Check out these two short talks from the annual TED conference to learn what the world of high fashion, a dancing Jesus and the Muppets can teach us about the archaic world of copyright law. A few months ago, Dr. Johanna Blakley, of USC’s Norman Lear Center, gave the first presentation, “Lessons from fashion’s free culture.”

Listening to her reminded me of a 2007 TED conference talk by Dr. Larry Lessig, now of Harvard then with Stanford. Lessig discussed ways to prevent copyright law from thwarting the potential of Internet users to benefit society with their creativity.

The 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship is all about social media. Fifteen lucky journos who land this gig will spend a week at Ohio State University (March 9-16) honing their social media skills and learning about the joys of SEO, strategic tweeting, and other wonders of the Interweb.

Fellows don’t have to pay anything – it’s all free, baby. The Kiplinger Foundation even pays your travel and lodging. Pretty sweet deal.

If you’re interested, then fill out this online application. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2010.

Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. You can follow her on Twitter (@emilysweeney) and find her on LinkedIn among other places.

America’s largest journalism organization recently completed the first phase of ongoing efforts to transform its website from an information dumping ground to a user-friendly destination.

From its pioneering code of ethics to FOI lessons, the scope, breadth and quality of the resources offered by the 8,000+-member Society of Professional Journalists has always stood out. But SPJ.org has accumulated a glut of content since its launch 14 years ago, and the site sometimes snags users in a spider web of slow-loading, text-heavy, link-laden subpages hosted on outside servers.

The good news is that SPJ staff, including executive director Joe Skeel, say they recognize the site’s areas of improvement, and they promise more changes in the coming months (short of the time and expense of starting the site from scratch). So far, their progress has been encouraging.

SPJ.org’s new homepage and main portal subpages are cleaner thanks to fewer links and less text. The site’s menu toolbar is now visible atop every subpage, and the Society added a “breadcrumb trail” feature in the upper left corner of each webpage to let users know where they are at all times.

The Society also installed a main search box to transport users directly to the most relevant subpages. Plus, SPJ.org is now viewable on mobile phones, and users can share its content more easily via social networking sites, emails and instant messaging services.

Those using the organization’s famous ethics code and chapter/member resources shouldn’t have any trouble, and it’s still easy to join, donate to and learn about SPJ. But the new SPJ.org still has areas of improvement.

Parts of the site, such as its training sections, overflow with content, including outdated material. And it can be difficult to maneuver inside the site’s subpages, some of which display too many pieces of clip art, text and links. Other parts lack effective search tools and a central element on which users can focus.

Nonetheless, it’s clear SPJ’s leadership is trying hard to rectify the site’s problems. The result is SPJ.org has been transformed from a Greek labyrinth to a Halloween corn maze — users may still get unnerved or lost at times, but the site is dramatically easier to navigate, more fun and there’s no Minotaur.

Daniel Axelrod spent five years as a full-time newspaper reporter, most recently in Scranton, Pa., before moving into public relations in April 2009. Reach him at deaxelrod@msn.com

No matter if you’re new to social media or if you’ve been active for years, it’s always a great time to evaluate your efforts. Below are the 10 most popular suggestions I share when it comes to participating on social sites.

1. Start with a plan: Before you sign up for a social site, come up with a game plan. You should be able to answer these questions: What do you want to accomplish? How much time do you have to spend on maintaining a social profile? Who do you want to reach and where can you find them online? Those questions will help determine which tools and sites you should use. If you don’t know, start doing some research.

2. Fill out your profile: Adding a photo or filling out your bio may seem basic, but it shows the community that you care. Photos help users remember you, and bios allow them to find you easily.

3. Be transparent: Interacting with folks on social sites can be a very personal experience. Users want to trust you – so make sure your profiles honestly portray who you are, what company you work for and why you’re on that site.

4. Be genuine: Stay true to who you are. People will want to connect with you if they feel you offer an authentic relationship. Similarly, while setting up RSS feeds to accounts or connecting Twitter feeds to Facebook may save you time, they don’t offer the authentic relationships many users are looking for – or will want to interact with.

5. Stay active and commit time to building your profile: Creating a successful profile online can take weeks, if not months. During that time you’ll learn it’s important to maintain and update your profile every day. Posting often will remind your friends that you’re active on the site, and they’ll be more likely to interact with you. Note: Be careful not to post too often. You don’t want to clog up your friends’ feeds with all of your posts.

6. Listen and interact: For the most part, being active on social sites requires two things: participating and listening. Remember that your profile isn’t a one-sided conversation. If you want folks to comment and interact with you, you’ll need to spend the time interacting with them. Be engaging by posting interesting content, asking questions and being polite (saying thank you, etc.).

