Speakeasy

New news is good news

2005-05-16T10:26:00.000-04:00

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

Update

2005-03-13T11:59:00.000-05:00

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.

HOURS LOGGED

2005-03-12T19:16:00.000-05:00

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

Letter to the Editors

2005-03-09T08:28:00.001-05:00

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

Good question, Meg!

2005-03-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

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

Golden

2005-03-07T01:09:00.000-05:00

A new way to sign things from "Speakeasy"

"Virtually yours,
The Speakeasy staff"

hehehehe.

Mark Glaser - The Media Company I Want to Work For

2005-03-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

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)

Brick or ketchup with that?

2005-03-04T10:43:00.000-05:00

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?

Help the Wright Way

2005-03-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

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

Logo update

2005-03-04T10:36:00.000-05:00

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

Income

2005-03-03T19:29:00.000-05:00

- 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?

Mailing Address

2005-03-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

Speakeasy
Ohio University
Scripps Hall
Athens, Ohio 45701

Email to J Labs about grant

2005-03-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

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.

So... much... to do...

2005-03-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

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.... blah, blah... will it ever be easy??

2005-02-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

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

SAC Funding

2005-02-26T19:08:00.000-05:00

Don't forget!

Money that has to be spent before March 18th:

Flyers: $96

Brochures: $64

________________

Total $160

Money that has to be spent after March 28th:

Post Ads $162.00

Posters $9.00

________________

Total $171.00

Upcoming Schedule

2005-02-24T20:08:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow - NO meeting with Chris Weibel - he had to cancel

Tuesday - 3:30-4:30 - meeting with Pattie (the grant lady) in the RTec building
4:30-6 - meeting with Ohio Journalist reporter in the Front Room
6-7 - Speakeasy staff meeting
*photographer from Ohio Journalist will be attending
*Bob Stewart is going to make a brief presentation on basic HTML

Knight Ridder Post

2005-02-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

Katie,

I talked to Tony Regan, who handles sales for KRT. He can't give you photos for free, but he's willing to set up a month's trial, which gives you access to current and archived photos. After that, they can gauge how many photos you'll be using and therefore what they should charge you.

I told him that at this point, I should bow out and let the two of you talk directly. He's expecting an e-mail from you: apregan@tribune.com.

Good luck,
dg
--
Deborah Gump, Ph.D.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Mr. Regan,

Hi, my name is Katie Schmitt. Deborah Gump told me that she talked to you about using KRT pictures for our student-run online magazine.

The publication will be a perpetually updated website with content created by students for a student audience. All of the articles on the site will be original content discussing topics from a student's point of view.

She mentioned we may be able to have access to a one month free trial of KRT. This would be great! Our site will not actually launch until April 4th, so having the trial during the month of April will be a pretty good judge of how many pictures we will use on average.

I do not anticipate using many pictures, we will just need a few for national beats that we can not photograph ourselves.

Thank you very much for this opportunity!

Katie Schmitt
Online Journalism Student Society, President
Scripps School of Journalism
Ohio University
ks241501@ohio.edu
614.260.0685

Section meetings

2005-02-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

So, we had section meetings last night. I think they went pretty well, except the point was for Katie and I to start learning names and that still isn't happening. Once we move into our newsroom, I'm sure we will. Kates and I are spending spring break decorating and organizing, and then going to visit Joy in Knoxville at the end of the week.

We have a meeting with Chris Weibel tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am to discuss our newsroom... I'm really excited about it!

Things are looking good with Ellen and Liz's ad/pr team. I guess they have like 22 members, or something crazy like that. Wow.

Before the section meetings, Katie and I hashed out the ethics policy and made our reporters sign off on it--makes people more accountable and gives us records of our staff. We used the same ethics policy as in the OU handbook for plagiarism, and as TTampa Bay Online
for our ethics policy. We also tried to get a vague idea about who wants business cards, t-shirts and if ppl would rather do a fundraiser or simply donate $5.

Friday, we did some advertising research for Ellen so that she can theoretically start selling ads. We need to make some nice ad packets first, though.

Bryan had the good idea of installing a laptop station in the lab. He also has our logo almost ready.

Still having issues with Dick Piccard. Hopefully to be resolved soon. Love SAC.

>>In other news, Cara and Katie need to start writing their column!!

Grant

2005-02-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

So, things are looking good with the grant. We were stymied for awhile, under the impression that SAC didn't want us to apply for it... and even though they might not want it, it looks like they are going to let us--and help us!--get 'er done.

We talked today with OU ppl who know how to do grants, and they are very supportive. Obviously removed from Student Activities... merrh. We are going to get a potential budget together soon and go meet with Patty again on Tuesday. Hopefully Katie Gill will have some time to work on the thing over the weekend.

Rob Curley tomorrow! w00t!

Titles!!

2005-02-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

Cara and Katie's official titles from now ad infinitum:

Executive managing editors.

Woohoo.

Staff Policies

2005-02-22T15:34:00.000-05:00

We need to come up with some kind of contract that we make our staff sign before we will publish there work. This has to include plagerism stuff most importantly and copyright issues.

Also, we ought to have some kind of filing system so that we can keep track of our staff in case we ever have any issues. I'm sure we can get something on our spring break shopping trip.

Things to keep track of:
- signed contract
- major errors
- lateness
- OJSS meeting requirement (whatever we decide that to be)

columns

2005-02-21T12:08:00.000-05:00

Amy Flowers (College Dem pres, Athens Co. Dem party director, City Council candidate) will most definitly write a column. We need to atempt to find a republican.

Also, how bout Kristin Jensen as president of Student Council for a column?

more things to do...

2005-02-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

- email chris weibel if we have a mailbox at scott quad; can we get a phone line; # of keys, etc.

- order forms for t-shirts and business cards

- deal with SAC and Piccard

- find server space somewhere!!

- get money from ppl in general, haha

- approve bryan's logo

- ethics policy and style... talk to erin on tuesday night

Correspondence with Dick Piccard (computer services)

2005-02-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

Katie,

Did anyone inquire of me about the available space? I don't recall such a discussion. I suspect that you made a false presumption. Our usual approach to disk space for Web sites on either Front Door server is "How much do you really need?" That said, what you have in mind might possibly turn out to be a problem, but we can't know that yet.

