jeffsonderman

Newspapers are getting the obit business fatally wrong

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:39:26 +0000

I began writing this as a comment on Steve Buttry’s blog, which today has two posts about a Lancaster, Pa., newspaper’s new paywall on its online obituaries for out-of-town viewers. I was reacting to the editor’s response to Steve’s initial post criticizing the move, but I figured I have a little more to say about it than just a comment.

What newspapers are doing failing to do with their obituary business model should be frighteningly familiar to them by now.

Newspapers: I think it’s very predictable that someone is going to come in and “craigslist” your obit business. Hell, we could even put the obits on Craigslist itself today if Craig gave us a new category.

The point is that you’re charging for something that you have no cause to charge for. You didn’t write the obit, you didn’t add any value to it. All you ever had was the claim that you’re the only central place for information, so people should pay you whatever you ask. You’re charging for it because you used to be able to, and at some point over the years that metastasized into you feeling entitled to it. So entitled, that one of you has now decided to demand payment for access to them.

This simply doesn’t work any more. Online, anyone and everyone can get any information from anyone. Media who have charged for something offline, solely based on the fact they were the only distribution game in town, are now displaced. (If you need a case study, interview the people you laid off from your Classified Department in the past few years).

The smart course right now would be to make the obits free — both for placement and access. It’s not hard to see that within a few years, someone is going to buy http://obituari.es (that’s actually available — someone grab it and just tip me when you get rich) and set up a free service that captures most of the market.

That won’t happen, because — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — newspapers won’t give up the currently large but eroding revenue stream to have a chance to capture the smaller but growing future revenue stream.

Read the study: “Citizen Journalism Web Sites Complement Newspapers”

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:09:43 +0000

This study comparing citizen journalism and traditional newspaper reporting has drawn lots of discussion on Twitter, but is not readily available online. Below is a copy posted to Scribd by Goran Rizaov.

UPDATE: After first just putting this up to make it available, I’ve looked through it and have some thoughts.

This study is disappointing on a few levels. It’s not a study of citizen journalism and newspaper journalism. It’s a study of citizen journalism sites and newspaper sites. So that’s a bit limiting and doesn’t approach some more interesting issues of what kind of coverage they produce.

Also, the study asks the wrong question: “Can A citizen journalism site replace A newspaper site” (emphasis mine). Well that’s just not what’s happening in the real world, and not what we should be studying. The right question is, can an open, amateur system with endless capacity for growth and specialization, as a whole, replace or complement the one newspaper site in town.

For example, the study records whether each individual citizen site or blog was updated that day, and then notes that the newspaper site is updated every day. Well, fine. But take them as a whole, and you’ll see that of all the citizen sites and blogs, a lot of them are posting updates on any given day, and possibly in much larger volume, diversity and relevance than the one newspaper site.

The study identified only 86 newsish blogs and 53 citizen journalism sites in 46 markets. It studied 63 newspaper sites in those 46 markets. That ratio: 139 citizen sites to 63 newspaper sites, suggests the citizen sites are undercounted to begin with. Here in Washington, D.C., where we are building a network of citizen blogs to collaborate with our TBD.com news startup, there are several newspaper sites, but several hundred local blogs covering topics and communities. We have more than 90 signed up as partners. A proper study of 46 markets across the country should be looking at thousands of citizen sites, not 139.

Newspaper Research Journal Study

Answers to 10 key community engagement questions for news sites: The best of #wjchat

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:22:26 +0000

Last night I hosted a two-hour live chat on Twitter about Web journalism. It was the 20th weekly episode of #wjchat, where people involved or interested in online journalism gather to discuss questions around a certain topic.

Our topic this week was “How to build engaged online communities,” specifically for news sites. Of course I picked this topic because my job is to work with a team of engagement wizards to build a web community around TBD.com, a news Washington, D.C., local news site launching this summer.

If you didn’t get to follow the chat on Twitter last night, or you came in late, here are the questions we discussed and some of my favorite tweets from each. I guarantee you can find at least one thing here you can take away as an action item or discussion point for your news organization.

Q1: Let’s start by agreeing on the terms: What does user engagement mean to you? What does an “engaged” online community look like?

