Breaking news digital checklist

1. Breaking newsdigital checklist GateHouse Media News & Interactive

2. Agenda • Use a checklist, especially for digital • Editor • Communicate • Post information online • Involve readers • Consider multimedia opportunities • Use Storify • How to use Storify

3. Agenda • Reporter • Know expectations/deadlines • Use social media • Be your own photographer • Consider multimedia • Photographer • Your phone is your friend • Use social media • Be your own reporter • Contribute to multimedia • COMMUNICATE!

4. Use a checklist* *especially for digital • Print • We’ve got that covered • Digital • There are so many moving parts, it’s easy to forget some things • Boston Marathon Facebook slip • Don’t just have a checklist – USE a checklist • Sample checklist available

5. Editor Communicate • Assignments and deadlines – print and online – for • Reporters • Photographers • Designers/press • Contact media partner(s) about sharing resources • Contact other company staff about getting help • Digital editor • Publisher

6. Editor Post information online • The newspaper isn’t the only way to share info: • Website • special treatment? Big picture? • Watch comments • Newsletter alert • Facebook • Twitter • Tweet fresh and retweet reporters • Get information here, too

7. Editor Post information online • The newspaper isn’t the only way to share info: • Instagram • Google+ • Are you on here? Take advantage of the SEO boost. • Wherever else you may be present online

8. Editor Involve readers • Ask for information • Ask for reader photos ASAP

9. Editor Consider multimedia opportunities • Video • Photo gallery • Maps • Documents • Audio (911 call)

10. Editor Use Storify • Storify – a curation of social media posts – is a good placeholder until you have someone on the scene • Embed on your site • Auto updates when you update in Storify. • Free and fast!

11. How to use Storify 1) Create an account. Use a paperwide username and e-mail address.

12. How to use Storify 2) You may want to poke around Twitter first to see if there even IS a conversation going on around a topic. 3) Log in to Storify. 4) “Create Story.”

13. How to use Storify. How to use Storify headline intro graph 5) On the left: write a headline in the first box. Write an intro in the second box. You could include the URL to your site’s story or the homepage at the end of your intro. (for those visiting from Storify)

14. How to use Storify • 6) On the right hand side, work your way through the various social media sites. • Plug in a keyword. Hit return. • Drag the posts you want to your timeline. • Save occasionally.

15. How to use Storify How to use Storify. Twitter: This usually yields the most content. There are sub-options such as “User,” which is where you can find a Twitter account by user name. Limit by geography. Facebook: You can intersperse the Facebook posts with the Twitter posts or drag them all at the end of the timeline and rearrange the order later as you decide how to present things. YouTube: Take the time to watch the video. You can drag it to the timeline, watch it and delete it if you decide it’s inappropriate.

16. How to use Storify How to use Storify. Flickr: This is where you can find photos to break up text if you didn’t already get some out of Twitter and Facebook. Instagram: I don’t often find a ton of photos here, or they’re also posted on Twitter, so I’ve already found them there. Also can limit geographically. Google: This searches Google for websites. You may want to use whatever the official site is for whatever your topic is.

17. How to use Storify How to use Storify. Embed URLs: When you already have a URL, plug it in here and it will give you a box you can add to the story with a link to that URL. Think of all of those elements like you would quotes in your notebook. Now how should you string them together?

18. How to use Storify How to use Storify. 7) Organize the elements in a way that makes sense to a reader from top to bottom. Chronological? By topic? Weaving thoughts together? Just click on a post in your timeline and drag it to where you want it to be if you need to move it.

19. How to use Storify How to use Storify. 8) You should add text between posts or chunks of posts to tie everything together, make it read more like a story instead of a string of social media posts. Just click where you want to type.

20. How to use Storify How to use Storify. 9) When the timeline looks the way you want it to, click Save one last time. Click Publish. You can post this Storify to your own Twitter and Facebook accounts at the top.

21. How to use Storify How to use Storify. At the bottom, Storify automatically lists the people you included in your timeline and lets you notify them that they’ve been “quoted.”

22. How to use Storify. How to use Storify 10) Tweak any of the text in these boxes as needed, then hit PUBLICIZE.

23. How to use Storify How to use Storify. ALLOWS YOU TO SHARE, e.g. BY EMAIL, FACEBOOK, ETC. CLICK TO SHOW VIEWS BY SITE CLICK TO GET EMBED CODE

24. Reporter Know expectations/deadlines • What is needed for print? • When is it due? • What is needed for online? • When is it due? • Who is posting?

25. Reporter Use social media • Use Facebook and Twitter to: • Gather information/sources • Share information as you get it • Share links to stories online • Use good #hashtags – think of them like a fishing hook • Have a Google+ account? Post a link to the story with good #hashtags so it will show up better in searches. • Continue monitoring social media for interaction • Answer questions, offer updates

26. Reporter Be your own photographer • Don’t assume the photographer is where you are • If you have a smartphone, use it • Post to social media immediately • Email photos to the desk to post online

27. Reporter Be your own photographer • Stay in touch with the photographer • Help coordinate your words with his/her images

28. Reporter Consider multimedia • How else can you tell the story? • Video (raw or edited) • Map • Documents • Discuss ideas with your editor from the field

29. Photographer Your phone is your friend • Unless you can transmit images from your camera fast from the field, use your phone • Don’t get caught up with the perfect photo • Need photos ASAP for the website

30. Photographer Use social media • Have access/logins for the publication’s Facebook/Twitter accounts. • Post ASAP • Just need to get the info across, can post your best photos later • Say what you know, see

31. Photographer Be your own reporter • Use social media to help gather information • Post what you know/see • Read what others are saying to help guide where you should be, what you should be photographing • Be sure the reporter knows what you know

32. Photographer Contribute to multimedia • In addition to filing individual photos, know how to create a photo gallery on your website • Let the editor know you’re posting it • Promote the gallery on social media • Link it to the story

33. COMMUNICATE! Everyone needs to keep in touch • Have phone numbers stored in your phone, contact list at hand for anyone you may need. • Better to tell someone something they’ve already heard than someone miss something altogether. • If you’re telling each other, should you also be telling your reader?

34. More information A sample checklist will be emailed to webinar participants after the call and available on ghnewsroom.com with a “takeaways” story next week.

35. More information • If you have questions or suggestions, contact GateHouse Media New England Regional Digital Editor Nicole Simmons: • nsimmons@wickedlocal.com • ghnewsroom.com/blogs/nicolesimmons • 508-626-3923 • @Digital_Nicole • Instagram: WickedLocalPix • plus.google.com/+NicoleSimmonsGateHouse

36. Breaking newsdigital checklist GateHouse Media News & Interactive