I’m excited to welcome Jacky Myint as MediaStorm’s newest Interactive Designer.

Jacky is a web and interactive designer who has worked for Condé Nast Portfolio.com and The Associated Press, producing interactive infographics. Her interactives at Portfolio.com were part of a portfolio that won silver from MALOFIEJ, an international competition for print and online information graphics sponsored by the Society for News Design.

Jacky’s first job was for Idealist.org/Action Without Borders where she spent two and a half years designing for both print and web and organizing Idealist’s first nonprofit design competition. Jacky graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Visual Arts and received her M.F.A. in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Kirk and Evelyna are raising their children in a small New York City apartment far from her home in Germany.
They try to stay optimistic while coping with the current economic crisis. See the project.

Dates for the 2009 MediaStorm Workshops:

Workshop Four: March 7-13, 2009 - Application Deadline: Friday January 23, 2009
Workshop Five: May 2-8, 2009 - Application Deadline: Monday March 30, 2009
Workshop Six: August 8-14, 2009 - Application Deadline: Wednesday July 1, 2009

See the site for more information.

Okay here’s the deal. And you don’t have to read Brian’s loooooooong commencement speech to get it. God have mercy.

This year only, for $500 you get five days of intense instruction in visual storytelling from a faculty that includes Emmy winners Geri Migliecz and Brian Storm, as well as, visual editors who have worked on Pulitzer Prize winning projects, including Sue Morrow and Randy Cox. Other regulars on The Kalish faculty include Kenny Irby, John Rumbach, Mark Edelson and others.

This year’s workshop is sharply focused on multimedia storytelling and managing resources/visuals across platforms. The traditional Kalish values of ethical decision making in journalism and management remain. The workshop begins with a hands-on session in FinalCutPro, progresses through picture selection, multiple picture editing and news judgment, to multimedia and management.

Take this opportunity to invest in yourself. It’s a real deal. Email Scott Sines today at sines@commercialappeal.com for details.

Scott Sines, managing editor
The Commercial Appeal
Director, The Kalish Workshop

Start dates are flexible. We’re looking for experience in multimedia production, design, motion graphics, and/or programming for web. Internships will be paid.

Please send email with resume, references and cover letter (discussing why you want to intern at MediaStorm and what you hope to get out of the experience) to careers@mediastorm.org

Please include:
- links to pieces you’ve produced/collaborated on (please indicate role in each)
- available start/end dates
- hours/week available
- familiarity with Final Cut Pro, SoundTrack Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Aperture, Flash, and/or proficiency in other related programs.

Email is preferred, but snail mail applications can be sent to:

Brian Storm
MediaStorm
55 Washington Street, Suite 420
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Please note that due to volume, no materials will be returned- do not send originals. There is no deadline for spring internships- applications will be taken on a rolling basis. Deadline for Summer internships is February 15.

Robert Crosby: Our speaker is Brian Storm who graduated with his Missouri School of Journalism master’s degree in 1995. Mr. Storm is president of MediaStorm, the award-winning multimedia production studio based in New York City. MediaStorm has won several nationally recognized awards for its multimedia and documentary work. In just the past two years, the company has won multiple Webby Awards, Pictures of the Year International awards and an Emmy. Mr. Storm…

Brian Storm: It’s quite an honor to be here on this important day at this critical moment in journalism.

I’ve been thinking about what to say to you all for some time. Trying to put myself in your situation given the current climate.

I was in the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Tuesday with some friends and I asked them about their graduation experiences. One woman graduated from NYU a few years ago and Bill Cosby was the speaker.

I said, “Wow, that’s pretty huge. What did he say?”

She said, “I don’t remember, but he was funny.”

Given that even Bill Cosby was not memorable, I feel the pressure on me is officially off.

But, then I realized, I’m not funny.

What I am is optimistic and passionate about journalism.

How can that be given that both the economy and the journalism industry are in a crisis?

Record numbers of lost jobs, homes and retirement funds are creating a divide between the American Promise and the American Dream.

At a time when people need quality news and information, traditional media are hemorrhaging and appear headed for bailout style CPR.

How did we get into this mess?

The moment journalism institutions began answering to their shareholders and their ever-increasing demands for profit margins, the public’s need to know was in jeopardy.

