Patrick Beeson

Latest blog entries

• Filling gaps: Teaching site management at UT

  I began my first lecture of the semester for JN 422: Managing news Web sites on a cautionary note. The news business was changing, I said, and while everything you learned about journalism prior to this class was still useful, you need to know a thing or two about the Web if you want to go far.

  Little did I know that by the last lecture of the semester, mainstream media would be considered by many to be teetering on the brink of a complete meltdown (with the rest of the market), Web skills or not.

  But despite the economic meltdown of late, I believe my students ended on a positive note: They now know more about managing a news Web site than most folks working in the industry today.

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Dec. 13, 2008
  • 6:17 p.m.
  • Nine comments

• Medill's News Mixer remixes story comments

  The Knight Foundation grant-backed graduate program at Medill's School of Journalism has birthed what could be a game-changing effort for news story comments.

  Their effort, called News Mixer, leverages traditional news content, Facebook's Connect feature and offers three methods of user feedback:

  • Questions and answers: Allows a reader to leave a question about the story, and allows other readers, including the reporter, to leave an answer.
  • Quips: A short-answer, or Twitter-like format that allows you to offer a quick response, limited to 140 characters.
  • Letters to the editor: An outlet for readers to send their thoughts in 250 words or less, whether about an article, another letter someone wrote, or on any subject the author deems important. An editor can then select and highlight the best letters.

  But what's unique about News Mixer is how it uses these three types of functionality to channel user comments in a more meaningful way.

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Dec. 11, 2008
  • 10:27 a.m.
  • Six comments

• Power, danger with reviews online

  I'm a maven.

  I get a thrill from finding new products or services, and recommending them to everyone I know through conversation, both in-person and electronic.

  But in an era when blogging and social networks tie your likes and dislikes to your identity, how do you express your thoughts without retribution from the subject of your review?

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Dec. 8, 2008
  • 7:06 a.m.
  • One comment

• Guidelines for this site

  Every blog should have a focus, and rules to guide that focus. This blog is no different.

  Here are a few ways that I manage this blog, and the content it contains.

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Dec. 2, 2008
  • 7:04 a.m.
  • Comments are closed for this entry

• My new role at Scripps: Content manager

  A lot of things have been changing at Scripps lately. Some good. Some not so good.

  But the recent reorganization at the Scripps Interactive Group in Knoxville, Tenn. has provided me the opportunity for an exciting new position -- a position that will truly leverage my understanding and passion for online media.

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Nov. 12, 2008
  • 7:18 a.m.
  • Nine comments

• How to find a house in Knoxville, TN

  *Note: You can also read this entry on Knoxify.*

  UPDATE: My wife and I closed on our house November 24!

  Knoxville is an easy enough city in which to live. It's cheap, most folks are nice and life is generally relaxed. But whats it like finding a house in Sunsphere City?

  My wife and I, being home-buying n00bs, had the chance to find out with our (fingers-crossed) recent find in Fountain City, just north of downtown Knoxville.

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  • Patrick Beeson
  • Nov. 10, 2008
  • 8:44 p.m.
  • Six comments

About me

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• Resume (PDF)