The Star Car got another function today ... something very important to add before we start installing all these gadgets.
An alarm.
Joy, Jon and myself were outside examining how effective the alarm is Friday afternoon. Jon was tapping on the side of the SUV ... Joy started slapping the back of the vehicle.
Then, the siren sounded. It was the loudest I had ever seen...I just knew people could hear it miles away.
It wasn't really the car alarm. It was the air siren at the fire department. They laughed at me.
Nevertheless, the alarm system on the Star Car does work, and it sounded pretty awesome.
I'm sure we won't have to worry about thieves. After all, why would anybody want to stop The Star from giving you all the latest news as it's happening? It wouldn't be robbing The Star, it would be stealing from all of Cleveland County.
Next week, the folks at Carter Chevrolet are going to do some electrical work and help us mount the wireless antennae. Check back Monday for more as the Star Car becomes a reality!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dreaming
A fun little assignment I got from the powers-that-be at The Star: Create a list of all the ways the Star Car can be used. Here's what I came up with ... not a bad list, if I do say so myself. What do you want the Star Car to be able to do? Post your comment below.
Here are several scenarios the Star Car can be used in:
Drive to a crime scene. People in the newsroom can use the mounted camera to show online consumers what’s happening, while the reporter uses a handheld camera to shoot video from a different angle, a digital recorder to capture press conferences, and a blog to describe the scene.
Then the reporter can upload all this content moments after capturing it, so the consumer gets a near-live experience.
Attend a meeting like never before. Take a mobile video camera into the average meeting and transmit it almost live. Blog about individual talking points and post documents online using cell phone technology.
A standoff happens, and The Star is live on the scene as, hours later, the gunman still hasn’t surrendered. The mobile newsroom has a generator to make sure reporters don’t have to leave the scene when the news is happening.
There’s a tornado in the northern part of the county. The reporters can go storm chasing. Consumers can log online to watch as the Star Car goes to find tornadoes…and, just maybe, see the storm itself.
There’s a police chase, and the Star Car can follow along. So can online viewers, who can watch the Star Car as it’s tracked online using the on-board GPS tracking system.
The Star Car makes an appearance at a local school, where we teach kids to treat the Internet safely and let them upload pictures of themselves to www.clevelandcountykids.com.
Attend a movie premiere, and let the public post to a blog talking about their opinion of the movie from a computer in the back of the car.
Record and broadcast live from sporting events like football games. Point the SUV at the action and let the camera run, while a videographer shoots more stuff from a different angle.
Be in two places at once. The Star Car’s mobile range would allow one reporter to report on one aspect of a story while, down the road, something else is going on. For example, one reporter could talk to family members of someone hurt in a crime, while down the street another reporter provides near-live coverage of a suspect being arrested.
All possible because the mobile newsroom gives both some level of connectivity in the field.
Edit on the fly. Reporters become producers when they put audio and/or video on the computer in the car, edit it, post it online without having to return to the office.
The online public could ride in a Christmas parade with The Star as the car records the route.
A reporter is posting live story updates from somewhere. An online consumer could read the story, post a question at the bottom, and the reporter could get that question answered while still on the scene. It allows for total interactivity.
The bottom line: Reporters and editors can minimize the amount of time between the story happening and the public finding out about it in ways that no other news gathering organization can. News consumers aren’t just reading a story, they’re becoming part of the newsgathering process.
Here are several scenarios the Star Car can be used in:
Drive to a crime scene. People in the newsroom can use the mounted camera to show online consumers what’s happening, while the reporter uses a handheld camera to shoot video from a different angle, a digital recorder to capture press conferences, and a blog to describe the scene.
Then the reporter can upload all this content moments after capturing it, so the consumer gets a near-live experience.
Attend a meeting like never before. Take a mobile video camera into the average meeting and transmit it almost live. Blog about individual talking points and post documents online using cell phone technology.
A standoff happens, and The Star is live on the scene as, hours later, the gunman still hasn’t surrendered. The mobile newsroom has a generator to make sure reporters don’t have to leave the scene when the news is happening.
There’s a tornado in the northern part of the county. The reporters can go storm chasing. Consumers can log online to watch as the Star Car goes to find tornadoes…and, just maybe, see the storm itself.
There’s a police chase, and the Star Car can follow along. So can online viewers, who can watch the Star Car as it’s tracked online using the on-board GPS tracking system.
The Star Car makes an appearance at a local school, where we teach kids to treat the Internet safely and let them upload pictures of themselves to www.clevelandcountykids.com.
