Upcoming Regional Journalism Events
Due to some kind of historic athletic event happening in Oregon on Dec. 3, we’re moving the social hour to Dec. 10. If we held it on the 3rd, not only would some of our friends been forced to choose between their two great loves (football and journalism), the Rose and Thistle would be impossibly loud. So same place. Same time. But less football. Go Du-eavers! See you on the 10th.
As the fallout from last weekend’s journalism conference continues, and as the supposed line between “old” and “new” journalists becomes more pronounced, it’s time for the next social hour — and a chance to highlight a company that defies that old-vs.-new dichotomy.
Nozzl Media is an 8-month-old, Portland-based startup that’s creating a platform for what it calls “real-time, local news streams.” To put it bluntly, it’s a reporter’s wet dream: Nozzl’s software robots scour public records and databases for information, and then deliver as much or as little as the end user wants. Hence the name: Nozzl. According to CEO Steve Woodward, the company’s “initial target market is newspapers that want mobile editions or web widgets with streaming real-time content, including advertising.” A beta launch is planned for January.
But lucky for us, we’re going to get a sneak preview on Dec. 3.
Woodward is a former Oregonian reporter with a long history as a journalist. I asked him a few questions via email about Nozzl, and about what it’s like to go from covering companies to being a company.
Did you have the idea for Nozzl before or after you left The O?
I left The O last November and formed Nozzl with Steve Suo, Brian Hendrickson and Greg Griffiths in March this year. Before Nozzl was formed, Steve Suo, another former Oregonian reporter, had the original idea for aggregating public records with a software robot. He had hired Brian, a former Oregonian programmer, to write the software. Brian had his own separate side project, an open-source microblog similar to Twitter. I persuaded them to put the two ideas together, so that we had a Twitter-like stream that could be filled with high-quality content such as public records.
I assume that when you first started, you thought about the project from a journalist’s point of view. How difficult was it for you to learn how to approach it from a developer, and then business-owner mindset?
Having been a business reporter and editor for a dozen years, I thought it would be relatively easy to run a company. But there’s a big difference between reporting on a multimillion-dollar corporation and running a small business. Running a small business is much harder. Thankfully, I was smart enough and humble enough to join the Portland Ten entrepreneurs bootcamp, which was the tough-love equivalent of getting an MBA in three months.
As for the development piece, that’s my biggest weakness. I don’t code, and I doubt that I ever will. I rely on Brian and Steve for that, and Greg has a background in software product marketing. But I still have to understand enough as a project manager to know whether we’re on track or not. So I often end my days with throbbing headaches.
Come join Digital Journalism Portland and the Society of Professional Journalists Oregon and SW Washington Chapter on Dec. 3 to see Nozzl in action.
Thursday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m.
Rose and Thistle Pub
2314 NE Broadway St
Portland, OR 97232-1611
Contact:
Abraham Hyatt, Digital Journalism Portland
Libby Tucker, Society of Professional Journalists, The Columbian
This Saturday, a couple hundred journalists will gather in Portland to talk about a much-ballyhooed topic: nonprofit news organizations. The event is called We Make The Media. It’s an idea conference, a chance to explore what it would take to create a new community-driven news project here in Portland.
Full disclosure: I’m one of the people helping to organize We Make The Media. Over the last few months, I’ve watched a core group of passionate journalists — lead by Willamette Week co-founder Ron Buel — turn their desire for quality news into an event that they hope will inspire the rest of us to take action. I asked Buel via email a few questions about his vision.
What kind of journalist will get the most out of this conference?
Journalists who will benefit most are not wedded to newspapers, and are able to see a future in news and investigative reporting on the Internet. Journalists who want to work in multiple modes – text, video and audio. Journalists who see the larger role that journalism plays in our democracy, holding our corporations and institutions and elected officials accountable. Journalists who understand that journalism is the community writing about the community, not an ivory tower for the journalist to do his/her business in completely detached fashion.
Is this new journalism enterprise intended to take the place of existing media outlets?
This new enterprise is aimed at the current condition in the Portland Metro area – significantly fewer paid journalism resources doing investigative and enterprise reporting. It does not assume that newspapers are going out of business, or that TV News won’t someday reform itself, or that radio will move from more talk to more news someday. It assumes that there are gaps which a new enterprise can fill today in the public interest.
What will happen after the conference? Who will be charged with moving the project forward?
The participants in this conference will be charged with moving the plans forward. They undoubtedly will bring in outside resources to help, but there is no “control group” who will carry this forward. Future action will only be taken by conference participants who are committed to act, to carry out the plans made at the conference and approved by the entire group.
