Today’s roadmap
REMINDER: Blog on your class blog, and tweet notes using #HUJRNL10
On your class blog each entry headline should be formatted like this … “Class Notes: Writing for Digital”
Lecture on writing for the web and digital
Notes about next class
Key Ingredients to Digital Media
Key ingredients to successful digital journalism
Ability to tell a story
Summarizing, quick/succinct pieces
Providing context
Being thorough and comprehensive
Understanding all multimedia elements
Engagement and interactivity with users
Developing content initiatives that go beyond the norm
Traits for a Digital Journalist
Develop strong writing skills
Understand how stories are told on multiple platforms
Be flexible, confident, adaptable, versatile
Find, create and understand complex data sets
Be different, assess the competition and grow
Digital Media Innovation
Keys to being an INNOVATIVE digital journalist
Think critically
Appreciate new ideas and technology
Innovate/teach/connect/relate
Be mobile (your phone is your lifeline/friend/tool)
Think outside-the-box (be different)
Connect the dots (context)
Elements of News
These should never change, no matter what type of medium you are reporting on …
Timeliness
Proximity
Impact
Magnitude
Prominence
Conflict
Novelty
Emotional appeal
Writing Tips
Inverted pyramid
Who, what, where, when, why and how still apply with digital journalism
Short and sweet … no more than 500 words on average, many times 250-400 words if you have multimedia elements, sometimes less; Quick, punchy and to the point, concise and exact
Attribution and sourcing still applies
Tips for writing: mobile
Focus on what users actually need on the move
Cut ruthlessly – but stay instantly understandable
Don’t forget SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Make the user’s journey thorough Related links * Commenting * Sharing *Hyperlinks
Keep the content self contained
Don’t relay on design, but adapt to it when possible Headline length, caption length, etc.
Put a connection/link to your full site on every page If you don’t have a main site, then create a URL to dub content for sharing purposes.
Understanding your audience
You’ll need to know your core demographic before you can begin reporting … you’re niche, the people you are trying to reach most.
You should plan your coverage around the people who are reading your content the most.
Is there room for more content that covers a broader range? Of course, but after repeated times with lower stats/clicks/views, then reassess the content.
Why does the audience matter? Time, energy, budget … don’t put in the resources if they aren’t going to be utilized affectively.
Today’s roadmap
REMINDER: Blog your class notes during lecture
REMINDER: Tweet notes and links to your blog entries. Use #JRNL10
Lecture on blogging, entrepreneurial journalism and more about the business of journalism
Blog vs. Traditional Media
OpinionNo set styleCompletely onlineCitizen journalistsAnyone can do itFree/sustainable
ObjectivityProper stylePrint/online/TVTrained journalistsHired by companyBiz team needed
Popular Blogs
Top blogs on internet:
1. HuffPo (Aol) 2. TMZ 3. Business Insider 4. Gawker 5. Lifehacker 6. Mashable 7. Gizmodo 8. The Daily Beast 9. Perez Hilton 10. Tech Crunch (Aol)
Why are they popular?
• Focus on one subject area
• Packed with information
• Perfect amount of multimedia
• Mix between paid/unpaid writers/editors/bloggers
• “What’s now” content … hip, unique, trendy
Let’s analyze the top five blog sites …
1. HuffPo (Aol)2. TMZ3. Business Insider4. Gawker5. Lifehacker
Analyze the top blogs from list
Blog Basics
More characteristics defining a blog
Unique content, some related to a specific niche
Frequently updated - new content should be at the top
Every entry has a headline/body text and includes hyperlinks
Contains a spot for reader comments/feedback
Blog Basics
San Jose Mercury News added a blog in 1999 and changed journalism
Every newspaper has blogs
Every major newspaper has broken news via their blogs
Every reporter hired now, is asked if they know how to manage/run a blog
What are your favorite blogs?
Tell us your favorites?
Vaccaro Jim Romenesko, journalism industry Hardball Talk / Pro Football Talk (NBC Sports) Islanders Point Blank Let’s Blog it Out (Entourage), Newsday
Creating a blog
Make a plan: editorial/business
Choose a blog system Blogger/Wordpress
Choose a theme/design
Extras/Gadgets/Widgets
Build your audience How? Remember from our second class?
