Q. Do the opinions here reflect that of your employers past or present?

A. I’m glad you asked. No, the opinions here do not reflect that of my employers past or present.

Q. What is this Journerdism thing?

A. jour – nerd – ism :

1. A news and commentary website for journalists and nerds to kick it and discuss emerging mobile and tablet technologies, the craft journalism and multimedia storytelling, web development, interactive design, social content and all things nerdy online.

2. Will Sullivan’s website.

Pronunciation: “jr-nurd-izm”

See also: journalist, nerd, geek, journerdist

Q. Who are you?

A. Here’s the formal bio: Will Sullivan is the Global Mobile Product Lead for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent federal agency that operates international digital, information and broadcast properties including The Voice of America, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, delivering news, information and language teaching resources in more than 61 languages to more than 100 countries with an estimated global audience of more than 203 million weekly and more than 300 million annually.

A certified scrum master, he leads the strategy, UX design, development and agile product management for mobile and tablet apps, Short Messaging Services (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), ebooks, mobile, responsive, and adaptive websites around the globe.

Sullivan was previously the Director of Mobile News for Lee Enterprises, managing a portfolio mobile and tablet apps and e-books for more than 40 daily newspapers and more than 200 weekly and vertical niche publications. He was a 2010-2011 Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Fellow at the University of Missouri, where he studied mobile, tablet and emerging technologies. Before that, he was the Interactive Director of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch where he pioneered the organization’s mobile, social and multimedia initiatives.

Sullivan was selected by Editor and Publisher as one of 2012’s “25 under 35” innovative young journalism leaders. His leadership and contributions to the digital media professional earned him two President’s Awards from the Society for News Design in 2011 and the National Press Photographer Association President’s Award in 2009.

His innovative work has won more than two dozen awards from organizations including the Online News Association, Society for News Design and National Press Photographer Association; projects he’s worked on have twice been declared finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, twice been named to Editor and Publisher’s annual list of “10 That Do It Right” and three times won an Online Journalism Award from the Online News Association. His personal website, Journerdism.com, was also recognized by Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab as one of the 10 best “future-of-journalism” blogs. He’s the former secretary of the Online News Association’s board of directors as well as a board member for the Society for News Design foundation and co-creator and co-director of the NPPA’s Multimedia Immersion.

Sullivan has been a judge multiple times for the Online News Association’s Online Journalism Award, Editor & Publisher EPPY Awards, Society for News Design’s digital and print competitions, Associated Collegiate Press and he has also judged the World Press Photo

He also frequently offers strategic and technical consulting in emerging technologies, as well as hands-on training at organizations, universities, workshops and conferences around the world including South by Southwest Interactive, The Knight Digital Media Center, Online News Association and The Poynter Institute.

Q. What are your goals with this blog?

A. I’m Will Sullivan, the individual and any and all posts and views here are produced solely my personal capacity and is not funded, sponsored, or endorsed by the BBG or the U.S. Federal government or any of my past or future employers. This blog is a personal repository for news and thoughts on the future of online media. Beware: It’s snarky. It’s passionate. It’s usually written late at night and not copy edited very well.

I’m the son of two teachers, so education is an important part of my life (both learning and teaching) and Journerdism is one way I try to keep up on industry developments and hopefully the information helps educate you and our industry to keep moving forward.

Most of the blog consists of links to fresh news and opinions in many topics from general journalism to nerd life stuff, like the latest cool Lego set. Occasionally, I have time to sit down and prepare a longer piece.

On Journerdism, I promise offer you honest and transparent information. If I have a relationship or interest in something, it will be very clear.

I tend to not follow the book of ‘good blogging’ and ask for comments on each article, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want them. (I just don’t want to patronize you or waste your time reading me repeating that on every. single. article. Like some other blogs.) So please share you thoughts! It’s no fun blogging in a vacuum.