Walter Williams wrote in The Journalist’s Creed that “The supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.”

There’s no mention of 25% profit margins as a metric for success.

If you want to make a pile of money, this is not the right profession for you.
Frankly, Journalism needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for a quick buck. Journalists lead a rich life, but rarely get rich. We are inherently purpose driven, not profit driven.

Simply put, we, the practitioners of this craft, need to take journalism back.

You’ve just received a world-class education from the most storied journalism school in the United States. You are entering a profession desperate for new solutions. As such, the opportunity for you right now is absolutely huge.

You simply need to take the profession on your shoulders and make it what you want it to be.

At this moment of radical change in our profession, I see an opportunity for a new breed of journalistic entrepreneurs collaborating with each other to create compelling stories, using new tools and creating dramatic change in a global marketplace.

We need you to bring energetic idealism to the table at this turning point in our profession.

Imagine what it must have been like to be alive during the industrial revolution. How epic the turmoil must have been to existing businesses. Every aspect of life was disrupted by the changes occurring in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation.

Imagine what it would have been like to be the owner of a horse and buggy business. And to, for the very first time, see an automobile drive by. What was that?

The right question to ask yourself at that moment is what business am I in?

Am I in the horse and buggy business? Or, am I in the transportation business? Are you in the newspaper business? Are you in the magazine business? Are you in the broadcast business?

Or, are you in the business of storytelling?

We are living at the start of a communications revolution that will change society as much, or more, then the industrial revolution did.

Think about the companies and products that have only recently changed our lives:

How did we get rid of our junk before eBay?

How did we find our way before GPS?

How did we waste our lunch hour before YouTube?

Xbox,
PS3,
The Wii.

Really, your parents played board games like Monopoly and Yahtzee.

They watched commercials too. No TIVO.

Can you imagine a world without Google? A world where you can’t do reconnaissance on your blind date?

What did we do before:
Amazon
MySpace
Yahoo
Skype
Flickr

And of course, iPods.

Did you know that iTunes recently passed Walmart as the number one retailer of music in the world?

I’m so excited I just twittered.

Honestly, no one has command of all these new capabilities. And, that is why the opportunity is so exciting.

As an industry, we are like awkward teenagers driving a Ferrari. The next few years will see incredible advances in our journalistic abilities.

It’s going to be crazy exciting. And you get to define it.

To do so, you will need to maintain the highest journalistic standards. This is where your Mizzou experience will serve you.

I don’t think the communications revolution that we are going through is about some reinvention of storytelling or journalistic creed.

The way we tell stories has evolved over the years, but beginning, middle and end still works. Ethical and accurate information will still rule.

I think the revolution is happening because of access. Access to powerful tools and access to global distribution in an increasingly connected planet.

It used to be that a high definition video camera would set you back $70,000. Now they are a few thousand dollars and I own one. It used to cost $250,000 to have a broadcast quality post-production system. Now, for less than $5,000 you can edit with a Macintosh that’s so fast it requires a seat belt. As the cost of entry plummets, the fidelity of the toolset is exploding. Thank you Moore’s Law.

Of course, having the tools is only part of the equation. We all know the famous adage, “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.” The fact is, we all own a printing press now.

MediaStorm is a team of six people. We only recently stopped working out of my apartment. But, we have visitors to MediaStorm.org from more than 130 countries each month.

How do these people find us? We aren’t a mainstream media company. We don’t spend any money on marketing.

We simply produce and publish compelling stories.

As old business models fail, I expect to see an influx of independent, purpose-driven collaborations. Small teams with passionate experts operating for the public good. The new world of open access makes this possible.

The average consumer today has an abundance of choices and more access to information than at any other time in history. It’s actually information overload. What we are all fighting for now is mind share.

Quality is what people care about. It’s what they are trying to pinpoint in a sea of information. It’s what they will forward to their friends when they do find it. It’s what they will blog post. We had one guy in Russia do a blog post about a story on our site and for a week straight our traffic was up 15 X. All coming from Russia with love.

One guy spread the virus through Russia with a simple blog post.

This surge of connectivity is another recent innovation that I’m hugely optimistic about. I think it’s the greatest hope for restoring quality journalism.

