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Newspapers need to learn that great online communities should not be dictatorshipsBy Robert Niles, October 3, 2008 I had a conversation yesterday with a former colleague, who, like many online journalists, is trying to steer his newspaper toward a more Web-savvy future. As we were wrapping up, he mentioned that he had to go to a meeting of his paper's "standards and practices" committee.The what? I asked. "Yeah, we have a standards and practices committee," he said. "We're supposed to figure out policies about managing user-generated content, hyperlinking and stuff like that." Why don't you just crowdsource that? I asked. He rolled his eyes, said "I know," then proceeded to detail some of the reasons why the paper's old guard had shot down his proposal to do just that. The reasons boiled down to two: 1) We don't trust outsiders to know what we ought to be doing, so 2) we're not comfortable letting "outsiders" influence decisions about internal operations. What a wasted opportunity. What better way to help readers feel part of a community with the paper than to ask those readers to help craft the community's rules?  4 Comments |  Archive LinkReading, 'riting... and revenue? Online publishing changes the 'three Rs' for college studentsBy Larry Atkins, October 1, 2008 Sure, algebra, chemistry and English composition are important. But the most important basic skill and task that should be a prerequisite to graduating college is that students should create their own professional websites.In today's changing high-tech job market, students should be developing their own professional websites and blogs while they are in college and even high school. In addition to theoretical and analytical courses, colleges should teach real-world practical skills such as constructing a website. Schools should teach students that the Internet is more than a social networking tool or a way to research papers and projects. I teach Journalism at Temple University and Arcadia University. At the beginning of each semester, I'm surprised at the small number of students who have developed their own professional-style websites. Everyone is on Facebook or MySpace, but only five or so of the approximately 400 students that I've taught over the last five years had their own website, which featured their writing samples, articles, or other work. I now emphasize to all my students that developing their own professional website while in college can be an effective marketing tool and a great way to get internships, part-time jobs, full-time jobs, exposure, and extra cash. 3 Comments | Archive Link
News websites need sharper focus, consistent design to attract audience, advertisersBy Robert Niles, September 26, 2008 A reader wrote, in response to Geneva Overholser's post relaunching OJR:"You say that the 'old business model for news is broken.' What does that mean? What part of it is broken? What part of it can we expect journalists to put in its place?" Let me take on that one today. If we back up enough, I think we'll find that core principles that power the news business remain viable in the Internet era. Advertisers continue to deliver billions of dollars to publishers. Heck, my wife and I make the bulk of our income from direct and networked ad sales on our websites, for a personal example. Other concepts can work, as well. Christopher Kimball and his crew at Cook's Illustrated have shown that paid online content and offline subscriptions can support a robust ad-free publishing company. Non-profits such as the Consumers Union remain viable online, and other non-profits, such as ProPublica, show promise. So people can, and are making a variety of concepts work, whether they be based on advertising, subscriptions and/or contributions and grant funding. So what has the Internet broken? 2 Comments | Archive LinkContinuous Updates: Design decisions when designating breaking newsBy Nora Paul and Laura Ruel, September 24, 2008 This is one in a series of reports on DiSEL (Digital Story Effects Lab) Research projects conducted in 2007 through a research grant from the University of Minnesota. First in the series was on Navigation through Slide ShowsWhy we did the study One of the great strengths of the web is the ability to keep news updated and to alert readers immediately to stories they need to know about. This is also one of the biggest organizational changes the web has brought to newsrooms. Shifting from daily to constant deadlines has caused a rethinking of work flow, editing, and reporting responsibilities. But questions remain about the best way to ensure that these updated or breaking news items are presented on the page for greatest visibility. Judging from the wide variety of design techniques newsrooms use to designate breaking news, there is no consensus on the best approach. In May 2007 the top 102 US newspapers' websites were analyzed to catalog the different ways "breaking" news was being displayed. We looked at labels used to indicate news was updated or new and the design techniques for differentiating "breaking" news from other news items on the homepage. ...Continue reading "Continuous Updates: Design decisions when designating breaking news" 2 Comments | Archive Link
Build your own echo chamberBy Robert Niles, September 19, 2008 How can journalists help their work stand out in a media marketplace that's become stuffed with competition from thousands of blogs, websites and social networks? Not to mention umpteen cable networks, satellite radio channels and time-sucking iPhone and Crackberry applications?The easy answer is for journalists to provide sharper, more engaging work that's, well, even louder than what we've offered our readers back when most newspapers had monopolies in their local markets. Fortunately, as the Internet slams us with new competition, it offers journalists new opportunities as well. Specifically, today I'd like to write about the opportunity the Internet provides us to build relationships with our readers that will help amplify our reporting and its influence in society. Echo chambers have gotten a bad rap from some in journalism. But partisan media echo chambers can teach responsible journalists important lessons about how to motivate readers and to use the power of repetition to rebuild a newsroom's influence in its community. ...Continue reading "Build your own echo chamber" 3 Comments | Archive Link |
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