friesMedia
2.0 solutions for mediaArchive for Newsroom tips
Why Newspapers Added Blogs: A Case for Change
This slideshow was part of a presentation entitled “Blogging for Journalists” I gave at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg Florida in July 2007 for the 2007 Summer Fellowship for Young Journalists.
During the UNconference “Blogging for Journalists” during the Portland 2007 AAN Convention, I sketched two flow charts that later turned into this presentation. (Thanks to participants for the healthy discussion!)
Last week’s presentation posited the following:
1. The production process for creating online content for newspapers is, for the most part, extremely convoluted and cumbersome, inhibiting what newsroom staffers are able to accomplish online.
2. Setting up a blog is ridiculously easy. Since anyone can do it, everyone has. Many newsroom-produced blogs do not use the medium well; creating illogical editing/production workflows, or giving folks better suited to column-writing blogs of their own.
3. Let’s not waste time critiquing the flaws of existing newspaper-produced blogs. Instead, let’s consider blog software a storytelling tool – how can we employ this tool to further our journalism?
We then went around the room, positing scenarios, and brainstorming possible uses of blog software for journalism.
Is your newsroom considering starting a blog? You might find “Conversation Bullet Points for Starting a Newsroom Blog” helpful.
[This article was originally published on web.aan.org, a publication of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]
Using the Internet to Find Stories
Create Digital Listening Posts Using RSS Feeds – It’s Easier Than It Sounds
Go to soccer games, Jan Leach recently urged a room full of students at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. You never know the stories you’ll overhear folks talking about.
Leach, former editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, spoke to the power of “having a life outside the newsroom” – being present in the community, and having one’s reporter ear constantly tuned for stories.
In a digital age, let’s expand upon that theory – let’s create Digital Listening Posts.
3 Steps To Creating Digital Listening Posts
1. Sign up for Netvibes.com.
2. Spend some time adding links to local sites and bloggers.
3. Check your account periodically to scan for story ideas.
Here’s more detail.
1. Netvibes.com is an RSS aggregator [wiki definition]. Think of it like TiVo for news – you add a feed, and the webpage automatically fetches updates for you. If you’ve visited Google News before, you’ve seen RSS feeds in action – that site is populated by feeds. [Oprah-style intro to RSS feeds]
Your “start page” on Netvibes will offer you some beginning options – little boxes (widgets) that allow you to search for content relevant to your beat.
For purposes of demonstration, I set up a “Columbia Heights, DC” page, which pulls information about my neighborhood. (It’s easier for me to evaluate newsworthiness in my own ‘hood than in a randomly selected city.)
2. Adding links to quality local bloggers will probably take an afternoon’s worth of your time. Treat local blogs much as you would a community newspaper – a place for story ideas, trend spotting, or source-finding. Use technorati.com, a blog search engine, to search for local blogs. Metropolitan-themed blogs tend to link to each other; look for a blogroll to find similar themed blogs.
3. Check your Netvibes page regularly to find story ideas.
What Story Ideas Did I Find?
Image Search
- Interior photos of an extremely nice renovated house in a rough neighborhood; potential sources for articles on gentrification, or an architectural feature.
- A DC Bilingual Public Charter School; which could be the beginning of a profile, or a piece on funding issues.
Adding Blogs, I found …
- DCCabbie.Blogspot.com is a veritable treasure trove of story ideas. This outspoken (and often profane) blogger writes about an underground bar called the BUNKER he’s been going to since “this Russian chick started the joint over ten years ago,” and Ethopian cab drivers who save up to buy mansions at home. Lots of story potential here.
- Mr. T in DC’s Live Journal reports a man in his neighborhood who walks around with a grocery cart, stealing Sunday papers. Does he resell them? Where, and why? That’s a feature I’d like to read. [Mr. T is also exceptionally active in the online Columbia Heights community, posting frequently to the community forum and moderating the neighborhood Flickr group; he would be a good source to cultivate.]
- A WMATA Riders’ Advisory Council Member (DC Metro/public transportation planning organization), keeps a blog of transit developments – a useful source for transit beat reporters.
- For more ideas on using YouTube to find local stories, see Cathy Resmer’s post Finding and Using Local Content on YouTube.
YouTube searches revealed …
- An ‘94 “Illuminati Pedophiles in Washington D.C.” video – good perhaps for a feature on the subject, or a larger piece on the second life YouTube can bring to archival documentaries.
That’s a quick look at the current info in my Netvibes. Like all story tips, it’ll take some old-fashioned shoe leather journalism to see if any pan out.
[This article was originally published on web.aan.org, a publication of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]
Focusing Your Blog
Conversation bullet points for starting a newspaper.com blog
*or*
What are the most important questions for a newsroom to consider when creating a new blog?
As a journalist/editor, I have my own set of criteria for creating a new blog. But one of the hardest things for me to learn has been to put on my “corporate hat” and think about products from a marketing, business and operations standpoint.
Here’s a checklist of bullet points I’ve created to help myself through the messy process of pitching a new blog. Please do help me out and add anything I’ve forgotten!
FOCUS
* What is this blog about? Narrow it down to one word. Then, expand it to a paragraph.
* What is your blog called? Find a domain name.
Action step: Content goals should stem from focus.
CONTENT GOALS
* What would you like to accomplish with your blog in 6 months? Change something about local government? Provide a platform for community action and dialogue? Or just a place to spout?
* What would unimaginable success be like for your blog?
Action step: Content and audience should stem from content goals.
CONTENT
* How will the content be structured — how long are the posts, how many images?
* Will the blog include specific categories of posts? What will the relative weight of these categories be? (i.e. 80 percent food pictures, 20 percent thoughts on journalism?)
* How often will your blog be updated?
* How will the content feed those “ultimate success goals” ?
APPROACH
* What is your approach to the content? Impassioned advocate? Satirical bystander? Dispassioned reporter?
* How does your approach feed the “ultimate success goals” ?
AUDIENCE
* Ask basic questions about the target audience. Are they local? Men, women, both? How much do they know about your subject matter?
* What kind of participation would you like from your audience? What blogs and websites will your audience also read? Who are the stakeholders in similar online conversations, and how will you get them to visit your site ?
STAFFING: AUTHORS
* Who will be writing this blog? What is their expertise? What should their approach be, based on their expertise?
* If there are a group of authors, how do their writing styles, expertise levels and personal convictions play against each other? Is there a balance of diversity? A combination of amateur and professional writers?
STAFFING: BEHIND THE SCENES
* For a newspaper.com, who is the ultimate editor of the blog? Who will be posting the content, adding images, sound files, and formatting?
MEDIASCAPE
* Where are your readers hanging out? What sites, listservs, forums, discussion boards or email newsletters are your potential readers digesting? What can you offer them that these other sites don’t? How can you combine the best of what they offer in your site?
DESIGN
* How can design help you to achieve your content goals? What theme do you want? What features?
COSTS
* Will there be any freelance costs associated with this blog? Paid writers, photographers, designers?
MARKETING/PROMOTIONS
* What marketing strategies would you like to employ to promote your blog? How will you reach your audience on those locations you’ve identified above?
TRAFFIC ESTIMATES
* Assess the traffic of the mediascape, and set goals. How many topics do you want to cover a day? How much discussion do you want? What’s a great number of comments to get?
What did I leave out? What questions would you ask in the brainstorming sessions for a new blog?
[This article was originally published on LauraFries.com]
