By: Mike Brannen

If you Google your name, is the first search result actually you? If not, do you want it to be? Then follow these three easy steps.

1) Get a smartphone.

Smartphones are too amazing. I got my first one, a G2 Google Android from T-Mobile, two months ago. It might have more tools that my two-year-old Netbook. I was probably way behind on getting one, so I assume everyone has one at this point.

2) Download the Tweetdeck app

The most important app available on my phone is Tweetdeck. Any journalist wanting to make a name for themselves ought to invest in a smartphone and download this app (or at least something similar).

To bring everyone up to speed, Tweetdeck is an application where you can simultaneously update your Facebook profile and Twitter status, as well as communicate with your friends and followers.

About a month before getting this new phone, I downloaded Tweetdeck for my Netbook. I wasn’t really active on it. I had to download it, log in, read through everything everyone else wrote, and then have something meaningful to say. Well this was just too much effort for my lazy self. I maybe logged on three times. But then I got my smartphone and the Tweetdeck app. A touch of my phone’s screen, and I’m ready to update. It’s amazing how much more I’m willing to converse with others (and just blurb randomly) through this thing.

3) Update, update, update

In the back of my mind, I was expecting a greater Internet presence once I abandoned my old call-text-alarm-only phone. Apparently my Tweets and Facebook comments through Tweetdeck kept feeding my name into Internet. As I provided updates on Tweetdeck, it improved the likelihood of finding me when typing my name in a search engine (like Google). A year ago, you might have found a Mike Brannen who is a college athletic scout, or a doctor in Nebraska. Now, my Twitter profile is the first result you see in Google if you search my name. All because I used Tweetdeck. (And really, a lot of it was during Green Bay Packer playoff games and college basketball games.

It’s that simple. But a word of caution- just be careful with what you are saying. You don’t want that one ill-advised update to follow your name high up in search results.

Hope to see you at the top!

Mike Brannen is a morning newscast producer for KIRO7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. He recently received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed his thesis, Motivational Use of Twitter. He previously worked multiple positions at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri during the past four years.

By: Lynn Walsh

Being able to attend trainings, especially ones lasting more than a few days, is a privilege in this business. So, when you are able to attend them or selected to attend them, I think you need to treasure every minute of them and most importantly be prepared.

This week, I am attending a Web 2.0 training at the Knight Digital Media Center in California. As this week quickly approached, saying I was excited about the opportunity was an understatement. I was eager to meet fellow journalists, learn new tricks and increase my love of journalism even more.

In general, as a training date gets closer and closer, the key for me is preparation — without it I do not think I would be able to enjoy or really learn much from them. So, as with other trainings I began to prepare mentally and electronically.

Here are some ways I prepare for trainings so I can have the ultimate journalism experience, without interruptions:

* Communicate with your news organization ahead of time. Make sure it is clear what, if any, your responsibilities will be while there. Will you be expected to blog? Post updates on social media accounts? Respond to e-mails? The list goes on and on and I think it is crucial in making sure you get the most out of your training. The best way to approach these questions is by asking and having an open conversation about all of this with your boss and editors.
* Let people know you will be gone. Whether it is a source or colleagues. Take the time to send out personal e-mails or to make phone calls to let people know you will be out of pocket for a while. Be sure to set a vacation responder on your e-mail and your voicemail message. If you are OK with being contacted let people know the best way to reach you.
* Share valuable story information or have it easy to find. While you may not be in the newsroom, it doesn’t mean your beat is going to stop moving. If you were working on a major story, let someone know where it stands and where the information is, just in case anything happens. Forward e-mails to other reporters about story leads you received. Copy documents and databases to CD’s or keep them in a place that is easy to locate just in case someone in the newsroom needs to get their hands on it. The same goes for any social organizations or responsibilities you may have too.
* Make sure you leave home AT HOME. From the littlest things like emptying garbage cans to paying bills, make sure you leave yourself enough time to get things at home done so you are not thinking or worrying about them while attending training. Let friends and family know where you are and give them a heads up that you may be hard to get in touch with during the training.
* Come prepared. Make sure you have enough business cards, all of your electronic chargers, pens, a computer if you need one, etc. You want to put your best face forward, so take the time to cover your bases. Check out what the weather is going to be if you are traveling somewhere and pack accordingly. Not sure what the dress code is, it is OK to ask the organizers. And be sure to bring cash and have some on hand, especially for airports and parking.
* Contact old friends. This is only if time and the schedule allows for it (be sure to check with your organizers.) Check your Rolodex and contact people who may be in the area and see if they can grab dinner, drinks, breakfast, etc. It can be a perfect opportunity to reconnect to an old friend or colleague.

Keeping these tips in mind has helped me better enjoy and take advantage of all of the learning and networking opportunities a training can offer. Is there anything I am missing? Let me know how you prepare for a training by posting comments below or on Twitter @SPJGenerationJ or @LWalsh.

Lynn Walsh is an investigative video journalist for Texas Watchdog, a nonprofit online news organization that focuses on government transparency and government accountability. Lynn is also the committee chair for Generation J. She is obsessed with social media, new technology and news; get in touch with her on Twitter @LWalsh or by e-mail Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com.

By: Lynn Walsh

As young or new journalists many of us are faced with the stigma associated with being “the new guy.”

The extra phone calls, the posting of web content, the small errands — the list of assignments you receive can sometimes bring you back to the days when you were just an intern.

