10 virtual & free media/journalism/writing panels in the next month

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Wed., Jan 12 - Producer Academy  

What: This webinar is for students interested in pursuing careers in newscast and digital news producing. Topics include:

  • How producers can contribute creatively to the content gathering process

  • The Investigative approach to producing

  • How to create unique stories on digital platforms

  • What a producer’s first year in the newsroom may be like

  • Tips on applying for newsroom jobs

Who: TV News Directors and Producers from Sinclair news operations

Cost: Free

When: 11am - 1pm Central, 9-11am Pacific

Sponsor: Sinclair Broadcast Group

More info: eepiereman@sbgtv.com

Thu., Jan 13 - Op-Ed Crash Course

What: Everything you need to know, with insider tips, on how to craft and place a compelling op-ed. Upon request, participants will be matched with a professional journalist to support you as you craft your own op-ed related to student press freedom for a professional daily (or national) newspaper. 

Who: Author & Veteran CNN & New York Times Journalist Steven Holmes

Cost: Free (limited space)

When: 7 pm Central, 5 pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Sponsor: Student Press Law Center

Register

Fri., Jan 14 – Pitch Tips from Journalists

What: Want to learn how to send fewer story pitches but land more media coverage? This panel of journalists will provide insights on what they are looking for and feedback on your current story ideas. 

Who: Associated Press reporter Julie Watson who covers U.S.-Mexico border and military affairs;  San Diego Union-Tribune biotech reporter Jonathan Wosen; The Filipino Press publisher Susan Delos Santos; KPBS news editor Gina Diamante.  

When: 3-4pm Central, 5-6pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: $5

Sponsor: Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

More info

Tues., Jan 18- Google Tools for Journalists 101

What: In this hour-long virtual training, you will learn the fundamentals of the (free) Google Tools you can use to find and vet sources, verify user-generated content and even get beat-related content delivered straight to your inbox. The session will focus on making Google Search, Trends, YouTube, Maps and Alerts work for you. Plus, a quick overview of what data you can find and use as free, embeddable graphs.

Who: The session will be taught by founding Google News Initiative trainer Vix Reitano, founder + CEO of Agency 6B, a Forbes #Next1000 2021 Honoree,

When: 7pm Central, 5pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, NYC Deadline Club

More info

Wed., Jan 19 – Understanding News Media Bias

What: This session will help you think more clearly about what causes bias in reporting, what it looks like in coverage and what you can do when you encounter it in your news diet.

When: 1-2 pm Central, 11-noon Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: News Literacy Project

Registration

Sat., Oct 23 - How newsrooms are shifting strategies to better serve communities

What: This panel will discuss how local news ecosystems can evolve to be more relevant, responsive and relied upon by the communities they serve.

Who: Charlie Sennott, CEO of GroundTruth Project and co-founder of Report for America; Anne Galloway - founder and editor, VTDigger;  Crystal Good - publisher, Black By God;  Candice Fortman - executive director, Outlier Media;  Tasneem Raja - editor in chief, The Oaklandside; Moderator Victor Hernandez, WBUR chief content officer

When: 5:30 pm Central, 3:30 pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: WBUR, Boston's NPR News Station

More info

Tues, Jan 25 - Careers in Science Writing

What: Thinking about a career in science writing? Hear from professionals in journalism and communications about various career paths during a virtual panel.

Who: ·Heather Buschman, director of scientific communications and media relations at the Salk Institute; Katy Stegall, investigative assistant at KPBS; Jared Whitlock, freelance journalist, MIT Knight Science Journalism fellow; Jonathan Wosen, biotech reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune

When: 10-11am Central, 12-1pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsors: Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Science Writers Association, San Diego State University,

Register

  

Wed., Jan 26 - Responding to Press Freedom Threats Through Advocacy

What: Whether through censorship, regressive legislation or bad policies, student voice is under attack. Learn how student journalists have changed the press freedom landscape in their states, and concrete strategies you can take to work with legislators and other decision makers to restore and protect the freedom of the student press.