Attend a movie premiere, and let the public post to a blog talking about their opinion of the movie from a computer in the back of the car.
Record and broadcast live from sporting events like football games. Point the SUV at the action and let the camera run, while a videographer shoots more stuff from a different angle.
Be in two places at once. The Star Car’s mobile range would allow one reporter to report on one aspect of a story while, down the road, something else is going on. For example, one reporter could talk to family members of someone hurt in a crime, while down the street another reporter provides near-live coverage of a suspect being arrested.
All possible because the mobile newsroom gives both some level of connectivity in the field.
Edit on the fly. Reporters become producers when they put audio and/or video on the computer in the car, edit it, post it online without having to return to the office.
The online public could ride in a Christmas parade with The Star as the car records the route.
A reporter is posting live story updates from somewhere. An online consumer could read the story, post a question at the bottom, and the reporter could get that question answered while still on the scene. It allows for total interactivity.
The bottom line: Reporters and editors can minimize the amount of time between the story happening and the public finding out about it in ways that no other news gathering organization can. News consumers aren’t just reading a story, they’re becoming part of the newsgathering process.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
PIctures of the planning
Kerry Northrup, director of publications for Ifra, shows Star Publisher Skip Foster one of the Star Car's cameras.
Northrup shows Mark Van Buren, director of publication quality at The Star, the gadgetry involved in turning the Star Car into a mobile newsroom.
Interactive Editor Joy Scott, Ifra Newsplex Director Randy Covington and Newsplex Resource Coordinator Jordan Ellis examine the back of the Star Car.
Here, Foster and Northrup examine the interior of the Star Car.
Tetris, the sponsors and the Star Car
Ever play Tetris, the 80s-era video game where you work to fit objects of different sizes into a rectangle?
Enter the Star Car, and all the equipment currently laying on the concrete in The Star parking lot.
The Ifra Newsplex at the University of South Carolina and Carter Chevrolet are sponsors for the vehicle. Carter Chevrolet brought the SUV yesterday. Today, Ifra experts are helping to fit all the equipment into the Star Car and wiring it for high-speed Internet.
But all good ideas start in a room, with a bunch of people sitting around talking. That's what we did this morning with Ifra Newsplex Director Randy Covington, Ifra Director of Publications Kerry J. Northrup and Ifra Newsplex Resource Coordinator Jordan Ellis.
Randy, Kerry and Jordan spent about 30 minutes asking what all we wanted to do with the vehicle. Do we want to be able to take a remote camera into meetings? Do we want remote access to a camera on the vehicle? Will we be covering more than breaking news...will there be promotional stops and coverage of conventional news using the Star Car?
Publisher Skip Foster's answer: Yes.
We want to do everything we can with this vehicle. If the Ifra people think we can do it, then let's do it!
Right now, there's about 10 people standing in The Star's parking lot, attempting to figure out where all the equipment will go.
What's the Ifra Newsplex? http://newsplex.sc.edu/ or http://www.newsplex.org/.
What is Ifra? www.ifra.com
What is Carter Chevrolet? http://www.carterchev.com/.
Enter the Star Car, and all the equipment currently laying on the concrete in The Star parking lot.
The Ifra Newsplex at the University of South Carolina and Carter Chevrolet are sponsors for the vehicle. Carter Chevrolet brought the SUV yesterday. Today, Ifra experts are helping to fit all the equipment into the Star Car and wiring it for high-speed Internet.
But all good ideas start in a room, with a bunch of people sitting around talking. That's what we did this morning with Ifra Newsplex Director Randy Covington, Ifra Director of Publications Kerry J. Northrup and Ifra Newsplex Resource Coordinator Jordan Ellis.
Randy, Kerry and Jordan spent about 30 minutes asking what all we wanted to do with the vehicle. Do we want to be able to take a remote camera into meetings? Do we want remote access to a camera on the vehicle? Will we be covering more than breaking news...will there be promotional stops and coverage of conventional news using the Star Car?
Publisher Skip Foster's answer: Yes.
We want to do everything we can with this vehicle. If the Ifra people think we can do it, then let's do it!
Right now, there's about 10 people standing in The Star's parking lot, attempting to figure out where all the equipment will go.
What's the Ifra Newsplex? http://newsplex.sc.edu/ or http://www.newsplex.org/.
What is Ifra? www.ifra.com
What is Carter Chevrolet? http://www.carterchev.com/.
Monday, June 25, 2007
BIG NEWS! The Star Car is here!
It's here, and the people at The Star couldn't be happier.
"Now I'm excited," Interactive Editor Joy Scott said. "I don't let myself get excited until I see something."