Just because you are “the new kid on the block” it doesn’t mean you are not a valuable and important part of your news organization. Even though it may not feel like it at first or the adjustment period is taking longer than you would like, hang in there, because they would not have hired you and picked you from probably countless other applicants if they didn’t want you there.

That said, being new also means you have to prove yourself, gain trust and in turn gain more responsibility. You are not going to get any of those things though without stepping up and becoming a leader, someone your boss and colleagues can count on.

For me that has meant being willing to train and be patient with my fellow reporters as I teach them basic video skills like shooting and editing. It has also meant using my love of social media to let my editors know about new online tools that may be great additions to our website or social media coverage.

How do I do this? By sharing and communicating with fellow reporters and editors about interesting websites, great news stories and local events that I find interesting and could see as possibly being worthwhile to my news organization.

You can do this too! It really is not that hard and you are probably doing it already don’t even realize it. The great part about it is that it doesn’t even take that much time. It can be as simple as sharing an e-mail with fellow staff members or spending a few minutes a week just talking to your editor or boss about industry related news. (Sometimes conversations with editors or supervisors can get too caught up in the daily beat you cover. It’s OK to break away from that once in a while!)

The worst thing you can do is assume that everyone else at your news organization has heard about the great new FREE audio recording app you found for your smartphone or that everyone else has also received an invitation to try out a beta version of an up-and-coming social media site.

This goes beyond gadgets and technology too. Just because you signed up to receive updates form the FBI or Department of Justice doesn’t mean everyone did. If there is ever potential for a story based on information you received from an e-mail alert or press release, do not hesitate to speak up. The worst thing someone can say is that they saw it or that they are not interested in having anyone from your news organization cover it.

One thing to keep in mind: do not overwhelm anyone either. Forwarding press releases form the Governors office daily or stories from ESPN and other national news organization may get a little redundant and become annoying, especially if there is a pretty good chance the person is already aware of the situation or story.

Whether you feel like the “newbie” or not, now is the time to step up and show your newsroom what you can do as a journalist!

Lynn Walsh is an investigative video journalist for Texas Watchdog, a nonprofit online news organization that focuses on government transparency and government accountability. Lynn is also the committee chair for Generation J. She is obsessed with social media, new technology and news; get in touch with her on Twitter @LWalsh or by e-mail Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com.

By: Mike Brannen

TV news has become disillusioned in the past six months because of the explosive power of viral videos By now, it’s been hard to miss the multiple Internet videos featuring Antoine Dodson, a man clamoring to find his sister’s accused attacker.

Now I won’t be a hypocrite, so I’ll make this clear:

Off the clock, I must admit the “Bed Intruder Song” is clever and incredibly catchy. But as a journalist, I’m not proud that the interview was used so liberally in the story by WAFF, the station that originally aired it.

There’s also the rapid rise and seemingly faster fall of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the “golden voice. It merely took days before this man was a superstar and already into rehab. He had a lifetime’s worth of tabloid news crammed into a week.

But what to take away from all of this is the surge of TV stations abandoning news, and preferring to go after stories that could dig up the next Dodson or Williams.

This surge might have hit rock bottom in Indianapolis.

I wish a word existed in the English language to succinctly describe the specific motion of hitting oneself in the head in disbelief and embarrassment. Such was my repeated reaction over the course of a story reported by WXIN, the FOX affiliate in Indianapolis.

WXIN took to their streets in search of the next Ted Williams-type viral vagabond. The report they aired is a painful sign of how local TV affiliates are abandoning news, and simply seeking a hot video that could blow up online.

I can’t find the full report on WXIN’s web site, but The Daily Show did get a hold of it and provided a spot-on criticism of the purely base, short-sighted, exploitative report.

(Skip to the 1:10 mark of the video to watch Jon Stewart’s play-by-play of the story.)

Remember that word I was looking for earlier? Well, about four times in this story it would have been appropriate. The Daily Show again takes an incredulous stance, and wonders how something like this ever gets on air…myself included.

What concerns me is the process that went into this story. I assume the story pitch went through an assignment editor, a reporter, a photographer, a producer, and an executive producer. FIVE people (six if you count a news director) believed this was a story worth reporting and sharing with viewers. If only one of those people could step back and examine how this report took advantage of a homeless woman’s plight for the sake of amusement.

This point is illustrated by the audience’s reaction to the homeless woman’s dumbfounded answers. She sincerely had not heard of the “golden voice” man, and yet her lack of knowing was a point of humor in this story. News should not subject people to be humiliated on air. That’s not our mission.

I am keenly aware reality TV shows have exploited the rich, the spoiled, the dumb, the classless, and the attention-seekers. Other channels and other shows can lay claim over them and objectify them in any way they want. But TV news can’t.

If local affiliates chose to poke fun or take advantage of the people they talk to, sources won’t speak because they know the ramifications. What good is news if you can’t get people to give you their honest perspective without being embarrassed? It’s a fine line in some stories (like Dodson’s); you either protect a source’s image and maintain your integrity, or exploit the source for viewer entertainment.

I believe we must keep our focus on important news and respect the audience that seeks it from us.

Mike Brannen recently completed his thesis, Motivational Use of Twitter, and received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has worked various positions at KOMU-TV during the past four years. He is currently a newscast producer and producer supervisor.