Editor’s note: Joe Swickard wrote the story and Eric Seals created the stunning video for this Detroit Free Press package on the first African-American Marines. It’s a great example of how video enhances a news story. It also demonstrates the reason we as displaced journalists need to develop digital media skills. On Oct. 25 the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to grant the Montford Point Marines our nation’s highest civilian honor, the congressional gold medal; the Senate takes up the measure Thursday of this week. — Susan Older

Now in their late 80s the 1st Black Marines known as Montford Marines talk about their experiences fighting in WWII while still being discriminated against. They are on the verge of getting Congressional Gold Medals. Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

By Joe Swickard
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

More than 16 million Americans answered the call to arms in World War II. Of those, 600,000 were the few, the proud, the Marines.

Then there were the Chosen Few, men such as metro Detroiters Calvin Moore, Robert Hassler, Earl Hood, William Cook, Edsel Stallings, Norfflette Mersier and about 20,000 other Montford Point Marines.

After years of discrimination, mistreatment and near invisibility postwar, these African-American Marines of World War II are on the verge of getting the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian honor.

It’s about time, too, said Hassler, 86, who lied about his age to enlist 70 years ago. “It’s always bothered me — every year for Black History Month, they talk about the Tuskegee Airmen,” Hassler said. “Nobody knows about the Montford Point Marines.”

A Congressional Gold Medal could change that.

Pride still runs deep for Montford Point Marines
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the armed forces to accept African Americans into their ranks, and the Marine Corps was the last to fall in line. Even then, segregation remained as the black recruits and draftees were trained in their own facility — a patch of land adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C., called Montford Point. They were forbidden from entering Camp Lejeune without special authorization.

These men endured top brass hostility, segregated training, scornful treatment and the demeaning belief that they didn’t have the guts, character and discipline to defend their country in combat.

Yet the Montford Point Marines, mainly relegated to service battalions, put their lives on the line: humping ammo and supplies under fire and bringing the wounded to safety while being strafed, sniped, bombed and blasted as the Marines island-hopped through the Pacific toward Japan.

And their pride endures today.

With probably fewer than 300 of them still alive…. Read the rest of the story at The Detroit Free Press.

Editor’s note: Jules and Effin Older (no relation to me) are dedicated Displaced Journalists members. They have had successful careers as children’s book authors and travel writers. We all hope they will make substantial money doing those things again. For now, though, they have reinvented themselves as iPhone/iPad app creators (in the iTunes store: San Francisco Restaurants and Auckland Insider) and as videographers. Their video work is posted on their own YouTube Channel. This couple never gives up. They are constantly pushing the boundaries, absorbing and trying out new ways to tell stories using the latest technology. We should all be doing the same. — S.O.

And now their latest story:

As Americans get to see the effects of Prohibition through Ken Burns’ Prohibition documentary series on PBS, they can see the effects of Prohibition writ small.

On a trip to Napa, California, a region whose economy was nearly wiped out by Prohibition, Jules and Effin Older recorded historian-humorist George Webber regaling onlookers with the effects of a country gone dry on a county built around wine.

Their video, The Story of Prohibition… in Napa, isn’t on PBS — it’s on YouTube.

The speakeasy in the midst of government offices, the clean-ups before every leaked ‘secret raid,’ the puzzled disbelief of European-born winemakers that their new country would “outlaw life itself”  — they’re all in the six-minute 43-second video.

The Story of Prohibition… In Napa is viewable, without corkage fee or cover charge below or at www.youtube.com/user/julesolder#p/u/0/aZVRorl0twM

It may be viewed over a nice Riesling day and night.

Video credits: Jules Older

Photo credits: Effin Older

– 30 –

Web Producer, Washington Week
WETA, Arlington, VA

Come be a part of WETA’s dynamic Washington Week team.  WETA,
Washington DC’s public broadcasting station has an exciting
opportunity as a Web Producer for its production, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill. Washington Week is PBS’ longest-running public affairs
series and features Washington’s top journalists analyzing the week’s
top news stories and their effect on the lives of all Americans.
Incumbent will maintain and support Washington Week website; and
develop, manage and implement digital media strategy and social media
activities.

