1 / 15

Writing/Reporting for Digital Media

Writing/Reporting for Digital Media. Prof. Vaccaro JRNL 13 Hofstra University. Key Ingredients to Digital. Key ingredients to successful digital journalism Ability to tell a story Summarizing , quick/succinct pieces Providing context Being thorough and comprehensive

lundy
Download Presentation

Writing/Reporting for Digital Media

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Writing/Reporting for Digital Media Prof. Vaccaro JRNL 13 Hofstra University

  2. Key Ingredients to Digital • 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

  3. Traits for a Digital Journalist • Develop strong writing skills • Understand how stories are told on multiple platforms • Develop proficiency on multiple multimedia platforms • Be flexible, confident, adaptable, versatile • Be able to find, create and understand complex data sets • Be different, access the competition and grow

  4. Digital Media Innovation • Keys to being an INNOVATIVE digital journalist • Think critically • Appreciate new ideas and technology • Innovate/teach/connect/relate • Be mobile • Think outside-the-box • Connect the dots

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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 are 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.

  9. Measuring your audience • What’s working on your platforms? You need to find a balance in content to please the sects of your audience and daily users. • Analytics: page views, daily active users, time of access • Comments and user feed backs • Through email, social and on the platforms themselves • Sharing to email/facebook/twitter/pinterest, etc. • For mobile: conversion rates … daily active users vs. total clicks vs. total sessions: how many people are clicking the stories vs. actually opening and using the app?

  10. Increasing user engagement • First off, the definition of an “engaged” user is different based on the medium • Do they read your website? • Do they participate in commenting/socialization? • Do they use your app casually or daily? • Is your app multi-function? Game vs. news/info? • Remember that first impressions could be your only impression • Design is important in this case,as are headlines and images • For mobile: tutorial, first page, splash screen, etc. • Talk with users • Either in comments, on social or through email

  11. Increase user engagement The more you see which stories are getting positive engagement numbers, the more you should feed that beast … i.e. write to the audience and the users and their every desire if it fits your core message and content plan. Crowdsourcefrom your users to keep them engaged and relate them to the content. We will go over crowdsourcing later in the semester.

  12. Using social media in journalism • Collaborative Reporting • Journalists as Community Managers • The Social Beat • The Social Network as the New Editor • A Social Newsroom and the Personal Brand • A Mobile Social Experience

  13. Advantages of Social Media The advantages of Twitter… • Its real-time nature allows organizations to deliver information to their followers instantly, without relying on newspapers to pick up their stories. • The number of loyal consumers following a brand on Twitter rose by six percent from last year. • Twitter allows you to find followers interested in your content, instantly creating an interested audience.

  14. Advantages of social media The advantages of Facebook… • Facebook provides the best one-stop destination for sharing stories, photos and videos. • One-third of consumers claim greater loyalty to a brand if they are “fans” of the company. • 80% of social network users admit Facebook is the network they employ the most to connect with businesses.

  15. Next Class Beat Note No. 3 DUE Note: Assignment No. 2 due Tuesday, Oct. 29 Reminder: No class Oct. 22 News Quiz Lecture based on Syllabus

More Related