Comm361-Amanda Lee

Today in class, Jim Iovino from NBCWashington online spoke with our Comm 361 class about everything online and the inner-workings of nbcwashington.com. After working in print for sometime, Iovino took the online route and became a devout online journalist (like many of us students, he realized that print is a somewhat dying concept and that the future is online). Although I don’t subscribe to any newspapers, I do buy the monthly issues of my favorite magazines and I know my mom still subscribes to TIME and Newsweek, so I think I can say that print isn’t dead. Yet. I think for at least a couple more years, there will be print available.

While we discussed the transfer to online journalism from a more traditional print style, I thought this clip they showed from “Minority Report,” really shows what the future of technology and news could look like. I would definitely stand in line to get a digital newspaper, although it does remind me of what the iPad looks like today, just not as much constant video. Speaking of Apple, the iPad 2 comes out TOMORROW! Be prepared for long Apple lines and be advised tomorrow will not be the greatest day to buy an Apple product as the store will be jam packed.

The new iPad 2 (Apple geeks rejoice).

As for NBC Washington online, the site has a lot of interesting features that have been added:

• The Feast : A totally seperate website that is connected to NBC Washington, with all new writers that tell you the happenings and local attractions around the DC area. Stories are divided into three categories: Eat, Shop and Play. This was probably my favorite site that Iovino showed us, at it had great places to eat and the best deals on shopping in DC.

• Another favorite feature on NBC Washington was The 20, where it shows the 20 most interesting people in your community at the moment and their stories/blogs that they are talking about.

• Also on the site, Pat Collins, the News4 reporter, has attempted and succeeded in tapping into the social media frenzy that seems to be dominating the web. He has set up a chat room device, called A Q&A with Pat Collins, were people can directly comment and ask Pat a question, and he will answer it back to you via webcam. You can scroll through the chat box and click on the question and answer you want to see. *This is a great idea for people that want to interact and engage directly with your audience, as people love videos more than anything.

*This is a funny gallery I found on NBC’s The Scene section, titled “Awkward Political Moments.”