caitlinbyrd

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Just a typical day for a digital journalist at a newspaper

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My new newsroom family is pretty grand.

Reporter: “You just don’t like poetry.”

Editor: “I enjoy poetry, but this is prose.”

Reporter: “Well, it is now.”

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Every week, @postandcourier​ gives its readers a “photo assignment” and asks them to submit pictures. The best photo or photos are then published in the Sunday newspaper. Last week, the prompt was “blue.” Next week, it will be “lines.” Interested? Here’s the details:

Send just one (1) photograph to yourphotos@postandcourier.com by noon on Thursday, Jan. 28. Include your name, town and where the photo was taken. If you send us multiple photos we will select one randomly.

- We will allow photographs with reasonable watermarks to run in the gallery but for the winning photo that runs in the newspaper we must have a photo that does not have a watermark. If you want to send us one with the watermark (to run online) and one without (to possibly run in the newspaper) please feel free.

- The top pick each week will be featured in the Sunday Arts & Culture section and selected picks will appear on The Post and Courier Facebook page.

You really “blue” us away with this week’s reader photo assignment. Now show us “lines.” 

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Which Cities Will Be Underwater Due To Melting Ice?

Ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. Which cities are sinking, and which will be completely underwater in the coming years?

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Asheville is looking more beautiful than ever in that picture. Hopefully our fall color will be that lovely this year, but recent rains might threaten that kind of all-over color spectacle.

Color us enchanted. It’s hard to believe that fall has already come, but we’re happy it’s here.

[caitlinbyrd]

Why it’s important to name the shooter

by Kelly McBride

Public officials and advocates for victims often ask journalists to refrain from naming the individual behind a heinous act. This is a bad idea and here’s why:

When you name an individual and tell his story, you give people important context for the backstory. If we had not named Seung-Hui Cho as the Virginia Tech assailant, his teachers might not have come forward to report they had voiced concerns about his mental health in the past.

Knowing who was behind the gun allows us to identify trends. Creating a record of individual cases allows us to understand the data in the aggregate. Because we have the data, we know that most mass acts of violence have been committed by young white males.

Naming the shooter prevents misinformation. Remember when journalists named Ryan Lanza as the person responsible for the Sandy Hook shooting when it was really his brother Adam Lanza? Naming an individual sets the record straight.

When you don’t name the shooter, it becomes impossible to research other acts of violence he or she may have committed or surface records that document where his or her weapons came from.

This dilemma comes up after most mass shootings.

It’s easy and convenient for politicians to beat the press up by accusing them of glorifying a bad person. Responsible reporting is the antidote.

Instead of vowing to avoid the name of the shooter, journalists would be better off promising to use the name responsibly, to tell the stories of the victims completely and to refrain from publishing poorly-sourced information that has a higher likelihood of being wrong.

[caitlinbyrd]

The Best Tumblrs for Writers to Follow

I’ve been on Tumblr for nearly four years and have steadily found great accounts related to writing. Thought I’d share some of my favorites for other writers or aspiring writers.

GENERAL

The Electric Typewriter I am convinced that Dan, the curator of tetw, has found and neatly catalogued every good bit of writing on the internet. I could be wrong, but check for yourself.

Last Nights Reading Drawings by Kate Gavino with quotes from readings in New York City.

The Rumblr The Tumblr account for The Rumpus. Their posts, reblogs, gifs, and horoscopes by Madame Clairevoyant make me giddy ever time they come up on my dashboard.

Press 53 A publisher of short fiction and poetry collections based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Their Poetry Wednesdays, Flash Fiction Fridays, and 53-story contests inspire many a sentence and story.

Penguin Classics From the editors of Penguin Books and Penguin Classics, they share quotes, photos, and, my personal favorite, Friday Final Lines. Every Friday, they offer the closing lines of a Penguin Classic.

The Paris Review Curated by their digital director Justin Alvarez, the quarterly literary magazine’s Tumblr is full of inspirational graphics and quotes that link to Paris Review articles, essays, and interviews well worth reading.

Button Poetry Even though they have only been around a little over a year, they consistently showcase new (and incredible) performance poets.