Marc Andreessen sent an email in the Fall of 1993 to only 12 people. Mosaic, the first web browser, spread virally and changed how we communicate with each other.

Connectivity is the new killer app.

My goal at MediaStorm is not simply to generate awareness; it’s to create change.

I want to share one example with you. We produced a piece about Congo called Rape of Nation earlier this year. Photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale spent EIGHT years documenting the story of how diamonds mined in African war zones are financing the ongoing conflicts. It’s the story Leonardo DeCaprio dramatized in the Hollywood blockbuster Blood Diamonds.

A women from Oak Glen, California, Shea Downey, wrote in our reader feedback: “Thank you so much for your coverage on this devastating issue.” Reading this I felt we accomplished our first goal of raising awareness and compassion.

But then she goes on to say, “I am a small, fine jewelry retail owner.” This is the most powerful type of connection that we can hope to make. This is a person who can create real change by choosing where to purchase her diamonds.

She then writes, “I intend to forward this to all I know in the industry.”

YAHTZEE!

She’s driving awareness to her personal network, a highly targeted group of diamond buyers.

It’s true that less people care about Congo than Britney’s belly button. For me, it’s not about reaching the largest possible audience; pandering to the lowest common denominator. It’s about reaching the right audience with a relevant message.

Today, there is a robust infrastructure in place to reach these specific audiences and to create real change.

I’m inspired by this new ERA of connectivity every day and I’m constantly looking for ways to leverage these connections. On Wednesday, at 9:54am, I updated my Facebook status with:

Brian is writing a commencement speech.

I then posed a question to my network:
What would you say to the University of Missouri School of Journalism Class of 2008?

I want to share a few responses with you:

First, from your very own Brian Brooks at 9:59am, “Ignore the medium. Think content.”

At 10 am, photography agent Paul Melcher writes, “Be the change you would like to see happen.”

Both quite poetic. Words to live by.

Then, Mizzou grad (MA ‘91) Adam Berliant at 10:01 am wrote, “I remember the commencement speech that I heard when I graduated from there. The guy was a reporter from the New York Times. He essentially said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t go into journalism.’”

While I don’t agree with that level of cynicism, it’s true, not everyone will make it as a journalist. There are 20,000 students who will graduate with a degree in photography alone this year. Only the very best will succeed in this craft.

Look, I wanted to play shortstop for the Minnesota Twins. You know what, I wasn’t good enough. Granted, your odds of making it as a journalist are better than mine were of making it as a Major League Baseball shortstop, but it’s going to be tough and you will need to be great.

So, back to more Facebook advice. Patty Caya, a student at NYU, wrote at 10:08 am, “Be the generation that finds the new model for journalism and makes it work. Take the talent and training and idealism that brought you to study this profession and apply all of that energy to figuring out the future rather than mourning the past. You will need to be part of a changing profession and that won’t be easy. If you want to do something that is easy, do something else.”

Tough love from Patty. To which Adam Berliant, at 10:14 am, posted, “New idea: Just read your Facebook comments.”

Ok, so I will.

Mizzou grad (MA ‘92) Dick Doughty wrote, “They must fall in love with the world. Otherwise they will become hacks and careerists. Beyond that, tell them they are historically lucky SOBs. For real. Graduating at a sunset of cynicism AND hard economic times. Struggle is always at the heart of the best stories!”

Mizzou grad (MA ‘94) Elizabeth Osder wrote, “Be about WHAT you get to do and not WHERE you get to do it. The WHERE’S are shifting but the WHAT is why we all came to MU. It’s the fire in your belly, your drive to tell stories, to witness.”

So, what then is the key ingredient for success? Simply put, Passion.

My friend Jesse Kornbluth, once a Contributing Editor of Vanity Fair but who now writes almost exclusively on the Web at HeadButler.com, wrote, “I encourage kids to place the biggest possible bet on what they really CARE about. The plight of the coal miners? Go to West Virginia. Become the world expert. Surfing? Move to California. Beg a job as an assistant board shaper, write for surfer rags. Rock? Be a roadie if you have to, just to get into position. Take the plunge. Write. Suffer nobly. Everything you have learned is preparation for what you are now about to learn. On the other side of a million words, the world will see you and you’ll know you weren’t crazy. Or, sadly, that you were.

