October 2, 2014
In Mark Briggs “Entrepreneurial Journalism”, one of his main points for developing a strategy for your website is to identify the market which you are focusing on. He says to keep this as simple as possible.
Both Briggs and the Poynter.com article, “How entrepreneurial journalists can identify opportunities” say to smart small and don’t get ahead of yourselves as it can be intimidating. Poynter says to “Gather lots of little idea seeds, one of which may eventually blossom, and capitalize on your strengths as a journalist.”
Briggs also says to find people who fit the category to which you are working towards. He says to start with people you know. Do you know anyone who fits your market? If so, make a list with contact information. Briggs says to dig deeper with your contact list. Do they know anyone farther down the line? He says networking is very important in this step.
Following in Briggs tips of finding your market, HerCampus, is the top global community for college women. Their articles are written completely by college journalists, with 4,000+ contributors and counting. On their website, they feature national Beauty, Style, Health, Love, Life, Career, LGBTQ+, and High School content. The goal of HerCampus is to “fulfill its mission of serving college women across every platform.
Briggs mentions three groups that will help make projects for the future of your website. The first two groups are the Innovators and the Early Adopters. Briggs mentions that these two groups make up the left side of the curveball. The “fat middle” as Briggs describes it consists of “early majority and late majority”. By reaching these two groups, your business has a good chance of succeeding. The last group Briggs mentions is the Laggards, and if you reach this audience, it’s the “icing on the cake”. Innovators and early adopters consider new product concepts early on without needing to hear information from outside sources. People who fall into the early majority wait for the references to make their well thought out decisions. The late majority consists of a group of people who wait even longer to make their decisions.
Along with identifying your market, Briggs mentions that you should identify your value proposition. Focus on the strengths of your operation before worrying too much about what your competition is doing. The value proposition that you offer to your audience is very important. Briggs says to use the five “W’s” when you formulate the value proposition of your company.
Who: Who is your product serving?
What: What is your company about?
Why: What are the benefits you are offering? Why will people use your service?
When: Is timing one of your advantages?
Where: Is location one of your advantages?
To start a Web site, Briggs offers good pointers. Starting off small and with people you know is better than taking on too much right away. Poynter, like Briggs, suggests gathering little idea seeds and hopefully one will blossom. HerCampus fits with what Briggs mentions about finding the right audience and market by targeting college aged woman.
September 25, 2014
Sonia Nazario’s, Enrique’s Journey, tells the story of a young boy from Honduras looking for his mother and his journey to find her. Enrique comes across bandits, thugs, etc, as well as having to hold on to tops and the sides of freight trains. Sonia Nazario follows young Enrique on his journey, and faces everything that he does.
Sadly, stories like Enrique’s are more prevalent than not. More undocumented immigrant children are coming to the United States to get away from drugs and other problems, as well as trying to find relatives who escaped their countries to the United States. According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, there are a total of 43,419 unaccompanied children, in a data report released, from January 1st to August 31st.
With Enrique’s Journey being such a popular novel, there have been numerous occasions that Sonia Nazario appeared on television, some including, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Morning Joe with Mika, Anderson Cooper 360, NPR Here & Now, Reddit, and many more. With these platforms, she informs the public on Enrique’s journey, as well as what other immigrant children have to do to get to the United States. On her website, she has an Upcoming Events section, where she gives lectures on her book and Enriques journey.
Sonia Nazario’s website for Enrique’s Journey has very good information. Aside from telling Enrique’s personal journey and her book, she gives information on how to help out, how the family is doing, events, and much more. In the “Enrique’s Journey” tab on her website, she has photographs of Injured Migrants. Having visuals such as these show you what these people are going through and have to deal with to find relatives, or get away from the drug lords. Along with the pictures, she gives descriptions of what is happening and who is pictured. These descriptions provide the audience with real people and real stories.
According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement,
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/unaccompanied-children-released-to-sponsors-by-county, there are 200 children in the Morris County area that are unaccompanied. To localize this story, I could go to my moms church and find out from the deacon if there are any children trying to get back with their families. I would be able to interview the deacon, as well as possibly someone who is helping the child get back to their family. Depending on the age, I might be able to interview the child or children as well.
As Sonia Nazario said, we have to make a change to our government in order to help these children. There are so many children coming to the United States, the government has to be able to help them find their relatives.