Yeah Write Everything creative writing related. Quotes, book lists, interesting articles and graphics

Electric Literatures Recommended Reading Recommended Reading is released on a four week curation cycle: beginning with a story chosen by Electric Literature, followed by an excerpt from an indie press, then an author recommendation, and finally a selection from a magazine’s archive. Each issue includes an editor’s note written by that week’s partner, introducing you to the work and their mission.

Black Balloon Publishing An independent press based out of New York City. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and memoir and “champion the weird, the unwieldy, and the unclassifiable.” They consistently publish great posts like Can You Identify the Handwriting of These 12 Famous Authors and Daddy Dearest: 10 Literary Fathers and Father Figures to be Glad Aren’t Your Own

Fwriction The online literary journal’s blog, “specializing in work that melts faces and rocks waffles.”

***The Future Journalism Project The FJP Blog highlights better ways to produce, consume and understand the news. 

***Tin House  The tumblr account for the popular literary magazine, publisher, and workshop host that is Tin House. “When you crave fiction that’s crafted with daring and passion and precision, when you get that pit-of-the-stomach hunger for a knockout story, Tin House is the only place to turn.“ —Adam Johnson

INSPIRATION

Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Although the account hasn’t been updated in nearly 5 months, there are several years of archives with words and definitions John Koenig created for emotions that otherwise leave us speechless. 

Today’s Document A little history always gets the words flowing for me. The Tumblr for the U.S. National Archives posts one document daily. 

Hello You Creatives A collective of humans being creative. Inspiration, inspiration, inspiration.

Creative Mornings/Findings In a slump? Come here for photos, quotes, projects, and more from other creatives.

***Times Haiku Serendipitous poetry from The New York Times (“And let’s not forget / that Facebook isn’t really / that profitable”)

BOOK STORES

Strand Books Based in New York City

Powell’s Books Based in Portland, Oregon

Open Books Store Based in Chicago, Illinois

***Politics & Prose Based in Washington, D.C.

FREELANCE & PUBLISHING

Calls for Submissions for Writers and Poets 

Writing Opportunities

Freelancer Real Talk

***Who pays writers  An outstanding archive of information about how much magazines and websites pay their writers. For current listings, see their website.

***Writing Career If I ever meet Brian Scott, the man behind Writing Career, I’m going to give him a huge hug. Endless help here for freelance writers (calls for submissions, editorial staff changes, writing opportunities, and writing advice)

RECOMMENDED READING

Writers No One Reads

NPR Books

***Bright Wall/Dark Room

**I will continually be adding to the list

[caitlinbyrd]

What I imagine Facebook HQ looks like right now.

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My plan is to marry an extraordinary opening sentence someday.

rahawahaile (Also read from everyone else on The Brooklyn Mag Envy Index, duh)

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Thank you for picking up my Asheville flower bomb story usatoday. It was a pleasant surprise to see this on my Tumblr feed this afternoon. Thanks!

An abandoned building in Asheville, North Carolina was mysteriously flower bombed in the night with hundreds of marigolds. A poem left behind claims it was the bird of summer flowers who left the beautiful arrangement in the shape of a giant keyhole. If bought from a florist, the flowers would cost around $300 to $400.

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Fascinating #wjchat going on right now on Twitter

Topic of conversation tonight? Nonprofit news organizations. Come join the discussion if you can. Steve Myers, the editor of The Lens NOLA, is the featured Twitter guest. The Lens NOLA was New Orleans’ first independent nonprofit news site. 

I’m chiming in when I can. Twitter handle is @MaryCaitlinByrd. Search for #wjchat to see the conversation thus far.

[caitlinbyrd]

The poem left behind claims it was the bird of summer flowers that brought the marigolds to 39 Banks Ave. in the night, but only human hands could have arranged the blooms into the shape of a giant keyhole or put dahlias in each apothecary jar with such care.

“She disappeared just as quickly as she had arrived,” the poem said of its anonymous creator as it swayed in the wind, tethered with fishing line to the abandoned building with a tragic past.

And that’s how the artist or artists behind these types of displays have always seemed: As elusive and fleeting as the work they leave behind. They never sign the poems they pen and no one has yet to reveal their identity.

Though some say this is the work of one woman, there’s no way to know that for certain.

“If this were on the sidewalk, we would try to figure out who did it,” said Asheville Public Works Director Greg Shuler.

But the installation — consisting of flowers that would have cost hundreds if bought through a florist — took place on private property, under the cover of darkness either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Continue reading.

