Are News Aggregators Journalists? A Conversation with Joe Cappo

A 1957 DePaul alumnus, Joe Cappo is an adjunct faculty member in the college and a member of the college’s Dean’s Advisory Council. The Wilmette resident is a former longtime editor, writer, columnist and publisher for Crain’s Chicago Business, Chicago Daily News and Advertising Age. Last year, Cappo received a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago Headline Club, the local affiliate of the Society of Professional Journalists. A former longtime Evanston resident, he also is a member of the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.

News Release, DePaul University, June 17, 2008

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Newser vs. Newspapers?

Newser Screenshot by Maria Khan

With the advent of Amazon Kindle, did writers stop writing or did publishers stop publishing? The answer is No. Will news aggregators, like Newser put newspapers out of business? Michael Wolff, founder of Newser thinks so, but I disagree.

Just like the Kindle aggregates e-books in one place, similarly Web sites, like Newser simply act as an umbrella branching out to Web sites that produce the news, like the New York Post.

Despite Wolff’s claims that aggregators will put newspapers, like the New York Times out of business, the reverse can very well be true, if the latter’s decision to charge frequent readers for content is a success. The Wall Street Journal and the The Financial Times are already doing so and if the pay for content movement is followed by other newspapers, online aggregators might fall short of their sources. In the last 72 hours alone, 9 out of 18 newspaper and magazine Web sites qualified as top sources on Newser.com. 

Lincoln Park Robberies – A Quikmap overview

Quikmap Snapshot

In the summer of 2009, the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago was the subject of police scrutiny, as a chain of four strong-arm robberies coupled with several other muggings made headlines in the city.

The victims, along with the attackers were all men in their early to mid-20s. All cases followed a similar pattern, whereby the victims were asked for their wallets and later brutally beaten up in the head and face.

The quikmap above traces through the robberies that took place in the neighborhood between July and August 2009. Chicago Police believe that the robberies are linked, but no arrests have been made as of Dec. 27, 2009.

FLYP – Interactive Storytelling Online

Hungry Like a Wolf, FlypMedia.com

When I think of print magazines, TIME comes to mind or maybe National Geographic, but what about online? Online magazines are a complete different animal and FLYP magazine is living proof of that.

In a league of its own, FLYP blends media forms like podcasts, video, animation and full motion infographics satisfying media lovers of all genres, be it art, music or the economy. From tidal waves to smoke bursting out of a coal-fired power plant, every motion at FLYP is depicted in more than just words.

Using Shakira’s, Hungry Like a Wolf FLYP issue, below is my analysis to determine whether or not Mike’s, “10 Laws of Interactive Storytelling” are reflected on FLYPmedia:

I’m a Journalist in 2010 –what’s next?

Photo by Maria Khan

When I started off with the Journalism program here at DePaul, every book I opened and every page I turned revealed the same story over and over again, the end of journalism is near. Yet, as dire as the situation might appear, journalism can never be uprooted from a society that runs on information exchange.

The important question is, how can we fine tune the journalism industry such that it runs smooth in the present revolutionizing digital era?

Put simply, what are the basic know-hows that will help you ride the wave if you are a journalist in 2010. For starters, the more you know the better, so take up every opportunity to master something new, whether it is learning basic html or editing short videos on Final Cut. Once you have the technical, multimedia skills taken care of the next step is marketing yourself to the broad online community through the array of social networking sites. You also need to be aware of your competition and learn to work together because that is a core trait of the digital age; news aggregation and citizen journalism are key examples of this. Creating online communities and giving the audience the steering wheel is what will get you the sources you need to build a successful business model today.

However, this bottom-up model of journalism will topple down if it lacks the energy that can only be driven by you, the journalist, and your passion has to be driven by your niche. Niche is your passion, could be a hobby, it’s something that drives you and holds onto you 360 degrees. It gives you a sense of ownership and power in your own little world, your niche.