JMC grad student and blogger Ryan Sholin spends a quite a bit of time thinking about the future of journalism and online news. In a recent blog post, Links that redefine news, he gives several examples of “online news sites and projects that stray from the traditional definition of news” and offer intriguing ideas about the future direction of online journalism.
Your assignment (due Thurs., Feb. 28) is to check out a few of these links, then write a blog post (250 words or so) on the one (or two) you find most interesting. Pick a link that you think offers potential for online journalism, or for the media field you hope to work in. Briefly describe why you find it interesting and what you see as its potential. Might it change even the media as we know it? (You never know!) In your blog post, I’d also like to see you relate this to your class readings, either The Cluetrain Manifesto and Dan Gillmor’s We the Media.
Also, be sure to look at the comments section for this blog post — you’ll find more links to interesting experimental news-related sites and online mash-ups for your consideration.
You might also want to read Sholin’s previous blog post, Inventing Journalism. It includes some additional links and discussion that could work well as a jumping-off point for this assignment.
