I didn’t believe this post over at the Innovation in College Media blog, even when I saw the screen shot Bryan posted.

But I’ll be damned if the New York Times hasn’t given its motto — “All the news that’s fit to print” — a 21st Century twist at the top of its homepage.

I had to go check it out myself. Here’s what I saw (highlighting the most important part of course):

That’s right folks. It’s not about the print. It’s “All the news that’s fit to blog,” online at least.

As I said in the comments on that post, this just shows there is nothing so ingrained that it can’t be re-thought. Nothing is off-limits.

I think it’s an awesome move to consider switching things up, but is blog the right word? (They do link the text to their blogs section, however.) But What about photos uploaded to Flickr or videos at YouTube? What about non-blog citizen journalism efforts?

I don’t have a better phrase off the top of my head. I’m just glad to see the beacon of tradition is willing to re-think everything.

It’s a quarter to 2 a.m., and I’m still awake. I don’t have a good excuse except spending too much time on Yahoo! Answers and the New York Times and losing track of time.

A good friend of mine also is up at this hour. But he has a damn good reason, and as I just finished telling him over Gmail Chat, he’s hard-core.

The state of Michigan is on the verge of a shut-down, with 35K state employees waiting to hear whether they will report to work today. The legislature is pulling an all-nighter — and so are the reporters. Check out LSJ for updates and the Free Press has them, too. So does the Detroit News. (I’m not linking to specific stories because they’re updating and I don’t want to end up w/broken links.) There may be others, but that exhausts my knowledge of Michigan media outlets.

Ryan, who just started as a mojo about two weeks ago at the Lansing State Journal, was one of the lucky ones tapped to report on the events unfolding in the capital city tonight.

At first I thought it was crazy because there’d be no one up reading the stories anyway. But I stand corrected. There are several post-midnight comments posted on the stories. I guess it makes sense: If I was a government employee unsure if I’d even need to get up in the morning, I’d be hanging out for any word of progress, too.

That my friends is why this is not only hard-core but a perfect example of the mindset we need to take. This is information people need and want to know. They don’t want to know in tomorrow’s paper (which was put to bed hours ago, before the midnight deadline passed) or even on the morning newscast. They want to know asap. They want to know now. This is the 24-hour newsroom people talk about. So maybe it’s not hard-core, maybe it’s the new necessary.

What would you nominate as the Seven Wonders of Journalism World?

Poynter wants to know. They’re soliciting nominations in several categories:

• Documents (such as the First Amendment)

• People (such as Walter Cronkite)
• Institutions (such as the BBC)
• Events (such as the publication of the Pentagon Papers)
• Technology (such as the invention of the telegraph)
• Works (such as the front page of the New York Times on Sept. 11)

From the nominations they receive, they’ll narrow it to about 10 per category. Then, they’ll do seeded brackets and let each go head to head to move forward.

I am trying to think of things worthy of nomination. You can check out the feedback on the post to see some other journalists’ suggestions.

Sounds like a neat idea. I’ll be interested in seeing what seven we end up with.

The concept is deceptively simple. Just ask reporters to share what they’re reporting on with other reporters and the public. Then, let them network with each other for advice/tips/a sounding board on similar stories. Let the public vote up, digg-style, topics they want to read about.

I don’t know if it’ll work, but I like the idea, which is apparently Ryan Sholin’s.

I saw it because when Mindy McAdams joined the Facebook group, “What are you reporting on?”, it showed up in my Facebook newsfeed. When I went to the group I saw the Twitter account and started following it. I only share this process to show you why social networking sites are awesome, not just for posting party pictures or stalking old friends, but also for finding out about projects I’d never have heard about.

Definitely something to keep an eye on.

So, I saw this list of awesome education statistics from the Census Bureau linked from Al’s Morning Meeting and bookmarked it to peruse later. As in tonight.

I was a little sad I hadn’t stumbled on it sooner, or thought to look. See, back to school for me was early to mid-August. Yes, most of the little buggers in this county started back Aug. 13 & 14. I KNOW?! Insanely early. But they also finished up by the end of May, which is a nice trade off if you ask me. But I digress.

As I was flipping through the stats, I made notes to myself, “Oh that’s interesting. I didn’t know 70 percent of students are enrolled in all-day kindergarten. I could have used that stat in all those stories I wrote.” Or that “Only 50 percent of full-time college students are employed. (NO wonder everyone else seemed less stressed than me!)”

Then I came across this tid-bit, and I won’t lie, it sort of depressed me: $14.18 Average hourly wage for the nation’s school bus drivers in 2004-05. Custodians earned $12.61, while cafeteria workers made $10.33. Bus drivers make more than me, and custodians earn almost as much on average. Not that I would want either job (though mom did try to lure me into being a campus bus driver, sorry ma, transportation was your thing not mine), or would be good at either. But still, it just puts into perspective how much I get paid after busting my butt to get my degree and the experience necessary to get a job in a competitive field.