7. Follow people back: It’s a general courtesy to follow those who friend you. Mutual friendships offer several benefits like the ability to send private messages to one another. They also show the community that you’re interested in others, rather than keeping to yourself.

8. Edit your posts: Become familiar with the editing options each site offers. On Twitter you can determine how your Tweet reads; but did you also know that you can edit the headline, description and photo on a link posted in Facebook or a link submitted to Digg? This means you can take out the “ – website.com” text that often appears after the headline and customize the description to something that is appealing to your audience.

9. Track metrics: If you’re not sure how much of an impact you’re making, check your metrics. This could be as easy as setting up an account with bit.ly, a link shortening service. It tracks how many clicks each link receives and offers other analytics. It’ll help you figure out if your effort is yielding the response you want.

10. Mistakes happen: We all make mistakes online, but it’s important to learn from them and move on. If a message does go out that’s incorrect or inappropriate, take a moment to correct that mistake or apologize. The community will appreciate it.

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!

Amanda Maurer is a digital news editor at the Chicago Tribune, who specializes in social media. She blogs at acmaurer.com; you can also follow her on Twitter at @acmaurer.

CoveritLive is a free live-blogging tool used by thousands of journalists, bloggers and news organizations around the world.

Whether you are breaking news, covering a sports game or running a Q & A CoveritLive brings your online reporting to your audience in real-time.

Top 3 reasons to use CoveritLive
1. It’s free. Yes, FREE! $0
2. Creating an account takes “two minutes”. Actually, depending on your typing skills, it may take you a tad bit longer, or shorter, it really depends…
3. Software to download = zero. Zero for you to host CiL or for your audience to participate!

Where do I sign up for a CoveritLive account?
Go to the CoveritLive registration page.

Why is CoveritLive a great tool for journalists?
CiL allows you to report breaking news in real-time, hold an interactive Q & A with experts or broadcast the play-by-play at a sporting events.

What type of software do I need to install CiL?
None. You don’t need to install any software.

Can I personalize my CiL account?
Yes. CiL allows you to custom brand your template. Whether it is as simple as having your name or company logo out front, customizing your CoveritLive template is an important step in building a connection with your audience.

Here is what the default template looks like:

CiL has a number of features to enhance your live-blogging event including:

• streaming live video
• incorporating Twitter posts
• polls
• News Flash and scoreboards

Want to experience a CiL event live now? Check out this list of continuously updated live CiL events.

Oh, and it’s Free (yes, I know I mentioned it before).

And yes, there is an iPhone app. It’s Free too.

Hilary Fosdal is the associate new media editor at the Law Bulletin Publishing Company located in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow her tweets @hilaryfosdal.

J-Lab’s excellent New Media Women Entrepreneurs group hosted a live chat online yesterday that answered basic questions about their grant application process. The live chat is posted here. Or you can go straight to the proposal guidelines here.

NMWE grants start-up funding to women-led journalism projects. Four projects will be chosen in 2010 for funding of up to $12,000.

NMWE’s focus:

NMWE is a unique initiative addressing opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism by spotlighting their ingenuity and entrepreneurial abilities. Pilot projects will show what can be done. Research will tell us what more to do. And an awards program and summit will showcase women’s creative ideas. NMWE is supported by the McCormick Foundation.

GRANT DEADLINE: APRIL 12, 2010

There will come a time, if it hasn’t already, when you will be asked to help design a web page or even be tasked with designing an entire web site.

The first step in the design process is creating a wireframe.

Wireframes show the placement of basic elements on a web page i.e., logo, navigation, content, etc.

Click here to see a wireframe sample

A piece of paper might suffice for sketching out your instantaneous and creative bursts, but ultimately your design should be implemented within a shareable wireframe software.

A simple Microsoft application such as Paint or a freeware program like GIMP can transform your cocktail napkin drawings into a digital wireframe. However, making edits, sharing your work and collaborating in these applications is difficult. To send a wireframe to a colleague or client using one of these applications requires that you send attachments in a .jpg or other file format. Additionally, making changes to the wireframe can be complex and confusing, even resulting in duplicated or lost files as each party has to save and edit and catalog the most updated version of the project before sending it onward for further revisions or approval.

Today there is a better alternative – Gliffy.

And yes, it’s free.

Gliffy is an online software application that provides the user with a gridded canvas to assist in lining up objects and a library of shapes and generic images to begin drafting your basic web page elements.

The program is simple to learn – just click and drag objects onto the canvas.

Since web design work is a collaborative effort Gliffy allows you to invite contributors to edit your wireframes and creates a unique, public URL for each of your wireframe documents.

Tips for creating wireframes:

• Don’t fret over choosing the right colors or text font for the web page during the beginning stages
• Wireframes should grow increasingly detailed as you receive feedback from your client or colleagues

Hilary Fosdal is a new media editor at the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. She blogs at hilaryfosdal.com and tweets @hilaryfosdal.

