The Jeff Beckham Weblog

Two fascinating pieces today from Jay Rosen and Tim Porter. In the first, Rosen writes about “The People Formerly Known as the Audience,” making the case that those who have been on the receiving end of media are now creating and shaping stories on their own. In response, Porter writes about “The Audience for Journalism“, [...]

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Jeff Wick of the San Angelo Standard-Times reports that Texas Monthly’s September cover story will be “50 Things We Love About Texas Football.” Wick was present when photographer Wyatt McSpadden attended the Angelo Football Clinic to get photos to accompany the story.
Expect photos of players and coaches from around the state, featuring established names like [...]

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The Dallas Business Journal reports that The Dallas Morning News is restructuring its news operation to focus more heavily on the Internet. As a result, the paper plans to offer buyouts to 50 or more employees.
The story says this is the part of a corporate-wide effort from Dallas-based Belo Corp., owners of the Morning News. [...]

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KTBC-TV/FOX-7 is looking for three Web Producers and one Web Sales Manager to augment their online team. The Web Producers will work on the station’s website and coordinate their efforts with Fox’s national web staff. The Web Sales Manager will focus on developing a new revenue stream for the station via the website.
For more information, [...]

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I’ve come across two instances in the last two days that use the airline industry as an illustration for what to avoid in online media and web design. It’s no great stretch to say that the airline industry has its problems, but I found it interesting that two respected folks used the same example in [...]

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The story of Tamara Hoover, the Austin High School art teacher currently on administrative leave after nude photos of her were discovered online, has gained tremendous attention across the Web. As of this morning:

“Tamara Hoover” was the top search term on Technorati, ahead of the World Cup.
On Bloglines, the words “tamara hoover” or “tamara hoover [...]

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Congratulations to Texas Monthly on winning an unprecedented 16 awards at the 21st Annual National City and Regional Magazine Awards competition this week. Texas Monthly won the top award in nine categories, including criticism, cover, excellence in writing, excellence in design, and civic journalism, along with a gold award for general excellence in its circulation [...]

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From News.com: “U.S. newspaper publishers on Tuesday said growth at their Internet divisions would at last become a key contributor to revenue, helping to fill a profit shortfall at their traditional print operations.”

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Thanks to Tim O. Thompson for this link to an insightful essay from Jeff Croft, Senior Designer at World Online in Lawrence, Kansas. This is one of my favorite parts (my emphasis added):
Being local is the key to success in 95% of the markets out there. Unless you’re CNN, the Times, or the Post (or [...]

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The Austin American-Statesman has begun including its Talk of Austin blog comments at the end of selected stories. This is a clever move and has already spurred a lot of reader interaction. At a quick glance, Whole Foods halts sale of live lobsters had 71 comments, while District looks to fire Austin High art teacher [...]

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