Q1: It means they have an emotional, intellectual investment in/connection to the website. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:15:24 via TweetChatDorrine Mendoza
AssignmentDesk1

Q1: engaged = conversation. engaged means users care about your site and contribute toward it’s success #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:14:12 via TweetGridP. Kim Bui
kimbui

Q1 Really… your community should flock to you like Edward Cullen fans flock to Twilight sites. ;) #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:19:00 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

We seemed to get down to an interesting divide over whether “engagement” is best measured by frequency of visit (loyalty) or depth of activity during a visit (participation). Here were a couple good arguments for participation-focused measurement:

@amysimons I think a loyal user (consumes a lot of content) is diff than an engaged user (comments, spreads the word about content) #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:21:44 via webAmira Dughri
killbutton

@jeffsonderman Type of activity is more important b/c that’s what adds value to the community; frequency of visits/activity doesn’t. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:28:24 via TweetChatLauren M. Rabaino
laurenmichell

Q2: Does your news org have an engagement editor, “community host” or someone similar? Define that position.

Q2 If there is an engagement editor, it should be temp. position- Goal: Get everyone in newsroom to engage w/ community. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:40:05 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

No, this is full-time job. http://bit.ly/cNENUj RT @BrianManzullo Q2 If there is an engagement editor, it should be temp. position. #wjchatThu Jun 24 02:06:55 via webSteve Buttry
stevebuttry

Q3: What are the best specific ways for a news site to engage users? How do you get users to become evangelists of your content?

Q3: Take it offline. We are discussing a Tweetup for our community, which is also a little frightening. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:44:06 via TweetChatDorrine Mendoza
AssignmentDesk1

@wjchat Q3: Incentives for good contributions. Like foursquare badges. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:43:55 via TweetGridEthan Klapper
ethanklapper

@wjchat Q3: Tell stories that matter to them and tell them well. Also, social media doesn’t hurt. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:43:00 via webDustin Blanchard
dblanchard

Q4: Are there specific engagement techniques for mobile? How’s it different w/geolocation and touch interface?

@wjchat Q4 Mobile users expect their information to load quickly. Photos and YouTube video are nice, but not all devices can play it #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:51:37 via webIsaiah Narciso
AsianStig

Q4 News companies send OUT text alerts. What can we do with users texting US? #wjchat h/t @SarahDayOwenThu Jun 24 00:59:33 via webJeff Sonderman
jeffsonderman

The @qctimes just started promoting a text hotline with a local number for community members to text tips to. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:01:42 via TweetChatBrian Smith
smithbm12

Q4 News orgs should make it easy for ppl to submit mobile content to their site. People want convenience. #wjchatThu Jun 24 00:52:02 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

Q5: What staff duties and resources does a news company need to invest in to make engagement possible?

Q5: The biggest thing a news company needs is a staff that values engagement and is willing to dedicate time to it. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:06:28 via webJuana Summers
juanasummers

#wjchat Q5 Engagement isn’t cheap. It’s cost-effective. Not the same thing.Thu Jun 24 01:09:47 via webSteve Yelvington
yelvington

@jeffsonderman Q5. Devs build tools for readers to suggest, rate story ideas, tag all content. Put more controls in their hands. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:15:54 via Twitter for iPhoneJohn Hill
hilljohng

Q6: What tools, guidelines & moderation tactics are most important for creating active comment sections?

#wjchat Q6 A social contract — a broadly shared sense of purpose and community values. Better than gold. Very hard to achieve.Thu Jun 24 01:17:51 via webSteve Yelvington
yelvington

Q6 Message boards have done it for *years.* Rank users based on # of posts, replies, likes, etc. Why haven’t we done that yet? #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:19:59 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

#wjchat Q6 I think foremost commenters need to know we’re there, not just reviewing for TOS violations, but talking backThu Jun 24 01:19:38 via webJustin Ellis
JustinNXT

Q7: When engaging groups of users to interact, such as chats or comments, should anonymity be banned? Discouraged? Or is it useful?

