Q&A with an Online Journalist: Jessica Herman

photo: Jessica Herman

Jessica Herman is a Chicago based-journalist who has worked for many different publications, including Centerstagechicago.com, Newcity and Chicago Sun-Times. Jessica attended Northwestern University for undergraduate, where she studied English Literature. She is currently a staff writer for The Get section of Time Out Chicago magazine, where she writes two or three stories and one or two blog entries per week.

ET: How do you feel the field of journalism has changed since you first started?

JH: I was surprised at our lack of online presence [when I first came to Time Out]. The Web site wasn’t very dynamic and it was very hard to search for venues; it was very clear that there was not much of a focus on it as an online entity, it was a print publication first and foremost and they hadn’t really married the two worlds [yet.] Now, there is so much more of a focus on what we are doing online…a lot of more blogging, add-ons to articles that we are producing for the [print] magazine-there will be maybe more 15 more pictures online because they know people love clicking through a slide show. In general it’s a much more holistic, full vision of what Time Out is; the intention is to have a very integrated publication.

ET: What aspects of social media do you use in your job? How often?

JH: We [The Get] use Twitter-I think all the sections now have their own Twitter and Time Out [Chicago] also has its own Twitter that’s tweeting about stories that we’ve done, sales etc. I will use Facebook when I’m looking for sources for stories and also [to] promote some of the pieces-we are encouraged to promote the hell out of our pieces via Twitter and Facebook.

ET: You used to work at Centerstage Chicago, which is an online only publication. How is that different from working in both a print and online publication?

JH: I feel like Centerstage was much more like a city guide. It was very aware of itself as just a website, and very aware of itself in terms of usability instead of [as] a great read. The stuff that was most popular was like, “where can I find a $3 burger?”

ET: What is different about packaging material for the web?

JH: I think at this point we’re not doing any online exclusive articles… I think we haven’t quite had the manpower for it, or the time. As far as blogging goes, I think [the posts] are pretty casual in nature; we always use “I” for inserting ourselves in the piece on the blog, whereas since we are running on a weekly schedule … there are some restrictions [as far as print]. [On the blog,] you can just throw up a line and couple pictures if you think it will generate some interest.

We’ve had such a push for just putting additional features that aren’t feasible for the print publication. We can’t run 15 photos of walking through a house [in] print- [It lends itself to] more interactive features.

ET: Is there a style of storytelling that is more suited to the web than print or vice versa? For example, is the narrative mode of storytelling incompatible with the way people read on the web?

JH: I guess I feel like that's an hours-long discussion. A lot of people are going to the internet with a very specific question, [but] there are so many opportunities to jump from 'A' to 'B' to 'C'-all the links are so distracting. Even if you’ve gone in search of your one answer, or you find your answer, I think it's just so much harder to meditate on one article [or] on one juicy piece of narrative because its linked to so many other blogs. It's just a very different experience than having a piece of writing in your hand.

DePaul Students Cover Chicago Olympics

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Mashup as a Tool For Journalism

The mashup, an outlet for several streams of information combined in a new interface, can be an incredibly useful reporting tool for journalists.

Instead of viewing statistics and data as separate entities, where they are sometimes yanked completely out of context, a mashup can help create a fuller portrait of the subject of a story. 

EveryBlock is a great example. The site feeds in crime statistics, real estate listings (via Trulia) and business reviews (via Yelp) in a clean, well-organized format broken down by ward, neighborhood or ZIP code. The different feeds combine to give a snapshot of the neighborhood or ward-useful for someone looking to move to Chicago, and especially useful for a journalist reporting news and could be instrumental in helping evaluate trends and patterns regarding safety, economic health etc. 

DataMasher, provides a forum for users to combine sets of Federal Government data, imported from sites like Data.gov, into visualizations. As I mentioned in my post on FLYP media, I think this is another great way interactive social media is helpful to people with different learning styles: some people will benefit greatly from having a visual representation to accompany a verbal explanation of a trend.

Other kinds of mashups can play a big role in one of the most important factors of good reporting: accuracy. Not only is the journalist better able to view the data in context and to draw a more "objective" conclusion from the evidence, the reader can also view this data and either dispute, expound upon or reinforce the journalists report. 

Part of building a good story is making sure that facts, details and statistics support your point. With news expected in units closer to real time every day, it is increasingly important to be able to quickly gather, organize and report on data. Mashups assist with this process greatly by putting easily accessible information from multiple sources in one place. 

Trendsmap, a real time tracker of twitter trends by location, is a great way for reporters to find stories. People are likely to talk about big events and happenings, as well as points of interest, entertainment and culture. Trendsmap visually demonstrates how many tweets are going out about a particular topic by making the most popular topics huge and the less buzz-worthy topics smaller.

Trendsmap could even be a handy means of finding sources. People tweeting about a particular topic are likely to have first-hand knowledge concerning hyper local and local news and could be valuable additions to stories. 

Lincoln Park Muggings

A string of strong-arm muggings in the Lincoln Park neighborhood are under investigation by Chicago Police. All attacks occurred between July 30 and August 4.

No arrests have been made.

Five of the seven attacks are linked and Chicago Police believe the other two are related.

The muggings all happened between the hours of 2 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. to male victims who were walking alone.

The attackers, as well as the victims, are believed to be in the early to mid 20's. All approached victims from behind, asked for their wallets, and then beat them severely in the head and face.

Two of the victims were hospitalized.

The victim of the third attack on the 2000 block of North Cleveland Avenue identified an alleged attacker in a physical lineup. The suspect was later released on lack of evidence.

The map below details the seven muggings, giving date, location, time and a brief description of the attack.

FLYP Media-Truly “More Than A Magazine”

Print magazines finally have a formidable opponent with FLYP media's multimedia storytelling design. Even with the wealth of information available to me at the click of a mouse, up until recently, I’d preferred to shell out $4 for a hard copy of a magazine, rather than endure a headache scanning content on the web that was better suited for print. Maybe it’s because until viewing FLYP, self described as “more than a magazine” It seemed that “online magazines” were lesser, more squint-worthy versions of print ones.

FLYP media has the same aims as a magazine-creating captivating stories which speak to their readers-but it makes full use of the web’s resources to do things a magazine can only dream of.

Seamlessly merging not only the copy, photos and art of their print predecessors, FLYP also weaves in video clips, fact-sheets, tables, slide shows and vivid graphics to keep the reader engaged in the story from start to finish. (Check out a great example of an animation and voice-over in this multimedia tale on the best way to make difficult decisions)

3-D statistics and provocative sentences hover over an eerily lit hospital bed in a slide show about hospice care and faulty practices of insurance companies. Chilling music, photos and accounts of a former health insurance executive add credibility, context and human interest for the reader.

One thing which I found especially intriguing about FLYP was its potential to cater to all different kinds of learning styles. I learn best when I am shown pictures, charts and illustrations to supplement concepts I take in through the written or spoken word, so FLYP’s approach to journalism is not only interesting at the outset, but sticks with me after I’m done with a story.