Closing in on my social media goals

(originally published Sept. 14, 2013, on Eagle Strategies Blog as part of my grad school work)

Three weeks into the fall 2013 semester and one goal is simple: Survive with grace and sanity what I’m facing for the next dozen-plus weeks remaining. From the grading and attendance keeping I do as a teaching assistant to the required tweeting and blogging for one of my classes to the mandatory online responses and submissions in another, it’s all coming down to a numbers game. How much can I get posted and done within the allotted time?
I’ve already purchased a larger planner in which I will (hopefully) get the majority of my calendar down as I coordinate not only those TA responsibilities but also my full-time grad course load and hours at a second job I hold. (Best bosses ever there: I’m allowed to flex what I do around EVERYTHING else, no problem.)
One drawback to my schedule is an inability to utilize the 12-plus commuting hours lost to Interstate 35E on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, I can’t afford a “smart” car (is there such a vehicle?) that can transcribe and transmit tweets as I roll down the road. Not that I could/would anyway as I seemingly have to keep an ear to the radio for traffic reports. But anyone with ideas is more than welcome to suggest them. Perhaps there’s a safe way to multi-task?
As part of my master’s degree, I want to learn new ways to organize and handle my workload with efficiency and skill. I also want to acquire the social and digital media skills that will take my journalism to another level.
I was intrigued during the spring to hear my fellow graduate students talk about Professor Samra Bufkins social media class and what all they were learning. When JOUR 4270/5350 was offered this fall, I quickly signed up. One of my goals specific to this class will be to learn more about Twitter. Although I’ve had an account, I’ve never really utilized it. I recognize it is a growing social media outlet, however, and know that I have to become involved with it and adept in its use. Thanks to some of my classmates’ postings and requirements to be using it on a daily basis, I already feel I am acquiring some new skills.
The class also has a focus on LinkedIn. As with Twitter, I’ve had an account for some time and have used it some. Through this class, however, I am now discovering facets I wasn’t even aware existed.
Without a doubt, I fully expect this semester to challenge me in several ways. My expectation is to meet those to the best of my ability.
With all this said, here’s a fun story from 2012 involving Twitter and the Smart Car brand.

On finding courage

Olympian and USET eventer Denny Emerson: "People seem to understand the power of practice when it comes to skills. You know you'll get better if you practice a riding skill like a shoulder-in or a right-lead canter transition. Well, you can also practice traits. You can practice courage. You can practice self-confidence. You can practice optimism. You can practice things that you might not think are able to be practiced, such as being a better friend to yourself or not always denigrating yourself."

A future for print journalists?

As a print journalist of more than 20 years, I've been discouraged at times in thinking I have no future. That sense of discouragement has centered on two fronts: one, that newspapers appear ever more likely to have a day when they will be no more and, two, that the public isn't stepping up to support true journalism in the void left by advertising dollars now directed toward other media.
By true journalism, I mean written work that is factual and as unbiased as possible. I'm not talking about opinion and 'blogs,' but stories supported by documentation and the truth. If that type of writing goes away, whatever will become of our world?
Earlier today, a friend shared the following story, linked here. Click on it and read the NPR story about a French online news outlet that is not only surviving, but thriving.
Indeed, it seems there is hope for the future! It's just a matter of me finding my spot in this brave new world!

Words of wisdom worth passing along

Pulitzer Prize finalist and Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Regina Brett wrote an amazing list of life philosophies in her May 2006 column "45 Life Lessons and 5 to Grow On."
Some of my favorites include:
• A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
• When in doubt, just take the next small step.
• Believe in miracles.
They're all good, each and every one.
You should read the entire list and can do so here.

A busy summer break, about to get busier

All in all, it's been a busy summer break since spring classes ended.
I continue to work on my biosolids special topics project and am about to start a new topic on the plight of the wild mustang. These are topics I see myself working on for a long, long time as they both interest me beyond receiving graduate class credit.
Putting my newfound social media skills to work, I have helped one friend set up a website/blog and will be helping a second friend here this weekend. One of my part-time jobs requires my updating two Facebook pages and two websites – and one of those has seen some serious updating and refurbishing.
I help a nonprofit with its Facebook page and website – and I'm happy to see the traffic increasing to both; although that one has come around a bit slower than I had hoped.
An upcoming project I am really excited about is one in which I will be working up the history for the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at UNT. A little nervous as this is something of a scope I haven't previously attempted but a challenge I can't turn down. (Keep the red flag on the right and kick on!)
And breathe, just breathe.
It's amazing to think, after I complete the five hours this summer and add another nine this fall, that I will be only one credit hour shy of having enough to graduate with my master's degree. The spring will see me still in a full-time capacity so ultimately I will have achieved 44 credit hours.
I'm already thinking ahead to the next step on my path. Not that I'm taking my sights off of what is in front of me but because in the academic world, one must be planning at least a year out to take advantage of opportunities such as grants, fellowships and teaching opportunities.

Quantitative research class starts Monday

Quantitative research class starts Monday, along with a special topics project. It's a five-week session so there will be lots to do and accomplish. My project will take a look at the plight of the wild mustang and some area folks who have adopted one or more of them. To get ahead, I've been reading through the quant-research books to better familiarize myself with the material. That one class is the most feared by graduate journalism students at UNT; I'm thinking, however, that I'm going to really, really like it!

Gun control, media ethics, the public's 'right to know'

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, newspapers were among the media trying to gather as much information as possible and disseminate it to the public.
The Gannett-owned Journal Times (New York) made the decision to publish the names and addresses of gun permit holders in two counties it serves shortly after the incident. It was a move that proved controversial: There was much public outcry against the decision alongside the support cited by the newspaper.
The information, which was released in the form of an interactive map, remained on the newspaper’s website for about 27 days before being removed. The newspaper has said it did not take it down because of public pressure. Rather, the data had likely been viewed by those interested and also was of the type that would go out of date, according to the Journal Times.
It is worth noting, however, that decision was made in the wake of the New York Legislature passing a bill that allowed gun permit holders to opt out of any public release of their information.
My personal belief on this issue is that a newspaper has to consider the thought that while it can do something, should it? The Open Records Act serves a great purpose, but one of the considerations in utilizing it must be whether the information invades people’s privacy. I also feel the Journal Times behaved irresponsibly in that it placed all of the gun permit holders in the same light as the Sandy Hook shooter and his mother.
Perhaps, if the newspaper had taken an additional step and compared the names and addresses of the gun permit holders to additional databases, such as those of convicted felons or police incident reports, there might have been a reason to justify the decision. Such statistical comparisons might have revealed some flaws in the system and that type of revelation would likely have better met with public approval.
I can’t help but feel, however, that all the Journal Times accomplished with its decision to publish was to provide thieves and burglars with a shopping list.
The New York Legislature isn’t the first to act in response to the media’s use of the information. In Texas, for example, the Legislature made the data secret in 2007 after the Associated Press requested information on individual lawmakers.
The main goal should be to keep as much information public as possible. But, again, just because it is public doesn’t mean we, as the media, should use the information irresponsibly or without a purpose that serves the community. And I guess that’s what bothers me the most about the Journal Times’ decision. The newspaper ran the names and addresses because it could and for no valid reason I can discern.
After all, as we discussed in class, rape victims’ names are public in a court of law. That doesn’t mean we should go and shout them from the rooftops without a good reason to do so.
(One of my media ethics class assignments, spring 2013)