It is my view that any Ohio University online activity ought to be visibly an Ohio University activity, and that one part of that is being on an Ohio University server. At this time there is NO such requirement, even for official, departmental, sites, and there may well never be any such requirement. Likewise, in my view, a second part is having the reciprocal link from your home page to the University's home page (). Again, there is NO such requirement currently in place, except that we won't link to your page from the Student Organizations database without that.

I expect to be back from medical leave before the end of this week. I think it would be a good idea for you, me, your pagemaster, and your advisor to get together to discuss the actual possibilities, rather than have you proceeding on the basis of presumptions that may or may not be true.

RDP

--On Sunday, February 20, 2005 12:41 PM -0500 katie schmitt wrote:

Mr. Piccard,

The reason we chose to use a non-OU server is because we are going to publish an online news site (which is separate from our student organization's site). Along with the written stories on our site we are going to have a lot of multimedia content that will most likely take up more space than we are allotted for our organization.

We don't particularly want our publication to be linked from the Student Organizations database. Do we still need to follow the rules on the link below?

Danita Brown had asked us to let you know what we are up to, so I hope we are not causing you any trouble. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks again,
Katie Schmitt
Scripps School of Journalism
Ohio University
Online Journalism Student Society, President

--On Saturday, February 19, 2005 4:48 PM -0500 "Richard D. Piccard" wrote:
>
> Katie,
>
> If you want to be linked from the Student Organizations database, you
> need to be sure that your pages obey the rules specified at
>
> http://www.ohiou.edu/sorgs/index.html#create
>
> In a nutshell: your home page must have a reciprocal link to the Front
> Door; NO page may claim copyright by Ohio University; nor may ANY page
> use university copyright logo graphics such as any version of the Cutler
> Hall woodcut or the Attack Cat.
>
> I am curious why you have chosen a non-OU server, since we have two that
> are available to any student organization at no charge. If you could
> help me to understand your reasoning, I would appreciate it.
>
> RDP
>
>
> --On Friday, February 18, 2005 3:55 PM -0500 ks241501@ohio.edu wrote:
>
>> To Richard Piccard,
>>
>> Hi, my name is Katie Schmitt and I am president of the Online Journalism
>> Student Society (OJSS). Our organization has started to put together an
>> online magazine publication. We have a site designed and ready to launch
>> on a non-OU server, but first, we need your permission.
>>
>> We were wondering what you will need from us in order to give your
>> approval.
>>
>> Thanks for you time,
>>
>> Katie Schmitt
>> Scripps School of Journalism
>> Ohio University
>> Online Journalism Student Society, President
>
>
>
> =========================================================
> Dick Piccard Academic Technology Manager
> piccard@ohio.edu Computer Services
> http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/ Ohio University
> (740) 593-1017 Athens, OH 45701

Promotions Blog

2005-02-18T09:50:00.000-05:00

Here is the link to the promotions blog: http://elleonspeakeasy.blogspot.com/

When to use video...

2005-02-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

From Artwick:

"Streaming video isn't always appropriate just because you have it to offer. To make an informed decision on whether or not to use it, first identify how the video serves the viewer. Next, answer the following questions. If you andswered 'yes' to all the questions and established the video does serve the viewer, then ou should most likely run the video. If not, you should not consider running it.

1) Does the video complement the text? In other words, does it offer more than an audio version of the text with pictures?
2) Is it more than pure sensationalism?
3) Is it within the boundaries of tastefulness?
4) Is it more than simply a reporter in a newsroom?
5) If it's videotape of a live report, is it still timely and relevant?"

new ideas

2005-02-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

- keep a log book of corrections and have the reporter fill out a form so they can be tracked. develop a plan for reprimand/removal.

- have writers print a hard copy of the story to check for corrections.

- always check links that are posted to make sure they work and go to the right page.

- Citizen's Bill of Journalism Rights -- keep this in mind

- refer to legal section in reporting and producing for digital media by claudette artwick

- keep in mind that nearly 8 out of 10 web users scan rather than read (jakob neilson, guru of web page usability)

- poynter institute says we can tell most good stories in fewer than 800 words
o make sure copy is tight

- always ask, "what does this story mean to my audience?"

-
- audio extras should always provide something more than the reader can find in the text

- avoid sensationalism

-

- if a story is long, make sure to include hypertext, and take super long stories and break them into subheads that lead to different pages

- always write good headlines
o St. Petersbug Times news editor John Schandler says that the perfect headlines
is one that can be followed by "doo dah", as in Camptown Races. it just feels right, and readers will know that, he says. however, AVOID BAD PUNS.

-

WE HAVE A NEWSROOM!!!!!!

2005-02-17T16:03:00.000-05:00

yay we have a news room!! Bob Stewart talked to Chris Weibel (of the Multimedia Lab) and we are going to be allowed access to the athensi room in Scott Quad! We will be able to have a key that will open only the lab and the conference room and the room will be available to us 24/7! There are lots of computers and we will be able to post things on the walls that will make it similar to a real news room!

Thoughts

2005-02-17T10:38:00.000-05:00

So, this blog is more of a place to log our progress than to log our thoughts. I thought I'd take a minute and reflect on how Speakeasy is changing my life.
Number one, I don't really have a life any more because my spare time, for the most part, is dedicated to the success of this project. I'm determined that it is going to work out. It has to. I have never really delved into a project so fully... I've never let extracurriculars come before school work. They've never seemed important enough to do so. But I really think this is it; I think that this is where it's going to be at. I think Speakeasy is going to be a venue for people to feel accepted and not competative and still put out good work.
Although I'm (obviously) not getting paid, not getting any academic credit, nothing, for this project, I almost feel like it's better that way. I feel like it's a job. Therefore, the quality of my work is only going to be gauged by me, by what how well I do what I do. And since we have so many people involved, I feel dedicated to them to make it work.
And, darling Katie my P.I.C., I'm glad we're gonna make this work. Speakeasy is going to be awesome!! (The next Post!?)
Plus, with all this publicity, if it doesn't work, that'll be embarrassing.
Cheers to Speakeasy.

WE HAVE TO DO THIS. ASAP.

2005-02-15T23:33:00.000-05:00

New Voices
2005 Request for Proposals

Visit our How to Apply page to download application forms.

Download the PDF version (108 KB) of our 2005 Request for Proposals.

J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism invites U.S. nonprofit groups and education organizations to apply for funding to launch new community news ventures and to cooperate with J-Lab in spotlighting best practices and lessons learned.

Eligible to apply for funding under the New Voices project are 501(c)3 organizations and education institutions, including civic groups, community organizations, middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities.

