This is a digest of the links you see offered as “featured” on the Journalism Accelerator homepage (and other spots across the site). Because the featured items are updated often, this is the place for you to find these resources once they’ve left the rotation. To help you find something you may have seen on a given week, featured listing are organized by the dates they ran. Got suggestions on content you’d like to see featured?
The Twitter conversion of a local news anchor, when editors beat algorithms, dissecting the value of content subscriptions, and what journos really should know about the business they’re in.
‘Silver Fish Handcatch!’: Detroit Anchor Uses Twitter To Engage TV Audience
Many news outlets use social media like Facebook or Twitter to connect with their audience. But a Detroit TV anchor “may have found a way to translate those clicks and tweets into viewership.”
Techmeme founder: Give me human editors and the New York Times
For any journalist worried about being replaced by cyborgs: Tech guru Gabe Rivera pushes algorithms to shape news coverage but says audiences respond to a human editor’s touch.
Hello to Symbolia: New iPad-only comics journalism magazine launches today
Looking for new ways to draw an audience? Symbolia went iPad-only to cover serious news by serious graphic artists. Can you fit this in your media landscape?
The science of content subscriptions: Understanding lifetime customer value and price power
Will online subscriptions save you? Think long term: each new subscriber doesn’t create profit overnight. This breaks down the recoup costs.
Why journalists should explore the business side of news
Journalists have contributed much to the technological advancements of the field over the past decade, but why aren’t journos on the cutting edge of business advancements, too?
Tabloid photographers defend colleague who snapped ‘Post’ subway horror shot
Add to your thinking or newsroom discussion about the infamous NY Post photo of a man about to be hit by a train these views of veteran photogs defending the shot and publication.
Posted on December 14, 2012
Topic: Digest
Secrets to local news sharing, how liveblogs draw in daytime news readers, what journos really need to know about cell phone use. Plus paywalls, plagiarism and inspiring moves out of media.
A Journalist’s Quick Primer on Who Uses Cell Phones (and How)
“A big push in journalism right now? Mobile. An important piece of information for knowing how to make a good journalism strategy for mobile? How people actually use mobile.”
Guest post: Why liveblogs outperform other online news formats by up to 300%
Daytime news readers – many of them office workers – favor liveblogs of news events over a later write-up. An emerging audience seeking information or distraction for you to tap into.
What kinds of local stories drive engagement? The results of an NPR Facebook experiment
What makes people share specific local news stories? Nine types of tales found to boost sharing – and caring.
Paywalls are a short-term fix, not a long-term solution
To paywall or not to paywall, that is one question. But a yes/no answer isn’t simple. Read this to up your business thinking on ad, app and paid content strategy.
Media Experts Dan Okrent, Jack Shafer, and David Carr Discuss ESPN’s Plagiarism Problem: “If I Were Them, I Would Be Embarrassed”
You know not to cut and paste from Wikipedia, but what’s your plan if a contributor does? Check out this dissection of ESPN’s response to significant plagiarism for handy dos and don’ts.
Deborah Blum, Master of Reinvention!
Countless journalists continue to move to other careers, reluctantly or not. Many have found success. Insight and inspiration to reinvent yourself if you leave the media biz.
Posted on December 14, 2012
Topic: Digest
Drones and Twitter lay down new challenges to journalism. Creative, ethical ways to break down the traditional business/newsroom wall. And who is a hyperlocal? How fast are the numbers growing?
5 iPad Apps Journalists Should Try For Interviews
Bundling many reporting tasks into one tool: check out these paid and free app options for dictation, recording and taking notes on an iPad.
The Local News: Now Brought To You By Drones?
Journalism students push into unchartered territory – using remote controlled aerial systems to gather pictures for a story. Would you do this?
How News Orgs Break Down the Editorial-Business Wall, Ethically
“Creative, appropriate — and most importantly — ethical ways to blend the business and editorial sides.”
Wilbon on sports writing today: Not as much good stuff as there used to be
Former WP sports writer says social media and multimedia are lowering the quality of sports writing. How do you meet demands of speed and excellence on any beat?
Sizing the Industry: Who Gets Counted as ‘Hyperlocal?’
Streetfight takes a stab at defining “hyperlocal” and points to lists tracking the industry. Check out the comments for more.
Twitter: the future of journalism, or only the bad kind?
Sharks swimming in the New York subway system? Why Twitter is an unreliable wire service and how you can use it to add value.
