Journalism Will Not Die

If you are not following @jasonfalls on Twitter or reading his blog Social Media Explorer, you should. He is one of the best minds out there commenting on social media. He is also a great writer and keeps the discussion entertaining.

An excerpt from The Future of Social Media by Jason Falls

"Journalism Will Not Die - Media is changing because of social media, but as much as I've picked on old-school journalism, there's still a need for accuracy, ethics and quality in reporting. Newspapers may very well die. Traditional media outlets that don't shift their focus to a web-first approach certainly will. But journalism will never go away. We need it as a society because it keeps our world - government, industry and more - honest. Where will the journalists go? That I'm not so clear about, though it will certainly be in web-centric opportunities. But all the social media evangelists and bloggers in the world can't tear down one of the world's most noble professions."

Agree/disagree? What do you think?

Tools: Zemanta.

Here's a few words from Andraz Tori, the founder of Zemanta, on how his research tool can help you. (Follow him on Twitter: @andraz)

"Here's a proper answer, mostly compiled from what our users said:

-it lets journalists do research while they are writing (by checking out related articles - widens journalist's horizon)

-it makes it easy for readers to do further discovery on their own (in-text links for in-depth info and related articles for other views and thoughts on the topic)

-it reduces journalist's non-creative workload (images, tagging)

Bottom line is: Better articles both content-wise and form-wise while reducing the workload."

Here's a screenshot from the tour of Zemanta.

Twitter Presentation.

Special thanks to Robert French(@rdfrench) for pointing out this Twitter presentation by public radio journalists in Alaska.  Also, if you've never seen Slideshare, now is a good time.

Twitter for Alaska Public Radio

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: radio public)

How can your newspaper blog be successful?

Editor: I've decided you are going to blog now.

Reporter: Why? 

Editor: We need to stay current.

Reporter: Is anyone going to read it?

Editor: We'll advertise it on our Web site. Of course they will.

Reporter: I'm on it.(nervous smile)

On several occasions, media friends have asked me to please read their blog and tell all my friends about their blog. I'll admit, I was once guilty of this behavior, as well. The likelihood is not high that simply asking someone to read your blog is going to be effective. It requires too much legwork and most people are generally just too busy. Also, not all newspaper readers are natural blog readers. In fact, some are turned off and/or intimidated by the label "blog." And your brand only means something to people who have lived in your community for a few years and are newspaper readers, so you can't assume people will be naturally attracted to you as a news source. All that said, I'm here to help, not to bring you down. Please read on...

So, how can your newspaper blog be successful?

1. Engage, engage, engage. The blogs that experience the most success are run by individuals who engage the audience. They read and post comments on other blogs. They interact regularly on Twitter. They are part of the conversation, not just shouting at an audience.

2. Content. Unique content drives users to blogs. Users will help you by forwarding interesting posts to their friends, posting them on their own blogs, etc. Think of a blog post as a short conversation. Are you more likely to want to talk to someone regularly who blabs on and on about every detail of a story? Or, would you prefer to talk to someone who gives you a short explanation with a little of their own spin/humor/accent?

3. Cover more. Being first has always been a push for local news, especially in a crowded market. But, the blogosphere is full of news hounds. Did they do their time in J-school? Did they work at the Armonk Pennysaver for two years before they landed a news job? No, but the audience isn't extremely interested in credentials. They want information. Cover as much as you can, and try to think and write like every blog is a tiny feature article.

4. Not everyone should be blogging. Some writers do not make good bloggers. A certain voice and style works for blogging. If a writer is not good at this, keep them on your hard news content. You are not winning new blog readers with their stuff.

5. Your best voices must blog. You know who they are. Blog readers love personality and individualism.

6. Do not simply re-post newsy articles and call it a blog post. A little of this is okay, but too much and people lose interest.

7. Be honest. Everyone knows newspapers are struggling. Talk about it. Honest discussions with consumers may lead to some positive developments. 

8. Make commenting easy. Do not make it difficult for people to read or comment on your blogs. The simple barrier of a log in and password could lose you large amounts of would-be readers. Once they are there, make it really easy for them to share your posts.

Photo gracias: Flickr user suanie.

