Live Blog: ONA Chicago Wrap-Up

By A.J. Feather

Welcome to the live-blog of our ONA Chicago Wrap-Up session.

The panelists are Brian Steffens, Director of Communications for the Reynolds Journalism Institute, Stephanie Ebbs, a masters student at MU, Annie Hammock, Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri and Dan Archer, a RJI residential fellow who has done a lot of experimentation in interactive storytelling.

Tools and tricks to get your graphics on

By Kara Tabor

Courtesy of Flickr user Intel Free Press

As technology continues to progress at an exponential rate, more and more data is generated in
society. This means that it is increasingly vital for us as journalists learn how to process it and make productive use of it for the public good.

At ONA Mizzou, we have proclaimed this week to be Graphics Week, I present you with a brief rundown of some tools and sources of inspiration for journalists looking to transform data into readable, appealing and informative graphics:

Journalism on your wrist

Courtesy of Flickr User Mark Johnson

By Katy Mersmann

A few weeks ago, Apple announced its newest products: two new iPhones and the Apple Watch. The iPhones really caught the most attention and now that they've been released to the public, coverage of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has been significant, especially with the advent of "Bendgate."

But recently, a classmate shared a blog post with me addressing the question of how the Apple Watch, and other wearable technology, will impact journalism. Mario García runs a tech blog called García Media, that looks at the intersection of journalism and technology, and he raises some interesting questions about whether wearable technology will push journalism even further into the world of "at a glance."

Can Vine and Snapchat be reporting tools?

By Ryan Levi

By Snapchat, Inc. [Public domain]
via Wikimedia Commons

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to the #ONA14 Conference in Chicago this past weekend, so I spent some time on the conference website looking at what I missed. In addition to the great work done by the folks in the ONA Student Newsroom, I found two short videos which kind of blew me away: two journalists talking about using Snapchat and Vine in their newsrooms.

When does “Mobile Journalism” become “Journalism?”

Photo via AustinMann.com

By A.J. Feather

We hear about mobile journalism a lot at the Missouri School of Journalism.  It seems almost every month someone has figured out how to capture a moment better with their smartphone than a DSLR or dedicated audio recorder.  It is also moving into the media. An article in Wired last month ventured to explain “How the Smartphone Ushered In a Golden Age of Journalism.” Judd Slivka, a professor of Convergence Journalism here at MU, argues ‘”Mobile journalism” is a ridiculous title, like “camera journalism.”’ He says the equipment does not determine what good journalism is. Good journalism is good journalism regardless of the means we use to produce it.