First links of the year | Primeiros links do ano

• Next for news design? Predictions for 2009, SND Update
  

Fearlessness in the face of a scary time. Innovation alongside disruptive change. Human stories and out-of-this-world technology. New ideas and old fundamentals.

These are the threads that weave through a set of ideas from a formidable group of industry experts.

SND asked what’s ahead for news design in 2009. Looking into the crystal ball after one of the most dramatic years for the media is not easy, but the answers these journalists, teachers, consultants, artists and editors came back with have this in common:

Hope.

• Ten questions for journalists in the era of overload, Newsless.org
  

1. Are we making our community feel better-informed or merely distracted?

By now we know the shocking truth: Seeing a ton of headlines on a news site makes many media consumers feel overwhelmed, not more plugged-in. On every page of my site, I want my visitors to think, “I can manage this.” And, “I want to know more about this.”

This means the layout and design of the page should communicate a clear hierarchy of information. It means the site should invite visitors with concise, high-level knowledge about topics that are relevant to them, and allow them to dive deep into the details wherever they choose. And it means we need to be very deliberate with our choices about what to present up front — I’d like to get out of the business of just shoveling up headlines to keep people clicking.

via kirk lapointe’s themediamanager.com

• 2008’s new technologies journalists should be using, Journalism2.0

Reading Wired.com’s 6 New Web Technologies of 2008 You Need to Use Now, I wondered what the list would look like if tailored to journalism. As the Wired article admits, some great technologies that are critical today have been around longer, but rose to prominence in ‘08. All are important for Journalism 2.0, some more than others.

• Tools for news, Chris Amico

Journalists need new tools to work online. I started building this online database of such tools as a personal project, just a way to keep track of everything I was using. It has since grown into something I think others will find useful.

The site is in public beta for now. Eventually, I hope to move it to its own domain.

Anyone can browse this site and subscribe to our RSS feeds. Registering allows you to add new tools, add links to existing tools and bookmark tools, which will be saved on your contributor page.

If you find a bug, please email me and I’ll get on it. That address is good for general feedback, too. For more about who I am, check out my blog or my portfolio.

• Forget Survival: The Journalist’s Guide to Owning 2009 and Beyond, New Media Bytes

Journalism is NOT dependent on the fate of your employer, newspapers or mass media. Rather, YOU can help decide journalism’s future.

You can impact communication! If you’re interested in this, read on. If not, please leave a flame comment at the end of this post.

Over the past couple years, I’ve buried myself in learning business, marketing and journalism. Here’s some of the lessons I’ve stumbled on and some resources for putting them to use:

ADAPT

Swimming with the current can help you move along more quickly than fighting against it. If a river has flowed north-south for 50 years, and the flow suddenly changes to east-southwest, don’t you think it would be best to alter your course to sync with the current?

• Twelve Tips for New Managers, PoynterOnline

Journalists in today’s newsrooms need skilled, smart managers to support them as they try to do their best amidst cuts of too many kinds. They need managers who know how to communicate, motivate, build collaboration and navigate change. The new managers who spent a week at Poynter in December worked on all of those things. They were realistic about the challenges their newsrooms face in this economic climate and at the same time, they were eager to step up and lead.

For a lesson on the basics -– things every new manager should know — we turned to Joe Sullivan, sports editor of The Boston Globe. Joe runs a hard-working, high-performing team that has seen plenty of change and keeps delivering, in print and on the Web.
Joe put together a list of a dozen things new managers should know. Here’s Joe’s list, with my comments on each tip, including some links to additional reading(…)

• Interesting things for Saturday, Andy Dickinson (thanks Andy)
  

Talking of new discoveries and useful things, my new glut of twitter followers has included a number with non-English language blogs that are rather spiffing. These include the French espritblog.com by Fabrice Gontier, who’s all over multimedia at the wonderfully titled Centre de formation et de perfectionnement des journaliste. The perfectionnement des journaliste, I love that.  Another new follower is Antonio Granad whose blog Ponto Media I’ve been following for a while.  Of course there are plenty of other great foreign language blogs out there including: onlinejournalismus.de, r73.net and the wonderful Alex Gamela’s O Lago.

