John Hazard

Content aggregation is fine, but BE FIRST whenever you can

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:49:00 -0500

Content aggregation is fine, but BE FIRST whenever you can:

“aggregation and curation are part of the new media ecosystem, and they can add a lot of value whether we like them or not.”

That might be true, but if you’re shooting for social traction and audience engagement, it’s worth very little.

Aggregation is a great way to cover the bases. It’s a great way to serve your audience like the old “Newspaper of Record,” and everyone should have some aggregation in their tool belt> It’s a terrific launch pad to provide unique analysis on news you didn’t break. But it does little to set you apart and cultivate return visits and a devoted audience.

BuzzFeed’s Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, said it well last week to NYT’s David Carr:

“No one is going to care if we come up with a story that is almost as good as someone else’s scoop four hours earlier.”

My mantra as an editor has always been this: If you aren’t the first to the story, don’t waste your time reporting what’s already been reported. Advance the story, link to what’s already been done and move on to something original that everyone else will have to link to when you are first. Be first whenever you can.

Brand Journalism vs Content Marketing

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:58:36 -0500

YouTube CEO: The Future of Content Is Niche Channels

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:06:33 -0500

YouTube CEO: The Future of Content Is Niche Channels:

The way consumers access and consume media is changing rapidly, YouTube head Salar Kamangar believes, and YouTube is evolving to accommodate it. “We’re entering the third wave of media,” Kamangar said during an on-stage interview with AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka in Laguna Nigel, Calif., Tuesday. …

Journalists Find a Ready Audience in Facebook "Subscribe" Feature

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:42:37 -0500

Journalists Find a Ready Audience in Facebook "Subscribe" Feature:

From MediaBistro’s Morning News Feed:

A Facebook analysis studying journalists’ use of the subscribe feature finds that the group has experienced a 320 percent average increase in subscribers since November. However, this feature only became available in September, and this analysis is only based on 25 media profiles. Inside Facebook: Facebook’s heavy push of the subscribe feature has apparently paid off, as thousands of journalists enabled subscribers after its launch in September, according to a note on the Journalists + Facebook page. 10,000 Words: Links accounted for 62 percent of posts, a call to action (promotional language like “check this out”) accounted for 30 percent, questions and input accounted for 25 percent, videos accounted for 13 percent, and photos accounted for 12 percent. paidContent: Before you think that subscribe has been taken over by those working in the world of blogs and digital-first news sites, think again. Facebook said that among those early adopters, the highest concentration of journalists using subscribe were from two of the most old-school publications: The Washington Post has more than 90 journalists using it, and The New York Times has over 50. Nieman Journalism Lab: Write about current affairs. Add in a little commentary (or a question). And, for the love of all that is holy, include a link. Those are three of the takeaways from some new data Facebook just released on the use of its subscribe feature — the social network’s way to let journalists and readers connect without broaching the knotty issue of “friending.” TechCrunch: If Facebook can get your favorite journalists publishing through subscribe, you’ll have less need for Twitter.

TV Rethunk

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:13:26 -0500

TV Rethunk:

WhiteHouse YouTube to broadcast enhanced version of SOTU w/ embedded graphics, data, stats. That’s TV/Content rethunk.

"Glad to see lots of journalists out against #SOPA & #PIPA, but not sure I understand how..."

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:21:00 -0500

“Glad to see lots of journalists out against #SOPA & #PIPA, but not sure I understand how it’s in our interest.”

- me

Huffington Post's print edition

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:32:49 -0500

Huffington Post's print edition:

I hope more small papers seek out well done journalism wherever they can find it. At TheLadders we tried to send our articles to small papers to reprint for free. We sat on a cache of profiles from people in big and small towns nationwide. We wanted to feed local stories to whoever could use them locally. Ultimately, we envisioned a sort of syndication service covering labor issues for papers that couldn’t afford to.

We had pretty limited interest from publications. I think they didn’t trust the independence of our operation under the banner of a brand with something to sell.

Hopefully more small pubs will look to alternative sources like the Huffington Post, TheLadders and other non-traditional (HuffPo is pretty trafidional) sources of content.

Do you correct your social feed?

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:30:00 -0500

Here’s a pickle. You link to a story. The story + HED are later corrected. Do you correct your Facebook & Twitter posts? Real life example:

I recently linked to a story from another publication on The American Lawyer’s Twitter stream as well as our morning newsletter. The story and headline turned out to be inaccurate and was corrected.

Because we treat the newsletter as a unique published item, we ran a correction in the next day’s edition.

Do we consider our social feeds a publication? Even if the link takes the reader to the story, where they can read an accurate version plus a correction, our Twitter feed remains inaccurate.

A link on The American Lawyer Facebook page went up much later using an accurate headline, but I could this could present a more of an issue on facebook, where the Page is a destination and the inaccurate Headline would be glaring at readers for ever.

What to do?

My inclination is to correct inaccuracies—using the comments on Facebook and a Retweet on Twitter.

Where's our "solo incubator" for journalists?