In television news you quickly learn what makes a good video story and what should be information put in a script for the news anchors to read.

Video stories have become a vital part of online and newspaper multimedia reports, but not every story should be turned into a video report.  I thought I’d ask three television news videographers to help us in our quest to figure out what makes a good video story and when should it only remain a story in print.

Chuck Denton is a multiple Emmy Award-winning news videographer based near Los Angeles.   He has 23 years of experience and has been a long time freelancer for CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN. He’s also won awards for his video editing.

Bonnie Gonzalez works as a one-man-band for an Austin television station.  She’s been a reporter/videographer for more than five years, and admits doing it all has taught her to be creative and resourceful.

Jim Kent is another news videographer with a long resume.  Jim has 10 Emmys and has been awarded Region 10 Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association.  Jim has more than 20 years experience and has freelanced for Fox and ABC.  He owns his own company in Phoenix called ArtGecko Productions.   

What do you look for in a good video story?

Chuck:  Are there “visual” elements to help tell the story? Covering a city council or school board meeting can be a snoozer to watch unless you can use video to help illustrate the issue. Sometimes local news covers a crime and has no crime scene video from the night before. It can be a challenge. Are the interviews dynamic?  Are they compelling enough to keep folks interested in tuning in?

Bonnie:  Is there action and lots of nat sound or natural sound?  That’s the sound you hear within a story that really pulls you in and makes you feel like you’re there. For example, say I was doing a story on fishing. I’d want to pick up the sounds of splashes, the reel, a fisherman’s laughs or groans, and place a lot of emphasis on those sounds in the story. Watch a story with a lot of nat sound versus one without, and you can really tell a difference.

When do you know it’s just a good print story and not really a good video story?

Chuck:  It’s a good print story when there’s no real video to use or shoot to tell the story. Meetings come to mind!

Jim: TV is a visual medium, that’s a given.  I believe  a great still shot and a well written print story can’t be beat when the story is complicated and complex, and can’t be told in a minute and half in video.

How important is it to have good characters?

Chuck: Having good characters is always a plus, but boring interviews can be offset by compelling video and by keeping the sound bites short.

Bonnie: If you have an interesting character, viewers are going to pay attention. Journalists tend to look towards people who are energetic, emotional, etc.

Jim:  What do we all remember about our favorite stories? Is it the well written copy or is it that great opening or closing shot? Most likely it was that fantastic character that led us through the story. People relate to people, not reporters, besides we all know reporters aren’t people, right? Just kidding.

How important is it to have good sound bites and action?

Chuck: Great sound bites can portray emotion and incredible context of the situation/story you are trying to tell; a grieving family member, a witness to a crime, a victim of a scam, someone well-known who may say something outrageous or out of character. How many times have stories been made for television, because we have terrific home or surveillance video?

Bonnie: If there’s no action how interesting of a story is it going to be? I once did a story on the housing market. My video was only different shots of houses and my interviews.  Not too exciting is it? Maybe I could’ve connected with a realtor and got video of a person showing a house otherwise it was a better print story.

Jim: I never stop shooting until I know I have great sound to tell the story. It’s that important.

Here are some examples of their work:

Chuck’s stories on CBS Evening News “Going with the Grain” and “Fallen Hero’s Story Inspires.”  You can contact Chuck at chuckdenton@yahoo.com

Bonnie’s story on News8 Austin “Prehistoric Mammoths Debut in Waco” and “Junior Chefs Shine in Temple Culinary Class.”  Bonnie can be contacted at bgonzalez@news8texas.com

Jim was one of the videographers on ABC’s 20/20 report “Revenge Against A Religious Sect.”  Jim can be contacted at  artgeckojim@cox.net

Rebecca Aguilar is an Emmy Award winning freelance multimedia reporter in Dallas. She produces videos, digital slide-shows along with her reports. She can be reached at aguilar.thereporter@yahoo.com

O.K. -  so you just shot some footage with your digital video camera.

Now what?

Well, if you’re one of those kids who can’t afford a slick Mac, and you’re stuck with an ol’ PC (like me), you can still edit and produce decent videos with Windows Movie Maker. It’s a standard video editing program that comes with most Microsoft media software packages. Nothing fancy, just basic tools and enough features to allow you to create some nice-looking clips.  It’s a good program to practice on – once you know how to use one video editing program, you pretty much know ‘em all – IMHO, they all pretty much work the same way.

Now then, the only way to learn to edit video….(and sorry for sounding like a sneaker ad here)…. is to just do it.  Here’s how you can get started, in seven easy steps.

1.) First things first: Connect your camera to your PC and transfer your video footage to the computer.  Import the video files into Windows Movie Maker.

