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Steve Buttry

Director of Community Engagement & Social Media

Herndon, VA

Steve Buttry

I'm a journalist with print roots and digital blossoms.

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As the American Press Institute closes, another piece of my past fades away

As the American Press Institute closes, another piece of my past fades away March 23, 2012 by Steve Buttry Like a drawing on the Etch-a-Sketch that is so popular in politics now, my journalism past has pretty much been shaken clean. Almost everywhere I worked has been shut down or sold: Columbus (Ohio) Citizen-Journal.
The Buttry Diary Link to Story
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Memories of covering seven Iowa caucuses in four decades

I've had a lot of fun covering the Iowa caucuses. It feels odd to be mostly sitting this one out. Last week I noted that I think it's time for Iowa to relinquish its place at the front of our nation's political line (or for political parties or federal legislation to reform the process, giving other states a turn).
The Buttry Diary Link to Story
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Storytelling in journalism: No estoy muerta (I am not dead)

This will be a long post about storytelling in journalism. It starts with a story I wrote in 2000 that was never published. This was from a trip I made to Venezuela as a reporter for the Des Moines Register. In this version, I identify the Venezuelans I interviewed only by their first names.
The Buttry Diary Link to Story
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Homecoming revisited

A photograph at an Iowa train station by Earle "Buddy" Bunker of the Omaha World-Herald won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 and became one of the most famous photos of the World War II era. Sixty-five years later, a home movie has surfaced, showing the same moment and showing Bunker hustling into position to shoot the historic photo.
Cedar Rapids Gazette Link to Story
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How do you recapture the joy and excitement of journalism?

"I need to find the joy and excitement I once experienced as a journalist," an editor told me in a recent comment on my blog. "I just don't feel it right now. I pray it will return."
The Buttry Diary Link to Story
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How journalists and newsrooms can use Pinterest

As Pinterest grows in use, it grows in value to journalists and news organizations. I don't pretend that I know all the ways that journalists should use Pinterest. My Digital First Media colleagues and I are discussing and experimenting with this now and many of them are well ahead of me.
The Buttry Diary Link to Story
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The Homecoming

The homecoming was joyous - an exuberant hug frozen forever by a camera's flash.
Omaha World-Herald Link to Story
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Aggregation guidelines: Link, attribute, add value

Aggregation has become a dirty word in much of journalism today. Bill Keller, former editor of the New York Times, last year wrote: "There's often a thin line between aggregation and theft." Patrick Pexton, Washington Post ombudsman, in an April 20 column called plagiarism "a perpetual danger in aggregated stories."
The Buttry Diary Link to Story

About

Steve Buttry

I've been a reporter, editor, writing coach, trainer and various executive positions at seven newspapers, a digital startup, the American Press Institute and Digital First Media. In my 40-year journalism career, I have covered news, trained journalists and attended events in 44 states, nine Canadian provinces, Ireland, Venezuela, Mexico, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador and Siberia.

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