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:51:00 -0500

At Pace Law School, recent law grads entering the field on their own as “solos” can opt to do so on campus, with the supervision of professors and experienced lawyers and access to resources like office supplies and research tools.

The Pace Community Law Practice is the fourth so-called “Solo incubator” launched nationwide, according to the National Law Journal. The first was a program at City University of New York School of Law (National Law Journal):

The school offers low-cost office space in midtown Manhattan and staff support for up to two years to a select number of graduates aiming to establish themselves as solos or launch small firms. The program offers more than office space; participants have access to a large network of experienced solo practitioners who function as mentors, and they enjoy an internal support network among their colleagues in the incubator, which helps to reduce the isolation many solo practitioners experience.

Where is the “solo incubator” for journalists?

OK, journalism isn’t really a for-hire business (freelance assignments aside). The best work continues to be done by reporting and editing staffs working together at news organizations.

But as the idea of content as a product evolves, and the universe of potential employers of journalists expands, perhaps a “solo incubator” could become a hive of journalism activity that companies can approach to hire at will.

“Need two reporters, an editor and an artist for 10 days to complete a research project? Ours are sharp and well-directed.”

“Need a site publishing in one month but you don’t know how to find a staff? We can help.”

“Need an editor to help define your audience and design a coverage plan? Sure thing.”

The fellas at Contently are doing so already and may have beaten academia to the punch in many ways. CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism Entrepreneurial Incubator is the right idea, but limited to students. There’s room for an Ivory-Tower version of the “solo incubator” and there are enough recent, and not-so-recent J-school grads without a job or an office to hang out in all day.

It could also be a great hive of inspiration for journalists dedicated to freelance and research projects or those among us who are entrepreneurs to collaborate and share expenses (a la coworking at Hive at 55 and New Work City), plus get the guidance of experienced journalists and educators.

Ernie Pyle’s legacy is homeless or about to be

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:49:00 -0500

Ernie Pyle’s legacy is homeless or about to be.
The artifacts of his life and work are spread across several sites, including two in his home state of Indiana now feuding over who is the real storyteller of his tale.
One of those, the Ernie Pyle Museum, is running on fumes and in danger of closing for good, the New York Times Reported yesterday.
The Ernie Pyle museum, in the man’s hometown of Dana, Indiana, is rather in the middle of nowhere and receives just a trickle of visitors—about 1,800 a year. The Indiana State Museum transferred some of the Dana site’s prized possessions, including Pyle’s typewriter, to Indianapolis, in part because it would expose Pyle’s legacy to more visitors—as many as 200,000 a year, said one Indiana official.
According to the Times’s Dan Barry, the museum in Dana “still has a lot to offer” and at one time gave visitors the “feeling as if they’d just been with Ernie, over there.”
With such a rich story to tell and the artifacts to do it, it struck me as a shame that the tiny museum has no Web presence (barely a Google Places entry), not even a skeleton site with a contact page.
How could the museum help itself and do a great deal to expose the story of Pyle to the world? Get it on the Web. Tell the story, display the artifacts, create interactive exhibits.
AND connect the sites of Pyle’s legacy. In addition to Pyle’s artifacts now housed in Indianapolis, others are in the Albuquerque Museum, in New Mexico, where he eventually settled before he went to war. His archives, including his many columns and academic research are at the Indiana University School of Journalism.
Creating an Ernie Pyle home on the Web that exposed viewers to the aspects of Pyle’s legacy at all three locations (are there others?) would knit the story together, enrich the experience of all three museums and, perhaps generate some revenue for the little outfit in Dana.
But it could do more. As the patron saint of American War correspondents, Pyle serves as the the exemplar of the trade and his legacy is their legacy. An Ernie Pyle Museum on the Web could be a home to the stories and study of War correspondence. Perhaps an organization like the Newseum, in Washington, D.C., which runs a meager War Stories section on its Website (it’s pretty limited and stops at the Bosnia/Kosovo operation in 1999), could join the three museums. Perhaps Scripps Howard, which, according to the Times, helped the Dana site build its exhibits—and which still has war correspondents in harm’s way—might help pay for such a project.
Pyle’s story is the story of war correspondents. It is the story of reporting on ugly events from a dangerous vantage point. The story is big and influential. It should be seen by more than 1,800 visitors a year. It should be exposed to more than 200,000 visitors a year.

What can we do to help?

A full-on, extended rant

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:11:22 -0500

A full-on, extended rant:

“Nothing that exists in social media is inorganic – it’s lumpy, unpredictable, and delightfully human. By definition.”

JoPa and MacArthur

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:24:20 -0500

JoPa and MacArthur:

Cool interactive from NYT shows length of Paterno’s career, but historical references might have made clear the scope… When he began coaching at Penn State, MacArthur was leading troops across Korea. That’s ancient history to most of us.

Reporters behind the counter

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:59:44 -0500

Reporters behind the counter:

How’s this for community engagement? #CNETGotham, a popup store in New York to be staffed by journalists. Those behind the counter are reporters, editors and reviewers. Drop by to catch a workshop or just to touch the toys.

