online journalism

Kansas’ CJOnline: Innovation in the heartland

August 26, 2002 by JD Lasica

Kansas’ CJOnline wins awards — and audience — with its multimedia pizzazz

By J.D. Lasica
Online Journalism Review

The pilgrims come from the world over, making the journey from far-flung media empires to learn the True Way of Online Publishing, the precise combination of innovation, grit and pluck that the folks at CJOnline have concocted to make it the liveliest little news site in the land.

Last March, for instance, a delegation from London’s Daily Mail — including owner-publisher Lord Rothermure — trooped out to the mecca of Topeka, Kansas, to glean the secret of the site’s success. Others have journeyed from Gannett, Lee Newspapers and umpteen universities.

“It blows me away to see all these people who want to fly out to Kansas. I’m always afraid they’re coming to make fun of us,” says Rob Curley, the dry wit who ran the Topeka Capital-Journal’s new media operations until last month. “They quickly find out how small-townish Kansas really is. You can walk right up and talk to the governor.” [Read more…] about Kansas’ CJOnline: Innovation in the heartland

Convergence at the OK Corral

July 25, 2002 by JD Lasica

Newspaper, broadcast station join forces online in NewsOK.com

By J.D. Lasica
Online Journalism Review

Convergence has received something of a black eye lately. Black eye? That might be understating things a bit. We’re talking broken ribs, multiple lacerations and third-degree burns, thanks to the spectacular flameout of AOL Time Warner, the poster child of media convergence.

But not all converged news operations are created equal. Case in point: NewsOK.com, a joint operation of the Daily Oklahoman and KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City.

Both news organizations bring considerable assets to NewsOK, which will mark its first birthday August 19. The Oklahoman, the largest news operation in the state, has a daily circulation of 209,000 and newsroom staff of 160. News9, the leading newscast in town, can spur viewers to pick up the next day’s paper with a preview of a joint news project, or send them to NewsOK. [Read more…] about Convergence at the OK Corral

How the online news industry is evolving

April 26, 1999 by JD Lasica

I was interviewed by PBS’s Online NewsHour in 1999 and received permission to republish our exchange on my site.

Online News Industry

The Internet news industry has undergone some major changes over the last five years.

To discuss these changes is JD Lasica, new media columnist for the American Journalism Review and the Online Journalism Review. In addition to writing about online ethics for the Industry Standard newsweekly, Mr. Lasica is also managing editor of BabyCenter, an online resource for new and expectant parents.

The following are Mr. Lasica’s answers to 5 questions asked by the Online NewsHour. [Read more…] about How the online news industry is evolving

Attracting young talent to your online news staff

March 5, 1999 by JD Lasica

Step #1: Start with your newsroom’s corporate culture

This column appeared in the May 1999 issue of The American Journalism Review.

Web journalists today face a choice: work at the online division of an old media company, like Tampa Bay Online or Time Digital, or dive headlong into a new media company that exists only in cyberspace. More and more, they’re choosing the latter.

Consider Janelle Brown. When she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995, she knew she wanted to be a journalist, but the traditional route of ladder-climbing at a newsroom didn’t appeal to her. “The idea of working at some really dry or dull newspaper didn’t interest me,” she says. “Old media seemed so hierarchical, while new media seemed so exciting and vibrant and starving for talent.” [Read more…] about Attracting young talent to your online news staff

Newsweek arrives on the Web

January 7, 1999 by JD Lasica

Editor and General Manager Michael Rogers discusses Newsweek’s online strategy

This column appeared in the January 1999 issue of The American Journalism Review.

Newsweek has joined the future. Newsweek.com arrived on the Web Oct. 4, 1998, and unlike the first wave of mainstream media news sites that reinvented themselves every five minutes, these folks don’t seem to have an identity crisis.

The streamlined site has a spare, minimalist look, featuring all the content of the print magazine alongside a handful of daily features and breaking news provided by others. With a 10-person editorial staff, the Web site has both a modest agenda and realistic goals.

In short, Newsweek.com doesn’t pretend to be all things to all Webheads. [Read more…] about Newsweek arrives on the Web

Preserving old ethics in a new medium

December 7, 1997 by JD Lasica

To avert ethical problems in cyberspace, cling to traditional journalism values

This column appeared in the December 1997 issue of The American Journalism Review. I was interviewed on the topic of Internet news sources’ trustworthiness by Bloomberg Radio on April 4, 1998.

If ethics are rarely debated during the daily miracle of churning out a newspaper, the subject is rarer still in the whiz-bang, techno-toy-driven realm of new media.

While all the old ethical rules surely still apply in new media, the Internet also presents dilemmas that never existed in a print world: reporters lurking invisibly in chat rooms; ad links embedded into editorial copy; the posting of private tragedies in news archives until the end of time; tracking users’ habits and sharing that data with advertisers; putting the tools of publishing into the hands of little league coaches and others who aren’t trained journalists. [Read more…] about Preserving old ethics in a new medium

So you want to be an online journalist

November 7, 1997 by JD Lasica

Some tips on how to prepare for a fast-changing field

This column appeared in the November 1997 issue of The American Journalism Review. This column also appeared as a chapter in the book “Writing.com: Creative Internet Strategies to Advance Your Writing Career,” by Moira Anderson Allen (Allworth Press, August 1999).

Agood portion of the e-mail I receive these days is from young people who ask: How do I break into online journalism?

I’m always gladdened by the question, because it suggests that new media have become permanent fixtures in our news and information galaxy. Increasingly, young people see the Internet as a taken-for-granted part of their daily routine — and more relevant to their lives than one-way big media like newspapers and TV.

Net journalism is here to stay. Following are some tips on how to break into the field — and how to last:

• Bring a passion for Web journalism. Talent isn’t enough. Desire, drive — a willingness to work long hours, often at modest wages, for the sheer love of it — can’t be underestimated. The best online journalism sites attract team players with an upbeat attitude and good people skills. [Read more…] about So you want to be an online journalist

Speeding the news on the Internet

October 7, 1997 by JD Lasica

Ted Koppel & Bruce Koon warn of the dangers of trading accuracy for immediacy

This column appeared in the October 1997 issue of The American Journalism Review.

As online news matures, we’re beginning to see Web publications evolve into true news channels rather than warmed-over digital versions of their pulp parents.

While that term “channels” may seem strange when applied to an online newspaper, a year from now millions of us will be getting the news from channels we’ve chosen on our personal computers. Already, the New York Times and ABC News are the premium news channels on America Online. In August, Netscape released its new Netcaster browser, which will “push,” or “Webcast,” more than 700 channels of information from such sources as USA Today, CNNfn and CBS SportsLine. Microsoft, which will release its new browser this fall, has signed up the Web editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

As the online news world begins to cover news as it happens rather than once a day, are there risks that journalists with ink-stained backgrounds face in moving toward a broadcast model of Net news? Ted Koppel, anchor of ABC’s “Nightline,” thinks so. In his first interview on the subject of the Internet, Koppel has some words of warning for online reporters eager to reinvent the wheel of journalism.

“Reporting is not really about, ‘Let’s see who can get the first information to the public as quickly as possible,’ ” Koppel says. “It’s about: ‘Let’s see who can get the information to the public — as soon as we have had a chance to make sure the information is accurate, to weigh it against what we know, to put it in some sort of context.’ Only when you’re satisfied as a professional journalist that you’ve got the story and the facts have been verified, only then can you go with it. [Read more…] about Speeding the news on the Internet

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