are my picks for the week.

• The 10,000 Words blog (you know I love this blog) offers 10 Ugly Truths About Journalism. My two favorites? Journalists are biased and no one has all the answers. On a side note, please vote for this blog in Mashable's 2009 Open Web Awards' "Best Site for Journalists" category.
• As many journalists mull the decision to stay or start a new career, this new poll from Monster.com finds that most job seekers are open to career changes.
• The PaidContent.org blog posts about a topic I've covered regularly here: hyperlocal news blog start-ups. This post follows the trials of Justin Carder of Instivate, maker of the free Neighborlogs publishing system for local news sites, and founder and owner of the Seattle neighborhood blog CapitolHillSeattle.com.
• And speaking of start-ups, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz takes a look at others out there, including VoiceofSanDiego.org, Baltimore Brew and Chitown Daily News.
• I recently saw a post on one of my journalism listserve asking whether someone should write for free. A post on the Editor Unleashed blog offers 5 questions to ask before you make that decision.
• And I'll finish this post with 5 Things to do before submitting a magazine article, from the Urban Muse blog.

Have a great weekend!