@wjchat Q7 if someone makes a controversial statement, anonymity may be necessary. But it should be left to moderator’s discretion. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:28:56 via webIsaiah Narciso
AsianStig

Q7 I’ve seen plenty of communities thrive without requiring real ID’s. How? Moderators. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:29:23 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

Q7 #wjchat anonymity should be allowed, but create an environment where people are encouraged to put their name with what they thinkThu Jun 24 01:30:08 via webJustin Ellis
JustinNXT

Q6 @TheBuffaloNews announced it will start asking 4 commenters’ real names + towns http://yhoo.it/90dwUG We’ll c how it goes 4 them #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:31:43 via TweetDeckNatalia Veronica Mar
journatweets

Q7: I’ve said it before: if anonymity isn’t available to people in rural media areas, they can’t comment. Everybody knows everyone. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:36:07 via webJoseph O’Sullivan
jaosullivanx

Q7 it IS an ethics issue. Shouldn’t allow people w an agenda to hijack a thread, anonymity makes that easier #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:37:14 via webBob Berwyn
bberwyn

Q7 Here’s an effective method: Award moderator duties to users who regularly flag inappropriate comments. @huffingtonpost does it. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:38:05 via webBrian Manzullo
BrianManzullo

@wjchat Q7 It may be possible to balance it out though. The moderator should know who’s posting, but let people have screenames. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:39:49 via webIsaiah Narciso
AsianStig

Q8: More on commenting: How do you engage at a level more sophisticated/constructive than flippant comments?

A big lesson seems to be: DO SOMETHING with the comments, don’t just let them sit there in isolation.

Q8: Absolutely use viewer comments on air! It really does bring a perspective fellow viewers cannot get from “us” (the media). #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:44:43 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Megan Healey
MeganHealey

Q8:Don’t be afraid to talk back to your audience and curate conversation. Bring those interactions into your daily news product. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:46:30 via webJuana Summers
juanasummers

Q8: Engage with the sophisticated/constructive commenters ignore others & they’ll get the picture. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:47:45 via TweetChatValerie Garner
ValerieInRke

Q8. I appreciate when news outlets write follow-up that serves as round-up of comments & blog posts prompted by original story. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:50:27 via webAlexis Grant
alexisgrant

Q9: Show me the money: How does user engagement lead to revenue for the site owner?

@wjchat Q9. Page views, customer loyalty and passion for brand, which creates word of mouth. Now if I could just sell that to execs. #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:53:20 via Twitter for iPhoneJohn Hill
hilljohng

Q9 #wjchat You can’t deliver an ad campaign to someone who only visited your site once this month. Advertising requires frequency.Thu Jun 24 01:52:44 via webSteve Yelvington
yelvington

Q9 engagement = creating ambassadors for the site = more page views & more willing to take action #wjchatThu Jun 24 01:54:20 via TweetDeckAndre Natta
acnatta

#wjchat Q9 Isn’t the truth we don’t know if engagement helps bottom line or if comments/tweets translate into traffic & sales for biz?Thu Jun 24 01:58:35 via webJustin Ellis
JustinNXT

Q10: Statement: To get strong engagement from users, you must give them control. Agree? Disagree? Why?

@wjchat Q10: Users should have control of their content, and have opportunities for input into yours. #wjchatThu Jun 24 02:05:25 via webDustin Blanchard
dblanchard

@wjchat Q10 You can give them plenty of control, but gently remind them that you reserve the right to take down offensive content. #wjchatThu Jun 24 02:05:34 via webIsaiah Narciso
AsianStig

Q10. Share control. Give users wide latitude, but they appreciate moderator & leadership role. They want control but not chaos. #wjchatThu Jun 24 02:09:17 via webSteve Buttry
stevebuttry

————————

* Bonus for reading all the way to the bottom: Check out 10 Rules for Increasing Community Engagement by Leah Betancourt on Mashable.

Google’s secret micropayment strategy for publishers – is it a trick?

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:50:08 +0000

So Google is planning to roll out later this year a micropayment system for web content called Newspass. The concept is a single, standardized system for many publishers to put a “pay to read this story” button on their web pages.

Now, I’m on record as not a fan of paywalls online (they’re often considered for the wrong reasons and with a lack of economic understanding). As bad as that is, micropayments are worse.

People who have been paying attention have learned that valuable websites are created through building a loyal community and creating a rewarding user experience. At least a paywall site lets you have a loyal (though small) community with potential for a bonded experience. Micropayments, however, turn the user into a henpecked customer constantly battling doubt and buyer’s remorse. They encourage the shallowest possible interaction with your site, only reading the one or two things you really want to pay for, then get the heck out of there.

