Posts tagged Q&A

Amei o tumblr*--*seguido*--*,da uma olhadinha no meu depois se gostar segue,se ñ td bem. — Asked by complicada-e-indecifravel

Muito obrigado.

Você é o Brasil ou Portugal?

Hello, I wanted to know why they are shutting wiki leaks down, former anon's and others provided good information for the site, but then their were those whom tried to shut it down and, or rob it. The site was a magnificent creation in many ways we can all agree, providing so much. — Asked by Anonymous

The long and short of it is that WikiLeaks is currently broke.

The link above explains how and why.

My question is - what exactly does FJP hope to contribute to the future of journalism? At the moment, is the tumblr just a funnel for content between contributors who have the same message, or is it meant to work almost as a form of digital networking? A guide to new journalists who grow up in the age of digital media, while the people who came before them - their professors, their idols, their older classmates even, as to give them some direction in starting their career? — Asked by dylansmithmedia

The simplest answer is, yes. Yes to all the above.

The longer answer is that we’d like to be a great resource for all sorts of people in journalism and media. This ranges from students to professionals, from editorial to business, from digital neophytes to veteran multimedia producers and code jockeys.

The Future Journalism Project Tumblr is very much a preliminary stage for what we’re setting out to do, and basically reflects what we find interesting in journalism, media, technology and digital culture. Our Twitter account tries to do the same.

In the next few weeks we’ll start releasing a series of videos from interviews we’ve been conducting and soon thereafter we’re launching a tutorial series.

We hope you’ll stick with us as we continue along on this ride. We doubly hope that you and others find what we do useful and entertaining. Either in that order or the reverse.

Hello, we were wondering whether you might like to put together a little collection of your all-time favourite magazine length journalism - maybe 5 articles - for us to feature on The Electric Typewriter? In return we would, of course, be happy to include a little description of the project along with all the relevant linkages. If you're interested, of there's anything we can do for you, hit us up via the ask page! — Asked by tetw

I’m crashing past your recommended five with the following:

What: David Foster Wallace: Consider the Lobster. Gourmet Magazine, 2004.
Why: I could pick any number of DFW articles as my favorite but am going with this one. See too his magnificent tennis reportage such as Federer as a Religious Experience from 2006  or The String Theory from 1996. 

What: Charles Bowden: While You Were Sleeping. Harper’s Magazine, 1996.
Why: Back in the mid-90s, Bowden published a harrowing account of life in Juarez, Mexico along the US border. At the time, a number of femicides where being committed. Very much a precursor to what’s happening in the drug wars today.

What: Lawrence Lessig, For the Love of Culture. The New Republic, 2010.
Why: This one’s less about storytelling and more about the legal, cultural and creative importance of open culture and the creative commons. A must primer for anyone interested in independent creativity and production in any field.  

What: Hunter S. Thompson, The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved. Scanlan’s Monthly, 1970.
Why: Thompson meets Steadman meets the madness of the Kentucky derby. 

What: George Plimpton, The Curious Case of Sidd Finch. Sports Illustrated, 1985.
Why: For the April 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, Plimpton “discovers” a pitching prospect who will change baseball history. To start, Sidd has a 168 mile per hour fastball that he developed through years spent in a Tibetan monastery perfecting mind-body balance. Even knowing it’s an elaborate April Fools doesn’t diminish the fun.

What: Richard Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Harper’s Magazine, 1964. 
Why: Because the more things change the more things stay the same. Great articles are timeless, right?

What: Gay Talese, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold. Esquire, 1966. 
Why: A J-School classic on how to report a story on a subject that never appears.

What: Jim Hogshire: The Electric Cough-Syrup Acid Test. Harper’s 1993.
Why: Ever wonder what it feels like to be a reptile. Take two bottles of Robitussin DM and call us in the morning.

So, that’s what I got. What about you? — Michael

I suspect our blogs will share much in common.. Do you plan to post more on the history of technology and products? — Asked by fiftyyrsoftech

Hi there, 

I think you might be referencing posts we tag with “Jurassic Technology”.

We don’t go out of our way to find it but are certainly happy when we come across old computers, visions of the future and assorted odds and ends that sort of somewhat demonstrate where we’ve come from.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the history of  modern computing is over 60 years old, the Internet is over 40 years old, the Web over 20.

Or that the first calculator dates back to 2400 BC.

Is there a way to join your staff at FJP? — Asked by Anonymous

Hi Anonymous,

The easiest first step is to send us a note and make yourself a little less anonymous. Otherwise, we might end up with some other Anonymous and it’s lose-lose all around… unless, of course, this other Anonymous is a rock star.

You should know though that we’re not quite a “staff”. We’re more like a motley collective of somewhat like-minded people intensely interested in journalism’s future.

We’d like to be a staff some day. Being paid staff would actually be awesome. Cause then we could dedicate more time to this and up our level of awesome from somewhat, sometimes to consistently all the time.

In the meantime, journalists, multimediaists, visualists and technologists are all welcome to get in touch to see if there’s a way to collaborate.

Even if they are anonymous.

We hope to hear from you.—Michael