But then again, I didn’t get into journalism for the money. (Thank, God.) I got into it for the thrill of seeing a problem, trend, issue or injustice and finding out everything I can about it, what can and is being done about it and passing the knowledge/torch on to readers. I got into it because I can’t not ask when I have a question. I can’t not know.

In terms of how much I think I get out of my job, I think that makes up for some of the difference in pay. A lot of the difference in pay or I wouldn’t do it. I guess I’ll just be extra nice to all the district transportation directors, and keep the bus idea on the back-burner in case this reporting thing doesn’t work out. Lord help you all (and your children) if that ever happens. lol.

The first thing I do every morning when I wake up is reach for my phone. There are two reasons for this. First, I use it as my alarm clock, and at 7 a.m. I just want it to shut up. But the second, far worse reason is, I want to check my e-mail.

I don’t know why I feel compelled to check for new e-mail that has arrived since bedtime and dawn. I know, and tell myself each day when I do it, that nobody else was up to send me e-mails. Even if they did, surely the e-mail can wait until I brush my teeth, right? And yet, every morning, I do it anyway.

Today, I read this article, Stop Your BlackBerry From Being the Boss, and I have to confess. Yesterday, when I was at dinner with a friend/co-worker, I was texting another friend, granted the other friend was part of the conversation but that’s beside the point. How many times have I been annoyed when someone else was having a phone conversation instead of engaging in the conversation at table? And though I laugh a bit about it now, I have, most definitely, checked my e-mail while driving. Haven’t you?

Apparently, and I think the story is right, this is a sign I need to let go.

I used to get far more e-mail than I do now. Perhaps it’s just that I used to use one single account for both personal and professional e-mail, whereas now I have my J&C account and my gmail account (which my kent e-mail feeds into so it’s all together). To my credit, I rarely check the J&C account when I’m not sitting at my desk. But my personal e-mail? Constantly. When I’m sitting at my MacBook it’s constantly updating my status bar. When I’m at work, I have my personalized Google page constantly up in a tab which I check several times a day.

So, I’m going to try and internalize these four tips from the article:

• There’s no such thing as an “email emergency.”

• The world does not revolve around you.
• Stick to a schedule.
• Respect BlackBerry Blackout Zones.

And you know what? I’m pretty sure the world will keep spinning and nothing major will fall through. Because as item number one says, if it’s that important, someone will call me instead.

Check out the Soul of Athens project. (Via Multimedia Shooter.)

I don’t know what class or group or what prepared this package of videos/stories, but seriously, each of the stories is amazing. Together, they really do give you an indepth understanding of the soul of the city where Ohio University is based.

This package is amazing. Well done!

A few to definitely check out:

• Jenny’s Story — if you only watch one, this is the one to watch. It’s a pretty raw and honest capture of that girl’s apprehensions and ambitions for life beyond her school and city. It’s also universal. I can hear this girl’s voice echo through millions of small towns.
• Love in the First Person — I love the intimacy of this video, which is shot mostly from the fiance’s camera lens. It’s the basic idea that young love can conquer anything, and this is a testament that even through the tough times, this couple is ready to try.
• Be Not Afraid — A woman in Iraq to help as a member of a Christian organization is abducted. Listening to her recount the tale is incredible. The way the video is shot and edited also works so well with this story, the stops and starts and unpected turns it brings.

The latest post at MediaShift is a must-read. Take a look as Mark Glaser envisions how the local newsroom of the future might operate.

All are awesome ideas.

Probably the one I liked most was Collaboration with the Community:

When would the community become part of the newsgathering and reporting and follow-up process? In every feasible part. NNR’s website could include a Digg-like page where community members can vote up the stories they’d like to see covered by the newsroom. Community experts could be part of the daily editorial meeting. Reporters could collaborate with their expert sources in the community, not only getting quotes from them but also asking them to help in the reporting process.

Also related from his last section, Thinking Outside the Box.

One of the ways NNR can break from the past is to hire or talk to people who aren’t simply trained to be journalists or ad salespeople or marketers. Why not bring in a professional athlete to blog about sports, or a contractor to do a podcast about the housing market, or a registered nurse to run a discussion forum about health care issues? Giving local experts a way to go beyond sound bites and pull-quotes would have a strong impact on the community.

This goes beyond inviting the public to watch or even attend the editorial board meetings or even the daily budget meetings. But let them become a part of these. It’s not just transparency, it’s asking the community what do YOU want to read in tomorrow’s paper? What do YOU think should go on the front page? What database would YOU be most interested in searching? What perspective/information can YOU bring to this that we didn’t think of? And so forth.