See, Jessie is a good writer.

You start today from a very ideal place, The Missouri School of Journalism. A program with 100 years of tradition.

There has never been a more important time for the Missouri Method of Journalism, to help people understand the complex world in which we live. You will need to build on these values to move our profession forward. And, we are counting on you.

It is one of the most exciting times in history to be a young journalist. You have an almost limitless palette of storytelling tools, an audience unbound by physical borders and the most powerful communications technology ever developed at your disposal.

Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

Our role as journalists is to help the bending process. This is your time. This is your moment.

I offer you congratulations on your accomplishment today and wish you great success in your journey.

A note of special thanks to those who shared their ideas for this speech including those noted above, Elodie Maillet, Ed Kashi, Merrill Brown, Rich Beckman, Tom Kennedy, Kenny Irby, Richard Koci Hernandez, Liz Ronk, Andreas Gebhard and to the 46 who made comments via Facebook.

From David’s intro:

“I created this book because I believe in my heart that one great photograph can change the world. And if I can show 250 great photographs about the crucial issues of our time to enough people, then maybe one of those people, or maybe a few people, or, maybe even many of those people will connect with an image. And when one great image resonates with one talented and dedicated person, and that person digs deeper, learns more and takes some action that creates positive change in the world, then What Matters can be considered a useful exercise. I can’t predict who that person will be or which of the 250 images in What Matters will resonate, or what action that person will take, but I completely believe it will happen.”

With images by Brent Stirton (above), James Nachtwey, Sebastiao Salgado, Marcus Bleasdale, Ed Kashi, Paul Fusco, Stephanie Sinclair, Tom Stoddart, Gerd Ludwig, and others, this is a must-have book. Check out the gallery on Digital Journalist, then buy it.

Médecins Sans Frontières and MediaStorm have collaborated to produce Condition: Critical, Voices from the War in Eastern Congo.

Hundreds of thousands of people are on the run, fleeing a war raging in eastern Congo in the provinces of North and South Kivu. They are frightened. Many are sick or wounded. Others have been harassed or raped, or have had everything they own stolen. For more than a decade, several armed groups and the army have been fighting each other in the Kivus. The violence has made it impossible for people to lead normal lives. Life isn’t just hard in the Kivus: this region is in critical condition. And things aren’t getting any better. The destiny of everyone in this region of Congo is shaped by the war. The story of their struggle to survive needs to be told.

Condition: Critical features the photography of Cedric Gerbehaye.

This multimedia story looks at the results of climate change on our planet, tracing these effects from the poles to the tropics and examining how those diverse regions are interconnected.

Using stunning photography and video from some of the greatest photographers working in nature, it includes interviews with photographers and experts relating their experiences in the field and also proposing possible solutions.

The mission of the ILCP is to further environmental and cultural conservation through photography.

Witness: Photographers, Journalists, and Social Workers Respond to Tragedy

Panel at Columbia University

Location: New York City
Date: Dec. 3, 2008
Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m
Panelists: Grace Christ, Donna DeCesare, Jack Saul, Bruce Shapiro

RSVP: Kate Black, kate.black@dartcenter.org

Unlike social workers or therapists—the witnesses of the helping professions—journalists and photographers function mainly to inform, interpret, and bridge rather than to help directly. Documentary photographers can inspire understanding and compassion with their images and can contribute to opening paths to assistance.

Yet there are pitfalls and ethical challenges when documenting stories about communities or individuals who have been through traumatic experiences. This panel will explore ways to strengthen the impact of documentary practice, sharing knowledge and practices of inclusion across disciplines.

Panelists

- Bruce Shapiro, executive director, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (moderator)
- Grace Christ, professor, Columbia University School of Social Work
- Donna DeCesare, photographer and associate professor, University of Texas School of Journalism
- Jack Saul, assistant professor of clinical population and family health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

This event is jointly sponsored by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, the Columbia University School of Social Work, and the Open Society Institute Documentary Photography Project.

DeCesare’s exhibition Sharing Secrets: Children’s Portraits Exposing Stigma is part of the Moving Walls 12 photography exhibition organized by the Open Society Institute and is currently on display at the Columbia School of Social Work.