Funding is available for start-up news initiatives only. Ongoing efforts are not eligible to apply unless they are proposing a new venture.

Funding Guidelines

Successful applicants will:

* Benefit a defined geographic or special-interest community.
* Foster an open exchange of journalistically sound ideas, information, news and opinion in those communities.

Projects will be selected on:

* The level of communications innovation
* Plans for effectively serving an identified community with fact-based news, information and dialogue.
* Usefulness as a prototype for others.
* Realistic prospects for sustaining the project after New Voices funding as ended.

Timeline and Funding

Under the New Voices project, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, J-Lab will select 10 projects a year for two years. Each project may receive as much as $17,000.

The funding would come in three tiers:

Year One, 2005 -- $12,000 is available in start-up funding.

* $6,000 will be released upon the return of signed grant documents.
* Another $6,000 will be available after a satisfactory three-month progress report is made.

Year Two, 2006 -- Another $5,000 will be considered for Year One grantees that:

* Successfully launch their projects in Year One.
* Supply regular, quarterly progress reports.
* Can match the $5,000 with other revenue through funders, donors, subscribers and/or e-commerce as outlined in a Year Two project plan.

Eligible expenses:

* Grant funds may be used for equipment, software, rent, phones, training, marketing, production, stipends, freelance payments and contracted services.
* Grants may not be used to cover indirect or overhead costs.

Reporting Requirements:

* Applicants must launch their proposed initiative within 10 months of receiving funding. In addition to providing quarterly updates, they must be willing to share widely their progress and lessons learned. Updates from the reports will be posted on www.J-NewVoices.org. A final report is required at the end of Year Two.

New Voices grants are intended as one-time-only, start-up grants; applicants are not eligible for future New Voices or Knight Foundation funding for their community news initiatives. Applicants’ plans for sustaining their initiatives will be a key factor in selecting grantees.

Eligibility

* Funding is available for start-up news initiatives only. Ongoing efforts are not eligible to apply unless they are proposing a new venture.
* Funding may be used only for news and information projects. Advocacy and government projects are not eligible.
* Funding is available for print or electronic news initiatives, including online, cable, broadcast, narrowcast, satellite and mobile efforts.
* Collaborative ventures are eligible as long as the funded party is a nonprofit or education institution.
* Religious organizations may receive grants for non-sectarian purposes only. Proposals to proselytize or to promote the tenets of a particular religious belief will not be considered.
* Funded applicants must have plans to launch their initiative within 10 months of receiving funding.
* Applicants must specificallyoutline a realistic vision for sustaining the project after start-up funding is spent.
* Only projects based in the United States may apply.
* Projects using a language other than English will be permitted as long as translated samples of the project are made available monthly for educational purposes and all reports are made in English.

To apply, submit all of the following:

* Fill out the Project Summary available online.
* Fill out the Funding Application available online.
* Attach a budget showing how you propose to spend the grant money.
* Provide a letter from the IRS, documenting your 501(c)3 status.
* Include letters of support from any proposed partners.
* Complete all submissions in English only.

Print out and send your completed packet to:

* New Voices
c/o J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism
7100 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 101
College Park, MD 20740-3637

* Ph: 301-985-4020
Fx: 301-985-4021
E-mail: news@j-lab.org
Web: www.J-NewVoices.org

Deadline:
Proposals must be received by March 17, 2005.

Judging:
Funded projects will be selected by the New Voices Advisory Board. The judges reserve the right to select projects that represent a diversity of topics, areas and participants. The judges will decline to consider any applicant that does not meet all the guidelines.

J-LabJ-Lab is a center of the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
© 2004-2005 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism
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email to newslinkindiana and mymissourian

2005-02-15T21:44:00.001-05:00

How's it going? Our Web zine is moving along at a great pace--we have about 25 (a small army!) of volunteers working on all aspects of it, and hope to have it fully functional and launched by April 4. If you want to bookmark it, the url will be www.speakeasymag.com.

I'm actually writing to ask you a favor... although for the most part things are going pretty smoothly, we are having a bit of a roadblock as far as what to do in terms of office style and policy. How do your submissions work? Is there a traditional newsroom hierarchy where you go through editors? Who actually updates the content? Also, what are your rules in terms of ... well ... everything?

Thanks again for all your help.

Best,
Cara McCoy

From Newslink Indiana

2005-02-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

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Home • News • Your News • Calendar • Weather • About NLI • Contact • Advertise
Updated: February 15, 2005, 7:52 pm
NewsLink Indiana

Printing

2005-02-15T19:48:00.000-05:00

Printer-friendly version?
Large text/small text?

Updated to-do list

2005-02-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

1) Read and send out OJSS/ONSA proposal
2) Develop budget
3) Logo
4) Get hardcore into the advertising campaign - special meeting with Liz and Ellen?
5) Fundraising!!!
6) Sell ads? Develop packet
7) Get paint--glass and regular
8) Work with photojournalists -- list serv?
9) Email Klaus about tracking--per story, per ad, per click?
10) Contact Terry Hogan about book exchange
11) Follow up on table tents
12) Mass email to all students
13) STYLEBOOK and office policies
14) updated timeline
15) How to get on Outlook
16) Rob Curley
17) Read Code of Conduct
18) Email section descriptions to design team
19) J-labs grant?
20) Size of ads
21) Search bar
22) Email Indiana/MyMissourian for office procedures, ad rates

Design

2005-02-15T19:25:00.000-05:00

Can we add an email-to form?

OU Front page

2005-02-15T19:15:00.000-05:00

Try and send press release to OU outlook and maybe be spotlighted on the front page of ohio.edu!

Selling advertisements

2005-02-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

What we need:

- detailed description of Speakeasymag.com including section descriptions and screen shots
- specific information of target audience - see demographics of OU (gender percentages, etc.)
- information on the size and type of ad
- estimated page views/unique users
- justification of price based on what other magazines/websites charge for their ads.
- contact information / business cards

**all this information should be placed in a nice, proffesional packet we can leave with the places we are selling too

Who we should sell to:
- all uptown businesses
- food places that deliver
- SAC??
- ACRN?
- Student Advocacy

On Our Minds

2005-02-15T07:31:00.000-05:00

e-mail from Jen:

Hey Katie!
What's up? Here's some COLUMNS action...

- Description: Reflections on happenings, previous stories, etc. by Columns staff, editors and guest columnists. Columns can be humorous, serious, or action-inspiring.

