Leaderboard for week of 2-23-2009: Independent blogger edition

This week’s Leaderboard features a new media outlet, a traditional media outlet and an independent blogger with a sponsor.

They are all pushing the practice.

Innovation is not the sole province of big organizations with lots of resources. Some of the best, most innovative journalism is being done by people at non-traditional organizations. There are new media news organizations popping up all the time, and if traditional news outlets aren’t careful, these new outlets will eat their lunch.

But rather than fighting each other, we can learn and figure out best practices.

It is worth noting that our Leaderboard winner this week from a traditional media outlet is at a newspaper with less than 100,000 daily circulation. Size and age don’t matter when it comes to innovation.

Alexander Russo | District 299

• Russo’s blog, District 299, covers education much differently than a newspaper beat reporter would. Instead of District 299 being a place where Russo talks at people and reports in a one-way style, District 299 is a place to have conversations. It’s a place to discuss how to make education better in Chicago.
• Russo brings a different concept to beat blogging. He says his blog is “hosted by Alexander Russo.” By that, he means he has created a space to get people talking about education issues in Chicago.
• If the Chicago school district releases a press releases about school closings, Russo would throw the press release up on his blog in its entirety for users to read, rather than summarizing it like a newspaper reporter would. Russo’s goal is not to make the press release his own, but rather to get it up on his blog to get people discussing the contents of it.
• Russo’s blog is a gateway to all things Chicago schools related. The best way to make his platform the destination to be for discussion of issues surrounding Chicago schools is to link heavily to other people’s content.
• Many traditional journalists are so focused on producing content that they don’t take any time to create a quality space for people to discuss issues. Russo, a Spencer Fellow at Columbia University, is interested in more than just covering education — he wants to help create change. He is not a dispassionate spectator like most newspaper journalists aim to be and instead uses his blog to get people talking about ways to improve the under-performing Chicago school district.

Philissa Cramer | GothamSchools

• Rise and Shine is a daily link journalism post that sets the agenda each day for GothamSchools. GothamSchools is a new media operation that wants to be an online community for discussion about New York City Schools. That would be impossible if GothamSchools didn’t link out. Rather, GothamSchools offers a blend of original reporting and curation.
• GothamSchools has a similar mission as Russo. It wants to be more than just a news outlet. It wants to be a place for serious discussion, and it wants to help make education better in New York.
• From the about page, ” … a news source and online community for teachers, parents, policy makers, and journalists interested in learning about what works and what doesn’t in NYC schools. We seek to provide a clearinghouse for school news and commentary, connect teachers and parents with resources, highlight effective practices in policy and pedagogy, and build a participatory knowledge base about education in New York City. By offering a critical eye on education research and reporting, and by creating a forum for conversation, GothamSchools is helping New Yorkers create better schools.”

Ron Sylvester | Wichita Eagle

• Ron Sylvester has been reinventing court coverage with Twitter. Follow along as he tweets live updates from a trial of six accused gang members. Sylvester’s tweets what is happening during the trial with succinct 140-character bites. He also provides insight into the trial itself.
• We have chronicled Sylvester’s efforts before, but he continues to refine his coverage. Sylvester is using social media and his blog to transform how newspapers cover trials. No longer is Sylvester being beaten by broadcast media. Instead, his live updates from the court room beat everyone. And unlike live TV coverage of a trial, which can be overwhelming, Sylvester’s 140-character tidbits make following a trial very easy.
• Sylvester’s Twitter use also proves that Twitter can be a valuable tool for journalists in less-populated, less-tech savvy areas. Many of the people that follow Sylvester’s court room tweets are not on Twitter. They’re not that interested in Twitter itself, but they are really interested in the content that Sylvester produces on it. These people either follow along on Sylvester’s Twitter page or on blog where his tweets are embedded.