September 18, 2014
Forbes is one company that has started making footsteps into the digital age. Other companies are stuck in the past, and many do not plan on moving towards a new future. Forbes journalists use a few different techniques in order to be considered digital journalists. Collaboration plays a huge part at Forbes and turning towards the digital era. Forbes journalists also use the phrase “You teach me, I teach you.” This is used to “connect the values and standards of traditional media with the dynamism of the digital age.” This is a technique that bridges old standards with new standards. Digital journalists at Forbes are also using social media to follow colleagues. Social media is used as a “competitive beat reporters to gain insight from them.” Because Forbes has been able to go digital, they will have a future, compared to Newsweek, which is gone.
Ethical challenges go hand and hand with the new digital age of journalism. Images and videos play a huge role in stories, as well as potentially causing ethical challenges. With the availability of smart phones, the chances of having problems rise. Smart phones are linked to the Internet making it easy to link a picture or video right up to a blog or social media. This allows the person to recreate the picture and make something that may not have even happened. Newsrooms often run into problems with photographs or videos in this manner because they are unsure of what is real and whether or not the event really happened. Video and photography producers have to be careful with images so that no ethical problems arise.
Mark Briggs lists a number of essential points about launching your own site in Entrepreneurial Journalism. One of Briggs’ points is to pick a niche. What he means here is to pick one topic and make a website about it. For example the website, www.packdog.com allows dog obsessed owners to make a blog about their beloved pooch and find out where other dogs with the same breed or different breeds live, possibly nearby. After typing in the breed you’re interested in looking at, you get to a page that describes the breed in more detail, and provides you with more dogs of that breed. This site also allows you to make a blog about your dog.
His first point, which he says is crucial to starting your own site is to set goals. While you do not know what the future holds for your site, it is important to picture the size of it. You also want to create benchmarks so you know if you’re on point with how you envision your goals for your site. Briggs also mentions that your audience should be loyal and fully engaged.
September 11, 2014
Do you know how many changes there have been in the past 25 years? How about how much the Internet has changed over that time? Well, to answer these questions, there’s a lot. The Internet was invented by a guy named Sir Tim Berners- Lee. It started off as something only “geeks” would use as a data- transfer system. Over the last 25 years, it has evolved into a piece of technology that millions are using around the world, day in and day out.
Starting in 1995, the Pew Research Center began to document Internet use. Did you know that since their first poll, Internet usage percentages have risen incredible amounts? Well, they have. According to the Pew Research Internet Project, “The Web at 25 in the U.S.”, in 1995, just 14% of US adults had Internet access compared to 2014 when 87% of US adults say they use the Internet. Can you believe that jump in 19 years?
As we all know all too well, Wednesday marks 13 years since the 9/11 attacks. While I was too young to realize the impacts of the tragedy at the time, years later, I learned just how big the impact was. I also learned how much technology played a roll during that time. The Pew Research Center found that 67% of Internet users say their online communication with family and friends has generally strengthened those relationships. The Internet has the ability to help out with so many day to day tasks, some including getting, sharing, and creating news; taking care of your health; performing jobs; interactions with the government; communicating with family and friends; and organizing in communities. Because of this, the Internet helped people out during the unclear hours during and after the attacks. Eventually, many were able to get in contact with loved ones as well as find out what had happened.
Now, 13 years later, rather than solely remembering the 9/11 attacks as terror attacks, people are paying tribute by helping others through charity and good deeds. Millions are expected to post messages through none other than the famous Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram according to “ETN Global Travel Industry News”. Organizers of 9/11 Day hope to bring awareness to this awesome tribute by having prominent celebrities, organizations, and millions of individuals tweet messages of support or a good deed on the morning of September 11. Snoop Dog, a musical artist, is planning on participating and getting his more than 11 million followers to participate as well. Messages, service plans, and good deeds for 9/11 can be shared at 911day.org , and through social media sites, Facebook (@911day) and Instagram (@911dayofservice).
Who would’ve thought just five years ago how popular and how much of a role social media would play in our day to day lives? I personally had no idea that it would be this popular. Make sure to check your personal social media links and post a message of support or good deed Wednesday, and don’t forget to use @911day for Facebook, and @911dayofservice on Instagram.
I think it’s pretty crazy that 67% of users say that their relationships have improved, when so many people talk about how much social media has ruined relationships. It’s pretty funny that intimate relationships don’t succeed but family relationships stay strong. It’s amazing to see how much the internet has grown, but scary to see how much it’s taken over our daily lives, my own mother checks her Facebook every single night and just a year ago she didn’t even know what it really was.
Ms. Nazario really put a big spotlight on the whole topic of immigration and I feel you helped showcases what she has done well in her journey. It’s great that she still goes out, almost a decade after the books publishing, and gives speeches on Enrique and his family and where they are now.
You did a good job of giving a quick summary of everything involving Enrique and his journey.