Tips for Bloggers
Organize your ideas
Be direct and to the point
Use appropriate language and style
Be the authority with a personality
Link, summarize and analyze
• Be specific with headlines/tagging
• Post early/post often
• Use images and multimedia elements
• Participate in the community/social network
• Write less and with conviction
Blog Ideas and more specific ideas
News >>>>>Education >>>>>Hot-button issues >>>>>Animals >>>>>HS Football >>>>>Politics >>>>>Hot topics >>>>>History >>>>>
Police/fire newsSachem SchoolsImmigrationPuppies, MorkiesSachem FootballNewsday LI PoliticsCommunity calendar1940’s Europe
Other Blog Creation Tips
Define your competition … who else is writing about this topic?
Who cares about the topic? Will anyone read or see this?
How can I make this a visitor destination?
Live blog and host talk sessions … think outside the editorial box
Planning multimedia
Assess situation for adding multimedia to your story and platform … (could relate to web/mobile/blogs)
Photo galleries
Photo slideshows
Audio
Video
Info graphics
Tips on info layering
You have all this content? How do you place it in nonlinear format on your platform and have it make sense?
Create each element to stand alone
Only include redundancies that are necessary
Avoid editing your ideas in early stages of planning … having too much is not a bad thing, you can always cut down or spread the content out (follow up?). Having too little is a problem.
Assess multimedia potential
Can the story be broken down into several topical chunks?
Does the story describe a process? (Info graphs, video and photo galleries are perfect to displaying a process of events)
Is the story laden with stats and figures? (info graphs and data visualization will help you!)
Is there emotional narrative to be shown? (Video shows action and events as they unfold)
Entrepreneurial Journalism
Let’s apply what we just learned about blogging and microblogging to the following notes on entrepreneurial journalism.
You should know how to build a media platform before trying to build a media brand. They go hand-in-hand, but the work behind the brand is what actually counts for the reporters/editors/journalists.
You need to think and act as a publisher, business development executive in some aspects of journalism. The industry dictates this evolution. You’ll be better off.
Taking advantage of opportunity
How do you open a new product and change the new media frontier?
Engagement: No longer are journalists expected to shout the news from a remote location, they are on the ground with the people. It’s a form of news collaboration, according to Briggs.
Building trust: Being transparent with the audience and giving them what they want in an online medium.
Embracing diversity of voice: You must be open to different view points through different dispersal methods. Fair and balanced with the submersion of new media technologies.
What makes a successful start up?
Quality content pays
Understanding how to do business while being a journalist
Test, test and test some more
Pick a niche and go deep
Target audiences for targeted advertising
Check out the new app economy
Be ethical and stick with it
What makes a successful start up?
Analyze common traits of other successful startups … both positive and negative
Learn how some blogs have grown into big businesses or other mediums like books or magazines
Get inspired by others who have beat the odds
Set your own goals and achieve
Creating revenue models
Syndication: Will other companies pay for your content?
Custom content: Will people log onto your platform and pay for specific content?
Advertising: Will you work with a third-party ad agency to plate your ads on other networks as well?
Elements of Innovation
Ideas do not fall off trees … you need to:
Be creative: envision something that doesn’t exist.
Risk: be willing to go way outside the box if you think it will work. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Hard work: easier said than done sometimes, and very cliché, but you know what it takes to be successful and it doesn’t happen over night in most cases.
How innovation is taught? Business schools have taught innovation through numbers and finance for years, now CUNY offers an entrepreneurial masters program for journalism. You can learn to think like an innovative digital journalist.
Make innovation a strategy
Make a priority
Make failure acceptable
Set goals
Be agile
See innovation as a product
Bring start up culture to the newsroom
Get hired by an older media company with traditional ways? No problem. It’s your turn to shine.
Divide and conquer: Think hyper-local and give authority to more people but in concentrated areas.
We report, you decide: Monthly meetings can be used as a way to report to your team how new projects are working. Good and bad.
Choosing the right technology
You need a platform you understand and can work in
Choose the right host and right theme for the design of your site
Enhance your site with advanced features Event calendars Live blogs Live video Mapping Databases Bulletin boards Social media/bookmarking Email marketing
Assignment No. 1
DUE NEXT CLASS
Prepare an editorial/business plan for a web/blog idea that could be utilized as a real website …
Be prepared to have it done in class and talk about it, along with your classmates, in front of the room live before the class period ends.
Assignment No. 1
Post the business plan to your class blog
Headline: “Assignment No. 1: Biz Plan”
Things to include Blog idea with specific focus? Niche? Who is your demographic? Why? How will you execute on coverage? Types of multimedia you would use How would you staff your company? Hierarchy of workers? None? List at least five types of content you’d include: news articles, commentary, daily
columns, etc. List forms of multimedia to coincide with your coverage