Working at becoming a better blogger

[Non political post ahead]

or maybe a better blogger/journalist.

During my normal surfing tonight, I came across a post publicizing a visit to UMass/Amherst (think: ASU with more beer and less sunblock :) ) by "Columbia University new-media expert Sree Sreenivasan" on December 5th. (Greylocknews)

The event itself isn't important to this post - I have no intention of attending. Early December isn't the best time to visit western Massachusetts; it's the time to leave.

The important part is the links that Greylocknews provided in his post.

The first one is to Mr. Sreenivasan's personal website, SreeTips.com. Lots of useful info and links there.

The other important link provided, and the inspiration for this post, was to PoynterOnline, sort of a continuing ed site for journalists. There is a huge amount of information there, and though it is designed for professional journalists, it's still very useful for enthusiastic amateurs, such as bloggers.

The part of the site that I found most immediately useful was News University, an online training site for journalists.

A FREE online training site. The list of available courses is here.

In light of my decision, made at the end of the midterm election cycle, to focus on local (Scottsdale) issues and to keep an eye on the CAWCD and its newly-elected apparatchiks, the first course that I took (did I mention that it was FREE :)) ) concerned Freedom of Information Act requests, open meeting laws, and the like.

The provider of the lesson, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, provided Open Government guides for all 50 states, including Arizona.

That site is worth bookmarking, even if you don't sign up for an NU course.

Oh, and my education will include varieties other than the "virtual" type - during the spring semester, I'll be taking a Journalism course at SCC, either JRN201 or JRN234. I'd prefer JRN234 (Feature Writing) but I'm not sure if my work schedule will allow that.

Anyway, have a good night!