Location

Columbia University School of Social Work
1255 Amsterdam Avenue
(between 121st and 122nd Streets)
Concourse Level, Room C03
New York, NY

MediaStorm is thrilled to be in the running for the finalists- both for MediaStorm.org, and for Bearing Witness, a project we collaborated on with Reuters for the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq.  There are 33 other finalists, and there are some really fantastic projects/sites in there- it’s well worth spending some time going through this list. Visitors can go through and rate each of the nominees- there’s no official “vote”, but a Community Choice award will be given out based on the ratings along with the awards from the official judges.  Check it out.

During the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women were subjected to massive sexual violence, perpetrated by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups known as the Interahamwe. Among the survivors, those who are most isolated are the women who have borne children as a result of being raped. Their families have rejected both them and their children, compounding their already unimaginable emotional distress.

An estimated 20,000 children were conceived during the genocide in Rwanda, and many of their mothers contracted HIV during the same encounters that left them pregnant. They feel they have lost their dignity, are alone and utterly powerless.

Intended Consequences chronicles the lives of these women. Their narratives are embodied in portrait photographs, interviews and oral reflections.

MediaStorm would like to extend a special congratulations to Jean-François Leroy and everyone at Visa Pour L’Image, for winning the Spotlight Award at this year’s Lucie Awards. This year marked the 20th anniversary of Visa Pour L’Image, and the impact the festival has had on photojournalism in that time is immeasurable.  We would certainly not be able to do the work we’re doing without people like this in our profession, and we offer our sincere appreciation for all of the efforts Visa has made to ensure that photojournalism has a home. If you ever find yourself in the south of France in early September, it’s well worth a trip to Perpignan.

Above- Left to Right: Caroline Laurent-Simon, Eliane Laffont, Alain Tournaille, Sylvie Grumbach, Jean-Francois Leroy (with the award), Christine Terneau, Lucas Menget, Claire Baudean, Cedric Kerviche, Valerie Bourgeois, and Delphine Lelu. Photo by JP Laffont.

There were many other notable award winners, to see a full list, visit the Lucie Awards site.

This new CFR.org Crisis Guide looks at the known effects of climate change, the diplomatic dilemmas, the relevant technologies and policy options, and the diverse perspectives on the problem.

Crisis Guides, CFR.org’s interactive, award-winning franchise, seek to bring context and historical perspective to the world’s most complex issues. This is the fourth in a series of Crisis Guides.  Crisis Guide: Darfur recently won an Emmy Award for Current News Coverage.

 

Everyone wants to buy the smallest lightest video camera because we’re already carrying a lot of gear.

But be careful not to short change yourself. Most of the palm-sized video cameras make it difficult or impossible to access basic controls like ISO and Gain and most do not allow an external microphone.

For the still photographer, this is the equivalent of not being able to adjust your ISO (gain) and having to hunt three levels down in a menu to change the white balance. The white balance is a special disaster since it’s crucial in video to custom white balance every time you change lighting conditions.

The next thing people don’t want to buy is a decent microphone. But using the built in microphones, even on relatively high end video cameras, is the same as using the pop up flash on your still camera as your main light. That’s pretty much reserved for the direst of emergencies.

I can tell you from experiences in our workshops what happens to a great photographers when they try to shoot video or record audio with cheap gear: the cheap gear always wins and that’s a net loss for everyone.

Yes, decent gear is not cheap. But you’ll end up paying one way or the other.

“As we head into the final days of the American presidential election, we present two galleries by probably the best photographers who have been covering this race. Both have spent the better part of the last two years with their candidates, and offer us remarkable access to those behind-the-scenes moments. Stephen Crowley of The New York Times has been covering the John McCain campaign, while Callie Shell has been covering the Obama campaign for Time magazine. They give us remarkable “inside” images of these campaigns.”

This year’s multimedia team included:  J. Gwendolynne Berry, Tim McLaughlin, Meredith Birkett, Alexandra Garcia, Wes Pope, Alan Hagman, Bruce Strong, Elissa Eubanks, and Jim Virga (with graphics by Tim Klimowicz and digital tech support from Mark Gong).

See the projects on the Eddie Adams Workshop site.  Congratulations to all of the students who attended Barnstorm XXI for a job well done!

