Tags: iphone, journalism, multimedia, storytelling
My Five Easy Multimedia Tips
29 Jun
“The Branded Professor”
22 Jun

Photo by c__ on Flickr.
I recently had the opportunity to provide a guest blog post for the University of Venus, a blog focused on the concerns of Generation X women in higher education. I addressed an issue I’ve written about briefly here before: the increasing use of branding terminology both in the classroom and for academics themselves. I’m crossposting here and hope to see more discussion of these issues. Let me know what you think in the comments!
As a relatively new tenure-track professor in journalism and media, I teach students skills and critical thinking for a profession that is in a state of redefinition. One of the ways journalism educators are trying to increase their students’ job opportunities is by encouraging them to develop a “personal brand,” through which they establish themselves as a rising professional with a unique voice and style. They then publicize that personal brand through multimedia blogging and social media, in hopes of impressing prospective employers with their initiative and distinctive qualities.
I do think that this is an important strategy for my students, and I feel I’d do them a disservice not to discuss it with them and help them to establish themselves professionally online. This semester, I required students in my introductory media writing class to get involved with Twitter and also to set up individual blogs. I hope that those who excel in their online work will have opportunities to find jobs in their desired profession, and will be better situated to compete with students from larger, better-known programs. It seems unfair to not help them position themselves for their futures in this way.
I have struggled a bit with the implications of this approach, however. What does it mean to encourage my students to think of themselves as brands? I emphasized to them in class that they must be authentic and honest in their online writing and self-presentation, and that they had to prioritize their sense of personal integrity and ethics above all else. They could not be someone online who they weren’t in the real world. But still, the frighteningly corporate language of branding permeated the discussion.
As a faculty member in this field, I have also felt a need to “brand myself,” especially in these turbulent budgetary times. Not only do I want to shape a coherent public and scholarly identity, but I want to remain current with the changing norms of media and journalism practice, and so I practice what I preach to my students. I also have a blog and a Twitter account, and I focus these on professionally relevant topics – usually on changes in the magazine industry and the role of journalism in communities, which are also two of my research interests. However, these topics are not always organically arising creations of my soul, if you will. As an undergraduate English major and a lapsed poet, I am torn between desires to produce work that is professionally oriented and to create work that is more expressive of my experiences and emotions.
As a result of these conflicts, I identified with Mary Churchill’s recent UVenus post asking whether we as faculty are “merely playing the game[,] or have we become the game?” I am tentatively feeling my way through the challenges of equipping my students for a world where some degree of “playing the game” seems necessary, even for the chance to enter into such a potentially game-disrupting occupation as journalism. I also want to continue to use the online world to build my own public communication skills and engage in discussions of my field of study and my profession.
I think that this kind of engagement, through social media and other communication opportunities, is critical for someone who wants not only to teach about important societal issues in the classroom, but also to contribute to change on a larger scale. Attempting to establish myself online as someone with a voice and some expertise in my field gives me a bigger platform from which to speak.
Unlike my students, though, I have no one to remind me to remain true to myself and to monitor the integrity of what I do and say. That responsibility falls to me alone.
Tags: academic, branding, career, higher education, uvenus
International Magazines on the iPad: Where, When, How Much?
14 May

Photo by Ethan Hein on Flickr.
My iPad should be here any day. I’m looking forward to testing out the magazine apps that have been released. Though I’ve been underwhelmed by demos I’ve seen so far, I think we also have to give the magazine publishers a little credit: after all, the iPad has been available for, oh, a month now? For an industry that’s rather set in its ways, the response of many major magazines within a few months to this new medium has been somewhat remarkable. They have a long way to go to truly innovate with the tablet format, but at least they’ve made a start.
One of the things I’m most interested in for magazines on the iPad is the possibility of greater access to international magazines. I recently wandered the magazine shelves at a bookstore and pondered the variety of English-language publications from abroad that I’d love to buy, but that cost $12-15 for the imported paper editions. It would be fabulous to be able to access many of these on an iPad or similar device for a lower cost than the print edition.
An example: I’m a knitter. I especially like the British knitting magazines for their sense of style. Not that I’m a fashionista, but some of the American knitting magazines seem to be tailored (no pun intended) for an older audience, whereas the British publications I’ve seen include patterns and ideas for younger knitters. One of my favorites – The Knitter – is available at a local big-box bookstore for about $13 per copy. A U.S. subscription would cost over $100/year, which would be save some on the bookstore cover price, but still too pricey for this knitter.
I investigated on the Web to see if I could get the magazine in an electronic edition for less money. It would seem that an electronic edition of a British magazine could cost me the same as an electronic copy of an American magazine. I found I could buy a digital replica-style subscription to The Knitter via Zinio – a company that assists publishers in creating digital editions – for the grand total of…wait for it…about $100/year.
This makes no sense. Why wouldn’t a publication take advantage of the low cost of digital distribution to build its readership overseas, as well as within its own country? Surely it would make no difference whether a digital-edition reader is in the U.K. or in the U.S. Perhaps there is an advertising angle or other concern that I’m not considering, in which case I hope someone will set me straight in the comments. I have ordered yarn from a British supplier (yes, I am a dedicated knitter!). It would seem advertisers, especially those with online stores, would be happy to reach an international readership.
I’m hoping that magazines around the world will rapidly innovate to create new multimedia products – beyond just digital replicas – and then will make them affordably accessible to global audiences. Not only would doing so make it possible for their magazines to be read more widely, but it would also increase the flow of information around the world, in multiple languages and with a variety of topics, and that’s always a good thing.
Tags: foreign magazine, ipad, magazine, the knitter
Playing around…
8 May
I discovered Typekit and its WordPress integration. This is dangerous for someone like me who enjoys typography but has little design skill and no knowledge of CSS. Bear with me and rest assured, these are not my final font selections. Final design forthcoming!
Edited 5/13: OK, these might be my final font selections. Thoughts?






