The wall gets thinner and thinner

My master's thesis explored the topic of the wall between news content and advertising, and how newspaper executives were adjusting their communication in the changing media landscape to address each other and business needs appropriately.

This morning I came across this New York Times article that discusses how Time-owned publications will be having the newsroom staff report into business departments, a big change in how journalism operates.

Time Inc. will abandon the traditional separation between its newsroom and business sides, a move that has caused angst among its journalists. Now, the newsroom staffs at Time Inc.’s magazines will report to the business executives. Such a structure, once verboten at journalistic institutions, is seen as necessary to create revenue opportunities and stem the tide of declining subscription and advertising sales.

As a safe spin on the strategy, Time Inc. is making its former editor-in-chief Norman Pearlstine the "chief content officer" to oversee the change. Should be interesting!

What do photos add to news stories?

Last month, I was reading up on unpaid intern stories in the media and came across this  BusinessWeek article. The first thing that caught my eye once I clicked on the link was the photo it uses at the top of the webpage.

In Journalism School, the Strategic Communication program and marketing conversations in general, there is plenty of proof that images enhance a person's likelihood to click on an article or check out a story. I was appalled when I saw this photo paired with the story on sexual harassment:

It's absolutely vital for publications - online and offline - to use good judgment when evaluating an image to go along with a story. Does this photo enhance reader's understanding of the story?
What does it contribute? What about this picture in particular insinuates interns? Is it helpful or not that you cannot see their facial expressions?

As the reader, I was perfectly capable of understanding the situation without this photo. Even if photos increase click-through rates and other key sales and effectiveness metrics, consider the image's value and the purpose of the story. Some serious matters like this don't need to be portrayed visually just to put something there, especially when they don't align incredibly well.

The benefits of higher education

This semester, I'm working on the community outreach team at the Columbia Missourian as part of my  participatory journalism class. In addition to being a three-credit class, we also work newsroom shifts. In one of our class sessions this week, our teacher Joy Mayer hosted a Google+ hangout with journalists across the country to talk about their publications' commenting platforms. Since participatory journalism looks at how to engage readers, learning about commenting and keeping audiences involved is integral to our course.

However she did it - Joy organized three excellent speakers:

• Jack C., Knoxville News Sentinel, a Scripps publication
• Todd O., Associate Community Manager at Mashable
• Kate M., social media product manager at NPR 

As a class, we learned a lot about three very different types of news outlets. We heard how many comments they receive per month, what their thoughts are on moderation, how they are innovating in the community space and where they see the future of comments.

And we also got to see real-world, working journalists interact with each other. This Google + hangout not only taught us about how various publications are using comment platforms, but gave three journalists a time out in their day to learn themselves. When two of the sources began a conversation with each other, my heart melted.

One fear professors have engrained in students' mind is the idea that once you start to work, you don't get to learn. You do, do, do and don't have time to think to improve or gain new ideas. So this 'hangout' was an honor because not only did it teach me as a student, but I saw the smiles on three working professionals' faces when they got to take some time and learn. When something is for education, the work force realizes it's for the greater good and participates, even if it's a detriment to their day. So hopefully the hangout let them pause, learn and grow in their own positions as they preached them to my class.

Overall, I'm going to miss the daily world of education and hope I can continue to learn and participate in things like this!

Marina Keegan's inspirational writing

Last week, a Yale student journalist and recently graduated senior Marina Keegan died in a car accident. The tragedy received national attention because of stories Keegan had written that solicited conversation across the web. I read through some of her clips from the Yale Daily News, and respect not only Marina's fascinating writing ability, but the pieces she wrote and the themes these uncovered. I want to share three of her stories and encourage you to check them out.

The opposite of loneliness: Right before her college graduation, Marina wrote about the feeling that is the opposite of being lonely, for which no words can describe. Such a feeling is so prominent on a college campus where you really feel at home, because of living in dormitories, close circles of friends and courses and activities that bring people together. She explains how this feeling is something to celebrate and not solely believe you can only live once. We should strive to live the opposite of loneliness- maintaining relationships and pursuing opportunities that let us enjoy life.

