Assignment for Monday, Jan. 30
Bring headphones to class Monday. We’ll be doing an audio editing lab in GarageBand.
Assignment for Wednesday, Jan. 25
Take the NewsU.org course “Telling Stories With Sound.” You may have to create a NewsU.org account; it’s free. Focus on:
- Overview: Why Sound Matters
- Planning: Choose the Right Story; Research and Pre-Interviews
- In the Field: Ask the Right Questions; Know Your Environment; Record Sound Sources; Collect More Audio
- You can skip the In the Studio chapter and the Sound Mixer activity.
- Submit a course report at the end to jill.vanwyke@drake.edu so I know you completed the course.
In “The Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency,” read Section 3, pages 5-7, “Buy an Audio Recorder and Learn to Use It.” This link is to a PDF.
Audio Recorder Cheatsheets, Manuals
TASCAM DR-07 settings cheatsheet (PDF). (Tascams are in the red bags, available from Blachford or Van Wyke via the Magazine Center.)
Manual for Zoom recorder, available for checkout from DTC
Zoom settings cheatsheet (PDF). (Zooms are in the blue bags, available for checkout in the basement.)
Manual for Olympus recorder, available for checkout from DTC but use only as a last resort
Assignment for Monday, Jan. 23
“Journalism Next”
- Foreword
- Introduction
- chapter 7, “Making Audio Journalism Visible”
- Be prepared for a quick quiz to prove you did the reading.
Take this digital skills survey
Read the syllabus carefully
Bring ear buds or headphones
Look for Des Moines-area events that you might cover for your first audio slideshow. Bring a list of some ideas, options.
Journalism and Wartime expectations
Edward R Murrow ignited Americans view on war with his radio coverage of the London bombings. This enlightened millions of people of the reality of war. War coverage gives a face, a voice, and a story to an activity that is usually so distant to many. Murrow educated the masses by taking a risk to tell a story.
Copyright and Fair Use Issues Clash
The internet is an amazing tool for us as journalists. It makes finding the boring but important information easier, it allows our readers to access our content faster and it allows people to interact in ways that were only dreamed about many years ago. Of course with every new invention and every new shortcut, you could argue that people are allowed to share too much. What happens when a scene from a popular movie is parodied on YouTube? The answer to that question is nebulous at best. The reason for the muddied water is that YouTube allows its users who own the copyright to take material down at their leisure and as they so choose. What you end up with are YouTube users such as the producers of the now famous German film “Downfall” taking material off of YouTube to a loud roar of people saying, “Hold on a second.”
Producers of the film are taking down YouTube videos
After reading several stories on this it truly is interesting how fair use and copyright work can clash. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) states that works by the original owners can be used by other people, third party individuals who are not the copyright owners, and parody the original and call it fair use. Normally that is fine and dandy, but the caveat here is that YouTube allows original copyright owners to take down material under YouTube’s “Content ID” filter wherein an owner can take everything down, most things down or some things down to his/her liking or satisfaction.
If most of these cases hit courts here in the US there wouldn’t be much of a problem. The trick here is walking the line between users adapting that famous scene of Hitler in the bunker and dubbing it with subtitles of Hitler not liking Myspace or Hitler being upset that Twitter is down. YouTube isn’t budging on its stance that for now, users can use that “Content ID” filter to manage videos with their works. Most people would try going the DMCA route, but not Constantin Production. They found the loop that allows them to manage content using YouTube as a proxy DMCA such that they effectively win by keeping out what they want kept out. In order to ensure true fair use, one man, Brad Templeton, who is a board member of Electronic Frontier Foundation, decided to do a parody of the film but with DMCA by his side so it couldn’t get taken down.
What do you think are some good examples of past fair use cases? If the director of the film likes the parodies, why should the production company even bother taking material down? Is there a point when YouTube needs to step in and tighten the “Content ID” filter requirements? All of these are very good questions as YouTube grows into a ubiquitous site where the lines will start to become even more blurred between material third party individuals fairly use and plain old copyright infringement.
The new “Journalism”
As we spoke today in class about how we need to keep more in touch with all of the new social networks like Facebook, Delicious, Twitter, Myspace I couldn’t help but to think how far behind I am with all of this.
I have a Facebook account that I check every couple days and I have yet to add to my repertoire a twitter account as I feel both of those are the most popular amongst my peers.
I enjoy how having a voice heard by so many people is much easier now, but doesn’t it kind of dilute the important information you are trying to inform people about if 90% of your tweets or Facebook statuses are “this guy sitting behind me smells bad” or “I can’t believe Sarah is wearing that outfit today! OMG!!!!”
I completely agree that social networks help spread the word, but is it too hard to separate the professional information from the pointless social information?
Social Media Saving Lives
There is no denying social networking is the future. However, one group is pulling the idea beyond staying connected with old friends or tweeting your favorite song of the day, and using it to save lives. Literally. Sermo is a company that allows doctors to get online and get advice from other professionals. And it isn’t without its number of success stories. One doctor, who was unsure of how to deal with a patient consulted Sermo. “In less time than it would take me to get a neurologist to come to the phone, I had 10 opinions on what to do.”
However, this can have a downside. How many times have different doctors told you different solutions about the problem you have, or have even been wrong about what condition your body was in. If a doctor has no idea on how to cure a patient, and can get ten options within a few moments, does this necessarily mean that all advice will be correct?
How do you feel, knowing that doctors now have a safety net of sorts? Something to fall back on when they’re unsure of how to deal with a situation. An unqualified doctor may be in the room with me, but could be getting advice from the top in the nation. I see this as potential, both good and evil; what about you?
Medical patients find connection online
Courtesty of The New York Times
As we all know, social media helps people stay in touch with high school friends, can bring avid sports fans together in one place, and can break news before traditional media outlets. Studies and surveys show now that tweeting, blogging, and other social media efforts are helping people deal with difficult life issues, such as disease.
In her article in The New York Times, Claire Cain Miller writes about how people with certain medical conditions have come to rely on social media to work through their conditions. One quadriplegic man uses the internet to get and share tips on places with the best wheelchair access, another uses it to connect with other multiple sclerosis patients for support. Read more…
Photojournalism Pulitzer Prizes
Matt stole my Pulitzer Prize thunder. But I wanted to share the photojournalism award–one when to Mary Chind of the Des Moines Register.
This article shows the Craig Walker’s photos from his American Solider story. The photos are quite moving. There is also a link in the story that gives more information on Chind.