So why is Google enabling this by developing an industry platform? It’s clear that Google wants to at least appear friendly to newspaper executives, many of whom in the U.S. and Europe have been denouncing the company as a parasite on their hides. So maybe Newspass is just another Fast Flip — a red herring that smells progressy but really advances nothing.

Or, here’s the crazy part, maybe Google is tricking the news publishers. Get them to install the “pay me” buttons they think are a great idea, so that millions of readers will dodge the pay demand and immediately leave the site to search Google for a free version of the story.

Maybe not. Maybe it’s just a bad idea.

2011: The year mobile takes over

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:22:39 +0000

You have less than one year left to talk about mobile devices as the “future” of media.

A lot of people have been talking about the eventual dominance of mobile. Some people have been planning. How many are truly ready?

We’ll know next year.

I spent a couple hours Wednesday in a “Mobile Media is Here” seminar hosted by folks from Pointabout and Brunner Digital as part of Digital Capital Week (#dcweek), uniting the DC tech community. Two stats leapt out from the slides and discussion:

1) Smartphones will be more common than dumbphones (politely called “feature phones”) by late 2011

2) Smartphone sales will exceed PC sales by 2011

Mobile devices are not just growing, they’re booming. And with that comes millions more people every year accessing and sharing information in new ways. Mobile web usage is expected to exceed desktop web usage by 2013.

Over the next few years, iPhones and the like will stop being fancy early-adopter toys. (AT&T already sells past-generation iPhones for $99 or less) They will be cheaper, widely used, and eventually as common and socially invisible as e-mail. As Clay Shirky says so well, “Communications tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring… It’s when a technology becomes normal, then ubiquitous, and finally so pervasive as to be invisible, that the really profound changes happen.”

If you don’t already have a plan for how your media company, or any other company, will serve mobile consumers and make money in the mobile market — you better get a plan in motion by the end of the year.

Some of the issues to resolve:

What platforms to develop? Mobile web, iPhone, Android, iPad, Blackberry, Kindle, Symbian, Windows Mobile… where is your community?
What do your mobile users want? Study the most common use cases for why mobile users seek out your site/app. Finding locations, services, contact info, information, entertainment, etc.
How to make money. Web ads didn’t work like print ads, and mobile ads don’t work like Web ads. It’s a new, and still quickly evolving marketplace that you need a fresh approach for.
Redefine relevancy. Desktop content is sorted and targeted in search of topical relevancy. Mobile content adds a new dimension of relevancy — location.
Many more of course… feel free to add other issues in the comments.

Find me at Digital Capital Week (#DCweek)

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:22:33 +0000

Digital Capital Week kicks off with a big party tonight at and around Long View Gallery in NW. There are a ton of great events (including one hosted by TBD) over the following week for the DC area digital/tech community.

DC Week photos

(Use dcweek tag on Flickr)

I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new people and hanging out with some friends I’ve already made among local digiphiles since moving here a month ago. So here’s the place where I’m going to pull it all together. Below are the events I’m attending, and I’ll come back and update this post after the events with summaries, reactions and shoutouts. I’m pulling all the dcweek Flickr photos in to the slideshow here too.

If you want to meetup at one of these events, let me know.

Friday

Opening Party at Long View Gallery. This was a fun event, and a nice way to kick off the week by meeting a lot of participants at once. Highlights: virtual coloring of personal portraits, free drinks, intriguing performance artists. Lowlights: Heat was almost unbearable in the gallery area, no drinking in the alley was very inconvenient, drunk shirtless guy tried to crash the line Shoutouts: I met some great folks, including new co-worker Nathasha Lim who starts Monday as a TBD community host; Connected with Laura Cochran and met Jodi Gersh, both of Gannett; and met Josh Phelps, who manages Affinity Lab in Adams Morgan, and Brandon Minow, whom he is working with to organize the new philanthropic Monument Music & Arts Festival in DC.

Saturday

TBD Brunch at Mie N Yu in Georgetown. Excellent turnout from a number of bloggers, tech folks and others who just wanted to meet some of the TBD team. Highlights: Mimosas and pancakes, fun atmosphere. Lowlights: Parking in Georgetown (should have taken the bus) Shoutouts: Had a great time hanging out with Mary Kong of GirlMeetsFood; Keosha Johnson, online editor of WAMU; Jamel Daugherty of Northern Virginia Magazine; Andrew Hanelly, director of SEO and social media at TMG Custom Media; Krystle Kopacz of HealthCentral; Christen McCluney; Amelia of Gradually Greener; Ethan Klapper; and of course Allbritton Communications head honcho Robert Allbritton.

