Speckman Accepts Pro Football Offer

“It is with a mix of great sadness and excitement that I announce my resignation as Head Football Coach at Menlo College,” said Mark Speckman. He has accepted a contract with the Canadian Professional Football Team, the Montreal Alouettes. The team, commonly known as the Als, is based in Montreal, Quebec. 

Photo Courtesy: sfgate.com



“This is a great opportunity for my wife and me,” continued Speckman. “I did not seek this position but I am excited that it was offered to me. I am saddened to leave, as I have a great love for Menlo and the football team. I believe the football program is in better shape today than it was a year ago when I arrived."

“Having Coach Speckman work with our student-athletes at Menlo College, his alma mater, has been a privilege,” said President James Kelly. “We wish Mark and Sue the very best in Montreal as they join, and no doubt will enhance, the ranks of professional football.”

Speckman, a Bay Area native and Menlo alumnus was a linebacker for Menlo from 1973–74.  He pioneered the "Fly" offense, an exciting, fast-paced system that has been used on a number of different football levels, including NCAA Division I and the NFL.

Athletic Director Keith Spataro said, "Words of appreciation don’t quite describe the opportunity I had to work with Coach Speckman.  He is an amazing leader and football coach. In the short time he has been at Menlo, he has transformed the spirit of the program.  I am truly saddened by his early departure, but equally happy for the opportunity that he has in front of him.  Our current team, staff and alumni will be forever grateful for his contributions to Oaks football.”

In addition to being an award-winning collegiate football coach, Speckman has an inspirational story that touches the hearts of everyone he meets. Despite being born without hands, he was a successful college football player. He then became a nationally recognized football coach and motivational speaker, spreading his inspirational tale on reaching one’s potential to numerous business, community, and educational organizations.

“When I arrived 14 months ago, I was ready to tackle the rebuilding of Menlo football. I never dreamed a professional-level opportunity would present itself so soon," said Speckman. “Thank you for giving me the chance to be Menlo’s coach.”

Jake Fohn, a running back on the Menlo College football team said, “We are all sad to see Coach Speckman go, but we are still very excited for next season as we are more a team now than ever.  Obviously, acquiring a new coach for the team so late in the year will be a challenge for us, but with adversity comes great opportunity. We are all ready to put on our navy blue jerseys and get back on the field.”

Punk'd by Linkedin Profile

This story ran on the AP wire Monday, Jan. 21. If you were the reporter, how would you have prevented from getting fooled?

Clarification: JC Penney-CEO's Vision story

(AP) – 1 day ago  

NEW YORK (AP) — In a Nov. 17 story about changes CEO Ron Johnson has instituted at J.C. Penney Co., The Associated Press attributed to Michael Francis, a former Penney president, comments about Johnson's leadership of the company.

The AP quoted Francis as saying that Johnson sticks to his beliefs and that Francis harbors no hard feelings toward Johnson, who fired him. "Life is too short," Francis was quoted as saying.

AP obtained the quotes through an email conversation it initiated from a page for Francis on the social network LinkedIn. After the story was published, Francis called the AP to say that the LinkedIn account belonged to an impostor, and that he himself had made no comments to AP about Johnson. Francis said he had contacted LinkedIn and that the company eliminated the account.

LinkedIn confirmed to the AP that it had eliminated the account but declined to discuss why it did so or whether it had evidence the account was fraudulent.

Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Needless Style Mistakes

According to the AP Stylebook, how should the word  "protestor's" in the headline be spelled?

In the opening paragraph, which is difficult to read says this:

"Twitter Inc. has to turn over information about an Occupy Wall Street protetster's posts of face a fine, a judge ruled, giving the company three days to show it isn't in contempt of court."

Did the headline writer get it correct? Or did the writer of the story get it correct?

NYT's Tom Friedman: In Today's Media, you have to 'work harder and smarter and develop new skills faster'

New York Times economic columnist Tom Friedman is always wringing his hands about how the United States is falling behind the rest of the world--in everything.

This week, he wrote a column that combined this familiar refrain with his thoughts on the recent political conventions held by the Democrats and Republicans.

One paragraph caught my attention:

"I covered the Republican convention, and I was impressed in watching my Times colleagues at how much their jobs have changed. Here’s what a reporter does in a typical day: report, file for the Web edition, file for The International Herald Tribune, tweet, update for the Web edition, report more, track other people’s tweets, do a Web-video spot and then write the story for the print paper. You want to be a Times reporter today? That’s your day. You have to work harder and smarter and develop new skills faster."

He's right.

Nothing stays the same in today's media environment. There's always a new platform to reach your audience. There are always new skills that you need to have, or at the very least, need to have basic knowledge.

That's one of the goals of our class, to make sure you walk away feeling comfortable with the digital tools of the moment, and have the confidence to try the tools of the future.

More on FIA

In our last class, I mentioned "FOIA," the Freedom of Information Act.

Here is some more about FOIA.

According the the Electronic Freedom Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with digital journalists, "The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that gives people the right to request information kept by federal government agencies.

"The law also requires agencies to make certain information automatically available to the public in online "reading rooms. This includes regulations, general policy statements, staff instructions, final opinions, and other records that affect members of the public.
"Furthermore," according to  the EFF, "FOIA says that information that is or is likely to be frequently requested should be automatically published on the Internet. You can check an office's reading room, which should be accessible from the office's website, to see if the records you are seeking are available online. The U.S. Department of Justice maintains a list of links to federal offices' reading rooms."

Here's a link to more about FOIA and why it's an important tool for journalists.

Social Media Fueling Resurgence of Infographics

Conventional wisdom said that infographics, those one-page, visual delights that packed lots of information into drawings and illustrations, were just about dead.

Social media looks as if it might change all of that.

BuzzMgr is a new firm that takes social media information and transforms it into great looking graphics. Here's what it did with information generated by the Republican convention. Take a look at how BuzzMgr captured the first night of the Democrat's convention.

Here's how BuzzMgr's founder, Kathleen Hessert  describes the goals of her company. 

When Can You Use Twitter in Stories and Storify Curation?

First, let's define a few terms.

In the digital media world "curation" means the collection, archiving, and for us, the publication of trustworthy digital content.

"Aggregation" in the digital media world means gathering, categorizing, and presenting material from multiple sources to create a one-of-a-kind editorial experience for readers/visitors.

So how do you decide which tweet or which Facebook post to use?

Here's what the Storify editors think. We'll talk more about this in class.