Related: Using Meetup to report

Allen & Overy in Tie-up Talks with Singapore's Allen & Gledhill - The American Lawyer

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:31:00 -0400

Allen & Overy in Tie-up Talks with Singapore's Allen & Gledhill - The American Lawyer:

Allen & Overy in Tie-up Talks with Singapore’s Allen & Gledhill
The American Lawyer
By Jessica Seah Allen & Overy confirmed to sibling publication The Asian Lawyer that the two firms were in discussions Friday. “The strategic intent behind the talks is to establish whether an alliance or combination is possible which would enhance the …

and more »

Could Twitter verify news orgs, journalists?

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:49 -0400

Twitter’s Top News feature is the company’s attempt to compete w/ Google in real-time search, news aggregation.

The mechanics have people guessing how it might source those links in the Top News spot. Algorithm? Human curator? Divine intervention?

My 2Cents: LinkedIn Today might offer an example. Twitter may choose to use a blend of verified accounts and an algorithm to deliver news links.

News transparency Crunchbase style

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:48:29 -0400

News transparency Crunchbase style:

Linking has added a level of transparency AND reliability to sourcing and file uploaders, like Document Cloud have, has done the same for primary source docs. And it has only helped journalists build trust with the public. But opening the kimono to the journalists body of work, experiences and entanglements, the public will either have better ground to point and say things like “liberal media conspiracy” or “no bias there.”

Unless they have something to hide, a journalist’s social web can only build a trust with the audience.

What the heck is Google Ripples?

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:49:23 -0400

What the heck is Google Ripples?:

Like Klout? It could be the beginnings of a Google Analytics social tool. Or a forgotten Google adventure.

Washington Post putting the user/reader first

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:04:00 -0400

Washington Post putting the user/reader first:

The Washintgon Post is creating the position of Chief Experience Officer (CXO) “to strengthen the voice of the consumer in our product development and execution.”

Poynter:

New products and major changes to existing products will now require approval by the Chief Experience Officer, says Weymouth. Her full memo is after the jump.

I hope the position and the ethos travels to the the newsroom and down to the reporters and editors creating the news product everyday. It’s a step toward achieving what I proposed on Tuesday: The reader as user.

The reader as user

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:29:00 -0400

As news editor at TheLadders, where content was but a small portion of the product, I slipped into the habit of referring to readers as… USERS.

Editorial purists will surely gasp. The word user makes it seem too much like we’re producing a commodity product that must meet a customer demand and make a profit. We practice a calling, not a business, Right? Imagine if artists were asked to think of their audience as users. They’re doing so now. And likely gasping.

The New York TImes’s video gaming critic Seth Schiesel wrote yesterday about Bjork’s latest album Biophilia, which was released as an iPad app in which “the user (no longer merely the listener) takes control of a sound-creation tool, tapping pools of light to combine and mix tones of Gregorian complexity.”

Schiesel writes about the evolution it is for artists to “ fans the ability to mess around readily with a treasured creation” and the creative possibilities that might unfold. But there’s a simpler lesson for journalists: If artists, the purest of purists, can see their audience as users, so can you.

And it makes a difference in how we report and deliver the news.

I often put myself in the shoes of the reader and ask reporters and editors to do the same:

“Would you read that story?”
“Would you share that story?”
“Would you be able to find the vital information on that page?”
“Is this an information source you could apply in your work?”
“Would you come back to this news site?”

By considering the reader a user, we might begin to take the steps to deliver not just the best content, but the content most in demand by the audience, in the most useful and accessible format.

The reader is user. I think journalists can accept that.

Wait ‘til they hear their producing a product. :-X

The GOP's Twitter lesson: Bring the followers back home

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:08:00 -0400

The New York Times’s Jennifer Seinhayuer profiled the Republican party’s evolved use of social media and shared this account of Brad Dayspring, communication director to House Majority leader Rep. Eric Cantor, firing off a Tweet to counter claims made just minutes earlier by President Obama:

Within seconds, Brad Dayspring, Mr. Cantor’s Rasputin of retort, was on the case, his fingers ripping across the keyboard as if individually caffeinated. “Obama says he’s open to any “serious #GOP idea,” typed Mr. Dayspring, the aggressive spokesman for Mr. Cantor, the Republican from Virginia who serves as House majority leader, in a message on Twitter. “Here are 15 jobs bills stalled in the Senate to get him started.”

A link from Mr. Cantor’s blog was quickly pasted in, the send button was hit, and Mr. Dayspring sat back slightly in his chair, pleased.

The Tweet:

What’s interesting is the final step, the one that brings it all home, literally. Dayspring linked the Tweet back to Cantor’s blog (a post job creation bills), where readers could dive deeper into the topic, float off into other topics and witness a more complete view of the majority leader.

It isn’t enough to engage in Tweets, status updates, checkins and video posts. You want readers engaging on your turf—your Web page—where you have built your own environment to drive the user experience, connect them to alternate social media channels, keep them consuming content or take some sort of action, be a purchase or a vote.

Content on our own turf is the key to social media engagement. Otherwise, you’re just another voice in the void.