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".