Posted on November 29, 2012
Topic: Digest
New content and paywall platforms offer new options to local publishers. Lessons from Obama’s off-on-the-record flip. Learn to ID fake news photos, and how local is too local? Think again.
HuffPost launches a platform for user-generated reporting
The Huffington Post invites readers to add their own pictures, words and video “to show how issues track across geographical areas.” Potential leads, color and connections for local news.
Obama campaign and Des Moines Register: A form of quote approval
The Obama campaign makes off-the-record talk with newspaper public when called out. Insight into how you can push politicians – and potential limits of off-the-record talks.
Where Can I Find Great Content To Tweet?
The top tip for Twitter newbies: Pick a topic and stick to it. Just step one to building your brand, voice and community in the twitterverse.
Why small news should be big news for local newspapers – mock it at your peril
“The difference between what a trained journalist sees as news and what the local newspaper reader sees as news has the potential to render us irrelevant to our audience.”
How journalists can avoid getting fooled by fake Hurricane Sandy photos
Fake photos from FrankenSandy hold the potential to blow truth apart. Poynter offers tools and techniques for sorting true from false that go beyond this storm season.
Paywall startup Tinypass adds metered subscriptions for small publishers
As paywalls gain traction with major media sites, startup company Tinypass brings small publishers into the game with a menu of metered content options to consider.
Posted on November 15, 2012
Topic: Digest
Tools to manage trolls, turning experts into journalists, and some evidence of the limits of sponsored content. Plus, how to consider news in subatomic particles.
Circa wants to rethink the way we consume the news on a sub-atomic level
As news consumption shifts to mobile devices, an experiment in repackaging content to optimize reader desire.
Comment Voting: Ars Technica’s new solution to shills and kooks
Sick of bad apples trolling? Check out tech-oriented website Ars Technica’s comment voting system, a tool to separate the good from the rotten.
Robert Steiner: In Toronto, we’re dumping the j-school model to produce a new kind of reporter
Teaching subject experts journalism instead of the other way around as a way to deepen news and spread knowledge. A model for publications to tap and train their own local expertise?
How to make your journalism project succeed on Kickstarter
Considering Kickstarter? Read this deep and practical assessment of specific challenges journalism projects face, plus tricks to ratchet up your chances of success.
Capitalist content: Forbes’ ad-sponsored stories stir controversy
In the search for new revenue partnerships, Forbes pushes the envelope on advertiser-sponsored stories , and learns controversy can come with cash.
The skills you need to become a better multimedia journalist
Ball State professor Jennifer George-Palilonis offers useful tips on tools, workflow and collaborative efforts needed to transform into a multimedia reporter.
Posted on November 2, 2012
Topic: Digest
Insights from Patch and Block by Block to ramp up – and fix – the local ad revenue model. Plus new thinking on networks on and offline for improving contributions, connections and impact.
Innovation in Journalism Goes Begging for Support
Writing that “the existential dilemma confronting media will require new answers” the NYT’s David Carr wonders why an innovative site won buzz but no money.
Metrics, metrics everywhere: How do we measure the impact of journalism?
A law changed? Or a long comment stream? “Ideally, a newsroom would have a…database connecting each story to both quantitative and qualitative indicators of impact.” You can start smaller.
6 Ways to Encourage User Contributions on Hyperlocal Sites
Tap into the 40% of adults who say they are “local news participators” with phone numbers, active personal outreach, and asking for what you want.
The Patch experiment: Don’t drink the Kool-Aid
A thoughtful analysis of the Patch prescription by an ex-insider. “The journalism is not broken…the sales side of the business is very, very, very broken.”
At Precipice, Hyperlocals Face $$$ Realities
Report from Block by Block 2012: “If ‘community’ was the hyperlocals’ old mantra, ‘revenue’ has now elbowed up to be a new one.”
Study: Smaller news websites depend more on social media for traffic than larger sites
Intriguing data and creative visualizations map publications’ interdependencies across one local news ecosystem.
Posted on October 7, 2012
Topic: Digest
Branch out into audio, keep a tight eye on Google wallet, and reimagine yourself as an “audience company.” Compare your trends to bigger movement in the industry, celebrate local publishers.
The German newspaper saved by its readers
State support for Die Taz fell with the Berlin Wall, but its community stepped in. Now with 12,000 owners, a possible model?
Google ‘experiment’ lets content creators charge for articles
Just months after shutting down One Pass, Google tries a new way to sell content: page by page. Will publishers be able to rack up some pennies?
