The reading list: Week 13

It’s that time again when we let you know what journalists, journals and online articles have been the focus of our hack-ttention in the past seven days.

Credit: Flickr user adam & lucy

Please let us know of any other interesting blogs/sites/articles by commenting below, emailing us at hacks@wannabehacks.co.uk or tweeting us (@wannabehacks). Here goes…

I am kicking off this week with something I expect a lot of you will have seen, but if you haven’t you should be reading it (whether you agree with Rusbridger or not) – I am of course referring to Alan Rusbridger’s latest essay / lecture on the media industry: The splintering of the fourth estate – a small excerpt below, but it is 5000 words long, so make sure you have a cuppa to hand:

“I want to discuss the possibility that we are living at the end of a great arc of history, which began with the invention of moveable type. There have, of course, been other transformative steps in communication during that half millennium – the invention of the telegraph, or radio and television, for instance – but essentially they were continuations of an idea of communication that involved one person speaking to many. That’s not dead as an idea. But what’s happening today – the mass ability to communicate with each other, without having to go through a traditional intermediary – is truly transformative.”

Podcast #3: student protests – demo debate

It’s the Wannabe Hacks podcast pounding your ears once again!

This week The Chancer and The Intern get a little heated over the coverage of the Student Demo 2010…

The reading list: Week 12

Photo courtesy of bravenewtraveler

It’s that time again when we let you know what journalists, journals and online articles have been the focus of our hack-ttention in the past seven days.

Please let us know of any other interesting blogs/sites/articles by commenting below, emailing us at hacks@wannabehacks.co.uk or tweeting us (@wannabehacks). Here goes…

This week we are starting with a post on The Moving Media. It looks at how mobiles were used in reporting on the student protests mid week. The site looks at how journalism is being impacted by mobile reporting and the functionality that is granted to us by smart phones on the go. This post is acknowledging how bad ‘old media’ is at covering something as it happens. (Although they are getting better)…

“Nowadays this form of reporting has taken a kick to the teeth. We, as the absorbing public, demand speed, efficiency, accuracy and engagement as prerequisites. Yesterday we were able to watch a new breed of reporting in perfect motion, as eyewitnesses posted minute-by-minute information on Twitter, and photographers uploaded via Flickr. Sky News’ Kay Burley, who made several slapdash reporting bloopers, could have learned a thing or two from the would-be journalists on the streets.”

The reading list: Week 11

It’s that time again when we let you know what journalists, journals and online articles have been the focus of our hack-ttention in the past seven days.

Please let us know of any other interesting blogs/sites/articles by commenting below, emailing us at hacks@wannabehacks.co.uk or tweeting us (@wannabehacks). Here goes…

First up is a brilliant little tool called ‘Social Collider‘ – it is described as a tool that “reveals cross-connections between conversations on Twitter.” Rather than try and explain it, go use it. I have also included a picture of the Wannabehacks connections below so you can get an idea of how the tool presents these connections.

Wannabehacks on Social Collider

Next up, a bit of freelance advice from Freelance Switch – First Draft Success: A Method for Meeting Client Expectations – it is always useful to remember that managing client expectations from the beginning can save you a lot of pain later on.

Notes from a Notebook: The Student

The Student's notebook. (click to enlarge)

We all know how desperate you are to see the innermost thoughts, plans and desires of the Hacks, but rather than making you wait until one of us leaves a notebook on a train (it could happen), we thought we’d introduce a new series: ‘Notes from a notebook.’

If nothing else, it’s a chance to see the scribblings of  five Mad Men (not in the cool way like our avatars) but mad in the sense of wanting to get into journalism at this point in time. It also proves that there will always be room for a good notepad however dominant emails, iPads and smartphones become.

Up first, the decrepit diary of The Student.

Podcast #2: internships and pay

It’s the Wannabe Hacks podcast pounding your ears once again!

This week The Chancer, Intern and Student investigate internships and chat about pay.

The reading list: Week 10

It’s that time again when we let you know what journalists, journals and online articles have been the focus of our hack-ttention in the past seven days.

Please let us know of any other interesting blogs/sites/articles by commenting below, emailing us at hacks@wannabehacks.co.uk or tweeting us (@wannabehacks). Here goes…

Getting it on with multimedia: Audioboo style

(Direct Audioboo link here…)

At Hacks we are always looking to practice what we preach – a couple of weeks ago we introduced our first podcast and today we are continuing our foray into the audio world with an Audioboo. The idea behind these shorter, more informal posts is to allow us to communicate some thoughts, ideas and insights to you in bite-size pieces. No doubt at some point you will hear the Chancer moan about the price of coffee on his patch or the Freelancer giving some impromptu pitching advice.

These ‘boos will be available from iTunes so you can get them on your iPods (or non Apple mp3 players… as you should be able to do with our podcast soon as well). This way you can have the Hacks at your side even when you don’t have access to the Internet.

The reading list: Week 8/9

It’s that time again when we let you know what journalists, journals and online articles have been the focus of our hack-ttention. There was no reading list on Hacks last week, so this week we are going for a bumper set of recommendations.

Please let us know of any other interesting blogs/sites/articles by commenting below, emailing us at hacks@wannabehacks.co.uk or tweeting us (@wannabehacks). Here goes…

Guardian live Q&A: “A survival guide for budding journalists”

This afternoon a few of the Hacks are taking part in the Guardian careers chat – A survival guide for budding journalists…

There are lots of great panelists contributing to the chat so it is a fantastic chance to get some answers to any questions you might have as well as some useful tips for making it as a modern-day journalist. Just click the link above to get involved, we are sure you will get some helpful ideas even if they don’t necessarily come from us!