Some random thoughts before I get off for the night:

• Working Sunday really isn’t that bad, even the 8 a.m. shift when you’re alone in the office babysitting the scanner and updating the site. The drawback is there is pretty much nothing going on that isn’t somehow church-related. I’m not sure how my editor took it when my reaction was, “You want me to… cover a church service?” But luckily, we were able to come up with a pretty sweet angle. I’ll probably post that story in the clips tomorrow when it runs (not because it’s amazing or “clip-worthy” but because I liked it). Add to the mix that it was a holiday and Sunday, and today was the slowest news day of my working life.
• I also work Christmas this year. Both of these holidays I inadvertedly talked myself into working. I should keep my mouth shut.
• I have been wasting too much time on Twitter already. It’s cutting into my Facebook time. ;)
• Speaking of Facebook, I have a question and want to hear some opinions. One of my co-workers, about my age and also a member of Facebook, today told me I was “brave for listing your political leanings” on Facebook. While I’m not a hardcore anything, and I do understand how having my political leanings known could be perceived as a conflict of interest, I’m wondering if it actually matters? I’m not out there crusading for any causes or signing and circulating any petitions. I know it really depends on the organization’s policy, and I would have to ask my editors if it was a definite don’t. But I wanted to hear some thoughts. I’ve discussed this blog with the powers that be at my paper, and we kind of came up with some ground rules. One of them being I can’t go off on political rants. (I wouldn’t anyway. I don’t know enough or care enough about politics to get into it. Most of it’s just semantics anyway.) But I don’t see how admitting I lean liberal is a horrible thing? It’s a bias I know exists and because of that, when dealing with issues where it comes into play, I almost overcompensate for it. I do not cover government where political parties really play any role, and I don’t really ever want to do such reporting. Though, the same person also raised the point that being registered as a member of one party or another falls in the same category. I definitely disagree with that. If I want to vote in a primary election, I have to pick one party or another. Should my job dictate that it is not OK for me to vote in a primary election, which is part of my constitutional rights? (Granted, either way it doesn’t matter this year — we have no contested seats in primaries in the county.) My argument was my Facebook also indicates I am “Christian.” Should that bar me from covering anything that has to do with religion because I have stated publicly what camp I stand in? I don’t know. But thought it was an interesting topic to bring up.
• I have pretty much finished reading Somebody Told Me and can already tell that I am a stronger writer because of it. I think I am more aware of the nuances of word choice and descriptive details after noticing how effortlessly he weaved them in and impressed me. Seriously, at several points I was jealous of his talent at finding the perfect words and phrases to describe people, places, actions or even ideas. They say reading makes you a better writer. Anyone wanting to write, I recommend reading the articles in that book.
• Currently, I’m reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I really like it so far. I read one of the quotes on the book that said it was like the Sound and the Fury meets the Catcher in the Rye. I agree, and think it’s equally as good as both of those classics.
• All of this reading is part of my effort to get through the mountain of books I have purchased but not had time to read. It is actually getting ridiculous in that I am out of room on my shelves for anymore unread books. And I really miss visiting Borders. So I need to clear this queue quickly. I also really want to sign up for the local libraries, but I can’t because I feel guilty looking at the stacks of unread books for which I’ve actually paid.
• At the end of this week is my 90-day mark at my job. This means I’ll be eligible for health insurance and all that fun stuff. That is, as long as they don’t think I suck too bad and decide, eh, it’s not working out. (The first 90 days are “probationary.”) I looked over my review checklist already, and it looks like I’ll be sticking around. So yay for not being horrible at journalism and not failing at my first job. I know it’s silly, but I have a tendency to worry about these things.
• Also, I can’t believe I’ve only been here three months. It seems like I’ve been here for only a few weeks and also like I’ve been doing this for years. It’s hard to describe. There is still so much unconquered territory, even just on my own beat. (In my defense, I’m responsible for something like two dozen school corporations spread out across 10 counties, each with several schools.) But I’m also taking on more responsibilities here and starting some new projects. It’s also a reminder that I’ve been gone nearly a semester from the Stater, and yet that world still turns without me. God, so much to learn!

That’s all I’ve got. What, like that isn’t enough?

Remember last week when I said there are still stories that can make me click through and read every word?

Well, I came across one tonight. It’s not some earth shattering insightful article. But it was something I could totaly relate to: the pressure high schoolers feel to be perfect. The NYTimes article is called “For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too. It’s long — six pages, plus some interesting multimedia and leftovers — but it struck a chord with me.

I was reading the article thinking, “oh my God, I was that girl.” I saw myself in a lot of these kids. But they’re more grounded about it. Still, I saw the same struggles I faced, the same pressures and worries. But it wasn’t society telling me how smart or involved I should be. It was me — bearer of unrealistic expectations.

(I should warn you, this is really not journalism related. It’s pretty off-topic, except that it was sparked by reading that story. So go read that, and leave me to muse to no audience.) (more…)