It’s been too long

I won’t apologize too much, as I’ve had plenty of news-related posts over at my Tumblr, which you really should be reading anyway. But over the next week or so, I’m going to put out a few longer-form posts here about journalism, transition and new media.

NB, if you don’t already know, I no longer work at a newspaper. In February, I moved to Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa (no relation to  Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.) as Director of Media Relations. The posts that are coming are mostly inspired by conversations I had before, during and after the annual College Media Conference in Baltimore.

Where do we go from here?

This will be the last post here, at least for a while.
My colleague, Annette Schulte, talks about struggling with the muse, and I’ve been engaged in a battle with mine for a while now. I’m passionate about this topic — media and technology — but I’m not getting anywhere by writing about it.
I’m not adding anything to the conversation, and I’m not spending the time here that I need to to change that.
This is the second failed incarnation of this blog, which I think says more about me than I’d like it to. I’m struggling to see if there’s another direction I can take this that I’ll actually keep up with. But I’m not sure.
That doesn’t mean I’m disappearing. If you care to, you can always follow me on Twitter, and you can find me at http://jamietie.com as well.

Social media = good. Job in aforementioned = even better

I’m getting ready to start a new gig at The Gazette, as Social Media Guide.

The name came from Gazette editor Steve Buttry, and is a pretty good description. I’ll be helping move the paper toward becoming more interactive.

The idea is that we need to implement features to get our readers more involved. It’s not the only tool in the tool box, but giving people a place to come together is a way we can start to help foster community.

I’ll be blogging about what we’re trying, what works and what doesn’t, and the long road toward our vision. Should be a fun ride.

I’m back

And I’ll be posting regularly again. The vacation was wonderful. You can see lots of pictures and read our impressions here.

spotty posting

It’s been a hectic week, so I haven’t posted much. The next two weeks will be shot, as well, as I’m heading to Ireland for a long-planned, much-anticpated vacation.

We’re going in honor of my grandfather, who died last June. You can follow our trip at http://www.thekellysgotoireland.com

We’ll be updating with photos, video and text as often as we can get Internet access.

First post

This blog was originally conceived as a place for me to write about writing. As that hasn’t happened, I’ve decided I should write about something I deal with every day — the intersection of news and technology.

I’ll be writing about the ways newspapers can, do and should use new technology to reach new audiences, along with some criticism of technology-related stories in the mainstream media.

I’m another voice in an already-crowded field, but I hope I can bring a few new ideas to the table.