- Guidelines for submission: A proofread column must be submitted to ME via email as a Word document four days before desired date of posting. (I will submit it to you and Cara at least two days before date of posting for editing, etc.)

- Style: Pretty loose yet grammatically correct. Swearing is permitted but will be addressed if it gets out of hand.

- Ethical issues: Column cannot be offensive toward any group, be it girls/gays/Asians/whatnot. A disclaimer may be necessary if a columnist is borderline offensive.

- Columns is a place where the staff can express its opinions, but we don't want it to be a free-for-all or a damper on our credibility as a Web site.

- I would like to update daily - I believe we will have columnists including one guest columnist per week to do this (knock on wood!).

The first week of columns (LAUNCH WEEK) is going to contain a few perspectives on Spring Break (reflections on Spring Break traditions, "What I Did On My Spring Break," etc.) - if this is lame, let me know!

I think Columns is pretty self-explanatory so I didn't come up with any specific questions that would designate an article into this section. If that's more the format that you were looking for, I can have those by our editors' meeting later this week.

I shall see you tomorrow evening! Hope your V-Day was lovely!
Jen

Email to S2F

2005-02-13T20:15:00.000-05:00

Hi, this message is directed to Grover. I was given your contact information from Bryan Duffie, http://graphicreactor.com/, from Ohio University. I am also an Ohio University student in the College of Communications. We are looking to start an online publication that will offer news, photos, multimedia, etc. that will be directed at Ohio University students and will provide the students working on the project with an opportunity to get some solid Web experience. We are very interested in hosting with you because Bryan (our site designer) has been very happy with your service, and was wondering if you could give us some advice as to how much server space we would need, and also a quote. Thank you so much for your time. Sincerely, Cara McCoy

Something to think about...

2005-02-11T00:14:00.000-05:00

A webcam somewhere?

First order of business

2005-02-10T15:42:00.000-05:00

We need to make a budget and see what we can get for next quarter out of this quarter's funding.

Contact with Student Senate

2005-02-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

Hi Kristen,

My name is Cara McCoy, and I am vice-president of the Online Journalism Student Society. Next quarter, my student organization is planning to launch an online publication to comment on different aspects of student life. We were intending to start a section on the site for book classifieds, but it has been brought to our attention that Student Senate has just launched a similar initiative. We were wondering if you would be interested in having us list your site on ours, and possibly vice-versa (although obviously not until we are launched, which will be April 4).

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Cara McCoy

DH table tents

2005-02-10T15:36:00.000-05:00

Hi,

My name is Katie Schmitt and I am president of the Online Journalism Student Society. My organization wanted to put an announcement on the tables at the dining halls across campus but I don't know who I need to talk to get them approved.

Also, how far in advance do I need to turn in the flyers? I would like them to be put on the tables on April 4th.

Agenda for Editor's meeting

2005-02-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

Today’s Agenda – Feb. 10 P.I.C. schedule
Get status update
Where are you, what do you need, what questions do you have
Help brainstorming story ideas?
Tuesday, 22 – 20 minute meetings with editors and staff at scheduled times
How many staff do you have
Have you had any weekly staff meetings
Style book
Ethics policy per section and overall
Any suggestions for questions for legal team
Update/editing schedule
Weekly editors meetings
Compile sources for each section
Things that need to be typed up from each section by Tuesday:
Description of section
Criteria for posting in section
Ethics policies/guidelines for articles
List of sources
Names of staff
Tuesday, Feb. 22 will be scheduled into 20 minute sections with each editor and her staff

Suggestions for other workshops
Suggestions for anything

Arian's words of encouragement

2005-02-09T21:50:00.000-05:00

Katie and Cara

I just wanted to tell you two that you’re doing an excellent job with the magazine. You two have really thought things through and organized yourselves well. Things must be extremely hectic for you two, with school and such, but you still manage to stay on top. Good Job!!

Ok, I’m done being the cheerleader.

Later

-arian

(editor's comment: isn't she great?)

Liz's PR Plans

2005-02-09T21:47:00.001-05:00

SpeakEasy Publicity strategies
-sorry, the bullets didn't cut and paste properly-

v Paint Grafitti wall (pre-launch and post-launch)
v Press releases in local papers
v Chalking
v Fliers (handbills and posters)
v Facebook notice
v University-wide email
v Table Tents
v AIM Profile Links
v OU Movie Channel/Public Access TV Ad
v Banner on college Green
v Stickers
v Bumper Stickers
v Mailbox Stuffing
v Buttons
v Door Hangers
v Post Ads
v Temporary Tattoos
v T-Shirts
v Key Chains
v Sweepstakes
v Use Writing Excerpts to Get People interested.

==============

Publicity/Launch Team Timeline

ASAP
∑ “Preview press release”- tell people about SpeakEasy, when it will be launched, etc….getthe word out.
∑ Think of ad slogan, logo, poster design…work with design team
∑ Design Post ad
By 3/7

∑ Send posters, stickers, keychain, etc. designs to be made.
∑ Submit e-mail for bulk mailing
∑ Submit Table Tent request
∑ OU Movie Channel notice

3/21
∑ Hand out, hang posters for the first time
∑ Reserve print ad space
∑ Submit press releases
∑ Post Facebook/AIM notices

3/31
∑ Hang second round of posters advertising site
∑ Send out mass e-mail

4/3
∑ Hang round 3 of posters
∑ Paint Graffiti Wall
∑ Chalking
∑ Hand out handbills, stickers, keychains, etc.

4/4 (LAUNCH DATE)
∑ Handbills, key chains, stickers, etc.

4/5-4/12
∑ Post-Launch Publicity

Re: Workshop

2005-02-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

Cara,

Thanks for your message. I'll send an email of the handouts this evening. If
you need any more help with training writers, please let me know how I can be
of assistance.

Here's a link to a study you might want to see about the way people read online
news:http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm.

Thanks,
Erin Coyle

Quoting Cara McCoy :

Erin and Katie,
The workshop went great! Thank you so much for your help!!!
Do you think you could email the handouts you passed out so I can
post
them on the group site?

Also, Erin, do you think you can email me that handout from class
that
had all those sources on it? I'd like to post that on the database
as
well...

Thanks again!

- Cara

Editor's meeting

2005-02-09T21:46:00.001-05:00

Hey Gals,

I think we talked to all of you, but just in case here is a reminder...