The vehicle, the road or the voyage | O veículo, a estrada ou a viagem

Hybrid model | Modelo híbrido - by rodrigo silveira

I believe newspaper companies are making a huge mistake when defining their business. This is not a new idea, but it is still happening.They’re trying to save the vehicle when they haven’t still understood how the vehicle has evolved: it is no longer a horse cart, but a  well designed Formula 1, powered by a state of the art last generation environment friendly engine.You can tell i don’t know much about cars but you get the idea. Ok, but they want to keep the horse (fondly named Paper – even though they’re wanting to keep him out of the name). No harm about that, but its place is not in front of the car, doing all the hard work, but in a horse box pulled by the brand new car, as the luxury item it has become, well fed and properly treated. And the new machine needs new professionals with new technological expertises to keep it running. Other mistake newspaper companies make is they decide which way to go. Come on people, that’s why buses aren’t the only way to go from A to B! People got their own cars to go wherever they like, whenever they like, alone or with their friends. No timetables, no fixed route. If there’s a shortcut (link?) we can take it because we want to and not go all the way around. But they stick to that same old dusty road they know so well, losing passengers more interested in choosing their own ways and destinations. I fear newspapers have forgot what the car and the road are all about: travelling. It’s the experience, not the vehicle or the destination. TV and Radio know they are more sensorial experiences than ink on paper – a more brainy thing – and they do not seem to be asking for help like newspaper companies are. It’s the path, the way we choose to go left or right, and how we share our views – because travelling alone is not as fun as with others. And when we finish the route as it is now with the newspapers, we find ourselves in the same place, when what people want is to end up in a whole new surrounding, with more knowledge than they first started.  A horse and  buggy can do, but we also long for the thrill of speed. So their definition must take into account this: it’s all about the ride. Give us the options to enjoy it.

Acho que os jornais e as companhias que os detém estão a cometer um erro crasso na definição do seu negócio. Esta ideia não é nova,mas ainda acontece. Eles ainda estão a tentar salvar o veículo quando ainda não perceberam como é que ele evoluiu: já não é uma carroça, mas um Fórmula 1 bem desenhado,com um motor amigo do ambiente de última geração. Dá para ver que não percebo muito de carros mas estão a ver a ideia. Tudo bem, eles ainda querem manter o cavalo (carinhosamente chamado de Papel- se bem que o queiram tirar do nome). Não tem mal nenhum, mas o seu lugar já não é a puxar o carro mas numa box a reboque, tratado como o bem de luxo que se tornou, bem alimentado e mimado. E o bólide precisa de novos profissionais especializados na nova tecnologia para o manter a funcionar. Outro erro que as empresas dos jornais fazem é decidirem o trajecto. Então pessoal, é por isso que os autocarros deixaram de ser o transporte eleito de ir de A a B! As pessoas têm os seus próprios carros para irem onde quiserem quando quiserem,sozinhos ou com os amigos. Sem horários ou rota definida. Se houver um atalho (link?)podemos tomá-lo porque não queremos ir à volta. Mas os jornais teimam em seguir naquela estrada velha que tão bem conhecem, e perdem passageiros mais interessados em escolher o seu próprio caminho e destino. Temo que os jornais se tenham esquecido do que para que o carro e a estrada servem: viajar. É a experiência, não o meio ou a chegada. A Tv e a Rádio sabem que são experiências mais sensoriais do que tinta no papel – uma coisa mais cerebral – e não as ouço a pedir por ajuda. É o caminho, a possibilidade de podermos ir pela esquerda ou pela direita, e como partilhamos os nossos pontos de vista – porque viajar acompanhado é sempre mais divertido. E quando acabamos o percurso assim como está feito pelos jornais, acabamos sempre no mesmo sítio, quando o que as pessoas querem é terminar num local completamente diferente, com mais conhecimento do que quando acabaram. Uma carroça também serve mas também queremos o gozo da velocidade. A definição passa por isto: é a viagem que interessa. Dêem-nos as opções para a podermos apreciar.