July, 2010
Young journalist? Stick with it
Someone asked me yesterday, “Are you glad you became a journalist?” I answered without hesitation, “Yes,” adding, “Why do you ask?” The reply: “I’m just curious.” That conversation didn’t happen with a student in the “boot camp” writing course that I’m currently teaching at the Newhouse School, nor with a colleague, nor during an interview [...]
Distinguish yourself: Three key qualities
Curiosity. Energy. Persistence. These are the most important qualities, some would say, for any journalist. They emerge this weekend in a short Q and A in The New York Times about Aaron Levie, CEO of Box.net, a company that specializes in online file storage. In the Corner Office feature, Levie is talking about the qualities [...]
Work from a checklist: Video
“You can check that off the list.” We say that all the time. Intuitively, we recognize that making a list, and following it, ensures that the job gets done. That it is complete — and done right. But when it comes to journalism, we are often suspicious of anything that sounds like a “formula.” It [...]
Take 10 steps to better enterprise ideas
In thinking about enterprise story ideas — as master’s students are doing now in their six-week news writing boot camp at the Newhouse School — I am reminded how difficult it is sometimes to develop, as some say, “a story from nothing.” Or so it may seem. But, in fact, the beauty of enterprise ideas [...]
Try New Things: Video
Sometimes our inclination is to rule out something new based on a simple gut feeling: “I don’t like it.” Or, “I don’t think I will like it.” Or, “I don’t see the sense in it.” This came up recently in a discussion about the phone app foursquare. Some in the discussion said they weren’t really [...]
Listen to your “guests”
Recently, I attended an interesting conference in New York called MOB — Monetizing Online Business. The conference was organized by colleagues at the Newhouse School. An interesting talk was given by Thomas Kruczek, executive director of the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. On Day Two, Kruczek said he [...]
