Q & A with Jane McClure, a Saint Paul Staple Recently, Goff Public talked with Jane McClure, who has been a print reporter in Saint Paul for the last 25 years.  Currently, she writes for Access Press, a disability newspaper in Minnesota, the Monitor, which serves Saint Paul’s Midway, Como and North End neighborhoods, and [...]

According to Captain Obvious, the news media landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade.  It seems like every few days a media outlet is announcing cuts, putting up a pay wall, declaring bankruptcy, or taking other drastic measures to stay in the black.  As media “geeks,” we at Goff Public work hard to analyze [...]

KSTP story inspires change during sweeps month For television news, May is a ratings month.  This means that stations typically air highly publicized investigative pieces to draw as many viewers as possible.  While Twin Cities stations filed a number of reports that caught our eye, a certain KSTP story stood out above the rest. Donald [...]

Television news stations are increasingly turning to Skype and other online video software when conducting off-site interviews.  Although I have only been out of the television news business for four years, this is something I never even considered doing as a reporter.  Back then, when interviewee accessibility was an issue, we recorded a phone interview [...]

You see the title everywhere, in job postings, resumes, in news stories, and online. “We are looking for a social media expert who can [INSERT JOB DESCRIPTION]”… “We interviewed social media expert [NAME]”…. “I am a social media expert who can [INSERT RESUME SUMMARY]” But how does one earn this title?  Did they pass a [...]

January 2012 will go down in the books as one of the mildest Minnesota Januarys in recent memory.  But around the water cooler, people in the Twin Cities were buzzing about much more than just the weather.  From a half-submerged Target semi-truck to Red Bull Crashed Ice, below are some of the stories behind the [...]

Whether you’re at a business event with a keynote speaker, a sporting event, or a public hearing, there’s a good chance that someone in the audience is tweeting about that event in real time.  Thanks to Twitter, audiences can now receive news and information faster than ever.  I enjoy following journalists and bloggers who tweet [...]

What do Goff Public’s Chris Georgacas and Mike Zipko have in common with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Twins President Dave St. Peter, former Governor Tim Pawlenty, Erik the Bike Man, and local musician Tim Mahoney (as seen on NBC’s The Voice)?   They are all past honorees of arguably the most prestigious honor for young professionals in [...]

A growing number of online news outlets (most recently the St. Cloud Times) have started using the Facebook platform in their reader comment sections.  This could be a huge breakthrough, as it could signal the end of anonymous postings.  Under this new platform, readers must have a Facebook account in order to post a comment.  [...]

It’s okay for reporters to have opinions.  But to voice them while covering a story is a big no-no.  While covering Occupy Portland, KPTV reporter Jamie Wilson told a group of demonstrators that she empathizes with their ideas about economic injustice.  Even worse, Wilson shared her beliefs while the camera was rolling, and the video [...]