Primary responsibilities include producing new content
(including video and text) for Washington Week website; supporting
development and implementation of a digital media strategy; and
developing social media strategy and manage and implement social media
activity for Washington Week. Must have knowledge of current events,
U.S. politics, geopolitics, history, and government/political process
and national news periodicals; knowledge of and proven ability and
success in web production and producing web content with digital media
technologies; and knowledge of social media sites/usage, Drupal or
similar and Final Cut Pro or other editing software.  College degree
in Journalism, or equivalent combination of education and experience
in relevant field.

Minimum three years of experience in news
reporting/producing either online, print or television.  Experience
should include two years of experience in web production, including
social media activities.

This position is currently funded through June 2012.
For consideration, please send letter of interest, salary
requirements, and resume to hr@weta.com or visit our website at
www.weta.org for the full job description and on-line application.
WETA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

August 4, 2011

By Susan Older, Founder of Displaced Journalists and Real World Media

I refuse to give up on the journalism profession. I refuse to give up on displaced journalists, either. Not just the people in our Displaced Journalists community here on the Web, on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but all journalists who can’t find a place where they belong anymore.

We need to reinvent our profession to keep good journalism alive.

Our society depends upon a free and vigilant press. It is a fundamental building block of our democracy.

• It provides citizens with the news and information they need to make their lives safer, easier, happier and more fulfilling.

• It gives citizens the comfort of knowing someone is out there looking after their interests.

• It provides the fundamental role of ensuring an informed electorate.

• It holds accountable the officials citizens elect at the polls.

Why is journalism broken? We all know the answer: It’s money. It’s not the Internet. It’s the lack of revenue models for both print and online news and information operations.

Only Steve Jobs has hit on a real revenue model. The App Store is brilliant, but it appears publishers who try to sell their content as apps will get only a small bite of the Apple – too little for sustenance. We need to think about how we could emulate that model without giving our product away.

We need to determine who will pay for quality content. I believe the demand still exists.

We need to restore citizens’ trust in the news they read and the journalists who report it. We can do this. The solution lies in getting the best and the brightest back to work and in a position to mentor young journalists, to pass on the mojo, the dedication, the ethical standards and the devotion to excellence that once defined our profession.

I propose a revolutionary solution to save journalism and journalists.

Real World Media.

It is a big idea and it will require serious funding. Can it be done? Absolutely. Can I do it alone? Of course not. We need help and we need funding. I do believe, though, that it is a start.

We must pose the question of how to find buyers for quality content. Let’s give it a shot. Let’s come together to devise a plan that will improve as it evolves. We need solutions that address the concerns of citizens of local, state, national and global communities. Let’s be realistic: globalization has changed the rules of the game. Almost all of the things we cover are playing out to some degree on a global scale.

So what is the future of journalism? How can we address these issues.

Real World Media: What is it? Why participate?

Real World Media is designed to be the first location-based (think FourSquare), mobile-device-driven global news web. It will provide tailored news and information coverage by top-notch, vetted reporters, photojournalists and news videographers who are already at or near the scene – and top notch editors who interact with these journalists and fine-tune their work.

Real World Media will provide journalists with the work they haven’t been able to find and the respect they deserve. Journalists will be paid fairly and immediately (think PayPal) – a rare occurrence for freelancers in the wake of our industry’s massive job losses.

Journalists will be associated with the best and the brightest colleagues – reporters, editors, photojournalists and news videographers – all of them drawn to Real World Media because it’s a prestigious, trusted network and it’s their best chance of getting fair compensation for a job well done.

The editorial board of Real World Media will screen journalists who seek to be part of its global network. Journalists who have the right stuff will start receiving assignments once it’s up and running. Journalists who don’t make the cut right away will be referred to customized training and performance-improvement solutions to help them qualify at a later date.

The first step in any new venture is to look at it from the point of view of the customer. Of course, this has always been the case for journalists. We’ve been trained to make coverage decisions based on what our readers want. I have always referred to this as the “what does it mean to me” factor. Readers didn’t subscribe to newspapers unless they delivered news and information that directly affected their lives. How can we make our coverage so good that readers or users will pay for it online? It’s a tough question, but we must come with a solution. We can’t just give up.

What about coverage of “what they need to know”? Yes, we’ve always done that, too, because the great thing about newspapers was that readers stumbled upon things they couldn’t have predicted they would want to read. It was serendipity. That’s something we’ve lost to varying degrees as news and information migrated to online sites. Now users tend to go to the sites that reflect their specific interests or views. Real World Media will offer engaging enterprise stories, photos and video designed to put the serendipity back into news sites.