That something came to The Star as a white Chevy Trailblazer. Joy and I took it for a spin, and I can tell you now that the Star Car is fantastic.
But The Star and its parent company, Freedom Communications, didn't invest in an SUV just so the staff can tool around in style. During the next few days, the Star Car will be transformed into a lean, mean newsgathering tool that lets us keep you up-to-date and informed on a moment's notice whenever something is happening around the area.
It will make a world of difference. In the olden days .... about a year and a half to two years ago .... here's how it would have happened:
A reporter would go to an event.
Take some notes.
Come back to The Star.
Type up the notes.
Write up a story.
Turn in story.
From there, the editor would read the story, make any changes, ask for the reporter to fix some things.
Then, the story would sit in a damp, cold place called the que, where it would wait until later in the evening to be put in the paper. The paper would print, and you would get your news the next morning.
Then came http://www.shelbystar.com/.
That let us post breaking news online as it happened...almost. Reporters would call in stories. Sometimes, depending on where they were, the reporters could blog their story using their laptops.
But that would be difficult or impossible in places without wireless signal. They might have forgotten to grab the video camera on the way out.
Even worse: If a reporter was in the middle of a hot story, he or she would have to stop what they were doing to call in a report.
Not anymore. When finished, the Star Car will provide reporters all the tools they need to report live from any scene.
The Star Car will have:
Online wireless capabilities through two different cell phone companies.
A camera mounted on it where people online can see what reporters see.
A GPS tracking system that lets people watch where the car is going online ... not only can you watch the news as it happens, you can watch the Star Car as it's chasing the news that's happening.
What if police are chasing a suspect? The Star Car will be there.
What if tornadoes are ripping up part of the county? The Star Car will be there.
What does that mean for you? You'll be there, in the thick of it all.
And, if you'll forgive us, we're going to have a little bit of fun with it, too. That was evident Monday, when Publisher Skip Foster, Editor Jon Jimison, Joy and myself started pulling the vehicle apart to see what all it can do.
More on that later.
Watch the Star Car become a mobile news center. Check back with this blog daily and watch a white SUV become more than a cool vehicle. Watch it become your tool for finding out news as it happens.
Got questions? Don't hesitate to ask. Just post a comment below.
"Now I'm excited," Interactive Editor Joy Scott said. "I don't let myself get excited until I see something."
That something came to The Star as a white Chevy Trailblazer. Joy and I took it for a spin, and I can tell you now that the Star Car is fantastic.
But The Star and its parent company, Freedom Communications, didn't invest in an SUV just so the staff can tool around in style. During the next few days, the Star Car will be transformed into a lean, mean newsgathering tool that lets us keep you up-to-date and informed on a moment's notice whenever something is happening around the area.
It will make a world of difference. In the olden days .... about a year and a half to two years ago .... here's how it would have happened:
A reporter would go to an event.
Take some notes.
Come back to The Star.
Type up the notes.
Write up a story.
Turn in story.
From there, the editor would read the story, make any changes, ask for the reporter to fix some things.
Then, the story would sit in a damp, cold place called the que, where it would wait until later in the evening to be put in the paper. The paper would print, and you would get your news the next morning.
Then came http://www.shelbystar.com/.
That let us post breaking news online as it happened...almost. Reporters would call in stories. Sometimes, depending on where they were, the reporters could blog their story using their laptops.
But that would be difficult or impossible in places without wireless signal. They might have forgotten to grab the video camera on the way out.
Even worse: If a reporter was in the middle of a hot story, he or she would have to stop what they were doing to call in a report.
Not anymore. When finished, the Star Car will provide reporters all the tools they need to report live from any scene.
The Star Car will have:
Online wireless capabilities through two different cell phone companies.
A camera mounted on it where people online can see what reporters see.
A GPS tracking system that lets people watch where the car is going online ... not only can you watch the news as it happens, you can watch the Star Car as it's chasing the news that's happening.
What if police are chasing a suspect? The Star Car will be there.
What if tornadoes are ripping up part of the county? The Star Car will be there.
What does that mean for you? You'll be there, in the thick of it all.
And, if you'll forgive us, we're going to have a little bit of fun with it, too. That was evident Monday, when Publisher Skip Foster, Editor Jon Jimison, Joy and myself started pulling the vehicle apart to see what all it can do.
More on that later.
Watch the Star Car become a mobile news center. Check back with this blog daily and watch a white SUV become more than a cool vehicle. Watch it become your tool for finding out news as it happens.
Got questions? Don't hesitate to ask. Just post a comment below.
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