iPhony phanatics; Photographers–What happened to “F8 and be there”?; Citizen journalism gets shook up; Students need to get schooled

Here are a few mini digests on stuff I’ve missed:

• iPhony. I’m really surprised by the ridonkulous fanboy hype over the iPhone (sure it’s neat… but there’s some major problems, especially with price and that it’s only service provider is from Darth Vader and The Galactic Empire, I mean Cingular, I mean AT&T.) It’s hard to tell how usable it is for the web from their PR video or Steve Jobs’ halting proclamations. One thing is for sure, mobile internet is in it’s infancy and it’s critical newspapers don’t ignore it like they did the net.

• Video schmideo. There’s been a lot of stones thrown over video and how newspapers should do it. Specifically, prima donna photographers demanding tens of thousands of dollars in HD equipment to produce 2 minutes at 400-pixel-wide streaming 250 kbps vs. folks that say point and shoot/less expensive cameras will suffice.I can appreciate both views, but lean closer to the point and shoot/less expensive camera crowd, mainly because I can relate to having to work with in a budget, especially a tight one. (The point and shoot/less expensive camera, DIY mentality really tickles my punk rock roots). And a lot of photographers turning to video really don’t understand that newspaper budgets are being demolished, it sucks (especially at papers that are doing well, but not well enough for Wall Street) but it has happened. What happened to the old photojournalism quote — “F8 and be there” (For photo newbies–”F8″ refers to a medium aperture setting that will catch detail at most distances and “be there,” meaning… you can’t document news if you aren’t there at the ‘decisive moment’ as Henri Cartier-Bresson often discussed).You adapt and make due with what you can. We don’t all have the privilege of working at the Washington Post or Network TV. The key is that you’re doing something, and the best you can, with what you can. One issue on this topic, that I haven’t seen discussed much is if this is the right step for all of online journalism to dump it’s resources into. Isn’t video journalism just another passive form of storytelling? Is it the best use of staff resources? Video takes a hell of a lot time to film and produce and the result is incredibly linear. We tell you what happened. You sit there and watch it. Or you don’t. And you go to Flickr, YouTube, Digg, MySpace, etc. other places that allow you to interact and share with others on the Internet. …Which brings me to community interaction (sometimes billed as Citizen journalism).

• “Citizen Journalism” 2.O-No. Backfence gets all shook up and folks start stepping back from CJ. The Pegasus News founder provides one of the most honest assessments I’ve seen of citizen journalism. One thing that really turns me off to citizen journalism is the group that pushes it. There are about a dozen profiteers and high-cost consultants with questionable credentials that are constantly shoving citizen journalism down our throats. (Or maybe it just seems like that because some of them are the most active members of a certain journalism training institution’s E-mail list.)And while I really think its important to have conversations and figure out ways to incorporate community interaction into the news biz, CJ is not the ONLY thing possible in online journalism. Frankly, outside of niche groups, I don’t see it taking off easily at general-interest newspapers (and I don’t see many newspaper companies dumping resources into anything that isn’t 1-easy 2-proven). That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t experiment and that there aren’t lessons newspapers can learn about allowing the community to participate in the discussion and sharing of information, but I just don’t see community members regularly and dependably writing news stories about their school board meetings.Maybe the problem with “citizen journalism” is the whole concept of what journalism is or what news “matters” doesn’t really matter to the community? At least not in the current form that we offer it. I’m just spitballin’ ideas here.

• Old school students? There’s also been a lot of chatter in Mindy’s blog particularly about j-school students and their bullish ignorance towards understanding the journalism world has changed forever and it’s not going to go back to the 1930’s movie with typewriters and cigar chompin’ editors. (Mindy, I love the comment to Elizabeth, btw)
  I’m not sure I really believe that these students came to school with that nostalgic mentality… That sure sounds like the vision of tweed-clad tenured professors. But I’m not sure… It’s kind of a chicken and egg thing. Regardless, it’s further proof for my argument that in order for journalism (and j-schools) to survive, newspapers should immediately build working partnerships with local j-schools to get fresh ideas, fresh blood, fresh bodies to help out, particularly with large projects that demand resources (interns). And schools should build these partnerships to develop a realistic learning experience to show the modern newsroom, news cycle and business demands to j-school teachers and students.Journalism is a craft learned on the job. Just like blacksmiths. Just like surgeons. Take that ‘nostalgic’ mentality and build a guild of hands-on learning. Get those kids and teachers out of the classrooms and into the newsrooms to really see what the job is like and how they need to prepare.And get some computer science, graphics, marketing and business students involved, also.The other half of the whole “j-school students are clueless” thing …There’s always a crop of j-students that fall under the bus or go elsewhere. All the kids I knew in Jschool that were dedicated to being Hunter S. Thompson 2.0 are now wearing ties working in banks (jobs their dad’s got them) making twice what most journalists get starting out. … I’m not sure who’s the fool in that situation.