When: 7 pm Central, 5 pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free (limited space)

Sponsor: Student Press Law Center

Register

Thu., Feb 3 - How to Tell Your Story and Be a Spokesperson for Student Press Freedom

What: Effectively advocating for student press freedom means connecting with others and offering an authentic account of what motivates you to be a journalist. This fun, interactive workshop will turn you into a pro in telling your "story of self" and provide you with skills that will be valuable in many different areas of your life. 

When: 7 pm Central, 5 pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free (limited space)

Sponsor: Student Press Law Center

Register

Thu., Feb 10 - Using Social Media as a Journalist & Advocate

What: Social media is a powerful tool that enables almost anyone to have a platform. In this session, we'll explore how journalists can be advocates for student press freedom online and break down the 2021 Mahanoy Area School District v. BL Supreme Court decision.

When: 7 pm Central, 5 pm Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free (limited space)

Sponsor: Student Press Law Center

Register

And the prison door will swing open

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In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu wrote, “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.” He no doubt intended it as a dire warning. But as the years have passed, I have come to interpret it as more of a promise and an opportunity. 

I have learned that the prison of others’ approval is actually one built by me, maintained by me, and guarded by me. This has led me to my own complementary verse to Lao Tzu’s original: “Disregard what others think and the prison door will swing open.” If you are stuck in the prison of shame and judgment, remember that you hold the key to your own freedom.

Arthur C. Brooks writing in The Atlantic

The algorithmic feedback loop

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Users keep encountering similar content because the algorithms keep recommending it to us. As this feedback loop continues, no new information is added; the algorithm is designed to recommend content that affirms what it construes as your taste.

Reduced to component parts, culture can now be recombined and optimized to drive user engagement. This threatens to starve culture of the resources to generate new ideas, new possibilities. 

If you want to freeze culture, the first step is to reduce it to data. And if you want to maintain the frozen status quo, algorithms trained on people’s past behaviors and tastes would be the best tools.

The goal of a recommendation algorithm isn’t to surprise or shock but to affirm. The process looks a lot like prediction, but it’s merely repetition. The result is more of the same: a present that looks like the past and a future that isn’t one. 

Grafton Tanner, writing in Real Life Magazine

Hockey equipment manager finds woman who saved his life with message about cancerous mole

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A woman knocked on the glass at a hockey game and urged the Vancouver Canuck’s assistant equipment manager to get a mole checked out. It turned out to be cancerous. He didn’t know who the woman was, so he tracker her down with the team’s help.

NBC News has a video report below or read the story from ESPN here.

New Adobe tool for Content Creators

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Adobe express logo

Adobe has released a single template-focused app called Creative Cloud Express (replacing Adobe Spark) that combines some of the best features from the Creative Cloud Suite for mobile and web. Quickly create everything from social media posts to promotional posters and videos with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. Drag all sorts of elements into your composition from text, icons, shapes, free photos and fonts, music and other design elements. Assets from Photoshop and Illustrator can be utilized as well. Convert videos to GIFs and documents to PDFs. Great for non-professionals with little video editing experience. However, if you’re a pro, this is not a full-featured video editor.  

Creative Cloud Express includes premium features from: 

  • Adobe Premiere Rush — Shoot, edit, and share videos on mobile and desktop. 
  • Adobe Photoshop Express — Edit and retouch images, create collages, and combine photos. 
  • Adobe Spark Video — Quickly create stunning video slideshows. 
  • Adobe Spark Page — Turn words and images into beautiful web pages.

More on the features here.

Teaching resources from Adobe for Educators here.

While Express is already included in many Creative Cloud subscriptions, there is a free version available or get more templates, photos and fonts with a paid subscription for $9.99 a month (or $99.99 a year) here. Better yet, there is a three-month free trial here. More info on the plans here.

More Tech Tools

Wear Sunscreen

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A Chicago Tribune columnist wrote a piece in the late 1990s that has become known as Wear Sunscreen. She imagined what advice she might give to students at a commencement. It starts like this: “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97: Wear sunscreen.”

