How aspiring journalists should create a blog

Deciding what you’re going to write about in your blog on a regular basis should never be an issue. All journalists should have passion for and expertise in the areas in which they want to become a reporter. You should have an abundance of topics and be able to make a long list of what you’re interested in sharing with readers. Keep a list of your blog topics on a calendar so that you have a clear writing direction every day. Read everything you can and study and research the topic online using the best, most reliable resources. Make sure that the content you read online has been produced by a respected journalist, a reputable newspaper or magazine. Listen to radio analysts and watch TV and video on your issues so that you know more about this than anyone. You can take classes and register for webinars online that will further your knowledge about the topics. Finding documentation for facts should be a must. You should bookmark the go-to resources that you turn to daily for fresh information on your topic or specialty. Knowing the most about your interest makes you a resource for readers and for those seeking an expert opinion. Interview people and post the profile and story on your blog. By talking with other experts and asking relevant questions you’ll learn more than if you simply write. Gaining insights about your specialty area from will equip you with resources that you will need when you become a professional journalist. No matter what you write be objective and cover both sides of the issue. Be fair and provide attribution to all resources. You may have read something, you may have learned a lot, but the original source should be clearly noted and credited.

Political punditry needs a kick in the pants

...and Nate Silver might be just the one to administer it. A post from Subtraction, by Khoi Vinh, manages to put into words a thought I've been playing with: If Nate Silver's projection about tomorrow's presidential election is correct, it could mean goodbye to uninformed "gut check" political punditry. This is not a bad thing, as far as I'm concerned. An excerpt from the Subtraction post:

If you’re not familiar with Silver’s work, it’s probably a reasonable if gross characterization to say that he is a kind of ‘meta-pollster.’ Each day, he surveys the most recent state and national polls, aggregating their results using a sophisticated — but proprietary — statistical model that accounts for such factors as polling methodology, past accuracy and tendency to favor one party or another. The result is what some believe to be an exceedingly accurate picture of who is ‘winning’ at any given stage of the campaign — and, of course, a prediction of who will actually win at the close of Election Day.

~ snip ~

After months of reading Fivethirtyeight on a daily basis, traditional political commentary is looking more and more outdated, even analog, to me. Most of it seems more like bloviation or superstition, and not true explication. My tolerance for it has been markedly reduced, whether it’s of the blue chip opinion columnist variety, or the more free-wheeling blog variety. My sense — or, to be fair, my hope — is that Fivethirtyeight is effectively disrupting the punditry industry, that in the coming years commentators will be expected to be much more quantitative than they are today.

This could be good. Can you imagine how much better off the nation will be -- and how much more informed -- if we can let the quant geeks do their thing and let writers spend more time writing about actual policy? Let's let all the pundits who really don't know any more than anyone else either retrain themselves to understand the numbers or ride off into the sunset. Their contributions won't be missed. Truly. For that reason, as a journalist, I'm hoping Nate Silver's predictions work out. It'll mean good things for my industry -- and my country.

How Aspiring Journalists Should Create a Blog

Hello my name is Anika Palm and I'm going to talk today about how aspiring journalists can create an online profile. One of the things that aspiring journalists will want to do is to make sure she or he has access to a blogging platform so that you can write regularly and show your expertise in something or even if not expertise than your interest in something. You would also want to try to create if you can, a website that is specifically dedicated just to you a website with your name. If your name is John Smith, JohnSmith.com or JohnSmith.net. you also want to make sure that your social media accounts are open and accessible to anyone and that the content you put on those accounts is professional content.

Media is an Online PR Campaign for Journalists

Consider your social media accounts in particular to be something of a personal PR campaign for the job that you hope to get in journalism. If that requires you to start an entirely new, say, Twitter account or Pinterest account feel free to do that and make sure that the content you put on there is something you would want someone who wants to hire you to see. I always say that if you're grandmother wouldn't want to read it, don't put it on your social media account. Social media has to be interesting. You're supposed to include a link to a story, a blog, another social media, a website. In order to get someone to click on your social media you have to be clever. You should also design your social media with similar graphics, photos and design. You should be identifiable easily and match the visuals so that you have a complete campaign. In a way, social media advertises you, what you think, your ideas, and is a professional example of what you can do as a journalist for a prospective employer. Your social media should be social but professionally relevant to what you want to write about as a journalist. You should share your likes and interests but you have to be balanced. Reporters have an ethical responsibility to be fair, honest and provide balanced reporting. Your social media is simply an extension of the work that you can perform. Try various social media and you should have many accounts using the same picture. Don't use a cartoon to show your image, you should use a nice photo.

How to Create an Online Presence for Journalists

Hello my name is Anika Palm and I'm a reporter. I'd like to talk to you today about how to create an online presence for someone who is an aspiring journalist. You'll want to begin by making sure that you have access to some sort of a blogging platform whether it's WordPress or Blogspot or Drupal something of that nature so that you can write regularly about a subject in which you have some expertise. Or if you don't have some expertise, some interest. You want to show that you can delve deeply into information about a certain subject so make sure that you can do that. The second thing that you're going to want to do when you have a chance is to get a website with your name. If your name is John Smith make sure that you own JohnSmith.com or JohnSmith.net.Something of that nature. You can link that social media to that website. You'll also want to take a good hard look at your social media accounts. Make sure that the information that you're presenting to the world is information that you want someone who has the perfect job for you to consider and to look at when they're thinking about hiring you. I always say that if your grandmother wouldn't want to see it don't put it on your social media account. And if that means you need to create a new Twitter account or a new Pinterest account or a new Tumblr account then you may have to do that and create a separate name for it. Put the information on there that will impress someone who could offer you a job. Make sure that everything you have--your website, your blog your social media accounts--can all be considered part of a cohesive poll. Something that shows you at your best.

Anika Myers Palm Arrested for Charity

Hi, I'm Anika Palm and I'm a reporter. We've been talking about how to build an online profile for professional journalists. As part of my own online profile and my own personal PR campaign you're going to hear very soon something that sounds a little strange. You're going to hear that I have been arrested for charity. It's going to be for the benefit of the Society for Professional Journalists and it's all something that will make sense to you in time. You'll see little blips and blurbs about it on line occasionally coming up soon. I don't know exactly when, but it will happen. The series is in response to a few questions I've had from aspiring journalists, especially those at the college level, who want to know how to make themselves attractive to employers -- or in the alternative, how to at least get their work online so somebody will see it. I hope all this is helpful to someone. Journalism is changing so rapidly that it's really difficult for people who are just starting out to keep up, but there are definitely ways to make sure you're on the right track.

Creating a Social Media Profile For Aspiring Journalists

Hi, I'm Anika Palm. I'm a reporter and as part of a continuing series about how aspiring journalists can build an online profile, I want to talk to you today a little about some of the sites you can use to build your social media profile. You'll want to start with some of the biggest names in social media. You'll want to start with a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a LinkedIN account, a Google Plus account, and right now, a Pinterest account. Once again make sure that the information that you put on those accounts is something that you wouldn't mind an employer seeing. The test, once again, is would Grandma be able to stomach what you put on the account? After you've handled those first five there's many other social media accounts that might work for you. You can consider YouTube, you can consider Vimeo, Stumble Upon, all kinds of photo sites if you're a photo journalist. You can look at FourSquare, Delicious, there are many, many things that you can do. And make sure that you post on them at least daily or every other day. And you will also want to make sure that the information that you're putting is part of your cohesive picture that you're presenting to a potential employer.