TechMedia

So this is the Harry Potter newspaper idea Ron was speaking of … is this a practical evolution step for newspapers?

So much upheaval in the newspaper business this days, 600 recently laid off at Sun Media chain, there is even a website, Paper Cuts, that keeps a running tally of layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers. Christmas parties cancelled all over.

Big media sites have redesigned their websites to accept user content and now use of social media tools. A TechCrunch post cites a Pew Survey that most Americans are getting their news from the Internet rather than newspapers. Although it states that TV still beats both the Internet and newspapers as a news source, it goes on to say, “give it a couple more years and the Internet should overtake that as well.”

But online advertising won’t always pay the kind of cash that a full page ad can. No wonder the newspapers have been turning their photographers into videographers … a 15 second commercial at the beginning of a clip can be a money spinner.

There is some good news on the horizon for media geeks though …  MediaShift states that, “As newspapers and broadcasters slice their senior-level workforce, they are also quietly building their digital and online teams.” And a Fast Company story points to the impending retirement of aging baby boomers and a new tech boom.

Plus for us West Coast Canadians … the 2010 Olympics is rumoured to be creating a job or two …

This blog is my first experience in the world of PHP and WordPress. Dynamic content is what the web is all about, and as WordPress is the easiest Content Management System out there, it seemed like the perfect introduction.

There are many reasons for using WordPress: it’s free and open source, it’s user friendly, it has themes to make your blog look like a regular site, it’s search engine friendly and standards compliant. Now I need to explore more themes and plug-ins to test this out.

As I am a student of new media/web design, and a former print journalist, my blog will focus on issues relating to those topics, with some general nerd stuff thrown in, too (I am a sci-fi fan!).

I am already commenting about these issues on Twitter, now I can go over 140 words