We are having an editors meeting in the front room tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 p.m. Please try to bring with you a copy of a solid description of your section written out, including guidelines for submission, style issues, and ethical issues that should be addressed (esp.the "from our readers" section).

We need the FINAL version emailed to us no later than Tuesday - so tomorrow is the time to go over what you have written up and make any last second changes.

Also, if you came up with any of the questions Cara described or your update schedule, bring those too.

See you tomorrow!!!!

Katie

Team leader's meeting

2005-02-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

Reminder: We are having meeting Friday at 2 p.m. in the front room!

Topics for discussion:

- Site Design (Brandon/Bryan will you bring your sketches?)
- PR/Advertising (Ellen/Liz bring anything you have so far!)
- Content Update

See you then!

Katie

Info about Feb 5 meeting

2005-02-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

ADVERTISEMENT

Hey there, Speakeasy crew!

I hope everyone is excited for our meeting tomorrow, where Erin
Coyle and Katie Gill will talk about how to go about gathering
information and writing ledes and nut graphs. For those of you to
whom those sounds like foreign terms, well, make sure you're
there!
And, for those of you who feel like you are experts, come anyway…
it'll be a good review.

After this wonderful workshop, we will be heading to Katie Gill's
house on West State for some punch and pie--it's important for us
to
have a little bonding time, don't you think? Feel free to bring
some kind of dessert. We will walk up as a group from Baker 327.
If you are late to the meeting and still want to come to Katie's,
call me at (740).590.1931 for directions.

Next week, we will be doing another great workshop with Professor
Patricia Westfall, who will be teaching us quality interview
techniques. If there are any other things you would like training
on, let one of us know and we will try and schedule something!
SPECIAL NOTE: This meeting will be in Scripps 114.

For the meeting next Tuesday (Feb. 15), we ask that you look at all
the sections we have, and make a list of sources (i.e. people you
know) that could be helpful in terms of writing an article about
them, publicizing what we are doing, etc. The story ideas sound
great so far--keep them coming!

Anyone interested in being on the advertising/launch team, email Liz
Gray (eg334703@ohio.edu) or Ellen Cox (ec226204@ohio.edu).

[Special notes for section editors: Please have a solid description
of your section written out, including guidelines for submission,
style issues, ethical issues that should be addressed (esp.
the "from our readers" section). If at all possible, Katie,
Caren
and I would like to have these emailed to us by this Thursday…
but
if that is too short of notice, next Tuesday is fine. Like I said
at the meeting we had with all of you last week, I would recommend
coming up with a set of questions that articles should vaguely
answer to determine which section will publish them. Also, by next
Tuesday we would like to have your editing/publishing schedule for
next quarter. Sorry if this seems like a lot of demands, but… we
gotta get it done! Would it be possible for us to meet with you
again this Thursday?]

As always, we welcome comments/complaints/suggestions/pleas for
help/offers of help. Let us know what you're thinking about how
things are going! If you want to be removed from this list, send a
blank email to: ouwebzine-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

See you tomorrow (Baker 327, 6 pm)!!!

Cara

Legal Team

2005-02-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

Questions for the legal team.....

1) is a "we assume it's legal" disclaimer enough?

2) photo, story copyrights.... do we need a copyright disclaimer?

3) OU rules, are we gonna be in trouble if we bash the school?

4) how affiliated are we under OJSS or a new student organization?

5) rules for OU websites not on OU server space?

To include on each page, esp front page:
By visiting this site, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy (and link "privacy policy")

Rob Curley Thread

2005-02-03T19:32:00.000-05:00

Rob Curley, of www.lawrence.com is coming on Feb. 24! Clear your calendars!!

Rehash of first editor's meeting

2005-02-03T19:26:00.000-05:00

So we met with our section editor’s today, and I think it went really well. Everyone seems really enthusiastic about their section, and very passionate—which is key! I’m glad that our enthusiasm is rubbing off on people.

Things we talked about with everyone include:
Update schedule
Determining how stories are going to fit into different sections
‡ each editor will determine a set of criteria or questions that stories must conform to
Having editor’s require an outline from writers (still haven’t decided if this will happen or not; may leave up to individual editors)
Keeping events calendar informed
Rob Curley from www.lawrence.com is coming!!!
At the bottom of article, there will be a link to the author’s email + bio
By the next meeting on Tuesday, everyone must think through all sections and possible sources they might have to share with everyone
Policies for determining how the site will work over the summer
Policies for selecting new staff, esp. editors in the coming years
Stressed the importance of assuming what problems will happen and developing policy to deal with them
Style for specific sections
Sources required
NO email interviews accepted (unless necessary; i.e. study abroad section)
Discussed times for a weekly editor’s meeting next quarter
Whether we need access to the AP Wire for photos; if we can use Scripps access to Knight-Ridder
We need to meet with the legal team
Contacting study abroad about potential for posting from current students and making contact
All editors are doing a great job of recruiting staff

Our first discussion was with Meghan about the Campus News (ON THE GREEN) section.
Three sections > In the news; On the field; In the classroom
Her staff is looking good, right now she has at least six interested people
We need to see if we can get her a good contact at Ping about intramural sports
She is hoping to have an off-campus section, geared at students on internships and study abroad

For the Columns section:
We need to establish criteria for columnists and how they are selected
Themes of columns
“From the editor’s desk” column – Cara and Katie are going to share a column (probably one of us will write a column each week)

For From Our Readers section:
We decided it is more important at this juncture to develop policy than to have content generated.
Possible requirements include having photos named a certain way to avoid viruses.
Also, we discussed requiring photos be sent from ohio.edu addresses to verify that they are from students.
We need to determine if we can have a form email on the page, or if they must be sent from oak.
Guidelines for submission will be posted on the site.
Classifieds:
‡ we want to link to the student senate book exchange; maybe they will crosslink
‡we also need to determine what kind of liability we will have for transactions (spell out policy somewhere)
‡ou-centic classified, like dorm lofts and other furniture
‡payment? Probably free to start out with; need to be edited and word length determined
Word length and allowable frequency of letter’s to editor need to be discussed
Possibility of making different categories for photo submissions
(Guidelines for photos are important! Disclaimer: we assume all activity is legal)
Polls, and also poll for front page

Culture section:
We want to have mp3s and possible streaming video on this section; at minimum, a photo because it is going to be a visual section
Need to determine how far away we will cover events—Columbus concerts
We need to go outside of current staff to recruit people: College of Fine Arts, TCOM
Possible convergence with Friday’s Live (need to talk to Julia, Frederick Lewis)
Link/stream ACRN?

