31 essential online tools for journalists

In: Web 2.0|internet|journalism

10 Sep 2008
Image representing Zoho as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase, source unknown

As part of the iJournalism class I teach at the UBC j-school, I hold a session on online tools for journalists.

What is striking is how much these tools have developed in the past year.

Some fall by the wayside and new ones spring up, such as sites that mine social network sites for personal information.

After the jump is the list I have prepared for this year:

RSS software
•    NetNewsWire (Mac)
•    NewsFire (Mac)
•    FeedDemon (Windows)
•    FeedReader (Windows)

Online RSS feed readers
•    Google Reader
•    Bloglines

Personalized news pages
•    MyYahoo
•    iGoogle
•    Netvibes
•    PageFlakes

Blog aggregators:
•    Technorati
•    Icerocket
•    BlogPulse

Micro-blogging:
•    Twitter
•    Twitter Search
•    Tweet Scan

News alerts:
•    Google Alerts
•    Yahoo Alerts

Web 2.0 tools

•    Documents:
- Google Docs
- Zoho

•    Photos:
- Flickr

•    Social bookmarking:
- Delicious

•    Organization
- Backpack

•    Bypass registration:
Bugmenot

•    Free online storage:
- Windows Live SkyDrive
- Box
- Wuala

•    People search:
- Pipl
- Wink
- ZoomInfo
- YoName

This list is far from exhaustive as it is aimed as an introduction to web tools for journalists. If you have more to add, please leave a comment.

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No Responses to 31 essential online tools for journalists

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injournalist.com

September 10th, 2008 at 3:13 pm

“If you have more to add, please leave a comment.”

Yes, I have more; http://www.injournalist.com :)

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31 herramientas online esenciales para periodistas | Sicrono

September 10th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

[...] 31 herramientas online esenciales para periodistas. Hay de todo, muchas conocidas. Pero vale pegarse una vuelta por si te estás perdiendo algo. Esta entrada fue publicada el 10 de Septiembre de 2008, fue archivada en Medios y ha recibido 0 comentario(s). [...]

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Ferramentas para jornalistas | Tools for journalists « O Lago | The Lake

September 11th, 2008 at 6:20 am

[...] 31 essential online tools for journalists [...]

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Tom Dupon

September 11th, 2008 at 7:01 am

Too bad NomaDesk is not on this list: NomaDesk allows you to share, synchronize and backup files – a bit like box.net, but the big advantage for journalists is that you can also access and edit your documents when there is no internet connection available.

You can download it at http://www.nomadesk.com

Feel free to send me your remarks / comments

Tom Dupon
Online marketing manager NomaDesk

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Alicia

September 11th, 2008 at 7:32 am

Another one, recommended by journalism.co.uk, is Skimbit (skimbit.com) – like Delicious but more visual, and allows you to categorise and compare your findings in a number of ways.

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Alfred Hermida

September 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am

Thanks for the suggestion Tom. Unfortunately I am on a Mac so can’t try it out. Are you working on a Mac version of NomaDesk?

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moritz_

September 11th, 2008 at 9:30 am

You are a journalist? No matter if you write on economic issues at home or politics abroad, you want to keep your sources secret and safe. We believe that Wuala is especially suitable for journalist as online storage solution, because journalists, more than most other people, need to know that their private documents stay private. The affair around German Telecom (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwWwnSpVkRThVzCLhKvMW1seyC2g) has shown that companies can be a little too interested in these information and might even cross the boundaries of what is legal. Wuala on the other hand protects your files, as every file is encrypted before being uploaded and even we can not look into your files, as long as you do not publish them for everyone to see.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Yours sincerely,
moritz_ from wuala

PS Thanks for being mentioned :)

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  links for 2008-09-11 by andydickinson.net

September 11th, 2008 at 9:32 am

[...] 31 essential online tools for journalists « Reportr.net FIled under the "things I was doing but now don't have to" section, this is a great list from Alf (tags: tools resources journalism) [...]

