Kim Ng Interview

Interview with Craig Kanalley of Breaking Tweets

Photo: http://twitter.com/ckanal

Twenty-three-year-old Buffalo, New York native Craig Kanalley is best known as the brain behind the Twitter based news site Breaking Tweets. In addition, Kanalley is currently part of the journalism staff at DePaul University, teaching a new course called Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets.

In terms of his academic background, after graduating from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., Kanalley received his Master's from DePaul in journalism, finishing with an impressive 3.95 GPA.

Despite his extremely busy schedule, I had the opportunity to speak with the online entrepreneur over the phone. During the interview, Kanalley spilled the beans and let me in on his latest venture, working as Traffic and Trends Editor for the Huffington Post. Kanalley also expressed his hopes for the future world of journalism.

Q: What's your typical day like? Are you online 24/7?

Kanalley: No, not 24/7, not all the time. A lot of it is on my iPhone, so I have Twitter and everything to navigate on there to figure out what's going on. For a typical day, when it's a major breaking story, we try to jump on it as quickly as we can and get it on the site.

Q: Where do you see Breaking Tweets in five years?

Kanalley: I hope it is its own website by then. But I mean, not just a website but like an independent news organization that's actually recognized as a business model. In a perfect world, that's my hope.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Kanalley: I don't really know because I see Breaking Tweets as like a side project really, not necessarily a full-time thing ever, I don't think. I'm just starting a job at the Huffington Post actually, and I'm going to see where that goes and maybe I'll stay with them.

Q: In order to be a good and successful online journalist, do you think getting a degree in journalism is required?

Kanalley: I don't think I'd say that, it depends. I think you could be a good journalist without having much education in  it. But it definitely helps because you got to know that stuff and if you don't, I think you can have problems in your organization.

Q: Do you agree that the world of journalism is a changing, and not a dying, business?

Kanalley: Yes, I definitely think it's a changing business, and not dying. But I think that not everybody, unfortunately, is going to survive the downturn. I think we are going to lose some more media outlets along the way.

Q: With your new Huffington Post job, what's going to happen with Breaking Tweets?

Kanalley: Yes, that's new. I just got offered a job with them and I accepted. It's a full-time job with them as Traffic and Trends Editor. So I'll be focusing a lot on breaking news stuff for them, SEO, and social media. In terms of Breaking Tweets, I plan to keep doing that. Like I said, as a side thing. I think it'll keep going, and hopefully my friends will keep doing it as well because I have a bunch of friends that work on it with me.

Q: If there is one, who would be Breaking Tweets' number one competitor?

Kanalley: I would say Breaking News on Twitter. It's @BreakingNews just because it's similar, what they do. But instead of rounding up tweets, they focus on literally breaking news stories, so they're probably the closest thing to our competitor.

Q: On your Web site, you say that you "take pride in being extremely detail-oriented", how do you apply that mindset to your work?

Kanalley: When I wrote that, I meant a strong interest in details and getting all the facts and having a natural curiosity in the world, and I think those are traits that can be helpful for a journalist, so I think that's one of the most important things. In terms of a rule in online journalism, you have to be on top of all the specifics and make sure you have all the research done and all the facts straight, of course.

Q: If you had the power to do so, what would you change about Twitter?

Kanalley: I wouldn't really change anything. I think one of the reasons it's so good is that it's so simple and I think one thing I would say is for them NOT to make too many changes when going forward. Just keep it really simple and stick to the basics.

Q: How do you feel about all the "copy cat" news sites that have been modeled after Breaking Tweets?

Kanalley: I think the key for an organization to succeed where there's competition like that is to establish yourself as a trusted source and a credible source. We have a little bit of an advantage because we were founded way before all these sites. So we've been doing it for so long; so we use that to our advantage, in terms of credibility.

Haunted Houses Hit Chi-City

I got to visit my first haunted house ever, The Fear at Navy Pier. This is a feature piece I wrote about my experience for my Feature Writing course. Enjoy.

The Fear at Navy Pier

Gashed eyeballs oozing yellow puss, the rotting frame of what looks like a 6-foot Gremlin, and bellows convincing enough atheists start believing – all this paints the perfect picture of what can be seen and heard on the porch of Navy Pier’s newest attraction.

Right then and there, I decided The Fear was The One. After 21 hesitant years, I was finally going to pop my haunted house cherry. But before stepping up to the plate, I wanted to get to know The Fear more. After all, I was going to remember this night for the rest of my life.

“We’ve had really positive reviews from all over, wherever we go,” says Gezim ‘Gizmo’ Memishi, one of the backstage hands, while adjusting his headset. Perfect. This was exactly what I wanted to hear. Plus, how could you not trust a guy named Gizmo? Clearly, The Fear and I were meant to be.

According to the brochure, The Fear was voted “Number One Haunted House to Visit” on HauntedHouseChicago.com, and was named “One of the Top 25 Must See Haunts of 2009” by Haunted Attraction Magazine. Even more perfect. Numbers don’t lie; these were the facts, and The Fear was now even more worthy of being my first. I was getting aroused.

“People love coming here. We got kids going in all excited and then coming out in tears, but it’s all in good fun; they’re just happy tears,” added Head of Security Peter Kocomis, shaking his head and chuckling.