Creating audience leadership at Morris
With decades of newspaper business under his belt, Steve Gray shares “a minor epiphany” he had in 2010. “I began to think about Morris as an audience company…”
How Journalists Are Using SoundCloud
SoundCloud grows and journos find the site “a way to extend their brand and grab the attention of listeners…” Bonus: links to ReadWriteWeb on journos using Instagram, Pinterest and Google+.
Four key trends changing digital journalism and society
Sniffing out common themes in exciting new projects that hint at the journalism path ahead. Ranking high: Collaboration, data and open code.
Spirit of sharing continues at third Block by Block community news summit
Block by Block 2012 illuminates growth, savvy of community and local publishers, sharing “a belief in local, independently produced news…by people who care about the communities they serve.”
Posted on October 7, 2012
Topic: Digest
Earning an “A” for revenue, an experiment and an explanation that might work for your local news site, and new survey results that value professional journalism over social referrals.
We need better entrepreneurial journalism courses. Here’s how to fix them.
Just in time for back-to-school, course concepts anyone in the news business might consider. Earn an A for picking a niche, studying success, building a vision and making money.
Survey: Public prefers news from professional journalists
“Digital content produced by professional journalists…has perceived value, but charging for access…will continue to present news organizations with a dilemma.”
Newspaper websites move in new direction
How one local news editor explained to readers why the site is starting a paywall.
Evening Edition, an afternoon paper for a mobile world
This daily digest, served right when many people want it, has a national/global focus. But why not try it locally?
Block-by-Blockers Respond to Borrell’s Revenue Prescription
Smart local publishers weigh in on controversial advice on how to generate revenue.
‘Thunderdome’ Takes Shape At Digital First
Journal Register editor-in-chief Jim Brady sets the compass for the company’s new centralization operations. “How many local stories can be produced…?” if national news is done centrally.
Posted on September 1, 2012
Topic: Digest
Pressures on political reporters, investigative channeling, a startup that found the right mix of revenue, a new approach to attract local advertising, and two timely tales of woe and warning.
Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back
Political reporters increasingly agree to post-quote edits. How does your newsroom manage such ethical pressures?
Forgive us our Press Passes
‘This American Life’ tells the frontline tale of how Journatic outsourced local news. Listen to this to understand why the experiment-gone-wrong is becoming a symbol of our fast-changing times.
The I Files
Collaboration and innovation: A new investigative news channel for your pitches – and to watch for inspiration and information.
Will ‘Breaking Promos’ Help Hyperlocals Bring New Customers to SMBs?
Looking for local ads? Consider experimenting with a “revenue-producing idea for community news sites that may…promise publishers the power to give businesses what they seek…”
Hack of tech journalist reveals flaws in cloud security
A hacking story with timely reminders for reporters and publishers. How do you manage your own online security, and how do you manage your customer data?
Forget display ads: Techically Media’s events-based business model is working
How a trio of j-school grads found a “diverse, sustainable business model” for a local tech news site. Events and consulting bring major revenue, ads and grants round it out.
Posted on August 17, 2012
Topic: Digest
Competing on user engagement, connecting with readers to push stories forward, and a CEO learning the value of community news. Plus an initiative to end an information “ghetto.”
Huffington Post relaunches General Mills’ ‘Live Better’ website
A GM site with a Huff Post staffer “selecting stories” reveals advertisers’ deep push toward branded content. Would doing this locally offer revenue opportunities or risk trust and transparency?
User Engagement Is Digital Mantra In Mich.
A useful use case for local publishers anywhere: The fierce competition to engage community in a place where “news doesn’t break so much as pace itself to the rhythms of heartland American life.”
The Murrow Rural Information Initiative
Finding itself in “a digital state with a rural information ghetto,” Washington State University plans citizen training, a “Murrow News Barometer” and teaching the value of local news.
The Washington Post Launches Crowdsourcing Platform
What’s the purpose behind your outreach? The Post’s stated goals go deep – aiming to create “a place for people to come together and address a variety of challenges and thoughtful topics.”
Daily Voice CEO: We’re ‘Far Closer’ to Profitable Than the Competition Is
Almost a year into leading a NE hyperlocal news network, Zohar Yardeni’s big takeaway: “I am learning how people feel about community news. I underestimated the role it plays in people’s lives.”
Google Takes Political Online Ads Local, Allows Campaigns to Target Congressional Districts
As political campaigns target ads ever more local with Google, how might local publishers get a piece of the political ad buy?
Posted on August 17, 2012
Topic: Digest
