Chad Ochocinco–Sports Journalist?

I can’t make up my mind whether I like Chad Ochocinco or despise him, but he’s always interesting. Whether he’s trying to kick a field goal or pretend to bribe officials with a dollar, the Cinncinnati wide receiver always has a flair for making headlines. Now he’s trying to work the other end of the mike with his own sports network. He’s in Miami this week interviewing players and getting the inside scoop. He also blew his deadline for his ESPN column. Just because he can run fast, doesn’t mean he can write fast, I guess. Check out his network reports here.

Who dat trying to regulate free speech?

The New Orleans Saints first appearance in the Super Bowl has touched off a controversy over who owns the phrase “Who dat.” According to Associated Press reports, the NFL sent notices to T-shirt makers to stop using the phrase and the Fleur de Lis in marketing shirts pegged to the Saints Super Bowl bid. Politicians and even the governor have told the NFL to back off and the NFL is trying to find a middle ground, saying it isn’t trying to curb free speech, just merchants trying to usurp the NFL brand. As if the NFL doesn’t have enough money.

Online journalism was so yesterday

A new study by IBM’s Media and Entertainment group finds that while digital media use is increasing, online newspaper consumption has dropped significantly among 18- to 24-year-olds. It seems younger folks are opting more for social media sties to find their news. It seems like journalists (and advertisers) are constantly running after this group. Now we have a new media format with the Apple iPad. Change is always exciting, but the pace can be dizzying–and costly.

Read more about the IBM study here.

More job losses

Although the purpose of this blog is to focus on journalism that works, I can’t help but express my surprise and amazement that the Washington Times announced today that it is closing its sports section and laying off its entire photo staff. If sports and pictures don’t sell papers then what does? The newspaper is betting readers want national news and investigative reports. We’ll see if that tactic works.

Is this news?

The home page of Baltimoresun.com today featured this holiday greeting from Maryland celebrities. It’s charming. It’s funny. But is it news? Should it be the lead story on the Web site?

E & P hangs on for now

Due to overwhelming reader and advertiser demand, Editor & Publisher will publish its next issue, the January 2010 edition, as planned, Editor Greg Mitchell announced today. Read the full story here.

Do you need a college degree to be a journalist?

See the answer here from The Recruiter on Poynter.

Could history repeat itself?

This morning on the drive in to work, I was thinking about the dire state of the news business. It isn’t just the newspapers, but magazines and broadcast news shows that are confronting dwindling audiences and dwindling ad dollars. What can turn this around?

I wonder if we could be heading for a new era of fragmentation in news gathering and reporting. The nation’s early news gathering operations were a couple of guys (and a handful of women) working a printing press. They supplemented their income by taking on other printing jobs. Now news is being covered by bloggers and tweeters who pose a threat to the large conglomerations. It remains to be seen how they will earn money to supplement their newsgathering, but I’m betting we are in for a new era of citizen journalists.

Editor & Publisher to close

Editor & Publisher staffers were notified this morning that their magazine, which has covered the newspaper industry for over a century,  will cease publication at the end of the year. You can read the news here.  How many of us you to use the E&P Yearbook to assist our job searches. I recall that when I was looking for my first newspaper job, I sent cover letters, clips and resumes out to 80 newspapers. I wonder how many survive.

But the purpose of this blog isn’t to chronicle the dead, but the search among the living for the answers to where the future of journalism lies.

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