What keeps Real World Media customers up at night?

Entrepreneurs in every field look for the “pain point.” They ask the question: “What keeps our potential customers up at night?” If they can’t answer that question, they need to go back to square one and figure it out.

Let’s look at our potential customers’ needs and address them as if we were speaking directly to them.

This is a sample scenario:

You are a managing editor at a news and information operation – either print or online. You have dismissed more of your staff than you knew was wise. You did it because, financially, you believed you had no choice. You or your publisher felt it was necessary to trim the budget to stay in business. Unfortunately, you got rid of the best and the most experienced journalists because their salaries were the highest.

Now you’re looking at a decimated newsroom and a big story breaks – one that directly affects your readers and your community. It could be floods, drought, and forest fires. It could be corruption in your local police department or city hall. It could be a scandal, playing out in Washington, one that involves local or state officials. It could be a story about a local military man or woman engaged in battle half way around the world. You want to cover these things, and you want the local angle, probably with photos and video, but you don’t have a staffer to spare.

What do you do?

• Do you send a journalist, possibly insufficiently experienced, to deal with a difficult assignment, bagging the important story he or she was working on before you had to shift gears?

• Do you resign yourself to using a wire service story, knowing that they are extremely unlikely to give you the local angle and that the same story will appear everywhere else?

• Do you call a freelancer whom you may not know? Are you confident he or she will get to the scene on time? Are they any good? Do you need to find a photojournalist or news videographer, as well?

• How much time can you afford to spend setting this coverage in motion?

You get the point. No matter what you do, you rob your readers of one thing to give them another. That hurts. You never had to make this tradeoff in the past. You once had a good and sizable staff that was capable of doing it all and doing it all well. Your newsroom ran smoothly – okay, as smoothly as possible. You could afford to take time lining up freelancers around the world for a big story, and once you did that you had a big enough staff to assign your own reporters to get the local angle.

Readers were loyal because you gave them news and information that truly affected their lives – their children, healthcare, family budgets, safety, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, housing, etc. When it came to investigative reporting or breaking news coverage that affected your readers anywhere around the globe, you gave readers your best. Can you do this now, with sparse resources?

Real World Media clients: what we give you

So you decide to become a Real World Media client. Real World Media will provide a simple and affordable solution to the many problems brought about by staff shortages. You will get full coverage without breaking the bank. You, your publisher, your readers and great journalists can all sleep at night.

Real World Media takes your requests and uses cutting edge technology to locate journalists, photographers and videographers around the world to cover the story to your specifications. Maybe it’s a story breaking halfway around the globe, but it affects people from your town, city or state. Real World Media will cover the global and the local angles of the story.

You will pay Real World Media and its journalists well because you know they are worth it and you get what you need from them. Just think about what you once paid your most valuable staff members, the ones you had to dismiss as advertising dwindled and news and information took off into uncharted digital territory.

Real World Media is not designed to take jobs away from working journalists. We’re happy to see journalists working at all. As for jobless journalists, we genuinely hope they will find great jobs again. For now, though, why not tap into their talent and experience through a system you can trust. But let me be clear: Real World Media is not a content mill.

It’s a win-win for everyone. You will save on salary, benefits, travel expenses, and expensive equipment by using the services of Real World Media. Journalists will get what they need by joining the Real World Media network, which ensures that they will be paid fairly and rapidly. As our network grows, we hope to negotiate group rates on benefits such as health care.

Your readers will get what they want, whether it is international or domestic coverage with a community angle or an investigative reporting project right down the road that you cannot begin to staff. It might even be a feature story you just know your readers would enjoy, one that would enrich their lives.

As a client of Real World Media you  will have at least three options:

• You may make a special request for a local angle on any given story. Real World Media journalists will report it for you. This will serve your needs regardless of whether the story is happening inside or outside of your geographic community. It doesn’t matter. You will have the option of informing readers of more than what’s happening. You will tell them exactly what it means to them, with quotes from local citizens and local officials.

• You may request an exclusive story that will not be available or even visible to other clients on the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you want an exclusive on a breaking story or if you want a highly qualified team to handle an investigative project or local story that you don’t have the staff to handle.