Monday

Mediabistro and Social Times cocktail party at 19th Bar. Nice to rub elbows with a lot of DC media types I haven’t met before. Highlights: Nice bar, with open floorspace and natural light. Decent drink specials and some complimentary appetizers. Lowlights: None really. Shoutouts: A lot of good ones here. I finally met some tweeps I’ve been following for a while, including Alex Howard (@digiphile) of O’Reilly Media, Dr. Mark Drapeau (@cheeky_geeky) of Microsoft and Andy Carvin (@acarvin) of NPR. Others included CNN social media guru Eric Kuhn, Patch regional publisher Daniel Kelly, Liz de Bagara of Boz Communications, Kiera Wiatrak, Erica Hendry. Marlene Hall, and Najeema of Hell in a Handbag.

Tuesday

Social and Traditional Media - 9:30 at Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic. A good panel featuring Andy Carvin of NPR (who I met Monday); Benet Wilson, Online Managing Editor for Aviation Week’s Business Aviation; Brian Dresher, Manager of Social Media and Digital Partnerships for USA TODAY; and Robert Michael Murray – VP of Social Media for National Geographic. Basic reaction: This was a good discussion of why social media use by journalists is important, and some ideas about how to do it. I would have appreciated a more forward-looking discussion about emerging social platforms, especially mobile and location-aware systems. Murray and Carvin are very ambitious thinkers who I recommend paying attention to. See some good summaries of the panel here and here.

The State of Now with Jeff Pulver – 11 at Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic. Jeff blows people away with his engaging manner and his clearly authentic appreciation and understanding of social relationships (online and off). He gave an interesting talk, the major theme being that for the first time in history every individual’s voice can gain power and influence through social networks. He also announced his new project JustCoz.org, which let’s Twitter users lend their “voice” to a good cause by allowing it to tweet through them once a day.

The Future of Media (panel) – 2 at Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic. A bit disappointing, and broadly criticized on the Twitter backchannel. Basic problem, 75% of the panel was from AOL, Washington Post and CNN — not that they aren’t doing anything online, but they’re certainly not at the cutting edge and had little to say about the “future.” Rather than rehash it myself, I’ll point you to Glenn Luther’s summary, which includes many quoted tweets.

Wednesday

Mobile Media is here – 11:30 at 1410 Q St NW

Uncovering the Social Media Data Trail – 1 p.m. at 2000 K Street, N.W.

Thursday

Tech Cocktail DC (TBD has a table, come see us) at Lux Lounge

Friday

When Failure and Criticism are Public – 1 p.m. at 900 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Mobile Madness – 2:15 at 900 Massachusetts Ave., NW

mediabistro.com & Social Times Cocktail Party Skye Loung… 15 Minute Accessibility Reviews Martin Lut… Assistive Technology Overviews (JAWS, Dragon Naturally Speaking, etc.) Martin Lut…

7:00 PM:

DC Drupal Meetup Stetsons B…

8:00 PM:

Playback Theatre Improv Performance COOLEY GOD…

Tuesday June 15

Wednesday June 16

8:30 AM:

Buzz 2010: Open Leadership with Charlene Li Clyde’s of…

9:15 AM:

Social Media & Gov 2.0 Metropolit…

10:30 AM:

Healthcare Communication Strategies Spectrum S…

11:30 AM:

Developing an IP Plan that Protects Your Digital Media TBD Mobile Media is Here 1410Q.com

12:00 PM:

SaucaMobile UMC Confer… Gov & Org 2.0 Day UMC Confer…

1:00 PM:

Advocacy 2.0: how technology is impacting grassroots – communications – marketin… UMC Confer… Computer Drive UMC Confer… Energizing your Base and Online Community Organizing UMC Confer… Opening Government with Ruby UMC Confer… Pro Bono Consulting Lounge sponsored by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide | 360… UMC Confer… The Data We’ve All Left Behind: Uncovering The Social Media Data Trail Spectrum S… Transparency on the Social Web: How the Facebook Generation is Ushering in a New… UMC Confer… Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Increase Citizen Participation UMC Confer…

2:15 PM:

