State Press Design

The State Press has been tweaking changes to their layout and design. Comments? What do you think of it?

Download the latest front page on the right navigation rail at: www.asuwebdevil.com.

ASU Coachella Blog

The Blaze 1260 AM and the Web Devil are collaborating on a blog featuring artists and bands performing at the upcoming 2007 Coachella music festival in Indio, CA.

Using technorati, the Coachella Web site has linked the blog in their related news section. Read the blog at asucoachella.blogspot.com.

State Press highlights

I just posted breaking news on the death of ASU student Jill Boda (See story by Matt Stone on the Web Devil) about an hour ago (in Nashville) and it already has 97 hits. I sent out an e-mail immediately after. It's 8:12 a.m. in Phoenix, what are people doing checking e-mail at that hour on a Saturday?

We had a great ASU Scene photo spread in the paper this week titled "Three Days in Peoria" by State Press photo editor Christopher Atwood. Check it out on the Web Devil.





We've also added a new feature to our home page: a PDF download option, where you can download the front page of the State Press. The front page has been looking outstanding the past two weeks.

Finally, SPM's 'Best Of' issue comes out April 5. Be sure to check it out. Don't you want to see who the hottest professors on campus are?

Tool up or Take it to the house

I'm currently sitting in a video collection, editing & online presentation class in Nasvhille, TN at the Center for Innovation in College Media (CICM) workshop.

I'm learning. Here are some tools to check out.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets - create docs in an online word processing platform, collaborate with others by sharing the document (editing at the same time).

FMAtlas - http://fmatlas.com - Google atlas tool to generate maps for storytelling, embed into page.

del.icio.us - http://del.icio.us - a bookmarking Web site

John Seigenthaler made a surprise appearance yesterday at the First Amendment Center (Vanderbilt). Read more from Jack Lail, knoxnews.com

I attended a breakout session regarding jobs, internships in media with a recruiting director from Gannett. Here are tips:

JOIN

• ONA Online News Association
• SPJ Society of Professional Journalists
• SND Society of News Design

ADVICE

• Personal Web sites – create professional Web site, bio, samples, generic cover letter, résumé, etc.
  
  
• When you interview for a job, whether it’s an independent, private paper or a large company, try to get a sense of your perspective employer.
  
  
• Ask to elaborate on his or her visions, where do they see themselves in 5 years and how are they planning to meet that goal? Ask other staff members the same question and see if the answers line up.
  

JOB SEARCHES

• Stage 1: newspapers or news organizations where you would like to work, whether or not they have a job posting, prepare your resume, cover letter, work samples, or a link to your site in electronic form and a print form. Start with a small focus (geographic, circulation size). Look at the Web design, story coverage, etc.
  
  
• Stage 2: start looking at specific job openings that appear on various Web sites
  

LINKS
journalismnext.com, journalismjobs.com, freep.com