Panel Title: Citizen Media and Globalization

Speakers:

Anasa Sinegal & John Daquioag, Talk title:  “Building a Movement to Save a Classmate: Navigating Global Politics from Our Backyard.” Both are recent graduates of the Mass Communication MA program at California State University, Northridge, and were organizers of graduate student campaign to free Esha Momeni.

Elham Gheytanchi,  professor in Social Sciences Department, Santa Monica College, Talk title: “From the One Million Signature Campaign to the Green Movement in Iran.”

Resources for citizen journalists

What is their connection to citizen journalism?

• Thomas Paine
• assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the ’60s
• footage of police beating Rodney King in Los Angeles in the ’80s
• cable access
• DIY movement: zines
• Indymedia
• 911

May 6th 2009   Long list of talks at the convention:

A World of Strangers: How Social Media Is Transforming Our Networks and the Way We Find Information
Tom Smith, founder, Trendstream

Social Media Public Relations: How to Use Social Media to Reach Reporters and Analysts
John Wall, co-host, Marketing Over CoffeeChristopher Penn, co-host, Marketing Over Coffee, and chief technology officer, Edvisors, Inc., Student Loan Network

The Naked CEO: How Social Media, Communities and User-Generated Content Is Changing Organizations
Rachel Happe, independent consultant and blogger

The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business
Tara Hunt, marketing lead on the partner platform, Intuit

Listening to the Conversation — The New Communications Imperative: New Listening Techniques to Gather Intelligence for Communication and Product Strategies Rob Key, founder and CEO, Converseon

Personality 2.0: How to Stay True to Your Brand — and Yourself — As You Communicate Via Diverse Online Communities Sarah Evans, director, communications, Elgin Community College; founder, Journchat; blogger, PRSarahEvan .com; creator, Vid PRO Co. Heidi Sullivan, director, media research, Cision and blogger, CisionBlog

Help Google Find Your Releases: Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Tactics for Public Relations Professionals Lee Odden, chief executive officer, TopRank Online Marketing

Selling Social Media to the CEO: Translate New Mediums Into Bottom Line Growth
Aedhmar Hynes, chief executive officer, Text 100 Global Public Relations

Tweet Your Way to Success: How to Use Twitter to Connect With Your Audiences
Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D., assistant professor, communication, St. Edward’s University

The Digital Age Communicator: Managing the Digital-Age Communicator Don Spetner, executive vice president, corporate affairs, Korn/Ferry

Tribalization of Business: Leverage the Crowd for Increased Revenues, New Marketing Approaches and the Reformed Business Process Francois Gossieaux, partner, Beeline Labs

Make the Most of Social Media and Demonstrate Its Value: Maximize Your Public Relations Dollars
Michael Pranikoff, director, Emerging Media, PR Newswire

Create Sustainable Online Communities: Improve Your Presence on Twitter, Blogs and Forums �
John Cass, author, “Strategies & Tools for Corporate Blogging,” and director, marketing, ideaLaunch

The Experiment Is Over: It’s Time to Extract Real Business & Societal Value from Social Media Adam Christensen, manager, corporate communications, IBM

Social Media’s Role In Building Your Brand: Your Brand Is What “They” Say It Is
Sergio Balegno, senior analyst, MarketingSherpa Research Group

Lonely Planet on Los Angeles:

a shiny city of reinvention where small talk always starts with a question: ‘Where are you from?’ This query reveals what’s driving the city’s energetic buzz – a perpetual in-fl ow of dreamers, go-getters and hustlers primed with unabashed optimism.

Frommers

Like Las Vegas, the allure of L.A. — for better or for worse — is undeniable. Angelenos know their city will never have the sophisticated style of Paris or the historical riches of London, but they cheerfully lay claim to living in the most entertaining city in the United States, if not the world. It really is warm and sunny most days of the year, movie stars actually do live and dine among the commoners, and you can’t swing a cellphone without hitting a rollerblading blonde at the beach.

Fodor’s

California dreaming begins with Los Angeles. The sun, the beach, and the winking tinsel of Hollywood remain a permanent lure. Who can resist peeling down Sunset Strip in a convertible? Still, L.A. is a tricky city—it takes know-how to navigate the sprawling neighborhoods and get into the top clubs.

Literary Writing Describing a Place:

Noir writer Raymond Chandler:

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.

Essayist Joan Didion:

We know it because we feel it. The baby frets. The maid sulks….The heat was surreal. The sky had a yellow cast, the kind of light sometimes called “earthquake weather.” My only neighbor would not come out of her house for days….In Los Angeles some teachers do not attempt to conduct formal classes during a Santa Ana, because the children become unmanageable

Music Describing a Place

Tupac:

“Out on bail fresh out of jail I’m hearing hoochies screaming/ fiendin for money and alcohol/ the life of a West side playa where cowards die and its all ball/ Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die/ In L.A. we wearin Chucks not Ballies (that’s right)/ Dressed in Locs and khaki suits and ride is what we do/ Flossin but have caution we collide with other crews”

Due: Last Day of Class. Story will drop one full letter grade for each 24 hour period it is late. A story turned in Wednesday that was an A will become a B and so on. On the last day, you will present your story to the class.