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Tom Dupon

September 12th, 2008 at 1:02 am

@ Alfred Hermida

NomaDesk will be releasing a Mac version. In the meanwhile, you can try to run NomaDesk under Parallels.

Thanks for your reply.

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links for 2008-09-14 « David Black

September 14th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

[...] 31 essential online tools for journalists – Reportr.net "As part of the iJournalism class I teach at the UBC j-school, I hold a session on online tools for journalists. What is striking is how much these tools have developed in the past year." [via AndyDickinson.net] (tags: internet multimedia journalism tools training) [...]

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September 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm

[...] 31 fantastic online tools for journalists: Reportr.net [...]

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paulbradshaw

September 22nd, 2008 at 1:17 am

There are a few mobile tools I’d add – Shozu is essential. Then there are the Google Maps and Gmail apps, and Opera Mini for browsing. ZoneTag allows you to geotag images you take. Twibble allows you to send GPS tagged tweets – useful if you’re being mapped as you cover something. Posterous.com is a good flexible blogging service for email blogging, podcasting, etc.
I could go on…

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Alfred Hermida

September 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 am

Thanks Paul. I’ve found the list just keep growing and growing.

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Tech tools for writers « WordCount/by Michelle Vranizan Rafter

October 28th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

[...] news organizations all over the world are doing the same thing. Some same posts from this Website: 31 essential online tools for journalists, Create a breaking news site in minutes with WordPress and How to be a multimedia journalist. [...]

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Annie

November 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am

Are there any new tools for journalists/writers to manage workflow? For editors, writers, photographers to manage workflow from scratch to the end? thanks.

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viswaminfotech

November 14th, 2008 at 1:45 pm

wonderful collection

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Calendar

November 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am

This Tool helps you to manage your Time ;-)

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Ten things every journalist should know in 2009 | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog

January 13th, 2009 at 7:16 am

[...] to own, or even host, the technology to innovate in journalism and engage your readers. There is a plethora of free or cheap tools available online, so there is no excuse for not experimenting with [...]

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[...] to own, or even host, the technology to innovate in journalism and engage your readers. There is a plethora of free or cheap tools available online, so there is no excuse for not experimenting with [...]

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Valvert.net - Ten things every journalist should know in 2009 (via Journalism.co.uk)

January 14th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

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January 14th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

[...] 2. There is no excuse for not experimenting [with free online technology].  [...]

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January 15th, 2009 at 3:42 am

[...] zijn een boel gratis tools en trukjes beschikbaar online. Om mensen te vinden, om nieuws te volgen, om je weg te vinden in sociale netwerken. Als je eenmaal [...]

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January 18th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

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February 4th, 2009 at 11:56 pm

[...] 31 essential tools for online journalists (from Reportr.net) — Simple list of resources, categorized by application. [...]

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February 7th, 2009 at 7:28 am

[...] porque poseer la tecnología para innovar en periodismo y captar la atención de tus lectores. Hay una multitud de herramientas baratas o gratuitas en la red, por lo que no hay excusa para experimentar con [...]

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[...] As John Thompson writes, there is no longer any excuse for not having these skills: the technology is available online, and it’s cheap or free. [...]

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April 27th, 2009 at 3:20 am

[...] També hi ha bons llistats d’eines: – Graphic Designr – Reportr.net [...]

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Corrinna Pole

June 15th, 2009 at 7:31 am

As a reporter for a community newspaper I think these links are extremely useful! What I would really like to find is a really good template for my contacts. I have yet to develop a good way to keep my contacts sorted and stored and have been trying to build a good list with excel but so far nothing is really decent. If anyone has any suggestions there please pass it along!!

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Cosas que todo periodista debería de tener en cuenta en estos tiempos | Juan Ortega | mi vida 2.0 a través de tags

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This blog is run by Professor Alfred Hermida, an award-winning online news pioneer, digital media scholar and journalism educator.

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