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Quarterback Brett Favre celebrated after throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin at TCF Bank Stadium.

Quarterback Brett Favre threw a pass under pressure from Lions linebacker Ashlee Palmer.

Safety Donte Whitner intercepted a pass intended for Sidney Rice. Jackson threw three INTs in the game.

Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick fumbled a snap on the Vikings' one-yard line. Linebacker Ben Leber recovered the ball.

Brett Favre ran onto the field to play the Green Bay Packers at the Metrodome.

Albert Young tackled by safety David Bruton.

Quarterbacks Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers after the Green Bay Packers' 31-3 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Broncos wide receiver Alric Arnett caught a 14- yard touchdown pass over cornerback Marcus Sherels.

Adrian Peterson pulled a Miami linebacker in the second quarter. Peterson ran for one TD and 145 yards.

Running back Adrian Peterson handed the ball to a lucky fan after a touchdown run.

Quarterback Brett Favre recovered a high snap in the final game of his 20-year career.

Brett Favre grimaced after taking a hard hit from Arthur Moats and left the game with a shoulder injury.

Randy Moss returned to the Metrodome for his first home game with the Vikings since leaving the team in 2004.

Brad Childress unsuccessfully challenged a Green Bay touchdown. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf fired Childress shortly after the game.

Vikings ownership fired Brad Childress and named Leslie Frazier interim head coach.

The Metrodome's roof collapsed after a winter storm swept through the Twin Cities.

Brett Favre celebrated after throwing the final touchdown pass of his 20-year career.

The Vikings introduced John Randle as one of the team's 50 greatest players during halftime at TCF Bank Stadium.

Wide receiver Johnny Knox caught a 67-yard touchdown pass over Madieu Williams.

Wide receiver Devin Aromashodu celebrated the Chicago Bears' 40-14 victory over Minnesota Vikings 40-14.

Brett Favre walked off the field after playing the final game of his 20-year career.

We have collected their responses and built them into a Web site to give voice to the future of journalism. The project includes perspectives from young journalists around the country who continue to pursue careers in journalism despite the industry’s struggles.

As part of the site, I also created an audio slideshow with young journalists from around the country to share their perspectives on the future of journalism. The interviews were recorded during Poynter’s 2009 College Fellowship, which I was very fortunate to attend.

Here’s an excerpt from my essay on the future of journalism:

The journalism profession is facing its own struggle for survival. Many mainstream news organizations are now counting page views in place of meaningful impressions. In better times, I would have graduated and applied for an entry-level reporting position. I could have started in a small market and worked my way through the system, but many of those opportunities are no longer available.

In August, 2009, I founded Ewen Media, a multimedia production company that uses interactive multimedia to share meaningful stories. I am definitely taking a risk by branching out on my own. In three months, my student loans will arrive in the mail and I will likely be crushed by financial burden. However, I am prepared to move forward knowing that I am a fighter, willing to take big risks and make bold decisions, in a desperate attempt to protect the profession that I love.

The future of journalism will be strong because thousands of young journalists are willing to follow their hearts and pursue a profession much greater than themselves. 20 years from now, I am proud to know that my colleagues and I will be the ones who ran toward the industry while all others were running out. Together, we will form a “profession of the passionate” and forever change the world.

1) Make the project matter

The best way to learn a new skill is to work on a project that you truly care about. For me, I wanted to produce this site because it was something I enjoyed doing and I thought it could do some good. As a result, I picked up some new skills in the process. If you can find a project that you’re personally invested in, it becomes more rewarding to try new things and spend the time to make it great.

2) Software isn’t scary

It’s usually the technological limitations that prevent journalists from embracing new forms of storytelling, but that’s ridiculous. Too many journalists limit what they’re capable of learning by assuming the skills they need are out of reach. A couple books and a date with Lynda can even the playing field. It’s hard to imagine starting from scratch with a piece of software and making something that looks presentable, but similar skills from other platforms will carry over.

3) Target your weaknesses

Identify your weaknesses and work them into your next project. This will lead to a more well-rounded project and you’ll be a better journalist for it. If you’re not learning and growing, then you’re falling behind.

4) Set a deadline

Working on deadline is the fastest and easiest way to learn. I was fortunate to have an external deadline (a grade), but it also helps to pitch the project early. Tell you friends when they can see it and let them bug you until it’s live. There’s nothing that makes you move faster than a deadline.

