Journalism Interactive: Amy Webb keynote
Amy Webb, a media consultant, former Newsweek correspondent and Wall Street Journal writer, was the keynote speaker Friday afternoon at Journalism Interactive at the University of Maryland.
Webb's company, Webbmedia Group, works with journalism and non-journalism entities and partners with universities.
Webb hit everything from trends to tools to what journalism schools should be doing. I broke it into sections.
* A Wacom notepad, which allows you to draw an image on a pad, plug it into a USB port, and have it appear as an editable image. Good for storyboarding, graphics department types, etc. In the demo, she drew a smiley face on what looked like a piece of paper, then showed it on the computer after plugging it in. She said it isn't on the market yet.
* Livescribe smart pens: Scan in text using a pen, convert it into editable text.
* New patents from Apple, which will change the way we interact with their tablets and other touchscreens.
* g-speak Spatial Operating Environment: Using gloves to do "Minority Report"-like actions on a computer.
* Android @ Home (interact with appliances), and more.
"Don't have your students just think of news in print and web-slash-mobile," Webb said. "Every surface can potentially be a place for sharing information. Also, think about tools where you can take notes and aide in graphics.
"Search should matter not only to you, but your students."
She explained that a lot of news organizations structure meta-data in a poor way - the reporters have to type in keywords, and they often type in the wrong ones, or ones that no one would search.
She then showed off several search engines and ways to find things that you couldn't have in the past, including by using Greplin, Knodes, qwiki, sonar and others.
Using spokeo, she dug up a lot of personal information about Texas State professor Cindy Royal as a way of showing off what you can find out there with 5 minutes' worth of searching.
Holistic content (recommendation)
Taking multimedia content and amplifying it. Making the motions meaningful - not just a shiny object. She said instead of building apps, we should be thinking about building HTML5 websites that are "appefied" - allowing it to be seen across all platforms.
She said you should make sure your content is locked to one device or make it fully portable, not a hybrid.
* API: New York Times is opening up its content through an API.
Facial recognition and other ID tagging (trend)
* Facial recognition: Apple's new iOS5 has facial recognition APIs. She also showed off other mobile apps where you take a photo of friends, and it automatically recognizes everyone in the photo via Facebook, tags all the photos. "Fantastic for the consumer ... or fantastic for the journalist. Or creepy people."
* Pittpatt, which can run Facebook profiles through databases to come up with Social Security numbers. If you have their photo, you can find their Facebook profile. Therefore, you can get a Social Security number from a photo. "This is a great time to be a reporter. I don't even have to ask them questions anymore. I just take a picture and be done with it." (Note: Pittpatt has been acquired by Google).
* If you're terrified, you can opt out with CV Dazzle.
* Software that can detect moods based on facial features. "It would be pretty awesome to compare everyone's faces during a debate," Webb said of doing facial readings of political candidates.
Recommendations for J-schools
* Converge curricula. Don't have separate concentrations for web/new media, etc.
* Current methods for collecting, editing, producing content must keep up
* Syllabi must be made current
* Just adding "new media" to things is too rudimentary, she said. Every student must be taught how to do "database reporting, deeb web search, SMS-based, web video, mobile social, traditional social, metadata, photos, interview, public records." Also, they must know, "basic code, HTML5, video production, audio production, basic animation, CMS, SEO/SMO, agile method, spreadsheets, databases and math." For ethics and leadership, she thinks students need to know "user comments, social networks, data mining, recognition tools, usernames, transparency, business partners, compensation, diversity, teamwork."
* Required: Business of journalism, finance 101, accounting 101, starting a digital enterprise 101 and funding 101.
She said Temple University is doing it well.
Prerequisites for professors:
* Be able to open an email attachment
* Understand Blackboard, Moodle, etc.
* How to use Crestron system (projector) in class
* How to track changes and notes
* Cloud systems like Google docs, Dropbox. Also, know what a cloud is.
* Twitter and Facebook fundamentals, lexicon
* Searching for information
* Follow Mashable, TechCrunch, etc.
To win them over, try reverse mentorships. Have tech people alumni work with professors.
Build a staff-only gadget lab:
* iPads, iPhones, Kindle, Nook, Chromebook, laptops, digital cameras, subscriptions to spotify and spokeo, PS3, etc
"Don't let IT department rule over this." For a $3,000 investment, you can give your faculty the tools they need.
* Launch a lab. Colorado @ Boulder has a "digital news test kitchen." They are experimenting with startups. Companies are launching their own labs ... Walmart is an example. Build small pieces of things, little experiments. Don't try to build an app all at once.
* Phone a friend lab. Can you call people in another department (like computer science or sociology or business) to talk about media issues. Also, consider creative partnerships with incubators, city governments, corporations, retailers and research firms.
Conversations we should be having
Is transparency the new objectivity? Every journalism school must pay attention to tech stories and what is happening in the industry.
"This whole presentation is going to be out of date next week," Webb said. "It's important to try to stay current."
She posted notes from the presentation here.
