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JRNL 10 - Hofstra Prof. Vaccaro Sept. 11, 2012
JRNL 10 - Hofstra
Prof. Vaccaro
Sept. 11, 2012
Today’s Roadmap• Create Blog (email me link)
– FirstLastName.wordpress.com– [email protected]– Begin blogging in class today
• Create Twitter pages (email me handle)– [email protected]
• Review Fan v. Fan opportunities
• Review the current state of media
• Lecture on writing for the web/audience
Create Blog/Twitter
• It’s mandatory to have an individual blog and Twitter account for JRNL 10.
• Use WordPress to create your blog
• For Twitter, either use your personal account, or create a new one to use specifically for this class.
• Email the WP and Twitter links to [email protected].
Current State of the Media
• 24/7 and sometimes more than that … fast, furious and in your face at all times.
• Mobile and on-the-go journalism have become key factors in how news is reported.
• Citizen journalists are still major players, but trained and skilled communicators can win the battle.
• The idea of local news is still a hot button area of growth and experimentation.
• Economic growth and advertising in digital world is still being figured out.
Key Ingredients to Digital Media/JRNL 10
• 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 vs. Print
x
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
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
Next Class
• Read Chapter 2 advanced blogging
• Read Chapter 4 micro blogging
