Leaderdboard for week of 3-23-2009: the complete journalism package

What makes a good, modern journalist?

It’s no longer about just writing and reporting. Journalism has gone multimedia, and two-way communication is a big part of Web journalism. Defining what a good journalist is today is a lot harder than it was 10 years ago.

Now being a journalist requires a lot more skills. But it’s not just skills and buzzwords that make a good, modern journalist — it’s about putting it all together and making sense of it all.

Stephanie De Pasquale | Quad-City Times

• De Pasquale is one of the most innovative entertainment reporters we have seen. She combines her writing and video backgrounds to make an outstanding blog. Our favorite video feature of hers is Live Sessions, where she brings in local bands to record their music. Local musicians love the chance to get recorded on video and get promotion. This is a feature that causes bands to seek Stephanie out and update her on their latest releases or upcoming performances.
• De Pasquale is an excellent example of running with the opportunities that were presented to her. When she was 19 she couldn’t find a newspaper willing to offer her an internship because she had no experience. But her local NPR station was willing to take her on. From there she had an internship at a TV station. Eventually she was able to land writing internships as well. What at one point must have been frustrating for De Pasquale has turned into a big asset for her. She understands how to shoot and edit video and audio better than most journalists.
• Combine De Pasquale’s writing, video and audio skills together with her social media and blogging skills and you have one modern journalist. And all of her skills work together to form a total package.
• De Pasquale is also a shinning example of how to use MySpace for beatblogging. Having her music player on her MySpace page filled with local musicians and their music is a really nice touch. It’s a very thoughtful way to acknowledge people who help her with her beat.
• For entertainment reporters, MySpace is an absolute must. Virtually every aspiring artist is on MySpace. Plus, many bars and clubs have MySpace pages, but not Web sites. De Pasquale also engages her readers in the comments on her blog and on MySpace.

Nina Simon | Museum 2.0

• Nina has both a strong beatblog and presence on social networks. Specifically, she was nominated for her focused use of Twitter. Many people use Twitter for work, but Simon’s Twitter account never strays far from her beat or purpose of discussing museum exhibits and ways to create more interactive spaces at museums. She can often be found engaging in link journalism and offering up commentary about the links she provides.
• Museum 2.0 differs from most beatblogs in that Simon is not a journalist, nor is she directly practicing journalism. “Museum 2.0 is a design consultancy focused on creating participatory, dynamic, audience-centered museum spaces.I work with museums to design exhibitions, programs, and online experiences that engage visitors as co-creators and community members, not just consumers.”
• Simon does a fantastic job of writing about what she helps create and writing about exhibits that others create and what works or doesn’t work with those exhibits. She posts about research into how people interact with social media, innovative exhibits and the lessons that can be learned from them and the business models of museums.
• Her advice to museums is also good advice for journalists, “I believe that every museum can grow its audience as long as it is willing to grow with that audience by taking risks, trying new things, and communicating openly.”

Amber Smith | The Syracuse Post-Standard

• Smith made the Leaderboard this week for crowdsourcing on her blog and on Twitter. Need to write a piece that requires feedback from people? Blogs and social media are an excellent way to do that.
• Smith has a simple question she needs help answering, “So, what’s your reward? How do you treat yourself after a good run? Do you have a special feast? Do you reward yourself with new running gear when you hit a milestone?”
• Before blogs and social media, this would have been a much more time consuming task. Smith would have probably had to go out to an area where there were lots of runners and tried to get their attention. She would have had to go the runners and try to bug them to answer her question. Instead, she can now use her blog and Twitter accounts to get runners to come to her.  While she waits for the responses to come in, she can work on other stories.
• This is a simple instance of where beatblogging makes a journalist much more efficient. When people come to you with information, it makes your job a lot easier.