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Responsible Reporting Section 3 ‘What You Must Do’: Chapter VIII

Being so far behind serialization of my ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers and so close to the end, I break the Sunday rule and sneak in an installment. That makes the next chapter the last before the book releases into the public domain.

What follows is my responsible reporting primer. The list isn’t inclusive, but encapsulates my basic guidance for writing well online during this era of contextual news gathering, 

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Flickr a Day 286: ‘Please Help’

I sometimes chuckle at people identified online by first name only. Do they feel more important? Perhaps privacy protection is a concern? Something else? Today’s shooter, identified only as Christian on Flickr and also Instagram, fits the category. His Sept. 5, 2004 self-titled “Please Help” takes the Day for reasons of identification—or lack of it.

“This photo has made the rounds on the Internet, but I was the one who took it originally” he says. The insinuation is clear: Unaccredited. I wonder if a full name to identify would encourage more people to properly credit him. Using the C word differently, Christian deserves credit for this:  “I only post photos that I take”. Good going dude. 

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Responsible Reporting Section 3 ‘What You Must Do’: Chapter VII

Nearly a month has passed still the last installment of my ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers. I have been overwhelmingly busy with other projects, which is no excuse. My apologies, please. Over the next couple of Sundays, I will serialize the remaining few chapters before releasing the tome into the public domain.

This chapter, like most of the others in Section 3, is vital to your success, which means rising above the endless sea of sameness. You must be original, and produce original content that finds and builds audience. Today’s chapter gives varied examples of news organizations doing just that. 

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Flickr a Day 284: ‘The Hug’

The story behind the photo gives the Day to Miguel Tejada-Flores, who shot self-titled “The Hug” on May 2, 2015, using Panasonic DMC-GX7 and Lumix G VARIO 14-42/F3.5-5.6 II lens. Vitals: f/4, ISO 200, 1/2500 sec, 14mm.

Miguel, who joined Flickr in November 2007, is by profession a screenwriter not a photographer. But both creative capabilities are about storytelling, which again, is what makes the capture all the more compelling. He explains: 

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What Is Your Flickr Anniversary?

I can’t count how many times my relationship with Flickr nearly ended over the past decade. I subscribed in October 2005, making 10 years ago this month. For reasons I cannot guess, my oldest uploaded photo is the Pelican, on Ground Hog’s Day 2006. I shot the bird with Nikon D70 and Nikkor 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens while vacationing in San Diego (where I now live) in August 2004.

I don’t have an exact date during the month, just a receipt for a Pro membership on May 6, 2006. I maintained Pro until Flickr (more or less) ended the option in May 2013. But Yahoo brought back Pro accounts in July 2015, offering perks to previous subscribers. Last month, I renewed mine for two years, for $44.95. 

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Surface Tension at Microsoft Store

This evening, after watching “The Martin”, which is superb, I walked over to my local Microsoft Store. Surprise. Surprise. The day following the big Surface reveal, the new tablet and laptop are on display. Preorders are underway now, and the new gear goes on sale October 26, 2015 (hehe, my twin sisters’ birthday).

Got to say that more as a matter of preference and budget, my first impression favors Surface Pro 4. Top-end SKU available this month sells for $1,499, with 6th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB hard drive, and Intel HD graphics 520. The fanless m3 chip model, with paltry 4GB memory, marks the low-end at $899. Custom-configured i7 Surface Pro 4 will be available from November 20 and cost as much as $2,699.