• You may buy a story that appeals to your audience straight off the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you simply want the best possible coverage on an important story. This would serve your needs if you don’t need a local angle and aren’t concerned with exclusivity, but don’t want to run a wire service story identical to the one your competition carries.

Real World Media will run the network. We will find, evaluate and direct the reporters, editors, photographers and videographers. We will have layers of editors – all highly experienced, respected and trustworthy. We will maintain a website featuring synopses of all the stories available for purchase, the price, and the option to negotiate exclusive stories or big stories with local angles.

You will tell us what you need and we will find the best journalists for you. We will use cutting-edge, location-based, mobile technology to stay in touch with journalists (reporters, editors, photographers or videographers) who are at or near the scene and prepared to take the assignment. If another journalist is required to interview people in your community for a local angle, we will provide that service, too.

You will pay a fair price for stories produced by Real World Media’s global network of journalists because you know they are worth it. They will fill the void created when you laid off your best staffers.

Real World Media will charge for the story, the photos or the video you commission from our network of journalists. You will be obligated by contract to buy the assigned story, photos or video, regardless of whether you use it. You will pay more if you decide to alter your original request. Of course, good reporters, photographers and videographers think for themselves and are highly likely to deliver more than you asked for, simply because of the situation they find on the ground when they are in the process of reporting or shooting photos or video.

Real World Media will have a multi-layered network of highly experienced and vetted editors to ensure that customers receive professionally edited products.

None of this is carved in stone. In fact, this is just a jumping off point.

Please join the discussion and add you thoughts on this concept. I am working on the website and marketing materials now. I would love to hear what you think, here on the Displaced Journalists site, on the Real World Media Facebook page, or privately at susanolder@realworldmedia.org. If you have other networking ideas, let’s find a way to implement them.

____________________________________________

Editor’s note: You are reading this on Displaced Journalists, so you may be wondering why I chose to speak to the customer rather than directly to you about this idea I’ve been hatching for the past year. The answer is this: You can see your role as you read this. We need to draw attention to the concept and get customers and funding sources interested. All of the information I’ve come up with thus far is in this piece, except for how we will price stories and how much Real World Media journalists will be able to earn. At this point, I don’t know how much you will earn if we do get funding and this becomes a reality. However, I am devoted to ensuring that journalists are paid fairly. You will be part of the process as we begin to determine rates. In no way will this resemble a content mill. If any of you can offer your programming, design or marketing skills for the cause, I can certainly use them. I have no funding at this point, and, of course, Displaced Journalists has never been about making money.

– Susan Older

Editor’s note: The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., is taking applications for its August workshop in entrepreneurial journalism. I attended this workshop last July. I learned a

Poynter's Bill Mitchell engages journalism entrepreneurs at the workshop in July 2010. (Photo courtesy of The Poynter Institute)

great deal about starting my own business and how to make the most of my skills and ideas in the digital news and information marketplace. I reworked and refined my strategy for a new venture I’m building to take Displaced Journalists to a new level. I’m still working on it. Some ventures roll out quickly; others take time. Some require little funding; others require major funding. If you attend, you’ll come away enlightened and invigorated, with new tools, resources, strategies, game plans and perspectives. The colleagues I met at this workshop continue to serve me well as a sounding board and support group. — Susan Older

Workshop dates: Aug 02, 2011 – Aug 05, 2011
Apply by:  Jun 15, 2011

If you’ve launched an online news and information venture, let Poynter teach you how to use the right tools to help you succeed.

We’ll work with you to refine your business model and share tips and resources that are helping entrepreneurs around the country who have attended this popular Poynter workshop.

Here’s your chance to refine your strategies for creating content, engaging an audience and finding revenue to support your enterprise.

This seminar is supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation. Tuition and hotel costs are free. Participants pay other travel expenses, including airfare.

We’ll ask you to do some pre-work before you come, thinking through the business basics behind the site you’ve launched and reviewing case studies of others’ ventures. Then, in four engaging and jam-packed days, you’ll work with experienced faculty, outside experts and your classmates to:

•    Identify the problem your business hopes to solve, pinpointing the fundamental pain you’ll ease at the heart of your venture;
•    Apply a smart business model to your idea, thinking through customer segments, your key partners and resources, your value proposition and more;
•    Learn tools for understanding your audience and engaging them;
•    See new ways that technology can help achieve your goals;
•    Refine your revenue model;
•    Learn a framework for handling ethical dilemmas that arise as an online publisher;
•    Improve your “pitch” for telling others about your business;
•    Hear techniques for managing change and working in an entrepreneurial environment.