Q. What’s your work, school and professional organization background?

A. Here’s the list:

Education:

• Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Fellow
• Poynter Institute, Visual Journalism Fellowship
• Northwestern University, MSJ New Media
• University of Toledo, BA Communication

Speaking & teaching:

• South by Southwest Interactive
• Newspaper Association of America
• The Poynter Institute
• Knight Digital Media Center at UC-Berkeley
• University of Montana
• University of Nebraska
• Knight Digital Media Center at USC
• Columbia College Chicago
• APME News Train Seminars
• National Press Photographer Association
• St. Louis University
• Washington University
• Mid-America Press Institute
• Eastern Illinois University
• Missouri University
• Syracuse University
• Illinois Press Photographer Association
• University of Toledo
• Northwestern University
• Associated Church Press
• Associated Press Managing Editors

Corporate Work & Consulting:

• MediaNews Group
• Hearst Innovation
• Freedom Communications
• Cox Newspapers
• Lee Enterprises
• E.W. Scripps Co.
• Fairfax Digital
• Collegian Media Foundation

…And these properties:

• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO)
• The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL)
• The Palm Beach Daily News (Palm Beach, FL)
• The Stuart News (Stuart, FL)
• The Port St. Lucie News (Port St. Lucie, FL)
• Vero Beach Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL)
• The Fort Pierce Tribune (Fort Pierce, FL)
• Sebastian Sun (Sebastian, FL)
• The Jupiter Courier (Jupiter, FL)
• The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia)
• The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
• The Newcastle Herald (Newcastle, Australia)
• Editor & Publisher (New York, NY)
• The Quad-City Times (Davenport, IA)
• Your Mom (Davenport, IA)
• Medill News Service, (Chicago, IL)
• The Daily Northwestern (Evanston, IL)
• NUComment.com (Evanston, IL)
• Daily Herald (Chicago, IL)
• The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN)
• Lerner Newspapers (Chicago, IL)
• Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, IL)
• The Chicago Journal (Oak Park, IL)
• Toledo City Paper (Toledo, OH)
• Independent Collegian (Toledo, OH)
• UT News (Toledo, OH)

Professional leadership:

• Online News Association, Board of Directors
• Society for News Design Foundation, Board Member
• National Press Photographer Association, Multimedia Committee Board Member
• Southern Illinois University, Professional Advisory Board Member
• University of Toledo Outstanding Alumnus

Other professional organizations I’m a member of:

• Illinois Press Photographers Association (Honorary Lifetime Member)
• Mobile Marketing Association
• Online News Association
• Society for News Design
• Sports Shooter

Q. Do you own a controlling interest in any companies you discuss on Journerdism?

A. No, I don’t own a controlling interest in anything. I also don’t own any shares of media stocks. I do own shares (small numbers, albeit) of stock in Google, Dell and Apple. As well as small shares of dozens of other companies through a couple mutual funds and a 401K account.

Q. Is this blog copyrighted?

A. Yes, Journerdism published under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5).

Q. How can I connect and get in contact with you?

A. Sure, here are some quick ways to contact me:

• Email: will [at] journerdism.com
• AIM: yeltsinfina
• GTalk: williamrobertsullivan
• Twitter – Microblogging
• Google+ – Social networking
• Tumblr – Tumble blogging
• Delicious – Social bookmarking (huge archive here)
• LinkedIn – Professional social networking
• Facebook – Social networking
• YouTube – Social videos
• Stumble Upon – Social news sharing
• Wired Journalists – Journalism networking site
• FriendFeed – Social life aggregator
• Technorati – Blogging
• MySpace – Social networking
• Flickr – Social photo
• Blip.Fm – Social DJ
• Open ID – Claiming my identity
• Digg – Social news sharing
• Reddit – Social news sharing
• Sports Shooter – Photography community

Q. What’s the word on the street about this blog?

A. Here is what some folks in the online news biz have said about me/this blog, and there’s also a bunch of recommendations on my LinkedIn page:

• “Will Sullivan, the best aggregator of forward-looking links…”
  - “Future-of-journalism top 10” from The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.

• “What sources do you use to stay up to date on changes and trends in the online journalism industry?”  … #10: Journerdism”
  - Online News Association 2008 audience survey results

• ” … 19. Journerdism From the esteemed tradition of Waxy and Snark Market comes Journerdism, a link blog from Floridan new media journalist, Will Sullivan. …”
  -From “Best Blogs of 2006 that You (Maybe) Aren’t Reading” by online news visionary and gadfly, Rex Sorgatz @ Fimoculous.com.  Journerdism also made the list again in 2008.

• “… I usually visit a couple of news-related blogs each day: thebloggingjournalist.com, journerdism.com and Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits. They’re all good for different reasons. …”
  – From “So, what sites do you like?” by President and Executive Editor of Greenspun Interactive & online news legend, Rob Curley @ RobCurley.com.

