Journalism @ 2014 Shaun Milne : @milnemedia

!Edinburgh Napier University : MA in Journalism

Guest lecture, Merchiston Campus, January 22, 2014

NB: Presentation & opinions are those of the author & independent of his employers

Here is the news …• News hasn’t changed - the customer has

• Their needs, demands & consumption habits have altered

• Users have a greater power of choice

• Fixed times of mass news delivery no longer exist - we are in a constant rolling cycling of peaks & troughs

• We are in an era of discoverable news

• We must woo customers with outstanding journalism

One size doesn't fit all • Responsive design is a vital tool for serving online audience

• Users expect to access content when they want & how they want it - regardless of device

• If content is King, personalisation will be Queen - stop using algorithms to guess habits. Allow self selection & learn from it

• Finders, keepers - content should be downloadable, viewable offline & easy to share in one click

• Gamification of news is here. Give loyal customers something back

• Join the dots - take the user on a content journey

• Invest in content, you have nothing without it

Responding to change• Ad supported spin off sites can provided extra value content with real time

news, competitions & UCG

• Use your core sites to concentrate on journalism, long form, lifestyle & exclusives. Bake it into subscription models if you have any

• Geolocation is your friend. Let it help

• Understand the modern publishing cycle

• Newspapers should rip up the old print model & start again. Think like a magazine

• Go agile. Move faster.

• Stop making it complicated. A good idea needs commitment not a committee

Kinds of content• Breaking: headline grabbing ‘OMG you’ve gotta see’

• Live: time sensitive stories probably worth knowing

• Impact: the big hits - Snowden, MPs expenses

• Fractured: listiciles, social media, bite-sized

• Stand-out: Snowfall, iWonder, project based

• Community: engagement, news you can use, UGC

• Niche: sports, business, arts & more

Understand the cycle• Customers may focus on their mobile in the morning for a first

glance at what’s going on

• They could pick up a paper or free sheet for the morning commute or switch to a Kindle or tablet

• At work they face a desktop or laptop as well as mobile for their lunch break

• Home may involve a smart TV but certainly a second screen

• We must now serve all these publishing windows and more

• The phrase “It’s the way we’ve always done it” has no place in modern journalism

Stop Press! This just in• Print media followed a similar publishing cycle before but have

apparently forgotten

• Evening newspapers used to roll out several editions to meet user needs & geo-locations

• They would serve niche content too with special supplements & separate sports editions

• Newspapers also had the original paywall - its called a cover price

• Editors need to take a similar approach to online & realise its the way that needs adapted, not necessarily the what

Don’t blame the Internet• 24-hour rolling news broadcasts have arguably had a far more

caustic affect on the print publishing & buying cycle than web

• TV responded quicker & better to changes online, seeing an opportunity to both build new audience & breathe commercial life into legacy content

• Sky for iPad is a thing of beauty & has set the bar in the UK

• Smart TV is here - publishers should be seeking on air content partners or developing apps of their own

• The internet provides a bigger potential audience than ever before - box out every day

Get social, media• Every newsroom should have dedicated specialist social media

teams - journalists & data researchers

• Use it to learn from your audience - discover what content works & when - analytics are there to educate

• Consider social media an additional online newswire you don’t need to pay for

• Think rolodex - hundreds of PRs & contacts at the end of an instant message

• It is a billboard, letters page, tip off line & paperboy in one

• Work at social as part of the overall picture - it’s just part of the jigsaw

Challenges & realities • Resources: journalists can be multi-skilled, but not superhuman. Give them both the tools &

colleagues they need to do their own jobs well

• Specialists: good reporters can & will turn hands to anything, but specialists give you an edge on a story & deep knowledge to exploit. Learn to work smarter & target resource to content that builds audience & save by scrapping the vanity pieces

• If newsrooms just want to re-write wire copy, they should hire teams of talented subs. Otherwise let journalists be journalists

• Content is your Unique Selling Point - it is the only thing that can set apart from the mundane

• We live in 24/7 live global media window. Newsrooms shouldn’t stop because of our 9am - 5pm society. They should staff up and seize the opportunity of night audience

• Every media business has budgets to meet, but so do staff. Workers won’t do as well if they are worrying about their bills. Colleagues perform far better & stay longer if they feel valued & are treated with respect. The same should be true of trainees & interns

• If bottom lines don’t balance, manage expectation & don’t stretch your team thin. Focus on what you do best, better. Build from there

Journalism @ 2014• This can be one of the most privileged jobs in the world - treat it

with respect

• Make your choices wisely. People will exploit you. Decide if it’s worth the long term gain

• Trust your gut, instincts are usually right

• Read, read, read. Learn, always

• Doing is better than talking

• Talking is better than doing nothing

• Always remember to close the garden gate

Follow me : @milnemedia @scotpapers @scottishmedia @scottishjschool

“aut viam inveniam aut faciam.” !

“I will find a way, or I will make one”