You’ll receive one-on-one coaching from our faculty including our two Ford Fellows in Entrepreneurial Journalism Teaching, Mark Briggs and Jeremy Caplan. (Click on their photos to read their bios.) And you’ll leave with a new network of entrepreneurs who can share ideas, encouragement and inspiration long after the course has ended.

Who Will Benefit:

• Entrepreneurs who have launched or are beta testing their idea for a new venture.
• News organization executives hoping to encourage “intrapreneurial” ventures or to partner with niche ventures in their community.

The secret to profitability on the Internet has finally arrived in an innovative blend of social media, Web mobility, and creative e-commerce applications.

By Matt Anderson, Henning Hagen, and Gregor Harter

The short history of the Internet can be summed up in a few words: Attracting a crowd is relatively easy. Monetizing that crowd? Not so much.

Earlier it was (the now nearly forgotten) Netscape and (the barely memorable) Friendster that drew the big audiences. Then, MySpace surged in popularity. Now this distinction belongs to Facebook and YouTube, with their billions of active visitors. But despite the extraordinary numbers of enthusiasts they can claim, many of today’s Web giants are confronted with the same problem: no clear path to profits. Google, Amazon, eBay, and to some degree Facebook are the rare exceptions among a sea of unprofitable websites.

Still, the emergence of vastly popular community-driven sites offers a glimpse into a new business model for smart retailers and consumer goods companies that bygone Internet ventures didn’t offer: an approach we call social apponomics. By enhancing the sheer magnetic power of social media with community-based marketing and tailored applications, social apponomics affords companies a pathway for breaking down the barriers to profitably commercializing online activities, not just for individual transactions but as part of an ongoing customer relationship.
Three elements of social apponomics are critical to success.

Read the rest of the story at strategy+business magazine.

Position: Media Manager
Location: Washington, DC

The American Independent News Network (AINN) seeks a dynamic individual to manage the promotion of the Network’s amazing reporters and hot breaking stories to outside media, including to press and through social media.  The Media Manager’s job will be to spread the word far and wide about AINN’s journalism. This means developing relationships with producers, bloggers, reporters at other outlets, Twitter gurus, and others in the media world who can multiply the reach of our stories.

AINN is a nonprofit online news organization comprised of news sites in eight states and Washington, DC. AINN’s reporters once described themselves as “ink-stained wretches of the digital era.” They are a dedicated, hard-working team that breaks hot political stories nearly everyday: stories that impact public debate and advance the common good, stories that move readers to take action, stories that inspire readers to name livestock after our reporters.

Responsibilities

There are two primary areas for which you, as Media Manager, will be responsible: outreach to existing media, and managing AINN’s social media strategy. At times, if you are creative about it, the two areas will overlap.

You will be responsible for managing and implementing all outreach to relevant broadcast, print, and online press outlets, organizations, websites, and more.  This includes marketing our reporters and their pieces to various news organizations for media pick up.  You will work with the editorial team to ensure that stories are being sent to the relevant news outlets.  You will be responsible for managing and standardizing social media practices for and across the Network.  Wit, flexibility, and innovation are keys to success.

Additionally, as Media Manager, you will:

• Identify opportunities for outside media coverage of AINN and stories produced through the Network and secure appropriate coverage.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with reporters, producers, and editors,
• Ensure the press database is up-to-date and well-organized.
• Identify new ways to promote the network and work through social media.
• Create and manage social media standards for the network.
• Research and implement new social media opportunities.
• Work within the publishing department to coordinate collaborative press and outreach strategy.
• Work with the editorial department to organize all direct and indirect press citations and appearances.
• Promote media appearances by Network representatives as appropriate.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate for Media Manager:

• Is an effective writer and communicator, understanding how to tailor messaging to different audiences.- has an existing active online presence.
• Works quickly to take advantage of opportunities.
• Collaborates effectively and understands why it’s important.
• Believes in the strength of online journalism.
• Has a college degree and relevant experience that translates to this position.
• Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.
• This position reports to the Publisher.
• This position is based out of the AINN home office in Washington, DC, where there is a mini-cupcake maker and a combination egg poacher-toaster.

