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Early returns mostly positive for Journalism 2.0

Pardon the shameless plug here, but I’ve been asked by several people if there’s been any reaction to the book’s release and, if any, what’s it been like. I’m flattered to say that feedback has been mostly positive.

Mindy McAdams linked to the PDF before giving it a read, letting her blog readers provide the analysis. Not surprisingly, most found the book too basic for their purposes. This isn’t really surprising, since anyone who reads Mindy’s excellent Teaching Online Journalism blog has already gone digital with their lives, their work or their teaching. Journalism 2.0 is for those who are curious but haven’t taken the time yet to get started. It’s a broad overview that’s not very deep in any one subject area. And that’s by design. If you have been too intimidated to teach yourself about online concepts, a comprehensive tomb that is several hundred pages in length is not likely to get you going. But a quick read of a 132-page handbook?  That is a lower barrier to entry that hopefully even the not-so-curious will give it a try.

Here’s a sample of other I comments I have found through Technorati or seen on email lists:

“Mindy recommended this for students, and it would be a great classroom resource. I’m going to recommend it next month, when I start doing some newsroom training for those who aren’t jumping into the multimedia waters – which is just about everyone. The guys out there pushing 50, like me, really can benefit from this.”
- Ron Sylvester, Multimedia Reporter

“(The) new book, ‘Journalism 2.0’ is fabulous. You can’t beat the $10 price and it has really simple instructions on how to be part of online. He
does a great job of quickly explaining how it all works in the big picture, but also giving you step-by-step instructions. We’re giving copies to everyone on the copy desk today.”
- Julie Shirley, Executive Editor
Bellingham Herald

“For those new to the field and for journalists who want to make the jump, this report (shall we call it a book, rather?) should be an excellent starting point. The same goes for those who’d like to record their first podcasts or videocasts. But since the book covers such a wide array of topics, there’s also a few nuggets in there for the more experienced. Great stuff!”
- Peter Bihr, web strategy consultant, author of The Waving Cat

“’Journalism 2.0,’ … was written for and would be most useful for new media novices, with a great deal of value as a reference for intermediates like myself, who know something of the new tools and techniques but need practice, confidence and examples of their uses.

“In short be subversive in how you use this manual and the techniques it describes.  My observation after 15 years in newspapering is that there’s nothing more difficult to do than to bring a new idea into a newsroom. These are important new ideas and new tools that will challenge our notions of how to put out the news, and require professionals with varying degrees of experience to either learn or unlearn habits. That is a huge hurdle.”
- Tom Abate, MiniMediaGuy

“Students heading into journalism school this autumn should get their hands on a new textbook … “Journalism 2.0.″ … Given that it is available gratis, there is no excuse for students not to have this on their reading list.”
- Alfred Hermida, Reporter.net

“My first ‘recommended’ text for the fall semester has arrived, without killing a single tree, and for free: Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive, subtitled A digital literacy guide for the information age.”
- Bob Stepno, Other Journalism Weblog

Posted by MarkBriggs on Thursday, August 30, 2007
(4) Comments • Permalink

• Mark, thanks for the back link. And, more importantly, thanks for your book!

  Posted by peter bihr  on  09/02  at  10:21 AM

• Journalism 2.0 is so exciting it almost makes an old-timer want to go back to work.  Your mug and cover posted on the blog of Akron Beacon Journal retirees who still like to keep up. The Beacon Journal, of course, was once the flagship paper of John S. Knight and Phil Meyer is a proud product of Knight. See our blog post at http://bjretirees.blogspot.com

  Harry Liggett, the blog guy

  Posted by Harry Liggett  on  09/04  at  12:50 PM

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