I froze. To me, coming out of a haunted house in tears equals anything but happy. Had I chosen the wrong haunted house? The Fear was supposed to be The One! I had to look into it further. I had already come this far. I was a haunted house virgin on a mission.

“We have a crew of around 120 people here, with 70 of them all actors. We all take our jobs really seriously,” assures Director of Promotions Dan ‘Skin Master’ Stempien. Instant music to my ears; Skin Master had my trust. I was definitely going to do The Deed now. You would trust a guy named Skin Master too, right? It was time for me to become a woman.

The Fear didn’t start out slow like I had hoped. I knew I should have brought protection; then I remembered the mini-umbrella in my bag. With every turn, actors dressed like extras from 28 Days Later came at me like a game of Cat-and-Mouse, the Chambers of Hell Edition.

After dodging another armless villain, it was so dark I had no idea where else to turn. Without second thought, I ran straight ahead, arms stretched out in front of me; and before I knew it, I was outside, alive and well.

It all happened so fast; the whole thing lasted about 8 minutes, which was disappointing. But I heard that’s how long it usually lasts your first time anyway, and that it’s usually the much larger haunted houses that are the best and take the longest to finish. I can’t wait.

My First Utter

A way to cure your Writer's Block

Mobile post sent by christayan using Utterli.  Replies.

Mashups Affect Reporting

Mashups--take it literally. A mashup basically 'mashes up' two or more already-brilliant websites together, creating a true gem guaranteed to become a future newsroom's go-to staple.

Introducing the globe-trotting, multilingual journalist's favorite-- Twitrans. This particular mashup allows Twitter users to translate their tweets into different languages--14 to be exact.

Quite simply, Twitrans gets the job done; you send your non-translated tweet to the good people at Twitrans via Twitter, and then they translate it for you to any language of your choice and send that translated tweet back directly to your account.

From Hindi to Spanish, Twitrans makes for an incredible reporting tool when it comes to wanting to create international traffic.

It's probably one of the least complicated mashups I've personally seen and used so far. The site is partnered up with a translation service that uses actual people to translate your tweets!

So sticklers, rest assured; no more misplaced modifiers or switches in tense that only a run-of-the-mill electronic dictionary would produce for your online sentences.

Another great mashup I was able to come across was Woozor. Also great for the mobile writer, Woozor blends the genes of Google Maps and Weather.com, giving birth to a whole new race of mapping mashups.

What makes Woozor so special is that it can give 10-day weather forecasts in any part of the world the user chooses. The neatly designed webapp is also available in several different languages, adding to its worldwide appeal.

Boasting talents that go beyond a diverse community of visitors, Woozer is definitely a mashup that can be used by anyone with an internet connection, including your local weatherman.

Speaking of boasting talents, Pixelpipe is an awesome mashup perfect for the budding online journalist. Pixelpipe allows its users to upload photos, add video files and MP3s, and of course, publish text. It's almost comparable to what Blogger.com offers.

But the one unique detail that separates Pixelpipe from any personal blogging site is Pixelpipe's ability to span the information you upload over 50 social networks, making it the ultimate mashup for immediate content distribution.

Some of its most popular social networks include Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Photobucket, Snapfish, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and tons more; all under Pixelpipe's omnipresent umbrella. 

Anyone can sign up for its free software, and you can even access your account and maneuver your content easily on your cell phone. Pixelpipe has everything you need to update breaking news on-the-go, and keep yourself entertained while riding CTA.

Last but not least, Triplify rounds out my top four mashup picks. Online Journalism pupils take note: Triplify will change your life.

Every good journalist knows that when reporting the news, clarity is key. In order to get the facts straight, the very first thing to turn to for the fastest answer possible would be an online search engine. But, which one first?

This is when Triplify comes into play. This soon-to-be cult favorite allows its users to type any word or phrase into its search engine and then view its coordinating search results across Yahoo, MSN, and Google.

It's basically a three-in-one online search engine, and its possibilities are endless. It truly lives up to its tagline: 'Search, Compare, and Sort!'.

The Muggings That Probably Happened Near Your Pad

This summer was unfortunately peppered with several muggings where the victims were either beaten, robbed, or both. Since mid-August, Chicago police have released details of seven muggings that occurred in the Lincoln Park area.

There are still on-going investigations, as police are not sure whether two of the attacks are related. As for the other five attacks, police have linked them; and so far no suspect has been arrested due to lack of evidence.

All four victims were men in their early to mid-20s and walking alone. Each was confronted on foot from behind by at least four attackers, who were also men in their 20s.

The victims were asked for their wallets, then savagely beaten in the head and face. Two of the victims were hospitalized.

As for the seven muggings, here are the locations where they occurred. The link to this map can also be found on quikmaps




***Police also revealed that the victim in the 3 a.m. August 1 attack in the 2000 block of North Cleveland Avenue identified an arrestee in a physical lineup, though the suspect was later released on lack of evidence.

In late July and early August, there were four strong-arm robberies in the Lincoln Park area as well. Police believe these robberies are related to the attacks.

In addition to the seven muggings, there was an additional robbery in the 3300 block of North Seminary Avenue just a few blocks from Wrigley Field. Like some of the other muggings, police have not denied or confirmed any relation to previous attacks.

For help on finding more information about these crimes, click here.

Tiny Urls and More

From this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8268399.stm

To this: http://bit.ly/PJn9

Pretty big difference. I used a site called bit.ly to do that.