Journalists Using Facebook as a Reporting Tool

Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism recently conducted an Advanced Facebook for Journalists podcast on its BlogTalkRadio network.

The hour-long show covered several ways to use Facebook as a reporting tool, including using it as a "virtual research assistant," crowd sourcing, promoting a story or site and organizing your contacts into "friend lists" so you can tailor your posts to specific groups.

Read about the podcast here at Mashable.

Listen to the hour-long show on BlogTalkRadio.com. (Note: You may have to use your default audio player -- in my case, iTunes -- to listen to the podcast. There's a button on the audio player to do this.

One of the best, and most controversial, early uses of social media in breaking news was during the Virginia Tech campus shootings. Reporters used Facebook and MySpace searches to find bios of victims and contact friends and family members.

The Roanoke (Va.) Times used social media in its award-winning coverage of the story. And students and campus leaders used it as a way of discussing the incident and sharing ideas.

What Journalism Students Should Demand from J-Schools

I've long been a fan of Robert Niles at the Online Journalism Review, part of the Knight Digital Media Center and USC. Robert runs the amusement park safety site ThemeParkInsider.com and posts some great resources on his Twitter account, @robertniles.

And I really enjoyed his latest post to the Online Journalism Review called, Eight Things Journalism Students Should Demand from Journalism Schools.

At a time when the news industry is changing radically, students should expect the eight things Niles listed in his piece. They need mentors and role models, job contacts, the opportunities to explore linear and non-linear storytelling. They need a well-rounded liberal arts education, and journalism instructors who focus on the future of news ... and not relive the good old days.

We still must teach journalism fundamentals -- AP Style, accuracy, fairness, ethics, law, reporting and editing -- but we need to reach further and give them opportunities to grow as entrepreneurs, producers, backpack journalists and in other mediums.

As I often say in discussions with my friends still working in the industry: Adapt or perish.

And it's never been more relevant.

Viral Video and FOX Anchor's Flub

We're pretty sure FOX 5 New York anchor Ernie Anastos meant to say "plucking that chicken" or even "clucking that chicken" but something else went out over the air during a recent newscast. And you didn't have to be in the Big Apple to see it.

The live footage became an instant classic on YouTube, and Mashable reports that the video has already been seen by more than 800,000 people. It's been passed around Facebook, Twitter and even Chicago morning radio talk show hosts were talking about it Friday morning.

Here is the video, and be sure to watch the look on his co-anchor's face:

Chi-Town Daily News Blog Folds ... Or Does It?

Big news on the Chicago blog scene today: Chi-Town Daily News has folded ... maybe.

Editor Geoff Dougherty, a former Chicago Tribune reporter, said the organization, which received a Knight Foundation grant in 2007, ran out of cash. He said the blog will re-organize as a for-profit venture in a month. We'll see.

My take: Chi-Town Daily News was considered one of the better start-ups in the Chicago area. It's sad to see it go. But as we saw in the late 1990s, there is an end to grants and venture capital. Back then, venture capitalists expected a return on investment in five years. Now, your startup is lucky to have two years. Web 2.0 is on a business plan and profitability schedule, just as Web 1.0 was and Web 3.0 will be.

Chi-Town Daily News lasted four years, the last two thanks to the Knight grant and other money raised. It's important to note that Knight money also was invested in the hyperlocal site, Everyblock.com. Everyblock was purchased by MSNBC a few weeks ago.

Cool Tool: Convert Documents to .PDFs

I love finding new software that makes my life easier. Especially when it's free.

Jim Janossy, who teaches at DePaul University, shared a great resource with me this week: CutePDF. The free software allows you to convert a document into a .PDF by linking to a conversion tool through the "print" menu on your original document.

The software also is available in a "pro" version for $50, but I found that the freeware met all of my needs. There is nothing I despise more than scanning documents into a .PDF format, and this tool saves me a LOT of time converting documents. Give it a try.

And thanks again to Jim for sharing this great resource!