Speakeasy

So...

Speakeasy officially launched April 4. It was kind of a painful process, being that Katie and I were roped into doing the design ourselves (and doing it poorly). We went with "ok, this works" rather than "hey this is cool." Bummer. Anyway, with much guidance and support from our friendly, neighborhood Bob Benz, things are looking on the up and up. He's got us working with Chris Stearns, a pro, to beef up our site and not only make it work, but make it look good. Ow, ow! Maybe we won't be embarrassed to wear our shirts now!!

Furthermore, he's going to work with our OJ kids to do an independent study fall quarter with his Knoxville team to keep working on it. Northwestern kids, lookout!

Once again, our team is excited about the project and are not, in the words of Bob, being beaten by our own technology.

We're looking at having her up and running within the next couple of weeks. Right now, we're in the midst of administrational mumbo jumbo in terms of selecting editors and management for next year. We're also trying to organize our summer publishing schedule. Phew.

Since our spring break in the basement is over, we'll try and update the blog a little more religiously. Helps that we're excited about this again ;P

So... what's new with Speakeasy.

This has been a super-exciting week. We have purchased our server space, purchased our CMS, and gotten furniture for our news room. Additionally, we have the key situation figured out, received content from our writers, and have our grant proposal on the cusp of being ready to be sent out. We are awaiting a letter of support from Tom Hodson, and have to do some minor revisions... but after that, we're golden. Then we get the 12 gs, haha.

The difficult part now is actually designing the site. I think it is going to take some hard work. Eeep. Here we go.

This post became wayyy too long. See comments for hours total.

Hey girls,
>
> I know there was a little confusion earlier in the
> week, so I just wanted to clarify what Katie and I
> expect from you as section editors.
> Non-timely content from you and your staff is due to
> Katie and myself by Friday. We expect you to have
> read their articles at least once, and made
> corrections to them by the time we get them.
> Corrections include such as problems with AP style,
> not having enough sources (remember, 3 are required
> and email sources are heavily discouraged!), to
> misspellings, to factual errors... basically we want
> these articles absolutely as perfect as you can make
> them before they are sent to us. We are then going to
> have our copyeditor, Katie Gill, further perfect them
> so that Speakeasy Magazine, Episode 1, will be a
> pristine piece of art :)
>
> Also, could you please email with three potential
> times in the morning you could meet next quarter so
> that we can start to think about when we can have our
> weekly editors meetings? Hopefully we can find a time
> that fits into everyone's schedule...
>
> Also, I wanted to thank you guys for being so awesome
> and for all your hard work. Speakeasy will be
> supertastic.
>
> IMPORTANT NOTE: Please send your emails to this
> address, speakeasymagazine@yahoo.com .
>
>
> Thanks!!!
>
> Cara

Meghan,
Preferably three interviews; if that's not possible, some sort of background research that is citeable, that you refer to in the article. This does not apply to opinion pieces, although it is helpful to have research to backup opinions.

Cara

Meghan wrote:
Hey Cara & Katie,
I was just wondering what exactly you mean by 3 sources. I didn't remember
this and I'm sure it won't be a big deal for the writers, but like do you
mean people you've interviewed, where you get pictures, etc.? Thanks!
- Meghan

# posted by caramc @ 8:28 AM 0 comments

A new way to sign things from "Speakeasy"

"Virtually yours,
The Speakeasy staff"


hehehehe.

I’m an online journalist, and I write about online media. Here is what I'm looking for:

• A news outlet that creates new content, aggregates the best outside content, and makes sense of everything, presenting it in a clear, simple format for the consumption of everyone.
• A company founded on the values of serving the public and allowing the public to serve journalism by participating in all discussions of mission and direction.
• A company that answers directly to its readers and consumers and doesn't talk down to them from editorial ivory towers.
• A company that is focused on the value of journalism, the practice, and not only of marketing and stock dividends.
• A group of like-minded people who are willing to start from scratch and build a new way of doing smart, groundbreaking citizen journalism. Not too amateur, not too professional but something in between.
• A company that is flexible and knowledgeable, with people who "get it" and understand how they can tap the latest technology to improve the craft of journalism -- and help it survive. These new journalists would blend the research done online via search and databases, the production process of a content management system, the community involvement of bulletin boards and wikis, and the delivery mechanisms of RSS, blogs and mobile platforms. Rather than teach old dogs new tricks, employ techno-literate people from inception. The "everyone gets it" company.
• A commitment to provide more transparency for all writers and editors, including political leanings, conflicts of interest and other details that will help readers know who they are. A balance of privacy for journalists with the public's need to know who they are and where they come from.
• A staff and board of advisers of englightened media people and bloggers such as Jeff Jarvis, Jay Rosen, Elizabeth Osder, Susan Mernit, Matt Welch, Howard Owens, Robert Cox, Steve Rubel, John Battelle, James Lileks, Bob Somerby, Dan Gillmor, and many others who walk the talk.
• A company where journalists follow the spirit of the rules and ethics of journalism -- and not the letter, as fundamentalists would.
• A company where people realize that the Web audience is potentially global and therefore work together to create stories and packages that cross national and cultural boundaries.
• A place where news will be a conversation and not a one-way lecture. Where the readers will also report, edit, fact-check and photograph the world around them.

