Things move fast around here. One minute, we’re a wee little family of nerdy music heads on a baby Tumblr, the next minute we’ve got thousands of new friends and we’re working in a blog community that’s growing like a weed.
Last summer, I wrote a list of who I thought was putting up the …
I was asked to speak recently at a conference organized by Yale University with the title “Journalism & The New Media Ecology: Who Will Pay The Messenger?” This irritated me. The question should have been “who will subsidize news production?” because news production has always been subsidized by…
Making the Clackity Noise
Buffering [Sonny Payne]
When I was a percussionist in high school, we were responsible for keeping the jazz band, full orchestra, concert band, and marching band in time, and we did so through a haze of marijuana and hormones and passed-down stories of some guy’s uncle who saw Gene Krupa perform a 12-minute solo using every part of a high hat while eschewing the rest of the kit. And to this day, when I see videos like this, I get an urge to skip class and go make out with a bassoonist in a sound-proof practice room. After all, life is short, and lunch period is even shorter.
Did you read that? That was swell. One hundred five words. Less than half a page.
That’s all it took for this person (whom I’m pretty sure I’ve never met) to make my day. Now I want to follow this person or star this person or favr this person or whatever the fuck au courant verb box I need to mash on in order to see more things like that.
Yes, I realize I am — already, again, seemingly forever — carrying on like that weird relative who always smells of gin and Starlight mints as he threatens to “set you up with a sweet Doobie Brothers mix.” I love Starlight mints, but please don’t misunderstand me.
I genuinely enjoy looking at oversaturated pictures of coltish women I’ll never meet. I’m always game to make fun of “improperly” punctuated “signs.” And God knows I love reading (and posting) elliptical quotes from famous books I never finished reading. Stipulated.
But, brother. Do I ever wish more people would write little stories like Buffering’s. It’s just so wonderful. You know?
I mean, Jesus Christ, people, LOOK. We have keyboards! Literally right in front of us. Right this second.
Letters from the Front Lines: Vancouver Riot: A E.R. nurse's thoughts on an instigator's "apology" »
Ambulance cars line the streets outside of St. Paul’s Hospital’s emergency triage centre for those injured on the night of June 15. Photo credit: Andrés Goñi
Tim,
Just because you can string an apologetic sentence together does not mean you are sorry. Perhaps I should make you aware…
Journalist Rick Sanchez, writing on HuffPo:
“So what makes Tumblr great? It enables journalists to send news updates with the immediacy and ease of Twitter. With no 140 character cap, spelling, punctuation and key words and sentences don’t have to be sacrificed. Posts can be short in length but long on substance. And posts can include pictures and video, without having to click on a link or leave the site — information and images together. Journalism is at its best when it provides detail and context.”
Watch this space. Sanchez was a big believer in Twitter when he was with CNN. And now he’s embracing Tumblr, while remaining true to his roots. It will be interesting to see if Sanchez pioneers on the platform he did with Twitter.
The journalists are continuing their swarm to Tumblr. That means the marketers will be next. Will the cool kids stay?
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about hiring at the Observer and what I’m looking for, so here goes:
I have a few slots I need to fill immediately and some that can wait a few months till we do a national roll-out. But here are the immediate needs:
BETABEAT REPORTERS
I have a couple of slots…
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