In the Limelight:
This section looks great! Great story ideas coming here… they plan to focus on different corners of uptown
Will work with photojournalists (Aaron?)
Photos are required
Need to determine how categories will work; update schedule

Events calendar:
Currently a staff of one, need more!
Bar specials, restaurant specials
Must coordinate with other sections and keep editor informed
Will work closely with entertainment
Where to look for events: Baker, Post, A-News, Bars, Green offices, SAC Web site, OU Calendar, UPC, Coffehouses
Possible coffeehouse section
Types of events: speakers/shows/concerts on campus/concerts uptown, in area, Columbus/food + drink specials
Ellen needs to determine what categories will be
Update schedule will be as things come in
Hopefully will be able to get a schedule of when to call different venues set up on a weekly basis
Link to reviews in Entertainment

We also discussed our ad campaign (see thread).

On our most current to do list:
Talk to legal team
Get a room for Tues. Feb 15 and recontact Westfall
Find someone to do a workshop on column writing (Hopefully Caren can do this)
Organize Spring editor’s meeting times
Buy nametags for Tuesday’s mtg
Find the status of the newsroom
Contact Follett’s about painting window
Get domain name/server space (contact s2f!)
Get editors to determine criteria for sections
Editors to determine policies and style
Review progress of design team
Meet with ad team
Determine some sort of fundraising + SAC funding
Rob Curley
Put together calendar for next quarter
Determine archiving policy
Business cards/logo
Contact student senate about book exchange
Work with ad team/prssa?

Advertising ideas thread

2005-02-03T18:41:00.000-05:00

Paint the window at Follett's

Get stickers that have www.speakeasymag.com on them

Send an email to all students through Chubb on launch day
(Also ENews, Scripps Notes, etc.)
--> College of Fine Arts?

Include on all pre-launch fliers: email your pictures to user@speakeasymag.com

Organize banner for College Gate

Facebook announcement (official one)

Facebook messaging, Facebook group, etc.

Links in AIM profiles

Have all writers upload link to their oak site to increase google.com results

Business cards

Organize time with ad team/prssa

Letter to our Editors (Pre Individual Meeting)

2005-02-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

Hola Editors!

Just a reminder: Cara, Caren and I will be in the Front Room from 4 - 6 tomorrow to meet with you guys one on one.

First off, be sure to bring the names of people already on your staff and their contact information. Also, make sure you have a good idea of what you want your section to be - you may even want to write up a brief (like a short paragraph) description of your main section and each little sub-section.

We are going to try and come up with your "official" positions. Cara and I want to have a system in place that will allow for people to move up ranks over the years - become editors and managing editors, etc. In order for us to do that we have to have something in writing about your position responsibilities and future requirements for that position. (Don't worry too much about this, we'll talk to you about it in person).

Also, have a pretty good idea of your "update schedule" (when you will be adding new content). This will help us schedule a weekly editors meeting for after we go live with the site. Don't forget to bring with you any story ideas you have and of course any questions or comments!

See you all tomorrow,

Katie

StyleBook Thread

2005-02-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Purely for the stylebook.....

We are planning to follow AP Style except:

Ohio University - OU on second reference

-Can our writers work for other publications? We have to make this clear.

Launch is April 4th!!!

2005-02-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

Timeline:

3/10 - First run design completed

3/11 - Submissions for all pages due to Katie/Cara/Caren

3/14 - 3/18 - Finals

3/19 - 3/27 - Spring Break

3/29 - 4/3 - Hard-core pre-launch ad campaign

4/1 - Final (pre-launch) submissions for all pages due to Katie/Cara/Caren

4/1 - 4/3 - Freak out time

4/4 - LAUNCH DATE!

4/4 - 4/8 - Hard-core post-launch campaign

4/8 - ? - Slower-paced continued ad campaign

Confirmation from Westfall

2005-02-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

>Impressive: 25 staff! Yes, I'd be glad to help. I've put it on my
>calendar. Although that's a large group, it may be small enough to
>try some role playing. I'll need two volunteers who are willing to
>answer some personal questions for that. Maybe you could find me a
>couple of willing souls.

Where do you meet?

ptw

Contact with promotions team

2005-02-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

Hi Ellen (+ ad team),

Sorry I didn't get this email to you last night. In terms of what we need: definitely we will need people to chalk sidewalks and classroom chalkboards as soon as we get back from spring break. It would also be nice to have a banner (even if it says "Pepsi") to hang across College Gate, and will also need to schedule with student activities that we be allowed to do that. Painting the grafitti wall is a great idea, and we should probably look at doing that on Wednesday, March 30. Once again, we are looking at a launch date of April 4. Posting fliers and handing out little handbills would probably also be effective... but, I would say that since I really don't know that much about advertising, I would leave it up to you all to plan the campaign and just get approval from either me or Katie. We're totally open to any suggestions you would have, but publicity is important. The first week of traffic to the site will make it or break it. I can probably get one of my friends at The Post to do a write up on what we are doing, and hopefully we will have money from SAC to buy Post ads. I can tell you at a later date whether we get funding for that, and what sizes those ads will be. Suggest to whoever is interested to come to our meeting on Feb. 15, which will probably again be in Baker 327 at 6:10 p.m. (Tuesday). After that, they can have a feel for it and see if they need to come to any future meetings.

In terms of a contact person, I nominate you :) But, please, fields any questions (no matter how silly they seem!) to me, Katie, or Caren and we'll try to find you an answer!

Thanks so much for your help.

Sincerely,
Cara McCoy

speakeasy

my $.02

2005-02-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

With regards to the text editor, I would recommend Notepad on a PC. Another option is jEdit (www.jedit.org). Its free, and really powerful. Might be overkill. On the Mac side, Barebones just released Text Wrangler for free. Its a slightly stripped down version of BBedit.

For external links, I would make a blanket policy available somewhere on the site. Maybe have a link to it at the bottom of every page in the footer or end of the articles.

Email to Westfall

2005-02-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hi Prof. Westfall,

My name is Cara McCoy, and I took your Info Gathering class last fall. I was really impressed with how you taught interviewing skills, and was wondering if you would be interested in coming to give a lecture it for my student organization.

