Internet pioneer Yahoo is taking over the popular microblogging site Tumblr and is paying a staggering $1.1 billion for the acquisition. The deal combines two struggling companies. Yahoo! has long lost its innovative streak and Tumblr needs a successful revenue generating business model. While the business aspects of the deal seem promising for both companies, Tumblr users were alarmed when the news broke. Continue reading
The 2012 IYLEP Social Media Institute has been recognized with this year’s VCU Community Engagement Award for Teaching. Our IYLEP team received the award at an event of the VCU Division of Community Engagement on Thursday. Our program was one of four university-wide winners. The other three projects were recognized for research, service and student-led engagement. Continue reading
Several students from my iPadJournos project were invited to the 25th anniversary celebration of Richmond’s NPR station WCVE on Thursday evening and had the chance to meet NPR’s Audie Cornish, one of the hosts of All Things Considered. Cornish gave the students career advice and insights into the editorial decisions she makes every day for her radio show. Continue reading
On Monday, I was interviewed on the South Korean radio program tbs eFM Primetime on the failings of the traditional news media coverage on the Boston Marathon bombings and the impact social media platforms have had in this breaking news event. You can listen to the entire interview here.
As in many breaking news events, social media platforms were the go-to sites for the latest developments on the bombings at the Boston Marathon and the following manhunt for the suspects. But social media sites like Twitter and Reddit as well as traditional news media like CNN and the Associated Press reported news that turned out to be false. In the aftermath, I was interviewed by Reuters on the changing breaking-news environment and the increasing pressure on reporters. Continue reading
The iPadJournos project will become a permanent part of the journalism curriculum at VCU’s School of Mass Communications. Starting this fall, I will offer the class “MASC 496 – Mobile and Social Media Journalism” as a senior capstone course in the print and online journalism sequence of our program. Continue reading
My colleagues Dr. Yan Jin, Dr. Ernest Martin, Professor Scott Sherman and I have received a grant to start a new Center for Media + Health at VCU. The startup funding comes from the VCU Quest Innovation Fund and allows us to equip a health media research lab as well as develop new teaching and lecture opportunities, such as an open online course on global health communication.
At the International Public Relations Research Conference last week in Miami, I presented results from two research studies that analyzed the social media engagement of nonprofit organizations: “140 characters for better health: An exploration of the Twitter engagement of leading nonprofit organizations” and “To Tube or not to Tube: An analysis of ethical guidelines for the YouTube engagement of nonprofit organizations.” Continue reading
Vivian Medina-Messner presented our latest Twitter study at the AEJMC Midwinter Conference at the University of Oklahoma last weekend. The study “Tweet-Biz: How leading business journalists engage on Twitter” analyzed the Twitter engagement of business journalists in the United States. Continue reading
Update (March 29): If you encounter a problem registering, please send me an e-mail and I’ll issue an override for you.
Here is a great opportunity to engage in social media and develop campaigns for nonprofit clients in Central Virginia. This summer class is open to all undergraduate and graduate majors at Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU’s School of Mass Communications is offering this Social Media Institute. In July, Vivian Medina Messner and I will work with students on social media projects during the four-week intensive summer class “Social Media Networking” (MASC 491) and “Social Media Seminar” (MASC 691). Continue reading