Veterans Day Features

I'm collecting Veterans Day features here. Comment or email me at pressconn@gmail.com if you'd like to add one.

Associated Press(via chicagotribune.com), "Today veterans don't need buildings for gatherings as they increasingly turn to cyberspace," Kimberly Hefling

Associated Press (via msnbc.msn.com), "Europe marks 90th anniversary of end of WWI." 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Dalton veteran, disfigured in war, now a soap star," Richard L. Eldredge

Austin American-Statesman, "In 3 wars, he accepted risk as a part of daily life," Emily Glazer

Boston Globe, "Arlington salutes family with 7 sons sent to war," David Abel

Chicago Sun-Times, "Military vets thrilled to become U.S. citizens," Natasha Korecki

CNN, "WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence," Wayne Drash, Thelma Gutierrez and Sara Weisfeldt

Dallas Morning News, "Executives, veterans go on a mentoring mission," Andrew D. Smith

Detroit Free Press, "A day of honor, pain for veterans," Gina Damron

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "The officer with the light saber," Chris Vaughn

FOX News, "Veterans Day Remembered: Photo Essay," AP Photos

Houston Chronicle, "To all our Veterans: Thank You,"chron.commons post by User: desperado

Los Angeles Times, "California war dead kept family tradition alive," Megan Garvey

Miami Herald, "Flags for war dead fly at Broward school," Nirvi Shah

New York Times, OpEd: "A Holiday to End All Wars," Alexander Watson

San Francisco Chronicle, "Veterans Day at VA medical center in SF," John Koopman

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Housing vouchers help bring vets home," Robert L. Jamieson Jr.

Times Online(UK), "Determined spirit of Henry Allingham, Great War veteran, stirs crowd at Cenotaph."

Toronto Star, "11 Canadian war tales," Nancy J. White

Washington Post, "Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Gain a Powerful Voice: Their Own," Christian Davenport

From the trenches: John E. McIntyre (Baltimore Sun)

A thoughtful post from John E. McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun offering advice for surviving and thriving in the modern newsroom. Read the full post here. 

His six points are great:

1. Show your work.

2. Work on what matters.

3. Make yourself useful.

4. Don't let writers evade responsibility.

5. Write about what people want to read.

6. Don't give up the ship.

Tools: TweetBeep

TweetBeep is a great service. You'll be sent updates as any search parameters you define are Tweeted.  You can get results on your own name, or any city, subject, etc. Great for hunting for info and contacts within the Twitter Universe. Don't have a Twitter account? Go to Twitter.com and sign up. (Then be sure to follow @pressconnect, you know, now that we helped you out.)

The Next Newsroom.

There's some great discussion going on at The Next Newsroom. The basis of the discussion is built around the following six principles:

1. Place community at the center.

2. Make innovation a priority.

3. Publish to all platforms.

4. Collaborate with others.

5. Promote transparency.

6. Create a sustainable business model.

Number 1 is definitely in the right place on this list, and I would generally agree with the other five. What do you think?

Tools: Twellow

Twellow  analyzes and categorizes Twitter entries for easy consumption. It's a great real-time source for scanning Twitter noise for information and for finding new people to follow.

Here's an example of a Twellow search for "newspaper".

Online Tools for Newsfolk

Got a fav online tool that we haven't feature yet? Let me know - Email PressConnect .


TweetBeep!

Twellow

Zemanta

The New Newsroom - Post #1.

This is the first in a series of posts about the newsroom of the future. Don't like this one bit? Wanna give me a virtual high five? That's why we have the comment feature.

I read a thoughtful post written by Jeff Jarvis a few days ago which prodded further thought and a few great conversations. In the article, Jarvis mentions a discussion which hypothesized a 200 to 300 person newsroom could be successfully pared down to 35. Visionary? Yes. Frightening? Sure....but read on.

To drive this point home, I've developed a fancy graphic below of a suggested org chart.

Suggested Org Chart for the New Newsroom

Writers

A few people to make sure the writers get paid

A few people to sell advertising & market the writers' work 

What I'm suggesting here is that solid, engaging news content is more important than the old process of packaging and filtering the news.

Back to School Blog.

Washington Post writer Michael Alison Chandler blogs about going back to high school algebra.