Accounting & Technology for ecommerce companies UMC Confer… DC’s Office of the CTO: Past, Present and Future Gov 2.0 Leadership UMC Confer… Mobile Fundraising & Advocacy UMC Confer… Social Media 202: an advanced discussion in online community building UMC Confer… Social Media in Education UMC Confer…

3:30 PM:

Is There Really an App for That? Non-Profit Leaders Debate Online’s Real Impact UMC Confer… ONA DC presents: Digital Podcasting 101 NPR Open Model for Citizen Engagement UMC Confer… Privacy in a Clouded World UMC Confer… Social Media ROI UMC Confer…

4:45 PM:

Getting Strategic With Social Media – Combining the Right Approach with Integrat… UMC Confer… Improv for Creative Collaboration: Principles and Practices of Improvisational T… UMC Confer… Mobile Technology’s Use in 21st Century Statecraft UMC Confer… Social Media For Social Good UMC Confer… Using Social Media Tools Effectively for Orgs and Nonprofits UMC Confer…

6:00 PM:

Ignite DC #4 Town Dance…

6:30 PM:

Social Media Learning + Comedy Show Recessions VolunTweet: Recording, Sharing & Tracking Volunteer Impact 0

7:00 PM:

NoMa Summer Screen NoMa Summe…

Thursday June 17

9:00 AM:

Digital Advertising 101 Greenfield…

10:00 AM:

The Food Revolution: One Byte at a Time Spectrum S…

1:00 PM:

#140conf DC UMC Confer… Social Media Education World Café Roundtables MLK Librar…

1:30 PM:

Social Media for NonTraditional Users; Overcoming the New Digital Divide MLK Librar…

4:00 PM:

Can I Tweet That? A Discussion of User-Generated Content and the Law (Social Med… Spectrum S…

5:00 PM:

Art Ventures on H Street H Street,…

5:30 PM:

AppShare @ TechCocktail Lux Lounge Social Media & Money: Can it help you save more, spend less? AARP Offic…

7:00 PM:

TECH cocktail DC Lux Lounge

Friday June 18

9:00 AM:

Blogging While Brown 2010 Walter E…. Social Media Breakfast DC Week Edition: Save Screen on the Green Busboys an… Digital Garage Day 1 UMC Confer… HotStart a Business in a Day UMC Confer…

12:00 PM:

Emancipating information to make government more effective Brownbag (Demo, Case… Affinity L… SMCDC Blogger Lounge UMC Confer…

1:00 PM:

Advertising: For the People, by the People UMC Confer… Interaction Design: Making the Complex Seem Simple UMC Confer… Rapid Fire Startup Demos UMC Confer… Speed Funding Consultation UMC Confer… When Failure and Criticism Are Public UMC Confer…

1:30 PM:

Apps and Animation – All things Interactive UMC Confer…

2:00 PM:

Unlock Your Creative Power: tips & techniques to rattle the old brain, involve t… Environmen…

2:15 PM:

Combating HIV in DC through New Media UMC Confer… Green Ventures UMC Confer… Innovating Around Happiness: From iPhone Apps to Company Culture and Other Findi… UMC Confer… Mobile Madness UMC Confer… Search for Start-ups UMC Confer… Upgrade Your Social Media Presence with NMS UMC Confer…

2:45 PM:

Sweetflow Mobile @ Digital Garage Day 1 UMC Confer…

3:30 PM:

PR in a Digital World Workshop UMC Confer… Secrets of Seed Funding UMC Confer… Women Entrepreneurs UMC Confer…

5:30 PM:

‘I Fought the Law’ Happy Hour Bar 7

6:00 PM:

Content Economy Unconference Affinity L… Show, Tell, Hire! UMC Confer…

9:00 PM:

Wonder Emporium Warehouse

Saturday June 19

8:30 AM:

Women Grow Business Boot Camp Steptoe &…

9:00 AM:

Washington DC’s Amazing Scavenger Hunt The Distri… Blogging While Brown 2010 Walter E….