Video and story by Caitlin Byrd.

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Images that make me want to go back to D.C.

Untitled.

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My media blog, Pressing Matters, turned 3 today. Want to show it some love? Here’s what you can do.

Give it a follow 

Everyone loves to feel like the work they are doing matters. The easiest way to do that with a blog is to follow it and engage with the person behind it. (That’s me!)

Subscribe to your local newspaper

Newspapers across the country and the world are working with smaller staffs than ever before and trying to achieve more for the good of their community. The work they do takes time and, yes, money. Not into newsprint? Become a digital subscriber instead. You can save some trees and see how your newspaper is experimenting to help you stay informed about the world around you.

Donate to your public radio station

Just like newspapers, public media sets out each day to bring news to you. They wake up early, stay late and work hard. One of the most incredible things about public radio is that it is one of the most democratic forms of media out there. All you need is a radio. 

Stay curious about the way you are connecting with media organizations today

Find yourself reading or engaging with news content more on your phone than on your computer? Are you drawn to interactives more than a long-form piece of journalism? It’s OK. You don’t have to choose sides. There’s no single way to tell stories anymore. Open your eyes and ears to the way that stories are being told to you. Reflect on where you are when you are seeking news. (Is it in the morning? The evening? At work? Throughout the day? During lunch?) And how do you decide what news is trustworthy? Do you seek out multiple reports on the same topic? What are some of the differences between the way these outlets are reporting the news? Be a critical reader. If you think something is being missed, write a letter to the editor or send an email to the reporter. Better yet, pick up the phone and try to find out the information for yourself first-hand. 

Excited and proud to say that ye old Pressing Matters blog turned 3 today! It’s kind of incredible to think about all the changes that have been happening to the media industry in such a short time period. I only hope to be able to continue to aggregate some of those changes here, while creating and fostering new dialogue around the chameleon-like media industry we are experiencing today. 

If you have any ideas, topics, reports or trends that you think I should be including in this blog, please reach out. Drop me a line at marycaitlinbyrd@gmail.com and put Pressing Matters in the subject line.

Again, thanks to all the loyal followers who have stuck around and stuck through it with me after all this time.

-Byrd

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Editor to reporter working on mauling story: “Sometimes you get the bear story and sometimes the bear gets you.”

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Buzzfeed covered the Apple event this week with Snapchat. Here’s what they learned.

If there’s one thing I love more than innovation in journalism, it’s a newsroom that’s being transparent about the process. Alex Kantrowitz, who covers technology for Buzzfeed in San Francisco, wrote a first-person post about his experience using Snapchat to cover the Apple event this week. (Check out his coverage here.) 

Though I chuckled at his anecdote about his five attempts to get his opening clip just right, what Kantrowitz had to say about his experience using this technology for live event coverage is important.

Two points that he made stood out to me:

Snapchat is a great way to get folks straight to the good stuff.

By posting clips to a “Story,” it helps get people the content they want without being forced to sit through an entire stream of the live event with you. Think of it in the same way that an inverted pyramid lede would immediately get you to the meat of the meeting. 

These videos are published clip by clip on Snapchat’s “Stories” tab in increments of 10 seconds or less. Publishing on Snapchat therefore gave me an opportunity to immediately churn out “live” video coverage of Apple’s event without making viewers sit through a two-hourlong live stream. 

It isn’t going to be perfect, so get comfortable with imperfection.

Journalists are trained (and maybe even genetically inclined) to be focused on perfection. With Snapchat, you better let that go for a second or 10. The video quality isn’t going to be out of this world. No matter how hard you try to keep your subject on the third, they probably won’t stay there. The audio may even get off a little bit. That’s not only OK, it’s a part of the experience.

Raw video is a good reflection of raw experience, and Snapchat’s almost stupidly simple means of broadcasting that experience provided an easy way to publish a quick, fun, and authentic view from the ground.

Photo credit: Alex Kantrowitz / Via BuzzFeed

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Things I love: Facts and history about D.C. buildings

Things I apparently love even more: Cute facts and history about D.C. buildings

What’s behind the cute little doors in the United States Capitol Building? 

A long time ago, they had pages who would run messages to everyone and part of that included using dumbwaiters in the walls. Once they got to a specific floor, they would open the door and push out the messages.