Posts Tagged: Journalism

General — 1 Comment
13
Jun 10

The Last Time I Posted Here This Was a Web Site

With a little self-deprecation, I tweeted this yesterday:

Goal for tomorrow: Renovate the personal Web site. Yep. Haven’t touched it since it became a website.less than a minute ago via TweetDeckEthan Klapper
ethanklapper

For those who don’t get it, the AP Style for a site on the Internet changed in the middle of April, from Web site to website. The last post here (with so much substance) came before that.

Enough with that. The reason that I haven’t posted much is because I’ve been busy between the end of my junior year and my new internship at BNA, where I cover lots of government-related developments in D.C. (mostly Congress).

Me listening to Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., at a news conference. Photo by @newmediajim.

I have always loved politics (it is my double major), so this internship has been a great way for me to get a front seat to everything that’s going on in D.C. I write for a specialized publication that caters to a diverse group of executives, government staffers and the like. Recently, I’ve been covering lots of banking issues, and this coming week I will be chasing the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010 on the floor of the House.

During the course of this internship, I’ve also seen President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

(Yes, I do realize that if I was a seasoned Washington reporter, seeing these people would be just another day at the office.)

But I also love Web journalism. When it’s time to look for jobs in about 10-11 months, how do I put those two interests together? Blogging? Thoughts?

I’ve also been fortunate enough to go to two ONADC meetups in the past two months. I’ve met some really interesting people there, and have learned a lot too.

And, thanks to Digital Capital Week, it seems that I’ve run into some really cool folks from the new local news website TBD on a daily basis. I’m very interested in this new approach to news they’ll be trying. TBD is launching this summer!

I guess you can say I’ve met quite a few people recently thanks to Twitter. Craig Kanalley (@ckanal), an editor for The Huffington Post by day, wrote about this phenomenon yesterday. Ironically, I haven’t met Craig in real life yet, but when I do, it will be because of Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, that’s probably the best place to find out what I’m up to on a daily basis. I’m at @ethanklapper if you didn’t already know. There’s also my Tumblr and Posterous, which I sometimes find a way to use.

Journalism — No Comments
13
Feb 10

#wjchat: It’s Like #journchat, but Better

On Wednesday night, I participated in the inaugural edition of #wjchat (@wjchat). The brainchild of Robert Hernandez, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the Twitter chat drew a very strong and healthy showing. There was a nice mix of Web-savvy j-school students, academics and some of the best Web journalists in the business.

The conversation topic, “what is the job of a Web Journalists & what skills do you need?” was a fitting way to begin what looks like an ongoing conversation. Many brought very specific answers to the table, while others (including me) tended to be more abstract about the skills needed (like being a good teacher).

The conversation lasted two hours, and few people wanted it to end. It was nice to see some familiar faces (like University of Missouri senior Kelsey Proud, Emma Carew of The Chronicle of Higher Education and Greg Linch of Publish2) and to meet some new people, like Professor Hernandez, too.

As some of you may know, I am not a fan of #journchat (no hard feelings about that — I wrote it a year ago). But this was better, because it did a good job of narrowly focusing on the type of journalism that I specialize in and it seemed to be more inclusive of like-minded individuals; not to mention it was an easier chat to follow.

While I am normally busy on Wednesday nights, working on Web production for The Eagle, I hope to be able to drop in on a regular basis and contribute to what I know will be a great conversation.