Cheers to Chandler for her conversational, frank writing.

Boo to the Post for forcing users to sign in before posting a comment.

What is PressConnect?

PressConnect is the product of so many conversations over lunch, coffee and otherwise. It's no secret that traditional media sources face significant challenges, some of which include dropping readership/viewership, the rise of citizen journalism, blogs, YouTube, and the list goes on.

Why me? My college training was in Journalism. My first job out of college was as a newspaper reporter. I have a great passion for the important role the media serves in society. I see the frustration and the daily challenges. Instead of sitting by, I created PressConnect to connect media professionals and to shine a light on innovation within the industry. Let me know what you think. Send me a guest post. Send me your favorite links. Point out hotshot reporters.

Let's get the dialogue going. Let's get engaged in new media. Let's get on with it.

Terry

Journalists & Media Professionals on Twitter

Here are two great lists provide by My Creative Team.
Media Outlets Using Twitter
Media People Using Twitter


Here's an old-fashioned list of journalists and media professionals on Twitter (in no particular order). We've chatted them up ourselves on Twitter. Want to add yourself or someone else? Comment here, or hit me at pressconn@gmail.com.


@acmaurer, Amanda Maurer, SEO/SMO Dept, Chicago Tribune
@BrentDPayne, Brent Payne, SEO Manager, Chicago Tribune
@fwstayala, Eva Ayala, Education Writer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, TX
@kristinsul, Kristin Sullivan, Editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, TX
@NBCNewsCrew, NBC PhotoJ for NBC Nightly News, Today Show, MSNBC
@newmediajim, Jim Long, Verge New Media, Washington DC
@ricksanchezcnn, Rick Sanchez, CNN

@StoreFrontPS, Bob Niedt, Retail News, Syracuse Post-Standard, NY

Six Challenges for Journalists.

Let me preface this post by saying that I have 10 years in Public Relations, a degree in Journalism and some experience as a newspaper reporter. In other words, I've got the cred to have an opinion.
So, since I have devoted what will likely be a fourth of my work life to working with the media and I truly have a heart for the work journalists do every day, here we go. Read on...

Six Challenges for Journalists

1. Be Honest. You expect the truth from sources. Be upfront with what you know and where you get your information from(if possible). PR people have a bad rap for being dishonest and so do journalists. We both need to reflect on why the public feels this way and work to gain back their trust.

2. Be Professional. If you use foul language or are abusive to members of a source's staff, they do not have to accept this behavior. The media are the first to shine a light on any public figure behaving unprofessionally, but I have encountered much of the same behavior from reporters. It is just embarrassing for the profession. Those in charge should correct, and not encourage, this type of behavior. Please don't give people more ammo to justify the negative stereotype of reporters.

3. Be Respectful of the Other Person's Schedule. Many reporters have told me that any individual should drop whatever they are doing to talk to the media. To say this is to say that communicating via the media is everyone's most important duty. I do not want my local Fire Chief to have the media as his first priority. Sorry, I just don't. To be clear, I am not advocating dodging of media. This is bad practice, as well.

4. Admit You are Part of the Conversation. Television news viewership and newspaper readership is down and dropping. Consumers are rapidly turning to other sources for their information. The attitude that an organization needs to cater to the media is waning. The media simply does not hold all the cards anymore. The information environment is extremely diverse and complex. Figure out how you fit in and play that role.

5. Embrace Change. Meet Rick Sanchez, CNN anchor. He's fully embraced Twitter (@ricksanchezcnn). The remarkable thing about Rick's interaction is that he actively references user comments on his daily show and most recently from the beach during Hurricane Ike. Also, and I would say most importantly, he is not afraid to insert his personality into the news. This does not mean a surrender of impartiality, but it does mean to keep it interesting. Why do most regular people get their news from each other or entertainment-oriented sources like Limbaugh, Stewart or Letterman?

6. Add to the Conversation. Our country is currently bankrupt - economically sure, but also of ideas and inspiration. Journalists have a voice. Use that voice to be an agent for the common good. Exposing corruption is just part of your job as I see it, but is not the entire picture. What about adding fuel to fires that will benefit society as a whole?

NOTE: The was a repeat post from tmosgarage.blogspot.com.