About Technolo-J
This blog was created by Ron Sylvester for the Society of Professional Journalists as a learning tool for digital journalists. It aims to help news professionals wanting to learn more -- in a hurry about technology and the changing business of digital journalism. Last year it also became the home of SPJ's new Digital Media Committee (DMC).
Technolo-J will house informative and instructional training on how to use digital media to make your reporting more interactive. Our mission is to better prepare you for journalism in the 21st century newsroom.
Topics that will consistently be covered include:
2009-10 Digital Media Committee Members
Jennifer Peebles is a deputy editor at Texas Watchdog, a nonprofit online news site that launched last year, covering local and state government in the Houston area.
She previously served as the government editor of The Tennessean, where she led the team that uncovered a rash of sexual harassment in Tennessee state government, prompting state leaders to change the way harassment cases are reported. She also oversaw an investigation into the Tennessee Highway Patrol that unearthed deep-seated cronyism and a scheme in which troopers were promoted after making campaign contributions to connected politicians.
She is the 2009 winner of the Open Doors Award given by the Fort Worth Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She is a board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, a a former board member of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, and is a past president of the Middle Tennessee Pro Chapter of SPJ.
Contact me
Twitter: @jpeebles (also @texaswatchdog -- shared account for our site)
Delicious: jlpeebles
Digg: LostMyPen
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Jeff Achen is the online editor and multimedia producer for Thisweek Newspapers/Thisweeklive.com. Jeff is also a freelance videographer and photographer. His freelance work can be seen at http://www.jeffachenvideography.com and http://www.mnvideopro.com.
Jeff has reported for the Times newspaper in Thief River Falls and WDAZ Channel 8 television in Grand Forks, N. D. He's also interned at the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in San Diego, an extension of his graduate studies on the role of the news media in conflict. He is a four-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, 1993-97, and served in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Nepal as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2002-03. He has taught basic and advanced media writing, video editing and production, and public speaking courses at the University of North Dakota.
In addition to his role as Thisweek online editor, Jeff also represents fellow Minnesota journalists as secretary of the Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He lives in Apple Valley, Minnesota with his wife Jennifer and daughter Kaitlyn.
Contact me
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Hilary Fosdal is the Interactive Content Manager for Barrington Broadcasting Group located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Hilary works in the Barrington Interactive division and runs the day-to-day online news operations and long-term digital media strategies for the company's 21 television stations that are based in 15 markets throughout the nation.
Contact me
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Amanda Maurer joined the Chicago Tribune in March 2008 for a trial social media project. A few months later she was brought on full-time to coordinate all social network and news initiatives for the Chicago Tribune, as well as work as the newsroom's SEO liason. In May 2009 she joined the chicagotribune.com as an online staff producer and now divides her time between working on the Web site and forwarding the Chicago Tribune's social media efforts.
Amanda graduated from Columbia College Chicago in May 2008.
Contact me
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Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. She was one of the first writers at the Globe to carry a camcorder on assignments and produce videos for the newspaper's website. Her work has been featured on New England Cable News, The Howard Stern Show, and numerous other media outlets. Emily is a member of the Boston Globe's Speakers Bureau and frequently gives talks at schools, universities, and industry events. She currently serves as president of the New England Pro chapter of SPJ.
Contact me
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Rebecca Aguilar is a freelance multimedia reporter in Dallas. For 28 years, she has been a television news reporter. More than two years ago she turned her focus to multimedia. She is currently working on her certification in Multimedia Development. She writes online stories and produces digital slideshow, and video packages. She’s contributed work to pegasusnews.com and latinalista.net.
Rebecca worked for 14 years at the Fox affiliate in Dallas, Texas. Prior to landing in Dallas she worked at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, KPNX-TV in Phoenix, KENS-TV in San Antonio, KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi, WLS-TV in Chicago, and WDHO-TV (now WNWO-TV) in Toledo. She’s a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), The Women’s Media Center, Online News Association, Lone Star Emmy Chapter, and former member of IRE. Rebecca conducts workshops and panels for many of these organizations including the Texas Association of Broadcasters.
So far, Rebecca has 47 awards and nominations for her work. This includes 2007 NAHJ Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award, and the 2005 Texas AP Television Reporter of the Year Award and 7 Emmy Awards.
When Rebecca is not reporting, she is teaching other reporters how to improve their skills. She’s also teaching print reporters and photographers how to write and produce video packages and use their own voice as voice over. And she’s teaching non-media types not to fear the media or social networks. Not only does she do this in English, but Spanish too. Rebecca is bilingual thanks to her wonderful parents.
Contact me:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/reporterrebeccaaguilar
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1370331892&ref=profile
http://twitter.com/RebeccaAguilar
aguilar.thereporter@yahoo.com
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Daniel Axelrod has loved writing since age 3 when he sat on the plush green carpet of his mother’s office overlooking the Long Island Sound, dictated poetry and insisted she not change a word.
A native of Rocky Point, N.Y., Daniel went on to become a published poet and editor of his high school and college papers. He is a graduate of SUNY Cortland, and he holds a journalism master’s degree from Syracuse University.
Daniel won eight journalism awards during his five years as a full-time newspaper reporter, which included time in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. He has worked as a public relations consultant and freelance writer in Northeast Pennsylvania since his last newspaper, the Scranton Times-Tribune, laid him off in April 2009. He also serves as president of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Keystone Pro Chapter.
Contact me
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danaxelrod
Email: deaxelrod@msn.com
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Jessica Durkin is a news-about-the-news junkie. That’s why she started www.inothernews.us, a blog (Wordpress) compiling online news start-ups focusing mainly on community news in areas where legacy media have reduced coverage.
Jessica graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications-journalism from Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California and started her journalism career when she was awarded a minority internship for the summer at the Portland Press-Herald newspaper in Maine.
From there, Jessica was hired at the Norwich Bulletin, a former Gannett paper in eastern Connecticut, and purchased by Gatehouse in April 2007, a month before Jessica left for Scranton. In her nearly three years at the Bulletin, she covered the two largest Indian casinos in the world, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, as well as the respective tribes that ran them. Before leaving the Bulletin, Jessica covered several municipalities in the paper's coverage area. She was also among a team of reporters to cover the first execution in 45 years of an inmate on Connecticut's death row.
Jessica was elected a National Association of Hispanic Journalists regional director in July 2009. She represents Region 3, a six-state territory including Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists Keystone Pro chapter.
Contact me
http://hainna.typepad.com/about.html
http://www.inothernews.us
e-mail: jessdrkn@gmail.com
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