I'm currently the vice-president of the Online Journalism Student Society. This quarter, we have undertaken a huge project and hope to launch an independent Web zine by spring. We currently have a staff of about 25 energetic writers, but most of them are freshmen and have not been able to take very many journalism classes yet. Erin Coyle is going to give a presentation on how to do basic news writing, such as ledes and nut graphs, next week. We were hoping that you would be able to give a lecture on interviewing on February 15, which is a Tuesday. We generally meet from 6:10-7 p.m., and would love it if you could come.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them via email or you can call me at 590-1931.

Thanks so much for your time.

Sincerely,
Cara McCoy

===================================
Cara McCoy
Online Journalism Major
E.W. Scripps School of Journalism
Ohio University

Online Journalism Student Society VP
cara@lostpacket.com

So this project now = my life.

2005-02-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

So, an update of things discussed post-meeting with Erin Coyle.

Next Tuesday will be a special session with Erin Coyle, grad student and all-together awesome person who, along with Katie Gill will make a presentation to our budding young journalists. Topics covered will include how to gather info and how to write, esp. ledes and nut graphs.

I will invite Pat Westfall to our meeting on the following Tuesday to go over interviewing skills.

We also discussed doing a workshop that would cover basic HTML skills, and inviting Bob Stewart to host this.

We also discussed getting business cards that will have the (yet to be determined) Speakeasy logo on them, along with each reporter's contact info.

Katie, Caren and I are meeting individually with all section editors on Thursday. By that time, we will have written descriptions of all their jobs. This is to make sure that they can handle all the responsibility we give them, and to keep positions consistent throughout the years. With Erin (and also with Bob this morning) we discussed policies for keeping Speakeasy up and running ad infinitum, and I think we have established some rough policies for doing so. To replace the editors-in-chief (a position that will remain a co-position), interested parties will submit an application and proposal during winter quarter. They will also go through an interview process with the current editors-in-chief and also two faculty. They will select the new editors via committee. Also, it was discussed that these newly selected people be involved in selecting the heads of the different departments (section editors) along with faculty through the same process. It was suggested to also have them submit an example (not necessarily a clip) story and maybe write about what they would keep, what they would change on the site. Also to perhaps have them submit a sample front page.

We need to make sure that all writers use the same word processor (preferably not Word) to write their stories so that there aren't problems with formatting and the CMS.

We need to post a disclaimer on the site that we are not responsible for the content of external links. We also need to include that we only guarantee? the link works at the time the article was published.

A specific email address needs to be developed for each desk, especially for corrections.

Katie Gill has spelled out very excellently our corrections policy. Katie, if you read this, please post it here! Katie will be working on spelling out office style, and is working on compiling a list of buildings around town and their specific spellings.

Reference books used in the newsroom will be:
AP Style Book (duh.)
SPJ policy
Webster's Dictionary
Media Writer's Handbook

Next quarter we will have an established time for a weekly editor's meeting.

We need to establish a policy about who can try and contact which OU administrators s o we don't bombard them with questions on every story we write. Editors-in-chief should approve this contact.

For using the CMS of Athensi, we should avoid the use of Italics because they don't show up. We should use bold face, which is in contrast to AP style.

Ellen Cox will be heading the promotions and advertising team, and will talk to Ad Club to recruit members.

As an aside, looks like Rob Curley of www.lawrence.com may be coming to talk! Yay! Also, Bob Stewart wants us to organize a spring quarter conference... we'll see how that goes.

Handout for meeting

2005-02-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

About SpeakEasy

- URL
o www.speakeasymag.com

- Target Audience
o 17-26 years old
o OU Students
o Broadband Users
o Small Monitors (15 inch)
o Active
o Open-Minded
o Culturally Connected (Pop Culture)

- Attitude
o Off-beat
o All from student point of view
o Support the use of humor and satire in appropriate articles

Clicking away

2005-02-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

We need to establish how we are going to be responsible for links that we include as supplements to articles, but are not based on our site. Should we include a policy somewhere?

Also, we need to remember to include in the HTML links in the bottom the "about us" section.

Today we are looking for articles in the right style/we are going to write one for our reporters to use as an example. We'll see how it goes.

Things to consider

2005-02-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

Things we need to consider with our site, according to Dean Singleton in a 2002 speech:

The importance of outstanding customer service
* Matching content with market
* Getting the right emphasis on local news
* Making the product easy to use
* Driving readership with advertising
* Branding
* Promoting content
* And building a culture within the paper that believes in these imperatives and is open to making the changes needed to put them to work.

Heroin as the Ultimate Product?

2005-02-01T15:54:00.000-05:00

Something to keep in mind (copied from something Cara found - to be attributed later):

In his classic book, Naked Lunch, William Burroughs described heroin as the ultimate product. Why? Because people would crawl through the sewers and beg to buy it. In the non-drug world, there are very few products that can be classified as having heroin's appeal.

How many web sites have heroin content?
Heroin Content's characteristics vary by type of site -- but you'll know it when you see it! One global characteristic, though, is frequently updated content. The best way to get people to come back to your site again and again is by having content they need, and then updating this content on a regular basis.

How do you create Heroin Content? The answer is, it depends on the likes and dislikes of your audience. Remember, it's what your audience wants that counts. What I consider Heroin Content is somebody else's Quinine Content.

Here are some thoughts about web content.
* Does your content solve your customers' problems or does it create problems?

* Does your content match your audience's expectations?

* Have you determined the purpose of your site?

* Do you know your target audience?

* Ask yourself: "What content do I have that would cause anybody in their right mind to visit my site a second, third, or fourth time?" -- This is extremely important. You might con (seduce) someone to visit your site once, but why would they want If you can't answer this question, you really shouldn't have a Web site.

* Is the content technically correct?

* Does your customer need to know the content you're presenting?

* Is the content current and updated frequently?

* Can people find the content they're looking for?

* Does my site have Heroin Content?
The best content is the content people want to see over and over and over again.

I just got through reading that Bill Gates wants to start a blog. Why would anyone in their right mind want to read it? Do you think it will contain Heroin Content? As Seth Godin points out, blogs only work when they meet four of the following five conditions:
1. Candor
2. Urgency
3. Timeliness
4. Pithiness
5. Controversy

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-web-design-mistakes-in-2004.html

So this is what we've accomplished so far

2005-02-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

Here are the "official" updates from previous meetings:

the online mag will be titled SpeakEasy with the url of www.speakeasymag.com
Caren Baginski is heading up the Content Department
there will be six different sections of SpeakEasy, officially titled:
(1) On the Green -- Meghan Louttit
(2) Event Calendar -- Ellen Cox
(3) Staff Columns (Blogs) -- Jen Sickels
(4) In the Limelight -- Anna Marie Finley
(5) From our Readers -- Jen Edse
(6) Culture -- Sara Goldenberg
Katie Gill is designing our style book for SpeakEasy.

