'Black Wednesday' in Tampa

There are apparently quite a few "professional toolbags" in Tampa ...

 

Does it ever occur to those who constantly harp about the virtues of Twitter/Flickr/Facebook/Myspace, etc. that some journalists are perfectly capable of using these "tools," but don't simply because it doesn't fit their beat/sources/market?

If you cover City Hall or any kind of government beat, chances are you're not going to get the mayor/congressman/whatever to submit to an IM interview or a Twitter chat. They might even tell you to grow the hell up and call them, or make an appointment. Just because uber-trendy forms of communication exist doesn't necessarily mean they are appropriate for the setting. There's a lot to be said for professionalism.

Take a look at your readership as well. If you live in a community full of senior citizens, chances are they don't give a damn about your Facebook page. They want a nice print edition. Do you need flashy online content with blogs and video to attract a younger readership? Absolutely. But dismissing traditional methods of reporting and presenting news as passe means cutting off your nose to spite your face in a lot of markets. It means ignoring your bread and butter.

Hell, I'm 27. I'm supposed to be all about this "social-networking" stuff. But forgive me for feeling that just because tools exist, doesn't mean they're the be-all, end-all way to get things done.

 

Spawned from hell.

 

Nicely put, but if you capialized "Hell" it has more impact. Just saying ...

 

After rooting around her site and reading her "look-it-meeeee" site and accomplishments, I have come to one conclusion

Indeed.

 

HELL

 

Folks in the corporate world talk different. It's as if they have to communicate with each other with acronyms and the phrases like "buy-in" and "toolbag."

I think they fear that if they just said things plainly, people would quickly realize that anyone could do their jobs.

 

If, to keep a job in this business, I need a Twitter and a Flicker and a YouTube and a Facebook and a MySpace and a BlackBerry and a camera and a Foley and a Day Runner implanted in my palm and 300 Friends On Each of MY Personal Sites and the ability to type all of this via text while driving to my personal stylist for the look I'll need to go multi-media, then count me out.

I'll be the one volunteering at the homeless shelter here in Salt Lake City long enough to become friendly enough with staff so that when I become a client and not a volunteer, I'll get an extra blanket, maybe.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, quality journalists like Scott Carter -- who was blogging daily on the FSU beat -- are still being ushered out the door.

Why is at that everything we are talking about keeps falling on deaf ears?

 

Too wordy... fixed

 

I'm not sure what relevance or value a personal blog has for any journalist who has a blog that covers his or her beat. The only time I read about personal blogs are when inappropriate posts on a personal blog put a writer's real job in jeopardy.

 

Again I ask, knowing how to upload to YouTube, having Facebook, Twitter and what have you, doing interviews on cell phones, etc., blogging -- how does all this translate into revenue for a media company to pay employess.

Sure anyone can blog and blog useful information too. On their own, however, how many can make a living just doing that. You can have all the attitude and get responses, you can be ahead of the curve in knowing all the new high-tech tools, but is it translating into making a living or is it just a hobby.

I'm a reporter. I don't care how my stories get published -- newspapers, which I still prefer, on our website, or my blog, or a podcast, etc. -- I just want to be able to make a living.