Have you signed up yet? You only have one more day…
This Saturday is the third annual Building a Better Journalist conference, a one-day event held at the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. If you’re still looking for a reason to go, here it is: There’s some pretty interesting looking sessions dedicated to new media.
Topics at the conference range from watchdog journalism to business reporting to how to transition from a print to a digital career. The new media sessions are equally diverse, says Libby Tucker, tech chair for the Society of Professional Journalists Oregon and SW Washington Chapter, which puts on the conference.
“We have a track for video — you’ll be producing and editing,” she says. “But in that same track we have a session on business models where you’ll get to talk about where the industry is headed.”
The names of some of the speakers will be familiar to anyone who attended Digital Journalism Camp this summer: Kenneth Aaron, Mark Briggs, Marshall Kirkpatrick. But you’ll also hear from people like David Wolman, a contributing editor at Wired; Orest Pilskalns, CEO and founder of MapWith.Us; and Ed Bisquera, a video blogger and social media business consultant.
You’re going to learn about “how to use your cell phone when you’re out in the field, [and] uploading a photo using geolocation,” Tucker says. “The focus is really how to cover communities using these tools.”
Check out the full list of speakers and panelists here, and sign up here. Registration is $25 for SPJ members, $35 for non-members, and $10 for students.
Updated with location and map
Earlier this year Jeremiah Kastner and Jeff Martens launched The Portlander, a news site that mixes original content and aggregated news stories from around the metro area. Neither Kastner nor Martens has a journalism background; Kastner’s resume includes stints at Yahoo, Intel and Adobe, while Marten comes from Synopsys and Nike.
“We felt that there wasn’t a great community news outlet in Portland that was not a blog but not The Oregonian,” Kastner says. The goal was to create “something that was in between, that would appeal to the masses: half aggregate, half community-driven.”
How did they develop this burgeoning site and where is it headed next? At our next social hour on Oct. 29 Kastner is going to explain it all. Come ask him questions, have a beer and hang out with your fellow journalists.
For more on The Portlander, check out this story by Mark Briggs (who also was a presenter at Digital Journalism Camp).
October meet up
When: Oct. 29. 7 p.m.
Where: Rose and Thistle Pub, 2314 NE Broadway St. (map)
Presenter: The Portlander
Social Hour Contact:
Abraham Hyatt, Digital Journalism Portland
Libby Tucker, Society of Professional Journalists, The Columbian
(UPDATED: Added a quote from Al Stavitsky)
As part of Banned Books Week, the Multnomah County Library is hosting a panel this Saturday called “New Media, Old Media and the Future of Investigative Journalism.” They have a fantastic lineup of panelists: April Baer, Stephen Engelberg, David Sarasohn and Al Stavitsky, with Tim DuRoche from Portland Center Stage as the moderator.
The panel is going to focus on a well-worn topic: the challenges the media faces and the implications for investigative journalism. But because of the speakers’ varied backgrounds, I think we’re going to hear some interesting perspectives.
Baer, for instance, says she’ll be talking about “the key differences between non-commercial broadcasters and print media, and whether those differences can let pubcasters continue to grow to meet the needs of the market.”
Stavitsky, on the other hand, will be talking about what he describes as the changing news ecology. “That is, the traditional top-down model, in which major national newspapers and networks set the news agenda that trickles down to local markets, is eroding as audiences migrate to digital platforms and social media spread information virally. It has significant implications for “accountability” journalism.”
Clockwise from top: David Sarasohn, Al Stavitsky, April Baer, Stephen Engelberg
Baer is a reporter and producer with OPB. Engelberg is the managing editor of ProPublica.org, a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on investigative journalism. Sarasohn is a columnist and associate editor at The Oregonian. Stavitsky is the senior associate dean at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, as well as the director of the school’s George S. Turnbull Center in Portland. DuRoche is an artist, writer and arts and culture advocate.
You can find more information here.
Café Banned
Saturday, October 3, 1–3 p.m.
Central Library, U.S. Bank Room
801 S.W. 10th Ave.
I’m going to be updating the site over the next few days so things may look a little funky.
Update finished. Ooh look. It’s a pretty new template.
Photo by Jeffrey Bunch
Video
Jeff Bunch/Paul Suarez:
Hyper-local News- What Works and What Doesn’t
Real-world Successful (And Almost-Successful) Revenue Models (first 60 min.)
Tech Love Live:
SEO for Journalists – What, Why, and Unique Challenges
Podcasting and Audio Journalism
Video 101 Cheap Software and Editing Tricks
Hyper-local News – What Works and What Doesn’t
Photos
Blogs
http://www.mediafortemarketing.com
http://www.danielbachhuber.com
http://pdxwritergal.blogspot.com
What did I miss? Email journopdx@gmail.com and let me know.