• “… Will Sullivan of Journerdism is back! I have missed his posts. He has lost none of his needle-sharp perceptiveness. …”
  – From “Is video the best use of your resources?” by the woman who wrote the book on Flash Journalism (Literally.) and Knight Chair in Journalism at the University of Florida, Mindy McAdams @ Teaching Online Journalism.

• “… During the last couple months, I’ve used the “most visited” tool from del.icio.us to monitor the blogs I frequent. As a result, the blogs are listed in order of how often I visit them. And I’ve decided to post only the top 10. Congratulations to Will Sullivan’s Journerdism, which I apparently use the hell out of…”
  - From “Top 10 blogs I read” by online journalism blogger and Content Manager for HeraldTribune.com Lucas Grindley @ LucasGrindley.com.

Q. Do you do other stuff besides your day job and this blog?

A. Yes, definitely. When time permits, I regularly am available for teaching and speaking engagements, consulting and freelance or contract work. I’m also interested in new opportunities and side projects that will help expand my skill set and portfolio.

Q. Can I contact you about my company, blog, business, etc…?

A. Sure. Although contacting me doesn’t mean it’ll be mentioned here or that I can do anything for you. I’m always interested in hearing about new ventures though.

Q. I’m a student. Can I contact you about a job, career advice, research, etc…?

A. Sure. I love hearing from and helping students out when I reasonably can. If you’re looking for advice, you should check out this interview I did with the Innovation in College Media blog; there’s a bunch of tips for students entering the journalism business in there. Also, if you’re looking for advice on gear, books or training, check out The Journerdism Store for some of my recommendations. Need info about online journalism job titles, salaries and responsibilities? Look here. And for a general career guide and job finding advice from resume ideas, to cover letters to negotiation tactics to job boards, check out the ultimate journalism career guide here.

Q. What political affiliation are you tied to?

A. I’m a registered independent. I lean progressive and sometimes libertarian in the political spectrum.

Q. What social or political causes do you support?

A. I try to stay away from getting too political on this blog, unless it’s issues related to journalism or nerdism. These issues and my stances tend to be:

• I support protecting net neutrality and mobile net neutrality, I’m ok with metered models as long as it protects net neutrality.
• I support open standards for all media/content formats.
• I’m generally against telecom monopolies, the MPAA and RIAA’s litigation and lobbying, and for that matter, most public relations and lobbying efforts to spin and/or derail the truth and deceive the public.
• I support protecting The Bill of Rights and American democracy.
• I support protecting the freedom of the information.
• I support protecting libraries.
• I support protecting education institutions.
• I support protecting open, equal and free access to the Internet for those not privileged enough to have home access.

For the sake of full disclosure, these are other issues I feel passionate about but tend to not discuss here:

• Alternative energy (specifically solar power and electric vehicles).
• Environmental protection.
• Recycling.
• Public transportation.
• Urban planning.
• Insurance and medical drug industry reform.

Q. What’s the deal with the new recommendations page?

A. They’re affiliate links, so if you click on something and make a purchase, I get a small cut (usually 2-4%). Journerdism is totally ad-free. This side page with recommendations is a little test to see if I can offset my website hosting costs (about $50 a year). Since I’m often consulted for my opinion on what books, gear and media to use, this is a way of offering up that information and it also may help cover the cost of operating the website. Anything extra raised from these affiliate accounts will go to a charity supporting the ideals of Journerdism. Depending on how much is raised, it’ll be donated to the following charities:

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Center for Media and Democracy
• The Center for Public Integrity
• The Sunlight Foundation

Q. Can I buy you a beer, give you money or donate to Journerdism?

A. I’ll take beers in person. If you really want to donate, please send your money to one of the following Journerdism-endorsed, non-profit organizations:

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Center for Media and Democracy
• The Center for Public Integrity
• The Sunlight Foundation

Q. What’s the deal with the stuff about Legos on this journalism blog?

A. This blog isn’t just about journalism. It’s a lot about being a nerd. And being a nerd is being ultra-passionate about things. I love a lot of things and will often toss out links to them. I love legos, bicycles, Muppets, cartoons, beards or any majestic facial hair. And Chicago, the Rockets, Wildcats, Wolverines, Bears and Cubs. Also, Arrested Development, Family Guy, Seinfeld, Dr. Katz, UCB, Firefly/Serenity, ATHF & Star Wars. (References & jokes may be peppered throughout the site.)

Q. I have a question that was not answered here, ‘lil help?

A. Sure. Contact me at will [at] journerdism [dot] com.