This blog is moving as of Jan. 1, 2009, to http://allthenewsblog.wordpress.com/. Please come visit it there for regular updates relevant to the content of the book.

Instructors who have adopted "All the News" for classes beginning in Fall 2008 have access to an Instructor's Manual for the text. The IM includes chapter summaries, chapter outlines, chapter quizzes, definitions of key terms, sample syllabi and a compilation of all Assignment Desk exercises from the book. Instructors need to get a login and password from their Pearson sales representative. Next, visit the text catalog page, click on the "resources" tab, and download the electronic file.

Just getting into Twitter? You'll likely find some interesting suggestions in "Five Ways to Gather and Report News with Twitter." One of the best suggestions is to ask local Twitter users to submit questions for important interviews.

The Online Journalism Blog asks "Should Journalism Degrees Still Prepare Students for a News Industry that Don't Want Them?" In a video discussion format, several journalists look at the mounting instances of job cuts and outsourcing and offer suggestions for making journalism education more relevant for tomorrow's graduates.

Broadband growth in the United States may be reaching its saturation point. The Associated Press reported that a study by Leichtman Research Group Inc. showed that the number of new broadband subscribers fell in the second quarter of 2008 to its lowest level in at least seven years.

That still meant that the 20 largest broadband providers picked up 887,000 additional subscribers in the three months ending June 30. But figure is about half the growth of a year earlier. Saturation and a slowing economy were cited as reasons for the change.

In one more sign of a move to "backpack" journalism, CNN recently announced that it was doubling the number of its domestic news bureaus, from 10 to 20. But they're not really bureaus, according to MediaLife Magazine:

[I]n a testament to these internet times, they won't be so much bureaus as reporters roving about in those cities, without any real offices as such. They'll be finding digs where they can, likely the odd spare desk at the local paper, where spare desks are increasingly common. ...The internet and cell phones allow reporters to work from anywhere, and many do. These days some magazines are put out entirely virtually, with even the top editor working from a cubicle, often in his or her home.

URL correction: The URL of the companion Web site is www.mycommunicationkit.com, NOT www.mycommkit.com, which is listed in Chapter 10 and 11. This was an error on the part of my publisher.

Publication day is almost here!
I am finishing work on the page proofs of "All the News: Reporting and Writing for Convergent Media," and publication is scheduled for March 10. College instructors can visit the Allyn and Bacon Web site to order a review copy now.

Welcome to the blog companion for "All the News: Writing and Reporting for Convergent Media." After this textbook is published in 2008, this site will offer regular updates, links to news stories of interest to newswriting instructors and students and more.