The evolving newsroom…
September 3, 2010
I actually remember not too long ago when anything in the Washington Post print edition that was written by a washingtonpost.com reporter had to have the caveat “Special to the Washington Post” at the tail end of the piece. These two newsrooms were entirely separate entities, and it was the one with the .COM address at the end that was treated like the red-headed step-child.
How times have changed…and the ground has shifted under our feet over the last decade. Bets are now placed on how long the delivery model can survive.
As much as I love the daily morning ritual of retrieving my Post from the driveway (and yes I immediately pull out the Style section while I recycle Sports and Metro), it’s now online where I find and share the columns, stories and photo series that capture my attention the longest. Yes the Post still has the Loudoun insert, but if they’re smart, they’ll start putting more contributed content online from the region’s readers as well.
WUSA 9 , DC’s CBS affiliate, is starting to do that… If i can get my act together, I will soon start blogging for the hyperlocal Leesburg, Ashburn, and Reston communities – of more than 50 communities around DC where WUSA 9 is gathering news and content. In Ashburn, for instance, it’s everything from Donald Trump’s opening of (what was once) Lowes Island Golf Course to Redskins training camp… even a crime report from the local Subway shop.
Not that you need more proof, but even USA Today is at it again… completely overhauling its newsroom to center around content hubs… Chris O’Brien of the “Next Newsroom Project” captures the shift in his blog.
Could there be a more exciting time to work in media, even PR? No way! ”Publish or die” now haunts everyone, every day. Today’s newsroom is really just the corner Starbucks.
Big Warm Up
November 20, 2009
Maybe it’s because i’ve had a particularly tough morning, but this made me tear up today! Land’s End does a great job of showcasing a commitment to a cause in which they can make a difference (not random, but makes strategic sense), while also showing a deftness in tugging on emotional strings AND making it easy to share the “cause” with friends..
I’ve embedded the video below but to customize it for yourself (you’ll see what I mean once you watch it) and share with your friends, you will want to go to The Big Warm Up. Enjoy… and go home and go through your closets…winter’s coming and it’s cold.
Windows 7 Takes Off!
October 27, 2009
From Seattle to West Hempfield township, Lancaster County, Windows 7 Parties are taking place all over…honestly, I should have launched it here at the House of Klause — not only because I am loving it (I work for Microsoft, what do you expect), but because my Mac husband has been using it longer than me (on one of his 7 machines) and loves it… Here are some direct quotes…from me and from him… guess which one is from whom..
“It’s fun to shake the screens have all but one disappear”
“It’s 64-bit goodness rocks”
“The Sticky Notes function (start, all programs, accessories, stickynotes)”
“It starts up wicked quick”
“Stability, reliability, security”
“The new tool bar allows me to manage about 50 windows at once!”
Yes, some of these are from the very guy who made my life difficult this week by re-launching White House.gov in Drupal/Open Source. (big sigh…) But I digress. Just for fun, here are some glowing stories on Windows 7…
— First is my colleague Kristin’s summary blog post on some of the cool stuff happening around the launch…she highlights a very cool campaign that our citizenship team launched called “7 ways to change the world’ — looking specifically at how Windows 7 features can benefit the work of non profits and governmental efforts to address the world’s challenges.
— eSchool News: Schools give Windows 7 favorable reviews
— Wall Street Journal – A Windows to Help You Forget….“After using pre-release versions of Windows 7 for nine months, and intensively testing the final version for the past month on many different machines, I believe it is the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced. It’s a boost to productivity and a pleasure to use. Despite a few drawbacks, I can heartily recommend Windows 7 to mainstream consumers.”
– Wired — Seven good reasons to switch to Windows 7…..“Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that’s both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver.”
— CNET – Microsoft Windows 7 (Professional)…CNET editor’s rating: Outstanding