To Apply:

All interested applicants should email their cover letter, resume, and relevant samples of your work to applications@tainews.org.  Please use a subject heading that grabs our attention and makes us want to open your email.

About The American Independent News Network

The American Independent News Network is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that investigates and disseminates news that impacts public debate and advances the common good.  To accomplish its mission, we operate an independent online news network.   An informed citizenry is a fundamental principle of civil society and American democracy; in the words of the Supreme Court in Garrison v. Louisiana: “Speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self government.”  Our reporting emphasizes the positive role of democratically elected government in securing the common good and social welfare, and the continuing benefits of our founding culture of egalitarian government by the people, for the people.

For more about The American Independent News Network, please visit tainews.org.

Contact:

Hanaa Rifaey
Publisher
T: 202.387.3670 ext. 224
C: 202.379.8184
hanaa@tainews.org

The American Independent News Network
americanindependent.com
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floridaindependent.com
iowaindependent.com
michiganmessenger.com
minnesotaindependent.com
newmexicoindependent.com
txindependent.com
washingtonindependent.com

By Jules Older

When you’re out of work, or, put more genteelly, underemployed, what do you do with your newfound leisure time?

Jules Older

By ‘leisure time,’ I mean time nobody’s paying you to use.

Everybody’s different in needs, time, mortgages and inclination, but I know what’s working for me. In hopes that some of it will work for you, here goes:

Learn new stuff. The new stuff I’m learning is videography. As the world grows more visual and more digital, it will be increasingly usefulblahblahblah.

That’s likely true, but the real reason I’m learning it is that I want to. I love it. I love watching my skills grow from naught to naught half bad. You can judge for yourself at http://www.YouTube.com/julesolder.

I’ve had three great aids in learning to shoot and edit.

One is a tiny, cheap, incredibly versatile Canon camera. I’ve used the pocket-sized Canon SD940 IS to shoot about 30 videos. I still can’t believe how good it is, most especially in low light.

The second is Apple’s iMovie, a tool that comes at no extra charge with every Mac. It’s made for enthusiasts, not professionals, but it’s met or exceeded my needs and desires nearly every time.

Third — maybe first — is the best bargain I’ve found, ever. It’s Apple’s One to One program. When you buy a new Apple computer, you’re given the opportunity to sign up for One to One. Take it.

Costs a hundred bucks for a year. For that hundred, you get to meet with an expert once every week or two to work on any aspect of Macology you like. Just about everything I know about videography, I’ve learned at the Chestnut Street Apple Store. Costs me, oh, $1.50 an hour.

Do good things. Last time I was in New Zealand, the earth moved. It moved in Christchurch, which experienced its first quake ever. This time, a few short days after I got off the plane, Christchurch had its second. And this was the big one.

On the theory that it might be me, I did what I could to ameliorate the horror. Through my Jokers list, I kept friends and relatives up to date on our safety, our friends, and what was happening in Christchurch. Because I’m a member of Ski Club of International Journalists, I did the same with the 200 or so media mavens I’d met only the week before. I used both lists to raise funds for the victims.

And I volunteered to go to Christchurch. I volunteered three times to three organizations. And while none took me up on it, I couldn’t have even made the offer if I’d been gainfully employed.

Stay in touch. The Christchurch quake was only one way of many I’ve been in closer touch with friends and colleagues since those monthly checks stopped rolling in. I’ve used the down time to pick up lapsed relationships and to start new ones. That’s been nice.

Hasn’t always worked out the way I planned, though. When I left a message for an old friend who’d moved to L.A. asking if he was ok, he admitted “My first thought was — what’s he want?”

I suggested he’d been in Los Angeles too long.

Hard times roll. Renewing my freelance ‘career’ has reminded me how bloody hard freelancing really is. For instance, from New Zealand I wrote what I think was a pretty fine op-ed piece about the quake, Why it’s good it happened here. Sent it to, oh, seven or eight papers and three magazines in five countries. My hometown paper didn’t bother replying — thanks a lot, San Francisco Chronicle. Others said no, not for us. In the end, one paper and one magazine took variations on it, but it was hard yakka getting the thing sold.

