A Review and Commentary of “Journalism Next” by Mark Briggs

I would like to start off by simply stating: this book is great! This book is great because not only is a step-by-step guide for journalist who need to learn how to maneuver in today’s web-based media society, but it also serves as a major boost of morale for those who are going into a field that by many has been declared “dead” and not lucrative. My own family members warn me about taking up journalism as a major. They say, “Haven’t you seen the news? All the major newspapers are going bankrupt! Why not become an English Major?” To tell the truth, before, reading Journalism Next, I was starting to consider their suggestions.

The foreword was written by Jennifer Sizemore, a veteran journalist who embraced Web 2.0 journalism, and is now vice-president of MSNBC.com. She described the digitization of journalism as not a burden that must be dealt with, but rather as a revolution that will ultimately save the face of journalism and take it back to its original purpose: to serve the community. Sizemore’s first proving moment of this was when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Her news team created a blog template to which each journalist was constantly adding new stories and updating old ones. Perhaps their biggest contribution was the “lost and found” message boards for families that were disconnected from their loved ones. This was up-to-the-minute news reporting. This “real-time” reporting is something that now in 2011, we have come to not only appreciate, but to automatically expect.

Briggs explains to journalists that although Web 2.0 journalism is liberating, there is also a large degree of responsibility and internet know-how that is imperative to becoming successful in the field. He breaks down the working of HTML, reminding us that the old days of just being a “good writer” just won’t be enough in the information age. HTML is web-page code, the information needed to tell a server how to display paragraphs, pictures, text, template and whatever else is on a particular site. In our CIT198 class, we had exposure to HTML codes while writing our blogs. On the “edit” page, you can either edit in “HTML” or “compose.” The compose option allows you to post without bothering with the HTML codes. After reading this book I started to analyze what my blog looked like in HTML. For instance, <p> is the tag used at the beginning and end of a paragraph, and the tags, <b>letter<b> makes a letter bold.

Another revolutionary change in journalism is “linking.” Just as we learned in our CIT198 class, linking our blogs to other sources adds both credibility and versatility to our work. In former years, it was preposterous to send a reader to the competition or any other related material, for fear that they would not return to the original source. But that thinking is outdated. Briggs uses Google as an example, “All Google does is send people away from itself. And all people do is come back.” (p. 82)

“Microblogging: Write Small, Think Big” was one of my favorite chapters. The term microblogging was new to me, yet I unbeknownst to me I have been doing it for a few years already through Twitter and Facebook. At the time this book was written in 2009, the New York Times had 900,000 followers on Twitter, and as of today, @nytimes has over 3 million followers! So that goes to show, the news is very much in demand, we just have to find creative ways to deliver it. For any of us that have Twitter accounts, we know that you have to get your opinion out to the world in 140 characters or less. As a writer, I found this to be very challenging, but a good journalist loves a challenge. I wanted to publicize my blogs in an interesting way that would attract readers and hopefully also followers. After hundreds of posts with little success, (to my 846 Twitter followers @dig4knowledge) I learned from Journalism Next that it’s not always about just publicizing your blog post and constantly posting a link. It’s about community participation: ask your followers a question, and answer their questions. Just a link, with no personal connection is simply not good enough, and frankly will look like spam.

In our Cit198 class, I also learned this lesson when we created our Facebook accounts. We wrote reviews about articles and then conducted conversations about what we posted. It was those conversations, where we incorporated our personal opinions and experiences, which made the original articles more alluring.

Mark Briggs and a host of featured journalists address every aspect of journalism in the information age. There are chapters on: RSS feeds, Blogging, Multimedia, Audio, Video, Digital Photography, and more. I purchased this book in hardcopy instead of reading the free ebook option because of the heavy load of information that is presented. Eventually, I would like to not only read it, but work through it like a guide, trying out each application as I go. This book can be used as an everyday reference for a journalist trying to build an internet following.  