Minimum of five interviews and at least one documentary source (such as a government or nonprofit report, census bureau statistics, etc.) *No* CSUN professors can be interviewed for this story. (Professors at other universities are OK.)

Story must include video and text and should be posted to your class blog (post to blog of each team member) as well as to a citizen journalism site.  Teams will consist of three members.  If you are a misanthrope and cannot work in a team, you can do the assignment alone, but you cannot do *less.*

1. Video should

• be approximately 2 ½ - 3 minutes long.

• identify key interviewees with full names.

• spell correctly/grammatically any text in the video

• not include material that is copyrighted (if you use music, make sure it is creative commons, etc. Indicate in a note attached to your paperwork the source of the music).

• load and play properly.

• It can be first person, it can have “attitude,” but it should not be offensive. Check with Prof Wall if in doubt.

2. Text

• should be around 300 words.

• should contain additional, different information than the video — that is, it should complement rather than merely repeat. Quotes not used in the video version, for example, might be worked into the text version.

• should be written in appropriate online style (generally present tense and slightly less complex than print.)

• should include at least two working links, properly embedded (i.e., do not simply post a URL).

All work must be done by the team members and should not be pulling reporting done by someone else whether a professional or amateur. (Don’t cheat!)

Supporting research, including all interview notes, printouts of reports, websites, etc. must be turned in with your project.

Your place should be a place with “problems.”

*a neighborhood prone to wildfires (such as some in the hills near campus)
*a neighborhood prone to earthquakes
*a neighborhood with poor quality drinking water
*a neighborhood with mountain lions or other wildlife
*a neighborhood in the Hollywood or other hills that make getting emergency vehicles in difficult
*a neighborhood near the Rose Bowl or other similar venue (Dodger Stadium, Staples, etc) with lots of traffic and related problems
*a neighborhood near LAX (noise problems)
*a neighborhood in Hollywood (noise, traffic, etc.)
* a neighborhood near a freeway (pollution/health problems)
*a neighborhood with schools that have high drop-out rates and/or low test scores
* a neighborhood next to a beach with poor quality water (such as some in Santa Monica or nearby)
* a neighborhood with a lot of “B” restaurants (usually seafood, sushi or other similar foods)

Your grade will be based on the complete package. Areas that will be considered:

• Reporting. Did you interview enough sources? Get good quotes? Did you do enough background research to carry out the project? Locate strong documentary sources? Are there holes in your reporting?

• Visuals. Is your video interesting or static (i.e., one person behind a desk for 3 minutes is static). Do you use multiple scenes? Is the video lit well? Or are parts of the interviews/content too dark on upload? Is the camera shaky or did you use the tripod?

Do you use the zoom too much? Are the cuts between scenes clean (i.e, don’t cut off someone speaking without letting the words end, etc.)?

• Writing. Is the writing specific and vivid? Do you use conversational language? Written in an online style?

• Grammar/Spelling. Is your story grammatically correct? This includes punctuation, subject-verb agreement, etc. Are spellings correct?

• Supporting documents. Were these included in the package you turn in (interview notes, documents, etc.)

• Instructions. Did you follow the assignment instructions?

2 . Insert your own photo

3. Add three Widgets

4. Use Spellcheck!

5. Check your stats

6.  Add four tags to your most recent post

7. Link to someone else’s blog

9.  Comment:  If someone comments on your blog, respond to their comment.

Language:

• More immediate:  present tense
• Sentences shorter
• SVO most common form
• May be more informal
• Still professional

Format:

• Brief: 400-500 major stories, 250-300 others
• Get to point early
• Hyperlinks
• Subheads (every 3-4 graphs of 2-6 words): Example
• Alt forms for additional information  (FAQ, or Q&A, eg.); bullets

What to link to:

• Definitions
• Previous stories
• Related stories
• Resources
• Documents cited in story
• Related websites

• Creating a Google Map
• Writing traditional (tasty Asian snacks) and online (Yelp!) reviews
• Editing video (Farmers Market)
• Posting original video to YouTube
• Shooting video (in-class interviews)
• Profiles/Freelance tips (guest speaker)
• Creating a blog, posting video to your blog, posting a map to your blog

• What do you like or dislike about each?
• Which story tells you the most about the person being interviewed?
• How many people were interviewed in the story?
• Describe the B-roll used?  How does it help (or not) tell the story?
• What did it take to get this story? Was this the work of a single person?

Portland National Guardsman

Pink Hummer

Mr. USA

Somali-American