I’ve got three things I want to share today totally unrelated, but all very cool.
The first is called the Verification Handbook. It came out a few days ago, and it’s fantastic. (H/T to Sean B. for first passing it along.)
In short: This is the textbook that you need to navigate reporting on the internet.
It’s got everything tips for verifying photos and tweets and video, along with tutorials for preparing for breaking news reporting. Reporters from some great newsrooms share insight into how they cover news online.
I highly recommend that you give it a read here.
The second tool is a pretty straightforward site called media.io. All it does is covert audio files from one type to another, but I find that I’m always stuck with a random .wav or .wma file honestly, it’s 2014, why is anyone sending around .wma files? And this tool converts them to .mp3.
Bookmark this one for the next time you’re working with audio files.
The third thing isn’t a tool just a really great read that I wanted to share. It’s an interview with Jad Abumrad from Radiolab.
One of the big questions that I always get is, How do you know what to do? How do you know what’s next? And when I respond, “You don’t… you just try to make stuff with good people, and see what works,” people tend to get mad. (They’re hoping for something more specific, I suppose.)
So here’s Jad Abumrad from Radiolab, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, btw, saying the same thing. He’s also got thoughts on “Gut Churn,” which are really wonderful.
Anyway, if you make stuff on the internet and if you are reading this email, you do you should really read/listen to this interview.
Alright, get out there and tell some great stories this week, guys!