2. ) Once you have some video footage to work with, click and drag the  clips to the storyboard at the bottom of the screen. (If you have a lot of footage, it’s a good idea to write an outline ahead of time, so you know where the scenes should fall on the timeline. Oh yeah…and once you start editing, don’t forget to save your Windows Movie Maker project!)

3.) Trim and arrange your clips as necessary. To shorten a video clip, use the “split” button on the bottom right hand side of the screen. Delete the bits and pieces you don’t need.

4.) Add some audio. Mosey on over to the Movie Tasks Pane, look under Capture video, and click on Import audio or music. Drag your song of choice to the video clip where you want the soundtrack to kick in. (If you need to raise or lower the volume, right-click the music on your timeline, and then click on….can you guess?….Volume. Then adjust accordingly.)

5.) Or maybe you want to add a voice-over. To do that, you can record a sound track separately, or connect a microphone to your PC, click on the  Tools menu, and then click Narrate Timeline, and do it right there. You can record your voice to go with individual clips or do the whole movie all at once – it’s your call. But whatever you do – make sure you write a script beforehand. Seriously. Believe me, it’s worth it. If you wing it, and try to narrate your vid on the fly, it’s not going to sound good. (Believe me, I’ve tried. Don’t repeat my mistake. You will not save any time.)

6.) Add titles and credits.  To add written words to your video, just click on the clip where you want to add some text. In the Movie Tasks pane, under Edit Movie, click Make titles or credits. From there, you can choose how many lines the title will have and how it will move. You can also change the size and color of the text.

7.) Preview your movie. If you like what you see, then it’s time to produce your video. Use the Save Movie Wizard to save your project as a .wmv or .avi video file. Once your video file is ready, you can upload it to the web  for all to see. If you don’t have a place to show it off, you can always post it on a free video hosting service such as YouTube or Vimeo.

So that’s my 7-Step tutorial on Windows Movie Maker.

The main sources of information for this article came from the Windows Movie Maker product guide and tutorials on the Microsoft website, and from my own personal experience. FYI, I’ve been editing video for over five years now, and during that time I’ve used many different programs – Final Cut, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Avid, and (of course!) good ol’ Windows Movie Maker. But I must confess, Windows Movie Maker is not my first choice, and I don’t use it that often. So if I missed anything here, please let me know.  I’m especially interested in hearing from any regular users out there – if you have any tips/tricks/hacks to share, please comment below.

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Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. You can follow her on Twitter (@emilysweeney) and find her on LinkedIn among other places.

Mimicking the Federal Trade Commission’s recent efforts, the Federal Communications Commission has begun soliciting input on its media rules and the news industry’s future. The FCC project, “The Future of Media and the Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age,” will investigate the changing media landscape and news delivery technology to potentially make policy recommendations.

The FCC deserves kudos for its multipronged multimedia outreach effort, which involves a Web site, a Blog and a Twitter account. But the catch for those sharing their opinions with agency is that it doesn’t have a ton of daily authority over the media. Its primary media regulatory responsibilities involve licensing radio and TV stations and the agency’s famous rule limiting the cross-ownership of newspaper and broadcast properties in a given market.

It’s possible the FCC could use the Future of the Media report as part of its quadrennial review of America’s media ownership rules, which Congress mandated the agency perform as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Input from the new FCC report also could be used as the agency decides how to handle the thorny situation surrounding its decades-old cross-ownership rule.

Two years ago, the FCC altered the outright ban on the cross-ownership of a newspaper and a TV station in the top 20 U.S. markets, and the agency put out a new waiver process for smaller markets. But the FCC never managed to implement the rule change. That’s because opponents of the rule — some want it relaxed while others want to keep it tight — have waged challenges and court battle since the Bush administration began trying to loosen it 17 years ago.

The rule change case is currently before a federal appeals court. And, now that the FCC is in Democratic hands, some accuse the majority commissioners of stalling the court from tackling the issue until media ownership rules can be rewritten to keep them tighter.

Those in favor of less restrictive media ownership rules use a similar argument to the successful case for consolidation made by Sirius and XM in 2008. (You’ll recall that merger combined two massively indebted companies to create one unfathomably leveraged satellite radio giant.)

Rule change proponents say ownership limits are unnecessary today because a multitude of media and platforms disseminate information and opinions and vie for the public’s money and attention. In the meantime, big corporations say they’re missing out on potential broadcast, online and print synergies that could save their businesses.

Those who argue against changing the rules say they don’t want Rupert Murdoch, Gannett or any other corporation controlling the bulk of the major media voices in their markets. Be sure to visit the FCC’s “Future of the Media” Web site to tell the agency what you think.

Daniel Axelrod spent five years as a full-time newspaper reporter, most recently in Scranton, Pa., before moving into public relations in April 2009. Reach him at deaxelrod@msn.com