The commonsense advice that followed included tidbits like, “Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts” and “Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.” The message was intensified when it was set to music, renamed Everybody’s Free (To WearSunscreen) and released on an album by an Australian film director. One of Brazil’s biggest advertising agencies added video.  



 

 

 

Prescriptive Grammar Rules

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Most of the hobgoblins of a contemporary prescriptive grammar (don’t split infinitives, don’t end a sentence with a preposition) can be traced back to eighteenth-century fads.

Of course, forcing modern speakers of English to not – whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn’t done in Latin makes about as much sense as forcing modern residents of England to wear laurels and togas. 

But once introduced, a prescriptive rule is very heard to eradicate, no matter how ridiculous. Inside the educational and writing establishments, the rules survive by the same dynamic that perpetuates ritual genital mutilations and college fraternity hazing: I had to go through it and am none the worse, so why should you have it any easier? Anyone daring to overturn a rule by example must always worry that readers will think he or she is ignorant of the rule, rather than challenging it. 

Since perspective rules are so psychologically unnatural that only those with access to the right schooling can abide by them, they serve as shibboleths, differentiating the elite from the rabble. 

Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct

 

Data Science articles from Dec 2021

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Self-Made Failures

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Occasionally, I’ve seen a man stand up and say, “I’m a self-made man.” So far I’ve never seen the guy or gal who DIDN'T make it, stand up and say, “I’m a self-made failure.” You know what they do? They point the index finger and say, “I’m not successful or happy because of my parents.” Some say, “My wife or husband doesn’t understand me.” Some blame the teacher, the preacher or the boss. Some blame everything from skin color and religious beliefs to lack of education and physical deficiencies. Some say they’re too old or too young, too fat or too slim, too tall or too short, or that they live in the wrong place.

Zig Ziglar, See You at the Top

Controlling Others

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Think about your childhood experiences. Did your parents spend a lot of time teaching you the outward behavior that would make you a responsible adult? I don’t mean to imply that there’s anything wrong with this if it’s not carried too far, but did you ever have an opportunity to talk about the way you felt? Were you able to admit you angry or irritable or afraid? Did anyone take time to help you understand why you felt these kinds of emotions? Children who don’t have this kind of encouragement gradually learn to suppress their negative feelings. It is easier to pretend that you don’t have them than to be criticized for expressing them.

When you felt angry, perhaps bitter, you assumed that you’d better keep it to yourself because you might get in trouble if you exposed a feeling that didn’t match your reputation as a nice, well-behaved girl.

Individuals assume very early in life that they can conquer their feelings of inadequacy only if they perform well enough. So when a stain spoils their performance record, they feel they have no choice but to put a demerit mark on their value rating.

I’m not implying that a parent should never set firm boundaries for children. That might lead to chaos. But time can be spent discussing the why’s of behavior and listening to each others' opinions.

I recall one woman who protested the idea of discussing options with her children. My kids would run absolutely wild if I gave them choices,” she said. “If I don’t stay right on top of them, they’ll never learn to live correctly.”

Respecting her desire for orderliness, but questioning her dictatorial manner, I responded, “I’m thinking more of your children’s future when Mom won’t be around to tell them what to do. They’ll have so little practice in making healthy decision that chaos will almost be guaranteed.”

Maintain control is an ever-present goal of the imperative person. Conversely, relinquishing control and encouraging another person to think and reason are the goals of healthy interpersonal relations.

Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control

His way of Working

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The Magnificat, Mary's Song of Praise, is recorded in Luke, chapter one. Here is what it reveals about the Messiah’s way of working among people: 

v51 He scatters the proud                     

v52  He brings down rulers                    

v52  He exalts the humble                     

v53  He fills the hungry              

v53  He sends away the rich        

 

He scatters the proud

But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. -Math 26:56

 

He brings down rulers 

One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us.” -Luke 11:45

 

He exalts the humble  

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. -Luke 21:3

 

He fills the hungry 

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied. -Mark 6:42

 

He sends away the rich  

When the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” -Luke 18:23,24