I don’t like to hawk too, too many things on OTTERBLOG, but I wanted to make folks aware of two milestone events happening in our newsroom that are important because a) they’re very cool and b) they get at the way the newspaper and our Web site are collaborating in areas that alter how we do our jobs and how readers interact with us.
Number one is our first online chat, which will be this Monday. It’s about anxiety disorders (no jokes, please). Here’s how to take part. Yeah, we’re not exactly the first newspaper to host an online chat, but it’s a big deal nonetheless because as with most things in life you have to start somewhere.
Number two is our reader travel-photo archive. More info here. It’s a place to share travel memories, look at your neighbor’s pictures, and get ideas on where to go and what you might see when you get there.
Both of these projects underscore the tremendous possibilities available in a digital newsroom, where technology enables you to do things without the constraint of newsprint. And they also illustrate the way technology is rewriting the definition of community. Physical geography is now only one factor. For newspapers, which have a delivery system built on physical geography, i.e. roads, this is a bit scary, but that model now only takes you so far.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
The travel-photo archive is a cool idea. But why not add write-ups, poems, etc. about vacations? This shouldn’t be hard to add, now or later. Some of us are photographers; some of us are writers. We all have things to share.
Helen,
That’s a good idea. Tell me what you think of this option: If you compose your poems and stories on paper, you could scan the paper in and add it to the travel scrapbook as an image instead of a photo.
I’m on the team developing the online scrapbook ... also, one of the pieces of functionality we’re looking for is the ability to post comments on the photos. That could offer some of the flexibility you’re looking for as well.
-Joe
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Joe Murphy
Senior Online Content Producer
JournalNow.com
Joe,
It’s a great idea. E-mail me for concerns.
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