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JRNL 10: Feb. 13, 2011. Prof. Vaccaro Hofstra University. Reminder. No class next week … it’s a holiday. Next class is Feb. 27. Don’t forget to start blogging and tweeting during class … key bullet points, notes, etc. This is part of your participation. Use #HUJrnl10 while tweeting.
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JRNL 10: Feb. 13, 2011 Prof. Vaccaro Hofstra University
Reminder • No class next week … it’s a holiday. Next class is Feb. 27. • Don’t forget to start blogging and tweeting during class … key bullet points, notes, etc. This is part of your participation. Use #HUJrnl10 while tweeting.
Digital Media Innovation • 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
Digital Media Innovation • Keys to being a digital journalist • Think critically • Appreciate new ideas and technology • Innovate/teach/connect/relate • Be mobile • Think outside-the-box • Connect the dots
Elements of News • 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 • Quick, punchy and to the point • Attribution and sourcing still applies
Building a Digital Audience • Business decisions directly affect newsrooms • How do you keep your paper/website alive? • Tracking your content • Web analytics (Google Analytics/Omniture -Adobe) • Search Engine Optimization • Effective headline writing for the web • Distribution through all social media • Track everything … numbers = success
What to track and why? • Total news stories per day • News stories by topic or section • Total blog posts per day • Blog posts by specific blog • Slide show views/video blog views • News updates/announcements • Email alert subscriptions • Basically, everything!
What to track and why? • Chronicling user engagement • Better understanding demographics • Demographic engagement = marketing strategy and advertising advancements • Proper advertising = revenue • Revenue = jobs in the newsroom
Search Engine Optimization • Key words go a long way • Wit doesn’t win this game, straight forward important words take the bait • Why? Readers type key words into search engines, you need to maximize their search • Good SEO: New York Mets Pitcher Johan Santana Wins Cy Young Award • Bad SEO: Santana Wins Big for Club
Using Social Media for Distribution Channels • Understand the medium first • Use strategy and tactics for this as well • Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn are all acceptable if used professionally and ethically
Social Media Tips for Journalists • Find new sources, ideas, topics and trends. Search for sources among LinkedIn’s professional profiles or follow your beat on Twitter using MuckRack.com. • Connect with new and existing audiences. Everything has multiple audiences.î Repeat your tweets at different times of the day and repurpose content between Facebook and Twitter to maximize your reach. • Bring attention to your work: Make your posts and tweets as informative, relevant and fun as possible, he advised. Include a link with every tweet, and donít reference yourself more than one tweet out of five, he added. • Create and enhance your online brand. Aim to be among the sites a person visits once or twice a day.
Opinion No set style Completely online Citizen journalists Anyone can do it Free/sustainable Objectivity Proper style Print/online/TV Trained journalists Hired by company Biz team needed Blog vs. Traditional Media
Popular Blogs • According to ebizmba.com, the top 15 blogs on the net, as of March 6, 2011 … • 1 | HuffingtonPost: 28,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors (AOL) • 2 | TMZ: 17,000,000 - Estimated UVs • 3 | engadget: 11,500,000 - Estimated UVs • 4 | PerezHilton: 9,000,000 - Estimated UVs • 5 | Gizmodo: 8,900,000 - Estimated UVs • 6 | Mashable: 7,000,000 - Estimated UVs • 7 | TechCrunch: 6,500,000 - Estimated UVs (AOL) • 8 | Gawker: 4,500,000 - Estimated UVs • 9 | lifehacker: 4,400,000 - Estimated UVs • 10 | FanHouse: 4,350,000 - Estimated Uvs (AOL)
Blog Basics • Characteristics defining a blog (Briggs - Journalism Next) • 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
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? • Let’s look at newspaper blogs … • Vaccaro • Let’s Blog it Out (Entourage), Newsday • JRNL Teaching (Stony Brook), independent • Patch Blog (Company blog), Patch.com
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
News Education Hot-button issues Animals HS Football Politics Breaking news Sachem Schools Immigration Doggies Sachem Football Newsday LI Pol. Blog Ideas and Better Ideas
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
Microblogging • Using Twitter and Facebook to get your message out quickly • Effective medium for breaking news • Can host chats/Q&As • Extension of your editorial reach • Building a digital community • Another reach for advertisers • Building your brand tweet-by-tweet • Create lists and communicate with others • Go mobile
Next Class … February 27 • REMINDER: NO CLASS on February 20 … because of holiday • Read Chapter 6 - digital photography • Assignment No. 1: During the second half of class on Feb. 27, you will do the first graded assignment of the semester. Instructions to come.