After reading about all the useful tools one can use when writing articles, I felt invigorated and yet daunted. This is serious stuff; operating your own microphones, video equipment, taking quality digital photographs; all on top of writing interesting up-to-the-minute stories. Today’s journalist must be multifaceted, taking up roles as writer, web-designer, content distributor and advertiser. So it is inevitable that one must ask: will all this work have its value in returns? Will I make a real income?

Chapter 11, “Building a Digital Audience for News”, gives the basics on building an audience online through five different avenues: Tracking your content, Web analytics, Search Engine Optimization, Effective headline writing for the web, and Distribution through social media. These tools are invaluable for today’s journalist, but I was just slightly disappointed the book ended there. I wanted to read a more straight-forward “dollars and cents/sense” kind of chapter. I have a toddler and a baby on the way any day now, so it would have been some consolidation to know that if I followed this doctrine, I would earn at least $_____. But I know it doesn’t work that way. Just like an artist, a writer writes because they love to write, and any material compensation is merely a HUGE bonus. Mark Briggs presents all the tools he could think of to teach us journalist to take our careers to the next level, and hopefully implementing that knowledge will lead to earning a tangible return from which car notes and mortgages can be paid.



Ghetto Proverbs and Oxymorons

Okay, so this is the thing about Urban Philadelphia the ghetto, everywhere you go there are corner stores. Most corner stores are "bodegas," meaning they are owned and operated by immigrants from various parts of Latin America. In my experience, most are owned by Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. There are also corner stores owned by Asians; those stores are usually slightly larger and sell alcohol through triple-bullet proof plastic counters.

 If I gave you a description of a typical corner store, these establishments would probably seem quite cool and convenient: a mini-mart where people in the neighborhood can buy everything from hair greese to mayonnaise. And many of the small stores are complete with a deli in the back, where hoagies and lunchmeat can be purchased at slightly higher prices than at the supermarket. When you enter into the small market, which is usually the converted first floor of a corner house, you might be overwhelmed by the amount and variety of goods that are stacked, piled, and hanging from every available space: hair weaves, pantyhose, canned goods, bananas, diapers, over-the-counter medicines, condoms, and of course lots of sugary drinks and junk food.

This brings me to the photos I have posted below. While these corner stores might seem to be harmless or even helpful, I believe that one must investigate deeper to see how they could be a danger and detriment to the people who shop in them. First, let’s start by stating, there are almost no quality grocery stores in the ghetto. So many people resort to shopping at these "corner stores" which appear to be at almost every corner. In fact, it seems as though the worst off the neighborhood, the higher quantity of corner stores.

 Upon entering the establishment, you are barraged by shelves and shelves or high-sugar, high-sodium, low nutrition foods: cakes, candy, cookies, and personal-sized chips of every variety. Walk in a little further, and the refrigerator section is filled with juices and sodas that are packed with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial flavors and dyes.

 I grew up around these stores: my brother and I would sneak and buy snacks whenever we had an extra quarter (my parents didn't allow these types of foods and drinks in our home). But growing up, it was what it was- corner store junk. But now, I have discovered these bright yellow signs posted outside of many of these stores. The sign reads in big bold lettering, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DRINKING?" Then in the box below it says, "Sugary drinks can lead to diabetes and other diseases. Find healthier choices at this store."

 Okay, as soon as I'm thinking, "Huh? Is this a joke?" A van pulls up. A man begins to unload liters of neon orange, blue, and yellow soda and carts them into the store, case after case. As much as I would love to credit my fantastic investigative journalism skills for capturing this shameful irony, I must admit this one just fell into my lap. I snapped the photo and shook my head. Shame on them!

 This last picture was taken while I was strolling through North Philly, taking note of all the gentrification going on in Brewerytown. Written on the wall of a dilapidated home, which at one time might have been a fish market, were these words: "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat forever." Wow, if this wasn't the perfect proverb for my Philly. I immediately recognized the Chinese proverb that I'm sure dates back many centuries. But to see it written on this abandoned building, on a block who's few inhabitants reflected lives of despair, addiction, and complacence; this was indeed a ghetto proverb. And across the street there's a sign that reads, "Condos coming soon!" But those condos are not being built for the people on that street, with no fish or fishing line, those condos are being built for the fishermen.