This is the fifth year of the program, and it’s only gotten better- they’re now offering grants for students as well. For 2009, they are giving out four student grants of $5,000 each, available to students under 30 who are currently enrolled in photojournalism classes at an accredited college or university.

Applicants for either grant must submit an application form, a project proposal, and a portfolio of images. Application deadline is November 15, 2008, for grants to be awarded in February. Check out their website for more information, and to check out the work of the past winners.

An Apollo Legend by Ricky Montalvo, Bernadette Tuazon, & Evan Vucci.

At the Apollo Theater, the audience is judge and jury for the hundreds of eager performers who come to Amateur Night at the Apollo each year. Some make it, many don’t, all become part of the legend of the Apollo. See the project.

Our next Workshops will be:
* Workshop Three: November 15-22, 2008
* Workshop Four: December 6-13, 2008

Application deadline is today- if you’re interested in attending, get that application in, or let us know if you have any questions.  Visit the site for more information about the Workshops.

Chris Anderson, TED Curator, writes:
“This is a race between the ability of a deadly, mutated bacteria to spread, and our ability to spread awareness first. Health authorities know what needs to be done, but politicians and the public at large don’t have XDR-TB on their radar. That’s what James Nachtwey’s powerful TED Prize wish is all about.”

More information from the site: “XDRTB.org is an extraordinary effort to tell the story of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB through powerful photographs taken by James Nachtwey. XDR-TB, or extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, is a new and deadly mutation of tuberculosis. Similar in creation to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) but more extreme in its manifestation, it arises when common tuberculosis goes untreated or standard TB drugs are misused. James’ photographs represent these varying strains. Learn more about TB, MDR-TB and XDR-TB, and learn how you can take action to stop this deadly disease.”

Watch James speak about his wish:

Each winner of the TED Prize receives $100,000, and assistance making their wish come true. Other winners of the 2007 Prize were Bill Clinton and EO Wilson. You can find out more about their wishes, and many other past recipients as well, at the TED site- there are some really great talks (also available as podcasts) on there, worth checking out.

If you’re looking for some inspirational multimedia stories, head over to kobréguide.com. Ken Kobré (with help from some notable friends) has launched a new site compiling links to the best of multimedia from the web. Organized by channel, topic, award winners, and themes such as “Make You Wonder”, this site makes it easy to find great stories from a variety of sources. You might want to wait to check it out until you have more than a few minutes of downtime- there are a lot of great stories to get lost in here (and they welcome suggestions for new stories).

Other nominees in the category included:

current.com: Mogadishu Madness

msnbc.com: The Fight for Iraq

Washingtonpost.com: A Nation Divided

Washingtonpost.com: After the Destruction

Washingtonpost.com: Living with PTSD

Congratulations also to the San Jose Mercury News, who won in the Documentaries category for “Uprooted“, and to the Detroit Free Press, who won in the Arts, Lifestyle and Culture Category for “40 Years of Respect” and the Regional News Coverage Category for “Pit bulls: Companions or killers?”

Pictured from left to right are: Brian Storm, Jeremy Sherlick, Pamela Chen, Mike Moran, Stephanie Hanson and Tim Klimowicz.  Image by bryan-brown.com.

Reuters.com/MediaStorm won the Multimedia Feature, Large Site: category for Bearing Witness, a collaborative site launched on the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq war, featuring profiles of three Reuter’s journalists who have more than 23 years combined experience reporting and photographing in Iraq.

 
With nearly 800 entrants per category, these awards recognize the best in online journalism.

Other categories and winners included:

Knight Award for Public Service: WashingtonPost.com, Fixing D.C. Schools

General Excellence, Small Site: ArmyTimes.com

General Excellence, Medium Sites: LasVegasSun.com

General Excellence, Large Site: CNN.com

General Excellence (Non-English), Small Site: Soitu.es

General Excellence (Non-English), Large Site: ELPAIS.com

Breaking News, Medium Sites: STLtoday.com, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kirkwood shootings

Breaking News, Large Sites: NYTimes.com, Eliot Spitzer’s resignation

Investigative Journalism, Small Site: RecordOnline.com, The Times Herald Record (Middletown, N.Y.) “I Didn’t Do That Murder”: Lebrew Jones and the death of Micki Hall

