A Blogger that aspires to fulfill: “What we need is a critique of visual culture that is alert to the power of images for good and evil and that is capable of discriminating the variety and historical specificity of their uses.” – W.J.T. Mitchell. Picture Theory (1994). http://politicstheoryphotography.blogspot.com/

MIND BLOWING SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS (This one is a quick read)

http://econsultancy.com/blog/4327-20-+-mind-blowing-social-media-statistics

A BETTER LOWER THIRDS: FOR FINAL CUT PRO

http://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/a-better-final-cut-lower-thirds-title-generator/

WRITING FOR PICTURES: Mindy McAdams has highlighted some important sections of the Reuters handbook for Journalism students on her blog http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/  See Blog post: http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2009/how-to-gather-shoot-write-for-video/

Students from the University of North Carolina and the Universidad Catholica de Santa Maria worked in Southern Peru to produce these audio/visual stories:

http://www.whitecitystories.org/?loc=shrimp

Audio-slideshows that ROCK!

http://www.innovativeinteractivity.com/2009/08/13/eight-inspirational-audio-slide-shows/

Lastly, If you want to do some extra-credit…this will keep you clicking. http://photojournalismlinks.com/

Their are two types of meaningful connections: 

Semantic A word, a concept, or idea is not just meaningful for what it is, but also hot it relates, connects, and contrasts with other words, concepts, and ideas. 

Personal A person finds their own meaning and significance (their identity) not just in “Who they are” but in how they relate, connect, and contrast with other people. 

Therefore to create significance, 

Address the Semantic, Find a grand narrative to provide relevance and context for learning. “The Big Picture” 

Address the Personal, create an environment that values and leverages the learners themselves. “Work together to create a better learning environment” 

Address the media environment, do both in a way that realizes and leverages the existing media environment--Harness the web as a powerful tool for learning and serving the world. 

Welch wants professors and students to use these steps to further engage with their learning in their chosen field of study. Which I think is a great approach, preparing students for the communication arena we live in, creating opportunities for themselves. 

I do also believe that every journalist should write these down, as we too are teaching or informing an audience. We too need to give our “students” or audience the big picture and a personal connection to our work, by taking advantage of the media environment.

Much like the outdated classroom, where a professor walks into a lecture  theater and dumps information. The printed news was a information dump for the masses, where as blogs, multimedia websites, and other social media tools create interaction–the beginning of meaningful connection. 

Just some food for thought, leave your ideas.