Writing for New Media

For your work in class, you will likely find it helpful to have your own digital audio recorder. A model like the Olympus WS-200S, available for under $100 delivered from Amazon.com, will be sufficient. But if you have some extra cash and want to produce professional-quality audio clips, you should look into the flash-memory recorders that have just come to market. The New York Times recently did a nice roundup of three of them, with retail prices between $350 and $500. Because they have no moving parts, they make quiet recordings of the highest quality.

Emily Sweeney of The Boston Globe notes how her professional development has shifted from writing and reporting to learning how to use multimedia tools. She thinks that learning those skills is essential for all journalists:

Reporters who can produce an edited MP3 clip or a video clip to accompany their news stories can become a valuable asset to any newsroom. And even if you never use an interactive map or video with your news stories, this kind of knowledge can help you collaborate more effectively with designers, photographers, video producers, and other folks in the newsroom.

In a piece for Quill magazine, Sweeney offers seven tips for becoming a "multimedia superhero."

As of Sept. 7, here is the list of approved sites:

Kristen Johanson: Being a Black Man
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/interactives/blackmen/blackmen.html

Karen Mulaney: Derby Girls: Thirst for Blood http://extras.insidebayarea.com/features/rollerderby/index.swf

Joe Griffin: Afghanistan Essay
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/afghanistan_multimedia/

Matt Vensel: Big Trigg
http://www.brendakenneally.com/bigtrigg/

Megan Farrell: Chernobyl Legacy http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2006/04/26/world/20060426_CHERNOBYL_FEATURE.html

Casey Seales: Diseases on the Brink: Measles
http:nytimes.com/packages/html/health/20060430_BRINK_AUDIOSS/blocker.html

Sheebah Smith:Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice
http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/justice/justice.html

Elizabeth Etzel: Journey to the Border
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/interactives/journeyborder/index.html

David Livinsgton: Battle of Gettysburg
http://www.army.mil/gettysburg/flash.html

Vanessa Hudson: Unearthing the Tse-Whit-Zen
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/klallamintro.html

Amber Browning: Jazz Scenes http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/MULTIMEDIA/306100002

Joyce DeLeon: Leave or Die: America's History of Racial Expulsions http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared/news/interactives/lod/index.html

Jazzmen Tynes: Six Months After Katrina
http://www.newsobserver.com/content/multimedia/20060226katrina/

Maureen Green: Speaking of Faith
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/recovery/index.shtml

Justin Cherot: Anatomy of a Fight
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/flash/2006-02/17661206.swf

Chris Troxell: Expedition Panama
Via http://www.interactivenarratives.org/

Shelby Venson: From Hell to Healing: http://www.billingsgazette.com/modules/flash/20050821meth/20050821meth.html