Investigative Journalism, Large Site: DallasNews.com, The Dallas Morning News, Unequal Justice, and The Globe and Mail, Talking to the Taliban

Multimedia Feature, Small Site: GEO.fr, Hidden World

Multimedia Feature, Medium Sites: STLtoday.com, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reporting for Duty

Online Commentary, Small Site: Mark Fiore, MarkFiore.com, animated political cartoons

Online Commentary, Medium Sites: The Bottom Line, DallasNews.com, The Dallas Morning News

Online Commentary, Large Site: God-O-Meter, Beliefnet.com

Online Video Presentation: OregonLive.com, The Oregonian, Living to the End

Outstanding Use of Digital Technology, Small Sites: Everyblock.com

Outstanding Use of Digital Technology, Large Site: DesMoinesRegister.com, Iowa Caucuses

Specialty Site Journalism: WebMD

Student Journalism: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill & Universidad de los Andes, South of Here, and Taylor Hayden, Western Kentucky University, Closer to Home: A Daughter Becomes Caregiver

Topical Reporting, Small Sites: Azstarnet.com, Arizona Daily Star, Immigration in the Spotlight

Topical Reporting, Large Sites: USAToday.com, Today in the Sky

At last! At last! A dream fulfilled.
Barack Obama’s historic rise to the mountaintop at Denver’s Democratic National Convention.

Forty-five years after Martin Luther King called on America to live out the true meaning of its creed – that all men are created equal ‑ a senator from Illinois becomes the first African-American nominee of a major political party.

MediaStorm and the Rocky Mountain News collaborated during the Democratic National Convention to create At last, at last, a dream fulfilled, a multimedia presentation documenting the convention. The piece is a comprehensive overview, looking at all aspects leading up to, and including, the convention, and includes interviews with Colorado locals, Rocky Mountain News reporters, and other key figures. If you still want more after watching this piece, you can also check out the rest of Rocky Mountain News’ convention coverage on their site.

Another feature this month is on Walter Iooss’ new release, Athlete. With introductions by Michael Jordan and Sports Illustrated Editor Terry McDonell, and extended commentary by Iooss interspersed throughout the gallery, this is a feature well worth checking out.

On July 2, 2002, Jean and Harlow Cagwin watched as their home — the last remnant of their 118-acre cattle farm in Lockport, Illinois — was torn down clearing the way for a new housing development. Several years later, Ed and Amanda Grabenhofer and their four children moved into the new Willow Walk subdivision, their house just yards from where the Cagwin’s home once stood.

Common Ground introduces us to the lives touched by this land, as photographer Scott Strazzante takes us on a visual journey exploring the differences and similarities of these two families while simultaneously asking us to look at what is common among us all.

Asia Society is the leading global and pan-Asian organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of the United States and Asia. The Society seeks to increase knowledge and enhance dialogue, encourage creative expression, and generate new ideas across the fields of policy, business, education, arts, and culture. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonprofit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington, DC.

“Finlay is a six-time winner of the Picture-of-the-Year International competition administered by the Missouri School of Journalism, and has received additional awards and honors from the IPA, Los Angeles Emmy Awards and Communication Arts. As his work is already highly recognized and regarded, this installment for Photographers in Focus depicts Finlay in a new light, revealing his deep desire to make a difference in the world.

“Participating in Photographers in Focus was a great opportunity for me to explain to the world the impact I hope my images have on people,” said Colin Finlay. “By trying to portray people suffering in a very real and poignant way, I want my photography to not only inspire sympathy from people who view it, but more importantly, action.””

If you haven’t been keeping up on the stories on Magnum in Motion, you should definitely head over to watch Alex Majoli’s Alaska: An Unveiled Secret. This is an incredibly powerful and moving multimedia piece, not to be missed.

The Fellows will work with Journalism School faculty to oversee the creation and management of the sites, collaborate with researchers from the Information School, Business School and other campus departments to assess the sites’ performance and viability, and train students in core journalism and multimedia classes at the graduate level.

A BA degree at minimum is required, along with proficiency in the use of multimedia equipment such as digital video cameras, digital audio recorders and digital photo cameras, and multimedia software applications such as Flash, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Photoshop.

Teaching experience is desirable. At least three years experience as a practicing journalist is strongly preferred.