That’s all, folks… except for one thing. Remember: Life is what’s left when you’re out of work. Better learn — or re-learn — to enjoy it.

— jules

Jules Older (amazingly, no relation to Displaced Journalists Founder Susan Older) is a freelance travel writer, the author of children’s books, the creator of the iPhone app San Francisco Restaurants, a speaker, a broadcaster and a consultant. Learn more about Jules here. To become a Lifeguard, just drop Jules a line at jules@julesolder.com, saying, “I’m a writer.  Sign me up!”

By Mike Cassidy
Mercury News

Are you there God? It’s me, twitter.com/mikecassidy.

Maybe it’s no surprise that we’ve reached the point where, rather than looking to the heavens to find God, we’re looking to the cloud. It’s where we live now, with iPods, iPads, Android gizmos, social networks. The town square, complete with steepled church, has become a digital rectangle that we carry in our pockets.

I’ve been thinking about this since the recent excitement over “Confession: A Roman Catholic App,” an iPhone application that offers Catholics a nifty way to prepare for the sacrament of confession.

Never mind that any Catholic could use help. When I was a kid, I constantly worried that I didn’t have enough sins to recite to the priest. So, I’d make up a few extras, and essentially lie to a priest, which of course meant another transgression and another trip to confession.

As of last week, the app, which provides a digital inventory of bad acts, was the sixth-most-popular in Apple’s lifestyle category, which in a bit of iLife synergy puts it right behind the iKamasutra.

Some of the buzz around the confession app was due to the fact that it was sanctioned by a Catholic bishop — a sign the church was ready to meet congregants in the century in which they are residing. It also held the delicious juxtaposition of modern technology aiding in an ancient rite. And it provided plenty of material for snickering….

Read the entire story on SiliconValley. com.

Editor’s note: We have plenty of members of the Displaced Journalists community who work at news operations (online or print) and  fear they won’t keep their jobs unless they  boost their digital and multimedia skills. This Maynard Institute month-long fellowship is  a great opportunity to get that training. — Susan Older

Multimedia Editing Fellowships Available

Who should apply
:

This program is ideal for editors and reporters who want to sharpen their multimedia skills, journalists who work on Web sites and design and graphic editors who want editing training.

Program Cost
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$6,000, which includes tuition and housing and some meals.

Fellowships

Twelve fellowships to attend the Maynard Institute’s Multimedia Editing Program are made possible by a three-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

To be eligible for the Reynolds Fellowship, you must work at a U.S.-based newspaper with a circulation of 50,000 or below. Journalists who work for online operations of such newspapers are also eligible to apply.

The fellowship covers tuition, housing and some meals, and includes a travel stipend of up to $500. There are no exceptions to the eligibility requirement.

Twelve fellowships to attend the Maynard Institute’s Multimedia Editing Program are available to journalists from small and medium size publications. The fellowships are made possible by a three-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 

Fellowship applications are invited from journalists who work at U.S.-based newspapers with circulation of 50,000 and below. Journalists who work for online operations of such newspapers are welcome to apply.

Since 1979, the Maynard Institute has trained journalists of color to become editors and Web site editors, helped assignment editors improve their copy editing skills, and prepared news professionals for supervisory roles. This program has produced effective newsroom leaders of all races who can promote team work, introduce and manage change, and improve the quality of journalism.

Like all Maynard programs, the Multimedia Editing Program is open to people of all races.

The month-long Multimedia Editing Program runs during summer, 2011 at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. The program will equip participants to help their news organizations build a robust online presence and strengthen the print product.

Instruction will be in-depth and hands-on and cover the breadth of digital media tools: video, audio, blogging, slideshows, tagging, databases, basic HTML, analyzing the success of your Web strategy, using social networking to draw more people to your site and an overview of content management systems.

Skills will be taught in segments that build upon each other. The length of the program will allow participants to do more than simply touch upon each skill. At the Multimedia Editing program, participants will have time for practice, critique and improvement, giving them a working knowledge that can be applied immediately. As always, strong copy editing skills, including headline writing for print and online, and design will be emphasized throughout the program.

Apply here.

If you have questions, contact Evelyn Hsu, program director, at Ehsu@maynardije.org or Elisabeth Pinio, manager for outreach, at 510-891-9202 or epinio@maynardije.org.