(http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/12/01/glaser_co.html)

OUADBobcat28: Hey Cara, I got an IM from Bryan last night about the buttons? He wants to write Speakeasy in cursive w/ Ketchup and take a photo of it? I'll run the idea by Liz, but I almost think it would be better if we were consistent with the brick idea
OUADBobcat28: I don't know if he ran the idea past you and Kaite at all
OUADBobcat28: but let me know what you think

Any comments?

Cara,

That's great news. I look forward to seeing speakeasymag.com.

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you right away.

On process, our newsroom is hierarhical. I update the content on the site. Our system is that we have a daily editorial meeting where ideas are pitched. Everyone has input, but the editors have final say on what is covered. The reporters then go get the story. They check in with the editors if there are questions during the reporting. Then they write and submit their stories. The editor -- usually me -- edits and posts it.

For style, we mostly use AP style.

My advice to you is to stick to standard journalistic principals. But also be sure to let your imagination run wild on what you cover and how you cover it. You probably won't have too much chance for imagination once you get to the professional ranks.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

wb

Wright Bryan
Web News Editor
NewsLink Indiana
Ball Communication Building
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306

(765) 285-9301 ::: Direct
(765) 285-9300 ::: Newsroom
(765) 285-9304 ::: Fax

wrightbryan3 ::: AIM
wright@newslinkindiana.com ::: Email
www.newslinkindiana.com ::: Web

affirmative


On Mar 3, 2005, at 5:54 PM, Cara McCoy wrote:

Hi Bryan,
I know you are traveling today, but I just wanted to clarify that we
will be receiving an emailed copy of the logo from you in both black
and white and color (if a color version exists) no later than Monday
afternoon. We need to approve it to print our business cards and
t-shirts ASAP.

Thanks.
Cara

- selling advertisements - by the way we need to get on this ASAP
- collecting donations - I like the idea of the "tip jar" (see Making Money)
- fund-raising - yeah it sucks but we can make it news.... right?

"A night at the Speakeasy" - have bands play in the front room than use the wireless capabilites to update, blog, add photos instantly... hmmm sweet idea, huh? Good work Cara! But is it unethical to promote our own fund-raiser as a news piece?

Speakeasy
Ohio University
Scripps Hall
Athens, Ohio 45701

Hello,

My name is Cara McCoy. I am a student at Ohio University, and am a junior online journalism major. As an extension of our related student organization, the Online Journalism Student Society, we have decided to launch a hyper-local news site so that students throughout campus can gain practical experience in the realm of online news. The site will provide campus news to the student body. We came up with our plan after we attended the Online News Association conference this past fall, and have had it in the planning stages ever since.

We recently came across this fantastic grant opportunity and are planning to apply. However, we have one question that is not answered in the FAQs. As I said earlier, this project has been in the planning stages for months. Accordingly, we have set our launch date as April 4, 2005. As you can see, we would be technically launched before funding is awarded; however, as we will turn in the application before we launch, we are not technically an already established news site.

Although we can launch the site without knowing whether we have the funding, the money would be used to buy equipment that right now we are anticipating our reporters to furnish for themselves. Additionally, we would be able to pay salary... we currently have a budget of $400 for the next three months, and as you know, that is scarcely enough to run a successful business. We have the support of our university in terms of office space and broadband access, but other than that we are on our own. The grant funding will ensure our project is sustainable.

Can we still apply for the grant although we will have launched our site by the time funding is awarded?

Thank you very much for your consideration in this matter.

Well, so, we might be pushing back our launch date. I realllllly don't want to, and neither does Katie or Caren, but do to unfortunate circumstances, that might be an inevitability. We hope to get some professional advice from the Bobs, Travis and Joy to help us get over this hump. Harumph.

Staff meetings are going well... we should have t-shirt designs ready for next week.
Gotta get the grant proposal done ASAP.

Stress is fun.

To do before tomorrow's meeting(s) -

1) Make sure Bob Stewart is still doing presentation.... if not.... come up with one, fast.
2) Print out copies of contract... make people sign at meeting
3) Make sign in sheet for meeting - make sure I have everyone's CORRECT contact info
4) Look nice... a photographer's coming!
5) Look over grant stuff before going to 3:30 meeting
6) Make sure we know what to tell reporter at 4:30 meeting so we don't look stupid
7) Come up with some T-Shirt designs!!! Ellen needs help with this!!


After tomorrow's meeting(s) -

1) Get T-Shirt order ready... start collecting money ASAP
2) E-mail Chris a list for the newsroom
3) Figure out the difference b/w athensi.com and speakeasymag.com (yikes!)
4) Work on next weeks Speakeasy meeting
5) Edit bios