How We Did It
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March 20, 2012• Mike McInally, interim publisher, Mid-Valley
Newspapers, and editor, Corvallis Gazette-Times
• Jeremy Reukauf, web designer,
Mid-Valley Newspapers
• Troy Schildan, IT specialist, Mid-Valley
Newspapers
• Graham Kislingbury, online editor, Mid-Valley
Newspapers
Albany/Corvallis: Mid-Valley Flooding
By the numbersDaily
Circulation
Sunday
Circulation
Average
Daily Unique
Visitors
Newsroom
FTEs
13,500 14,500 8,255 17
10,000 10,000 11,217 19
23,500 24,500 19,472 36
Mid-Valley flood of 2012
The mid-valleyRed markers show locations of Corvallis, Albany and Lebanon
Our communitiesThe Willamette River, pictured here, between Corvallis and Albany
Plan A: OSU vs. UCLA Plan B: The flood
Changing plans
Plan A: Do a live
blog from the Jan.
19 game in
Corvallis. Plan got
scrapped at 10
p.m. Jan. 18.
Plan B: Flooding
live blog. Decided
at 10 a.m. Jan.
19, went live at
10:47 a.m.
10:47 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 19
Day 2: Live blog starts
•Started with
introduction
by Mike
McInally.
•Mike and
others posted
updates
for hours
• Someone
needs to be
posting and
moderating
at all times.
• Coordination
is important.
Inviting staff to the live blog, and quick training
Quick start
• As Mike posted and
moderated, Graham sent
out email invitations to staff
members of all three
papers. Those not familiar
with Scribble Live got a
quick tutorial.
• As the water kept
rising, reporters and
photographers were
out getting stories, photos
and videos.
Day 2
Sports reporter Cliff
Kirkpatrick quickly
posted flood
photos from his
digital camera.
Tip: Make
use of anyone
who is available
Thursday, Jan. 19: Rivers, creeks rising
Short videos
Videos on an iPhone, Droid or
iPad will go up fast if they’re
short. The video of the father-
daughter canoeists at right was
around 30 seconds.
What we learned: Go for a lot of
raw videos. Be attentive to
when you start and stop. Think
of no more than two key
questions to ask.
Aim for 30 seconds or less
Day 3People in Corvallis helped each other online
When we resumed the live
blog at 6 a.m. Jan.
20, people in south Corvallis
had myriad questions about
how to get around.
It was their neighbors, not
us, who answered those
questions.
Day 3
Later
Friday
morning,
a family
put out a
request
for
flashlights.
Two minutes
later someone
responded
with an offer
for help.
Day 3
ResourcesSticky asset with links to needed information
The “Mid-Valley
Flood
Resources”
remained atop
the live blog until
Sunday, Jan. 22
Day 5: Final numbersSunday, Jan. 22: Rivers recede; blog comes down
• 702 unique users who
posted or commented
• 1,720 total published
comments
• 1,790 moderated
comments
• More than 1,000
viewers during one
stretch
on Jan. 19
Online Data
393
82
0
100
200
300
400
1-Jan-2012 15-Jan-2012 29-Jan-2012
Facebook Likes For The Month Of January
Democrat Herald Likes Gazette Times Likes
Average Likes Per Day Before
the Flood were 2/day
180,783
136,025
0
100,000
200,000
1-Jan-2012 15-Jan-2012 29-Jan-2012
Page Views For The Month Of January
Democrat Herald Page Views Gazette Times Page Views
27,566
21,001
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
1-Jan-2012 15-Jan-2012 29-Jan-2012
Monthly Unique Visitors For The Month Of January
Democrat Herald Monthly U V Gazette Times Monthly U V
47,657
37,069
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
1-Jan-2012 15-Jan-2012 29-Jan-2012
Visits For The Month Of January
Democrat Herald Visits Gazette Times Visits
• Facebook was
especially useful on
Day 1 when the live
blog was not up.
• It drove traffic to
our websites and
generated nearly
100 comments.
• There was
intense interest in
the creek tragedy.
‘Likes’ go through the roof
Positive responsePeople appreciated the live blog
We received
comments
on the blog
and
Facebook,
via email
and on the
street
thanking us
for the live
blog.
Lessons learned
Future
Start it sooner
Get avatar photos loaded and use same naming convention.
Better coordination of moderators and people in the field.
Arrange for a possible sponsor
Better resource list
Lessons learned
Future
Protocols on outside links
Set the blog so links will open in a new tab, rather than leaving the blog.
Get staff feedback before memories of the flood recede; critique the effort: What worked well, what could be improved, etc.?
Provide staff with a summary of the critique.
Think of other opportunities to use the live blog:
election night
controversial meetings
Friday night prep football games
How We Did ItMid-Valley Flooding Live Blog
K
21
Comments or
questions?
Thank you.
If you have lessons to share from recent coverage of a major local news event, including live coverage via
mobile devices and other tools, please send a summary to [email protected] for inclusion in our How We
Did It series.
