coming to a screen near you

Go here to read about Sports Illustrated's prototype magazine for the web, accessible via Google, and, at least as far as the prototype is concerned, combining pretty much the best of both print and digital journalism. the plan is that both the web version of the magazine and the Google app store from which you can buy it will be ready in the fall. From the story on "All Things Digital":

Sports Illustrated hasn’t come to Apple’s iPad yet, but the magazine is already showing off a new version of its future: A digital version designed with Google in mind.

This one, which Editor Terry McDonell showed off at Google’s I/O developer conference today, looks a whole lot like the one the publisher says it is bringing to Apple’s gadget soon. The real difference here is the way readers/buyers get their hands on the thing: Rather than buying it from Apple’s App Store and downloading it to your iPad, you would access it via your Web browser, after purchasing it from an app store Google manages.

And here's the prototype, which is pretty similar to the prototype SI developed for the iPad:

the future of magazines?

Here's what some folks are predicting the new tablet computers can do for the magazine industry. Lots of glitz, lots of pix -- and actual reporting and writing, too. Can't say I'd use one, but if it will keep magazine writers in business, I'd buy one.

Here's the link to Sports Illustrated's prototype. (My apologies for the swimsuit segment.) Below is the video. Let us know what you think. bk

j.linx: more than a clever name

Occasionally, things work. This photo of Melissa Segura and Jack Gillum popped up in my inbox over the weekend. The two former j-kids met, for the first time, at the IRE conference in Baltimore. Apparently, they found each other thru, ahem, jlinx.

I asked for the backstory. Jack wrote this:

If only you were here! Melissa looked me up and we met on the last night of the conference. It was great to hear what she's been doing with SI, and that they (for now, like USA Today) still value investigative reporting.

Melissa wrote this:

In this small, rather in incestuous world of journalism, I recognized Jack’s name (thanks to your blog), in the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference guide. Jack, the superstar that he is, was leading a hands-on workshop in Baltimore about how to export PDFs into Excel. Meanwhile, I tracked down my fellow Bronco and explained to him what life at SCU was like when Father Serra roamed the campus and the Mission was still under construction. I’m simultaneously frightened and relieved that someone so young is so smart.

But I was mainly thrilled that another alum was as infected with the Holy Ghost of Journalism as I am. And that, in turn, is a tribute to you!

advancing the story

Melissa forwards the following links:

The first is to a story by Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman, who used the recent tragedy of the athletes recently lost in the Gulf of Mexico as the newshook for an elegant story that remembers Anthony Latham, who drowned under similar circumstances in 1983. Pay special attention to the way in which the story develops, its fluid structure, and most importantly, the ending.

As all good endings should, it lingers. As Melissa wrote, "I would kill to have written that last line."

But equally worth a read, especially for any enterprising reporters, is this link to Pearlman's blog in which he outlines his development of the story, step by step. bk

points of connection

A few updates from some j-kids turned up in my inbox recently:

MELISSA SEGURA, '01, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, was interviewed by NPR's Robert Seagal on "All Things Considered" about the story she broke on baseball player Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzalez, the former top prospect for the Washington Nationals, who faked his age and his name. It's all part of a story Melissa has been investigating in the Dominican Republic on money-skimming by international baseball scouts.

Listen to the NPR interview here. Read Melissa's story here. Read more about her investigation on this WaPo blog.


Also got an email from KEVIN GEMMELL, '98, one of the first students I ever taught. He is a sports writer for the San Diego Union Tribune, and forwards this link to a recent cover story.
And because I am an egregious self-promoter, I can't help including this part of his email:

"... I'm coming up on 10 years since graduating from SCU. I still get the thrill of seeing my byline, especially on cover stories, and I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks. So much of writing was influenced by you -- even 10 years later. It's been too long since I've said thank you. So, thank you."

I also heard from LIZ WEEKER, '07, who recently returned from a journalism workshop at the Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley. She writes:

"There was a lot of talk about the future of newspapers and individual
journalists. A lot of us are just looking to survive. It made me wonder
about the kinds of discussions you and your students must be having right
now, so I checked out your blog. Your most recent posting about the business
model of newspapers was a major theme throughout the workshop. I thought you
might be interested in checking out this person: Lauren Rich Fine. She used
to work for Merrill Lynch as an analyst for publishing, advertising and
online industries. I tried to post an article she wrote today on your blog,
but it didn't quite work and I didn't want to accidentally double post.
Here it is."

JEREMY HERB, '08, now at Columbia Journalism School, just forwarded this link to a new digital journalism project he's working on at the New York Times. It just launched today.


And finally, JACK GILLUM, '06, turned up in my classroom yesterday. He's now a database editor at USA Today, and did a great job of showing -- as well as telling -- my students why reporters love what they do. bk

on gary smith

For all you Gary Smith fans: The award winning Sports Illustrated feature writer who has just come out with a new book, “Sports Illustrated: Going Deep,” was profiled in the New York Times yesterday.

I got my first dose of Smith's work when Melissa Segura (SCU, '01) brought a copy of her favorite piece to one of the first j. classes she took from me: he was her idol, and his work probably did more than anything else to inspire her to pursue a career in journalism.

Which she did. She is currently a writer-reporter at Sports Illustrated where she often works with Smith, who has become both a mentor and a friend. Segura covers baseball. Like her mentor, Segura looks deeply at the players, not just the games. Here's a link to one of her pieces.

Anyway, Smith's work is now a staple -- and a favorite -- of Magazine Journalism. From the Times article:

"Mr. Smith writes for Sports Illustrated. But his work is only tangentially about games, with great appeal for people who wouldn’t know a nickel defense from a triangle offense. Each year he produces four long, earnest feature articles that probe the psyches of wounded people, some of them famous but most obscure, from Andre Agassi to high school basketball players on an Indian reservation.

"And if the results are sometimes called melodrama, they have more often been praised as the work of perhaps the greatest American magazine writer currently working. He has won four National Magazine Awards — that industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize — for nonfiction writing, more than anyone else. He has been a finalist 10 times, also a record."