Even artichokes have doubts: Being the story that sparked conversation across the country, Marina explains how a large chunk of college graduates enter finance and consulting professions after college. She writes that business recruiters have the system down, know how to recruit undergrads and make jobs that they were unaware of and even uninterested in seem incredibly appealing. Many of these jobs contribute to keeping the rich richer and studies report that people want to fulfill altruistic goals. Because of this, Marina drives students to maintain their passions and not let a salary or benefits drive your career choice.

Senior year without society: In this piece, she writes about how you don't need to be tapped into a secret society to enjoy college and meet others you would not have met. With this tradition at Yale being just as prominent at Mizzou, this well-written essay keeps us looking at our experiences with optimism and not hostility.

The Intern Queen!

This Tuesday, Lauren Berger, also known as "The Intern Queen," came to speak at Mizzou's Trulaske College of Business for the professional development program. Some of our chapter members realized that Lauren is a Phi Mu alum from Florida State University, and invited her over to the house.

Lauren gave an hourlong presentation about the importance of internships, while incorporating her experiences working 15 internships in her college career. She had fascinating stories demonstrating the significance of persistence and follow-through, which I truly admire her for. She gave advice on sending e-mails, telling people you value their time and saying thank you, as well as discussing proper interview etiquette for the phone, Skype, in-person and Starbucks interview settings.

She founded The Intern Queen two years ago after working at an agency in Los Angeles, as a database for current students to find internships. Right now, it is completely free and companies pay the organization to post internships there. Lauren travels and has spoken across the country, but is based out of southern California.

Since she was a Phi Mu alum, some of our members stayed after to take a picture with her and thank her for the presentation. I chose to stay until audience members finished asking her questions, realizing that we had no idea how she would find our sorority house by herself, nonetheless park and maneuver campus. We got in her car and I asked her what she thought of campus, and she hadn't even seen it. We proceeded to take a driving tour, take some cell phone pictures to picture mail them out and tour Chi chapter's home.

Lauren and I posing by the fireplace

It was a great opportunity to not only hear Lauren speak, but hang out with someone so professional and receive internship advice!

Strategic Communication

Some Mizzou journalism students recently started a website called J-School Buzz, a forum to report commentary and provide updates about the Missouri School of Journalism. I first heard about it when they followed me on Twitter, and a Facebook page was also created to advertise the site.

The J-School seniors that run it are intelligent and witty people, with tags for the various emphasis areas and other topics about news on campus and how it was reported, J-School relationships and plugs, as well as "Starving Journalist," information about where you can get free food on campus. The current series being produced is on stereotypes of the different sequences of the Journalism School- broadcast, print/digital, photojournalism, convergence, magazine and strategic communication. It explores what the general population thinks of each emphasis area and considers its accuracy.

Yesterday, this article was posted titled "StratCommers are not all cop-outs." As a strategic communication student who contemplated a lot about which emphasis area to choose, this post hit home. Forty percent of the J-School is made up of strategic communication students, and some people hold this viewpoint because they will switch to Strat Comm after not enjoying the nature of reporting that the other sequences emphasize. While I love interviewing and reporting and miss doing so much of it after being a Strat Comm major, I also love public relations. The author of the post stresses how "it's not all analyzing ads," it's more than that. Working with clients and applying planning skills and more of a marketing side is integrated into Strategic Communication, which is what I enjoy learning about. Thus, I was thankful to relate to this post.

What I love about this website is that while utilizing sarcasm and, it refutes gossip, stereotypes and accurately reports on the news. Instead of just making a claim, the writers still back it up with journalistic evidence because that's what the school teaches us to apply. In the following story, a student who had embarrassing posters posted about her around campus mentions that the campus police were launching an investigation. The blogger writing the story called MUPD to confirm that this was true. Regardless of the purpose, J-School students are still producing solid journalism. And that's why I love being a student here.