5) Find an expert

With any project, it is extremely important to find an expert who is willing to help you through the project. This shouldn’t be used as a crutch, but rather a lifeline. There’s inevitably going to be problems and it’s important to find someone with the skills to get you through the rough spots. This person can help keep you on task and hold you accountable if you drop the ball.

6) Make the time

Finding spare time is tough so allocate the time you have accordingly. Set aside a couple hours each week to read or work on something new. Finding the time shouldn’t be a problem if you picked the right project.

7) Plan an attack

Producing an interactive multimedia site is great, but then what? How will you audience access the site? And how will you measure its success? Building a site and launching it are two different skills. Be prepared for both.

Think business

Try to think like a business major (in moderation). If you’re not, just fake it for a while. You might accidentally learn something extremely valuable. As an example, when I finished Times of Recession, I decided to market the project to local news organizations. I sent emails to online editors across the state and offered to sell them exclusive rights to the highest bidder. I was able to create competition between the organizations and help make the project more marketable. Thinking from a business perspectives can create new opportunities to do the work that you love.

9) Journalists can advertise too

Once you’ve identified your audience, don’t be afraid to advertise. I created a Facebook advertising campaign for less than $10 dollars that targeted online editors and multimedia producers (and places I wanted to intern). I was able to use a highly targeted ad campaign to get my site to the people with the power. The ad campaign left about 25,000 impressions on about 20 Facebook accounts. Pretty awesome stuff. In addition, many of the targeted users overestimated its distribution (because I was “advertising”) and were more likely to pick it up. Spending a few dollars on targeted advertising now will be worth it later.

10) Take a risk

Do something so ridiculous that people think you’re crazy. This doesn’t mean do something stupid, but make it a project that you can learn from. There has never been a better time to experiment. The biggest risks have the best rewards.

And #11, since every other list has 10…

11) Get started now

If you really want to “wow” somebody, it’s not going to happen in an email. Trust your instincts and be willing to learn. Plus, it’s a very different conversation when your boss knows what you can do. Many projects never happen because of the details. If the project matters and you can learn something new, then get started now. You can work out the details along the way.

The Other Future of News conference took place on December 12, 2009, and was a response to MPR’s Future of News event that took place earlier this year. Other videos from the event are available here.

Learning online video from the “White Castle lady”

This summer, on the first day of my third internship at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, I was assigned to produce a video on White Castle customer Ariel Wade. Wade was upset because she tried to drive her motorized scooter through the White Castle drive-thru after the dining room had closed and the employees refused to serve her. She contacted the Star Tribune’s Whistleblower team and argued that White Castle had discriminated against her because of her disability (degenerative arthritis). The story ran here with a short video.

Ariel Wade showed me the power of online video after the story ran. First, Huffington Post linked to the video, which is essentially every intern’s dream, and Wade quickly became a viral celebrity. Dlisted, a raunchy celebrity site, embedded the video and it took off. Other similar blogs picked it up and Wade became an “American Hero” who was “fighting the fight.” However, because the Star Tribune’s video player did not allow any sharing or embedding options, a user ripped the video from the Star Tribune’s site and uploaded it to YouTube.

To me, this story demonstrated the powerful potential of local news video to reach new viewers when the content can be emailed, embedded and shared with others. In this case, the primary audience for a White Castle drive-thru story might be on Dlisted rather than unique visits to the Star Tribune. The easy embeddability of the YouTube player allowed new viewers to see the story without any additional cost to the news organization. It also significantly expanded the potential viewing audience by targeting a new set of news consumers.

Shortly after the initial launch, the Star Tribune added the video to its YouTube channel and brought in an additional 25,000 video views, plus 20,000 video views from the previous user (who was asked to remove the video). From the YouTube channel, the video was embedded on nine different channels and even inspired a spin-off video.

In this case, YouTube appeared to be an effective way of distributing video content. However, if the Star Tribune’s video player allowed for sharing and embedding, the 45,000 views would have been added to site’s video traffic and helped maximize pre-roll advertising from the content. While loyal visitors might be easier to monetize, this example showed that this video’s value, along with many others, were not limited to a particular news site.

Times of Recession

The awards will be announced on September 26 as part of the Emmy Awards ceremony in Minneapolis. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this site possible.

- McKenna

Also, here’s a link to the press release and the other nominees.