9:30 AM:

Classes in MLK Computer Lab MLK Librar…

10:00 AM:

Fourth Annual Community Computer Day Byte Back

12:00 PM:

SMCDC Blogger Lounge UMC Confer… Digital Garage Day 2 UMC Confer…

1:00 PM:

District 5- Creative Panel UMC Confer… Vlogger and Shorts Mini-Film Fest UMC Confer…

2:15 PM:

Fashion & Technology UMC Confer…

3:30 PM:

Money & Technology UMC Confer… Performing Artists Clinic- How to Use the Web to Your Advantage UMC Confer…

4:45 PM:

Cities Unwired UMC Confer… DCWEEK Project Lab Showcase UMC Confer… DCWeek Remix UMC Confer… HacDC Lightning Talks @DCWeek UMC Confer…

10:00 PM:

Closing Party 9:30 Club

Sunday June 20

1:00 PM:

DC Week Flash Picnic on the Mall The Nation… Classes in MLK Computer Lab MLK Librar…

6:00 PM:

Apps4Ben’s Contest Finale Ben’s Next…

RSVP Required

What is journalism school for?

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:21:28 +0000

I missed the weekly #wjchat Web journalism discussion last night on Twitter, which focused on whether journalism schools are still relevant, and what their roles should be today. As a J-school graduate (Missouri BJ’04) and someone who has seen a lot of recent grads enter and exit newsrooms, I have some insight.

Journalism school is neither totally irrelevant, nor totally necessary. There are things they do well, and not so well. Each prospective student can decide whether these things are worth their time and money…

Journalism school is good for:

- Learning basics of how to report and write information. This part is a craft more than an art. There is a right way to write clearly, and you can learn it from a good school.

- Meeting a network of peers. If you do it right, you will leave J-school with hundreds of friends, colleagues and professors who share a lot in common and can help each other along their career paths for years down the road. Journalism jobs are still a lot about who you know, and who knows you — and J-school is a great place to know a lot of people.

- Helping find your first job. Especially for undergrads, having the newly minted journalism degree (and the contacts I just mentioned) can be enough credibility to get you that first entry-level job. (After that, however, your career largely sinks or swims based on work performance and experience.)

- Stoking idealism. Graduates usually believe that journalism defends democracy and can change the world. You need confidence and a make-it-happen attitude to succeed in today’s challenging journalism environment, so that’s a good thing.

Journalism school is bad for:

- Creating understanding of how news really works. J-school can better prepare you for learning on the job later, but there’s no substitute for learning on the job.

- Teaching you about the broader world. You should travel, study many non-journalism areas and possibly even get a second degree in something you would like to cover. There are many sources to turn to for online news on any subject — if you’re not an authority bringing something special to the topic, you’ll get lost.

- Teaching ahead of the technology curve. A few schools, professors or classes do this better than others, but most are teaching a journalism ethos from at least a few years ago (when the professors were in the biz), from textbooks written a few years ago, on systems designed a few years ago. Students have to take responsibility for staying on top of the cutting edge themselves.

- Guaranteeing you will succeed as a journalist. A lot of bad journalists manage to graduate from J-schools and wash out of the news business later. The degree doesn’t matter if you don’t have work ethic, aggressiveness, initiative and common sense.

What “TBD” means to me

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:15:58 +0000

After a long time telling everyone the name of our new DC news site was to be determined, we announced today that the site will in fact be called “TBD.”

Now I’ve always felt that a brand name itself is not that important. All brands start at reputation zero. (Think back to how meaningless the brand “Google,” or the word “googol,” was to you in 1997.) It’s nice to have a catchy name. But the brand is defined over time by the value and experiences it provides. I’m happy to now have that brand we can start building.

So what does TBD mean now, and what will it mean as we build the brand?

To me, it speaks to the culture and attitude of the site — real-time news presented as a transparent process where users can participate and create, instead of an opaque finished product that readers are expected to just consume.

The name embraces the “beta culture” that I think we will cultivate — the principle that you launch something good enough, and you work with your users to constantly improve it. Everything is “TBD,” or subject to further development. (I titled my blog post announcing this new job as My Career v2.0 (beta) for that reason.)

So, let’s start beta-testing those ideas. What do you think of these, and what other principles do you think should define TBD? We’ll be setting up some official feedback channels, but feel free to comment here for now.

My Career v2.0 (beta)

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:08:51 +0000

I’m excited to announce today that I am joining the Washington, D.C., digital news startup led by Jim Brady and Allbritton Communications. I’ll be working as Senior Community Host on Steve Buttry‘s community engagement team, developing ways to work with bloggers and users to generate, share and discuss content.