Salary: $80,000 a year for a 9-month teaching and research appointment, with year-round benefits. Possibility of summer employment opportunities at the School. This is a two-year appointment, beginning August 1, 2008, with the possibility of longer term renewal. The positions will remain open until filled. Applications will be reviewed upon their receipt.

Please send applications to Sage Dilts, Dean’s assistant, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, 121 North Gate Hall, Berkeley, Ca. 94720, sagedilts@berkeley.edu

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. The School is committed to diversity as a professional and educational ideal.

Crisis Guide: Darfur, produced for Council on Foreign Relations, was nominated in the New Approaches To News & Documentary Programming: Current News Coverage Category.

The Darfur guide is the second in a series of interactive guides to the most complex issues and conflicts on the planet. The six-chapter project includes a multimedia narrative, interactive maps and timelines, and extensive information on the situation in Darfur.

The Marlboro Marine, produced with The Los Angeles Times, was nominated in the New Approaches To News & Documentary Programming: Documentaries Category.

Los Angeles Times photojournalist Luis Sinco’s photograph of Marine Lance Corporal James Blake Miller became an icon of the Iraq War. This is the story of how Miller tries to heal the scars of war and how two lives became connected by a photograph. This project can also be viewed on MediaStorm.

Winners will be announced Monday, September 22, in New York City. Visit emmyonline.org for full information.

Start date is flexible, the soonest we’re looking for someone is August 11.  We’re looking for experience in multimedia production, design, motion graphics, and/or programming for web.  Internships will be paid.

Please send email with resume, references and cover letter (detailing why you want to intern at MediaStorm and what you hope to get out of the experience) to careers@mediastorm.org

Please include:
- links to pieces you’ve produced/collaborated on (please indicate role in each)
- available start/end dates
- hours/week available
- level of familiarity with Final Cut Pro, SoundTrack Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Aperture, Flash, and/or proficiency in other related programs.

Email is preferred, but snail mail applications can be sent to:

Brian Storm
MediaStorm
42 E. 20th Street, Suite 2A
New York, NY 10003

Please note that due to volume, no materials will be returned- do not send originals.  There is no deadline- applications will be taken on a rolling basis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLToday.com is seeking a multimedia intern for the Fall 2008.

This new position is for a multidisciplined and flexible multimedia journalist who can generate and execute multimedia ideas. Ideal candidates will be able to hit the ground running and juggle all types of content and content mediums on deadline assignments. One day you’ll be shooting breaking news photos and transmitting live from the scene, the next day creating a Soundslide feature on a local music festival, the next day shooting video of a political rally for the presidential election.

This position works for the web department and will be focused on quick turn assignments for the web as well as engaging feature assignments that are web-only. Video and audio gear provided, some still equipment provided but the focus of this internship is multimedia. This 13-week, paid internship has a flexible start date (ideally sometime in September) and college credit is available.

Mandatory skills:
+ iMovie or Final Cut Pro
+ Audacity (or other multi-track audio editing programs)
+ Soundslides
+ Photo, video and audio content gathering and editing skills
+ FTP and remote transmission skills
+ Ability to turn high-quality projects quickly
+ Ability to write cleanly and create engaging, informative blog entries, captions, web teases and headlines

Would be awesome skills:
+ Flash or any other multimedia production tools

To apply:
+ Brief biographical cover letter
+ Resume
+ Portfolio of samples of your work or a website
+ Transcript (This can be sent separately from the school administrators)
+ Four references (Your references should include the name, title and phone number of the person who supervised your training)

Mail the information to:
Irv Harrell
Director of Newsroom Recruitment
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
900 N. Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101
iharrell@post-dispatch.com

Application deadline:
Must be post marked by July 14

The July issue of The Digital Journalist is now online. This month’s main feature is on John Moore, a  Getty photographer who has spent the last 17 years covering international news. He recently took the photos of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and has spent much of the last year in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

With a lengthy introduction and interview, and three galleries of Moore’s work (Pakistan, Iraq, and the Pan-American Highway), this is a must-see story.

Also worth checking out: yesterday’s edition of Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR featured photojournalist Ed Kashi talking about his work and new book, Curse of the Black Gold, covering the last 50 years of the effect oil has had on the Niger Delta.  Listen to the interview.