Printed Matters

Our Beat Reporting class at Centennial College had a visit today from Toronto Sun reporter Thane Burnett, a 25-year veteran of journalism. He gave us a 10-point list of things to remember when you’re out in the field. Some of them have to do with reporting in foreign countries, though he pointed out that he wasn’t a foreign correspondent.

Here’s his list. It was an interesting talk:

1. Get used to the taste of Diet Coke.

As soon as your plane lands you start coming up with story ideas. You don’t have time to get sick. Be careful what you drink. And eat. Oh, and make sure your shots are up-to-date.

2. Bring photocopies of your passport and letters of introduction from your media sources.

You never know when you’ll need them. Oh, and photocopies of extra headshots of yourself.

3. Buy a photographer’s vest

Even if you’re not a photographer. They’re handy for carrying all the stuff you’ll need in the field. Also helps identify you as a journalist (except in those places where people might think it’s a bullet-proof vest – then, it might send the wrong message.)

4. Head for a university

In a foreign city, a university is a great place to find people who know English and who know stuff.

5. Get off the beaten path

Don’t just report on what everybody else is reporting on. Get out and find something different. Bring home a story. And take whatever help you can get. He said:

Sometimes it feels like you take and you take and you take and you feel like you’re never giving back. But what you’re giving back is a great story.

He told the story of getting off the beaten track in Louisiana after Hurricane Rita (the one that hit right after Katrina), discovering the legend of Biddy Baby.

6. Do not EVER believe the Canadian Consulate is going to help you.

7. Get into people’s homes.

See how they live. Get into their lives as much as you can. And never rely on or do interviews by email.

8. Expect one of two things: living in the lap of luxury or living on the side of the road wrapped in plastic.

9. Be respectful of the people you’re writing about.

Be respectful of their stories.

10. Have fun. It’s the best job in the world.

This was written a couple of months ago for a journalism course, but it seems to have new legs as Fantino and the gang held another “naming and shaming” this week.

Online news archives: The business case and the legal uncertainties

As media companies race to post breaking news – and practically everything else they have published – on their websites, legal questions swirl around the old stories that are online.

Known as archives, these collections of stories and features can be searched and the stories in them brought forward with ease. Unlike their dustier relatives -print archives – web archives keep old news a mouse-click away.

While good for readers used to Googling to get information they want, and good for news outlets looking to reach more readers, online archives exist in a legal no man’s land.

This, media insiders said, is about to change – and soon.

Continue Reading »

I’m blogging right now from room 211 at Centennial College’s Centre for Creative Communications near Pape and Mortimer. We are opening a new blog for the purpose of practicing using some of the social networking tools available to us. What fun!