Our goal is to build an online news site for the DC metro area, and do it taking full advantage of the how the web works — with partnership not competition, users not readers, conversation not dictation, linking not duplicating.

This is a big change for me after spending the past six years at a newspaper as a reporter, business editor, metro editor and web editor. I’ve done a lot of great things with great colleagues in Scranton, and I’m thankful for what all of them have brought to my life.

They will continue to do great newspapering after I’m gone. In my time trying to bridge the gap between print and digital news, I’ve realized that the newspaper will always be the newsPaper. It may publish a digital edition, it may do some things online, but the print roots always come first. That’s fine, it’s just not the thing for me anymore.

So I’m making the leap to something purely digital. I know the doubt I’ll hear most is, “But no one has figured out how to make money online.” I say I’d rather take a chance to invent a model that does work than be in one that seems to work a little less every day. We have some great ideas for that, and great people to implement and adapt them.

To people reading this in the DC area, I’m looking forward to meeting you and finding ways for you to be part of this site, not just consumers of it. I lived in the area for a short time and visited many more, and I have many old friends there I’m looking forward to seeing again.

I couldn’t be more impressed with the team in place so far at this yet-unnamed (maybe it’s a secret strategy to build suspense) site. The senior folks I’ve met so far, including Jim and Steve, are skilled, experienced and smart. I’ll be working with a team of other community hosts, a social media producer and a mobile producer. We’ll have a tidy but strong news staff and also be working with folks at NewsChannel 8. I’m happy and proud to be coming aboard.

Awards for great journalism

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:31:28 +0000

The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association released today its Keystone Awards for the best journalism of 2009. My Times-Tribune news reporters cleaned up first place in our division for all the major reporting categories — investigative, spot news and series. The total newsroom haul is 12 awards, also for features, sports, photos and design. This comes shortly after we won a PNA award for “Best Application of Social Networking Tools.”

Great work by the following, and those who helped make it happen:

First place, Investigative Reporting, Borys Krawczeniuk, for his stories on Bob Mellow’s campaign expenses.
First place, Columns, Chris Kelly, for a selection of his Sunday columns.
First place, Spot News, staff, for coverage of the slain trooper.
First place, Series, Borys Krawczeniuk and Jeremy Burton, mayor series.
First place, Sports/Outdoor Column, Donnie Collins.
First place, Photo Story, Mike Mullen, Butch Comegys & Staff, “Hero” coverage.
2nd place, Special Projects, Staff, for the “Hope at Home” section on lung cancer.
2nd place, Special Event Coverage, Scott Walsh, Donnie Collins & Herb Smith.
2nd place, News Photo, Jason Farmer, “Standoff.”
2nd place, Page Design, Chad Sebring, “Joe Biden: Ups and Downs”
Honorable Mention, Feature Beat Reporting, Stacy Brown, “Remembering Michael Jackson.”
Honorable Mention, Page Design, Bob Sanchuk, Outlook 2009, Back to School, Presidential Prelude.

jeffsonderman

Newspapers are getting the obit business fatally wrong

Read the study: “Citizen Journalism Web Sites Complement Newspapers”

Answers to 10 key community engagement questions for news sites: The best of #wjchat

Q1: Let’s start by agreeing on the terms: What does user engagement mean to you? What does an “engaged” online community look like?

Q2: Does your news org have an engagement editor, “community host” or someone similar? Define that position.

Q3: What are the best specific ways for a news site to engage users? How do you get users to become evangelists of your content?

Q4: Are there specific engagement techniques for mobile? How’s it different w/geolocation and touch interface?

Q5: What staff duties and resources does a news company need to invest in to make engagement possible?

Q6: What tools, guidelines & moderation tactics are most important for creating active comment sections?

Q7: When engaging groups of users to interact, such as chats or comments, should anonymity be banned? Discouraged? Or is it useful?

Q8: More on commenting: How do you engage at a level more sophisticated/constructive than flippant comments?

Q9: Show me the money: How does user engagement lead to revenue for the site owner?

Q10: Statement: To get strong engagement from users, you must give them control. Agree? Disagree? Why?

Google’s secret micropayment strategy for publishers – is it a trick?

2011: The year mobile takes over

1) Smartphones will be more common than dumbphones (politely called “feature phones”) by late 2011

2) Smartphone sales will exceed PC sales by 2011

Find me at Digital Capital Week (#DCweek)

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