The real heroes

Journalism blogger Tim Porter offers an interesting take today on who the real heroes of newspapers are today. Hint: They're not those who are resigning amid a sea of industry change and declaring that journalism's best days are behind us.

April 27 workshop

Another opportunity for affordable newsroom training: NINA's April 27 workshop, "Right Before Your Eyes," features former New York Times and Newsweek reporter Dirk Johnson. Dirk will help participants learn to find stories in nontraditional places, from nontraditional sources.

When: 9:30 a.m. to noon Friday, April 27
Where: Campus Life Building, NIU-DeKalb
Cost: Just $15, which includes continental breakfast.

Download a flier

New Eyetrack study

The Poynter Institute today is releasing results of its new Eyetrack study, which shows how people read newspapers and Web sites. Fascinating stuff.

See your future. BE your future, Danny

Here's an interesting piece from American Journalism Review, about how younger journalists view the industry and their future.

Extra style points on this blog for any Caddyshack reference, by the way.

For openers ...

So, this is a new blog intended for the journalism community of northern Illinois. You're invited to ...

• Share helpful advice and ideas
• Raise questions about particular beats or stories
• Talk about legal or ethical questions or concerns
• Post links to good stuff you've done or seen

The blog will be run by the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association. We'll try to post helpful writing and reporting tips here whenever possible - either ours or we'll link to useful material we've seen.

As things progress, we may branch into design, photo, editing, new media and any other areas that prove interesting and relevant to you. We'd love to hear your suggestions.