Trends in Online Media

1. Trends in Online Media Cindy Royal, Ph.D Assistant Professor Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication croyal@txstate.edu www.cindyroyal.com www.onthatnote.com tech.cindyroyal.com

2. Milestones in Multimedia 2000 OhMyNews AOL/Time Warner merger Pre-1995 Wired Magazine - 1993 NY Times on AOL - 1994 Nando -1994 2006 Macaca Invention of the Year - YouTube Person of the Year - You Google Buys YouTube $1.65B 2001 DotCom Bust 9/11 Tributes Wikipedia launched 1995 Craigslist launched Slate, Salon, USA Today, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer online 2007 VA TechTwitter tips at SXSW Invention of the Year - iPhone CNN/ YouTube Debates 2002 Google News 1996 Washington Post Wall Street Journal Chicago Tribune LA Times MSNBC 2003 RSS Google Buys Blogger MySpace launched 2008 CBS acquires CNET Candidates embrace social media EveryBlock.com 2004 Jon Stewart on Crossfire Rathergate Press Credentials to Bloggers WikiNews, Facebook, Digg 1997 Blackhawk Down 1998 Drudge Report Google 2009 Hudson Plane Crash photo Iran elections Politifact wins Pulitzer Everyblock purchased by MSNBC 2005 YouTube News Corporation buys MySpace 1999 Blogger IndyMedia

3. Web Development Categories • Basic HTML design • Programming emerges • Blog Platforms • Content Management Systems • Other

4. Basic HTML Design • HTML – early 90s, language of the Web • Became XHTML to add structure, conventions – early 2000's; next gen is HTML5 • Cascading Stylesheets – CSS - 1996 • Javascript (1995), Flash (1996), AJAX • Web programming – PHP, ASP, Ruby, Python, etc.

5. Web Hosting • Domain registration/hosting – lots of options; I've used doteasy.com; avahost.net, godaddy.com, bluehost.com • FTP Tools • Fetch (Mac, free) - fetchsoftworks.com • WS-FTP (PC, free) - ipswitch.com • Net2Ftp – net2ftp.com -Web-based FTP • FireFTP – fireftp.mozdev.org - Firefox Add-on • HTML Tutorials • Barebones Guide to HTML - werbach.com/barebones • W3 Schools - w3schools.com/html • Beyond the basics there's Flash, Javascript, PHP, audio and video editing...

6. Blog Platforms • Started as platform for online journaling; Web sites for people who didn't know html. • Early platforms – Open Diary, LiveJournal late '90s • Blogger -started 1999 by Evan Williams (also Twitter) and Meg Hourihan; purchased by Google 2003 • Movable Type – 2001; Six Apart • Wordpress – 2003; can host yourself or on their site • Posterous and Tumblr – fully featured blog platforms a

7. Content Management Systems • Wordpress has often been modified as CMS – free on their site or monthly fee of $< 10/month in most cases on another host • With WP, pay for domain and access to CSS to customize • Customization requires knowledge of html/css • Drupal • Joomla • Other hostedCMS

8. My.HSJ.org system • Provided by ASNE • Simple to use CMS • Ability to upload text, photos & video • Have blogs • Editing and admin

9. Other Turnkey Solutions • School Newspapers Online – schoolnewspapersonline.com • Wordpress-based, but they design and customize for you • $400-$600 setup fee depending on theme you choose - includes domain registration, site setup, hosting, and support • $200 renewal per year - includes domain renewal, hosting, and support • Instruction manual available at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddpzz8sk_12f9gtwpcc

10. Online Tools • Blogs – Blogger, Wordpress, Posterous • YouTube • Facebook or MySpace – set up groups; post content; stay in touch • del.icio.us - social bookmark manager • Niche Social Networks • Ning - WebPubNET.ning.com • LinkedIn • Flickr/Picasa – photo sharing sites • Animoto/Vuvox – online tools for developing slideshows and video • Second Life – virtual world • Wikipedia - discuss credibility, have students contribute, wisdom of crowd vs. gatekeepers • Twitter – microblog; good way to add new content to a website on a regular basis, breaking news, connect with audience.

11. Free (or cheap) Software! • SoundSlides – make a photo slideshow • Must be hosted on a Web site • Difficult, but not impossible, to embed on a blog • Soundslides ($39.95) must include audio (you can tweak with a silent file); new Soundslides Plus ($69.95) lets you choose whether or not to have audio • Audacity – free; edit audio, create mp3 files • iMovie (Mac) or Windows MovieMaker (PC) – video editing • SnapZPro (Mac, $69) /Camtasia(PC, $179) – screen capture; use for developing online tutorials

12. On The Go... • Rise in mobile technology • UStream and Livestream – live stream with camcorder and laptop • Qik.com & Ustream –stream LIVE video from your phone!

13. Equipment • You don't need expensive equipment • Most students have digital cameras or cell phones that can shoot photos/video • Low-end cameras with video • Digital audio recorders • Camcorders

14. Developing An Online News Operation • Integrated with your print operation • Web-first journalism • A Web editor can approve online stories, assignments for Web-only projects • 1 or more Web producers can be responsible for multimedia aspects • Integration with print and reporters to add visual interest to stories • A content-management system with editor approval that allows multiple people to post to site • A person with design responsibilities to oversee layout and design issues • A social media editor who can oversee and integrate Twitter, Facebook presence • Multiple Twitter accounts, staff. Develop a policy with guidelines for how these accounts/personal accounts should be used.

15. Keeping Up • Google News/Yahoo News - Technology • NY Times Technology/David Pogue • Wired News • Scobleizer • TechCrunch • Digg • Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang • Techmeme • SensibleTalk.com • Social Media Today • Mashable • Smashing Magazine • 10000 Words

16. Resources • SXSW Interactive - www.sxsw.com/interactive • Wired Magazine - www.wired.com • Cyberjournalist.net - Great Work Gallery - www.cyberjournalist.net/category/great-work-gallery • Online Journalism Awards - http://www.journalists.org/ • Knight Digital Media Center - www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org • Online Journalism Review Archives - ojr.org • Interactive Narratives - interactivenarratives.org/ • We The Media by Dan Gillmor • Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins • The Long Tail and Free by Chris Anderson • What Would Google Do? - Jeff Jarvis • Editor & Publisher Awards - royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html • Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication - jcmc.indiana.edu

17. Why Learn HTML • Regardless of the platform you choose, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of HTML/CSS – the language of the Web • Ability to customize a CMS • Ability to troubleshoot and add advanced functionality • HTML provides the structure • CSS provides the formatting • Control the entire Web site with a single stylesheet; make global changes quickly and easily

18. Basic HTML • Markup language – surround text with proper markup • Open and close tags properly (i.e. <html></html> • Sample html page <html> <head><title>Cindy's Web Site</title></head> <body> <p>This is a paragraph<p> </body> </html>

19. Basic CSS • Use a stylesheet to control the design/layout of a Web page • Save sheet with .css extension • Insert into the <head> section of each page with the following code: <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css” type=”text/css /> • Styles are defined in this manner: h2 { font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; } • Use an existing stylesheet that you understand and modify it