Agenda for today's meeting:

Meghan Louttit and Liz Gray will be doing a quick presentation on tips for writing for the web and specifically for SpeakEasy
Section editors will be splitting off into groups with those interested in being on their staff to establish contact with one another and develop an action plan - this will also give the design team a chance to get together.
The last 10-15 minutes will be spent with Section Editors only

A note to the editors:

Cara and I would like some kind of "timeless" content for each section and sub-section by March 11th. This will allow us time to work with the design team and CMS in order to get rid of any bugs.
We would also like everyone to submit a more "up-to-date" piece by April 1st. We want to have as much content as possible when we launch the site on April 4th.
Each section will need to be updated at a minimum of 2x each week once the site is launched, so remember to look for for good story ideas.
Also, look for good photo and possibly multimedia opportunities.

You think you know, but you have no idea...

2005-01-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

...This is the diary of a local news site.

One day in the Fall of 2004, two nerdy girls sat in a kitchen and went on a mass e-mailing frenzy. Today, Cara and I are starting an online news magazine to serve the interests of Ohio University Students. Nameless still, we are gathering support from students across campus who are interested in our "WebZine."

At the moment there are about twenty-five people involved who want to contribute time, effort and content. We have divided into six sections, they are: On the Green (Campus Life), On Our Minds (Staff Columns/Editorials), Event Calendar, Culture (Entertainment), From our Readers (Reader-submitted content), and In the Limelight (spotlights on people and places around the area). Cara and I have worked very hard on making this happen, but we have a lot left to do before our projected launch date in the beginning of Spring Quarter.

Part of the reason I choose to study local news sites is because I want to see ours become a success. Right now we are struggling with design. We think we have a Content Management System available for us to use, and we know where to get cheap server space, but we have no product where we can post our original content. We have been trying desperately to find a knowledgeable student who has experience with making websites; however, it looks as though it may come down to the wire for us to either learn to design the site ourselves (from scratch) or to use the format of www.athensi.com.

Right now we stand design-less but hopeful.

Content Team, First Meeting

2005-01-18T13:57:00.000-05:00

OU Webzine Content Team
Jan. 18, 2005

Target audience: OU students
Style: Magazine
Convey a sense of: "You can't find this content anywhere else." Make
our content eclectic, write about things off-the-beaten path. Also,
must make reader look forward to reading.

Update Options:
Update each week at minimum.
Update sections at different times (Campus Life on Weds., Columns on
Tues., etc.).

Potential content:
Event Calendar
Weekly news roundup
Entertainment: Food, Art, Movie Reviews
Sports (intramural included)
Campus news
Bobcats abroad
Student lifestyle
Staff columns (advice, "flipside")
Weekend photo highlights (users submit, Top 20 displayed)
Weekly polls
Horoscopes
Embarrassing moments
Personality profile
Spotlight profiles: people, clubs, professors, locations

Content Team Leader:
Caren Baginski cbaginski@gmail.com

Final categories:
Event Calendar ? Ellen Cox ec226204@ohio.edu
Campus Life ? Meghan Louttit ml232004@ohio.edu
(sports, news roundup, dorm life)
Staff Columns ? Jen Sickels jsl20004@ohio.edu
(advice, opinion)
Spotlight People & Places ? Anna Marie Finley af305204@ohio.edu
User section ? Jen Edse je170303@ohio.edu
(weekend photos, polls, embarrassing moments)
Entertainment ? Sara Goldenberg sg233403@ohio.edu
(movies, music, art, food reviews)
Stylebook ? Katie Gill kg241601@ohio.edu

To be discussed next meeting (Tues. 25th @ 5 p.m. Baker 327)
·Mission Statement & Policies
·Choose Webzine name
·Team leaders present category descriptions/beats
·Writers powwow with team leaders to pick a beat
·Pros/Cons for becoming a student organization

E-Mail after first Speakeasy Staff Meeting

2005-01-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

All of you emailed me and said you couldn't make last weeks meeting but you still wanted to be involved with the webzine. Here is what we discussed:

A little background:

Cara and I are both Online Journalism majors and are executive officers in the Online Journalism Student Society. (Meetings are Mondays at 5 in the Scripps Howard Multimedia Lab, room 013) Right now the only practical experience available to us in the field of Online Journalism is a site called www.athensi.com. We wanted to get more experience than Athensi could offer us, so we decided to begin an online magazine targeting OU Students. The response has been amazing! This really is something that a lot of students are interested in and something a lot of students think that we need.

Our mission:

Bring together students from across the university and also residents of southeast Ohio who have similar interests in forming a new outlet for communication. We hope to provide relevant and timely news content for students.

The plan:

We are going to form three teams to develop this site. Please choose one or more teams to work with (you are more than welcome to be a part of multiple teams or to jump back and forth to whatever meetings you can make it to).

(1) Design: This team will be in charge of formulating the physical site. It needs web designers, tech specialists, graphic designers etc. The design team will work with the content team and the content management system to create the site. The first meeting will be Tuesday in Baker 327 at 6 p.m.

(2) Content: This team will be in charge of all of the content before the site is launched. Reporters, editors and photographers are all examples of what this team needs. The first priority of the content team is to help plan the types of content for the site and to define procedures (for example, style). The content team will also be in charge of coming up with a name for the site. Once the site is launched, the content team will create, manage and upload articles and multimedia. The first meeting will be Tuesday in Baker 327 at 5 p.m.

(3) Launch: This team is in charge of creating a buzz around campus. It needs people who are interested in public relations, advertising and fund-raising. The main goal is publicity and promotions. This team will also be in charge of buying as well as selling advertising for the webzine. The first meeting will be Thursday in Baker 327 at 6 p.m.

Special Notes:
- Each team will select a team leader in its first meeting. This person will be in charge of running future meetings, coordinating with other team leaders and keeping in touch with team members. (If you would like to be selected, it may be a good idea to be prepared to talk about past experience)
- More specialized positions are sure to arise as time goes on.
- Projected launch date is March 28, 2005
- Please join the listserv by sending an email to: subscribe-ouwebzine@yahoogroups.com

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at ojss@ohio.edu.

Hope to see you soon,

Katie Schmitt