Trends in Online Journalism

Online Journalism

One of the biggest growth opportunities is online journalism

Web Editors often make more money than their print editor counterpartsExpectations include writing AND technical

skills

Jobs

Web editor and producer positions pay higher than the equivalent print positionsWeb editor (Seattle) $65,000Web producer (Seattle) $89,000

NOTE: The above info comes from Salary.com survey data

Online Journalism Jobs

Job titles may vary, but there are typically these positions: Web Editor Senior Web Editor/Managing Web Editor Web Producer Senior Web Producer/Managing Web Producer Other titles:

Multimedia Assignment Editor Multimedia Assignment Producer Presentation Editor Internet Content Editor

Recent Survey Results

Highest valued “Editing and Copyediting Skills” among New Media Content Producers:News judgmentGrammar and styleHeadline writing for the WebStory combining/shortening

Recent Survey Results

Highest valued “Content Editing Skills” among New Media Content Producers:Photo editingReporting and writing original storiesAlternative story forms (polls, quizzes, etc.)Audio productionVideo production

Recent Survey Results

Highest valued “attitude and intangible” skills in New Media Content Producers:Multitasking abilityAttention to detailCommunication skillsAbility to work under time pressure

Reading Habits

Reading online is typically 25% slower than print

Some “tricks” to keep a reader interested:Layout with bullet points and bold subheadsBreak longer stories into “chunks” Include multimedia elements

Polls Slideshows Audio/Video

Web Journalism

What works online?Breaking newsLinks to credible sources Instant archives InteractivityMultimedia

Storytelling or Presentation Convergence New ways of “telling the story” are

emergingUse more than just audio, video or textReaders/Viewers can participateUnlimited “space” to tell the storyNon-linear structure

Example

“Being A Black Man” in The Washington Post

Backpack Journalism

Online journalists need to know how to write, shoot and recordThey also have technology skills for

posting/uploading stories online “Backpack Journalism” = All the tools for

reporting fit in your backpackSelf-contained reporter from story creation to

distribution

“Backpack Journalist”

Employers want to hire someone that can do it allWrite an accurate story fastUse new media tools to tell the story

Examples

KRON-TV San Francisco

Current TV

Journalists Moving Online

Some established journalists are moving online to have more control over their reporting Example:

CNN’s Daryn Kagan Walter Cronkite blog

Welcome to Web 2.0

Web 2.0

The term is subject to “hype” and remains in debate and in flux

Web 2.0

Content power shift to the masses rather than the “mass media”

Mass media is “de-massed” It’s all about YOU

Web 2.0 & Journalism

Architecture of participationUser-generated content

Blogs Wikis

“Crowdsourcing”Social networking sites

User-Generated Content

These sites build content from the submission of users, rather than staff editors or writers “Blogs”/Personal Journals Photos Podcasts Video sharing (“Vlogs”) Reviews/Advice Forums

Photobucket vs. Kodakgallery

Beyond the Computer

Web serves as a platform for other technologies to interoperate withMobile devicesHome entertainment devicesAppliances

Online Publishing Tools

Publishing information online has become easier due to several self-publishing tools and content management systems

Example: Blogs

Popular Blog Tools Blogger.com LiveJournal WordPress

Blog Popularity

A new blog is started every second Many remain unread and semi-

anonymous A few end up with a strong following Most are not created by journalists!

Who is Blogging?

Bloggers are youngMore than half (54%) of bloggers are under the

age of 30. 55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym,

and 46% blog under their own name.

SOURCE: PEW INSTITUTE 2006 SURVEY

Is it Journalism? Most bloggers do not think of what they do

as journalism. 34% of bloggers consider their blog a form

of journalism, and 65% of bloggers do not.

SOURCE: PEW INSTITUTE 2006 SURVEY

Is It Journalism?

Most have not “trained” to be journalists57% of bloggers include links to original

sources either “sometimes” or “often.” 56% of bloggers spend extra time trying to

verify facts they want to include in a post either “sometimes” or “often.”

SOURCE: PEW INSTITUTE 2006 SURVEY

Beyond Text

Bloggers are using more than simple words to tell their stories 72% Photos 30% Audio 15% Video

SOURCE: PEW INSTITUTE 2006 SURVEY

“Moblogging”

Mobile phone blogging Instant “on location” blogging via one’s mobile

phone Photo share publishing “on the go” Uses camera phones to see what the

publisher sees instantly

“Moblogging”

Mobile phone blogging Instant “on location”

blogging via one’s mobile phone

Photo share publishing “on the go”

Uses camera phones to see what the publisher sees instantly

Moblogs and Breaking News

U.S. east coast blackout London subway terrorist

bombing

User-controlled News

Internet users like to have some control over the media they consume Personalized news Peer-recommended news “Open-source” news

Personalized News

Google News No editors are

employed Uses traffic analysis

and readership patterns to determine what is most newsworthy

Peer-recommended News

Digg.com Readers “vote” on

what they like Highest votes =

highest news placement on site

“Open-Source” News

OhMyNews Huge in South Korea Expanded to

international audience 41,000 “citizen

reporters” 20% of content created

in-house by only 55 staff reporters

“Open-Source” News

WikiNews User-created news

reports Collaborative editing

by peers A Russian-language

version is now available

Mainstream News Dominates

Independent news is thriving, but mainstream news still dominates online Top U.S. news sites:

1. Yahoo! News

2. MSNBC 3. AOL News 4. CNN 5. The New York Times

SOURCE: 9/7/2006 COMSCORE REPORT

Mainstream News Blogs

Mainstream news outlets are adapting their own blogs The New York Times The Washington Post CBS News MSNBC

The Aggregators

News site aggregators have proven to be very popular…and influential

They do not write news, but they do create headlines and selectively choose which stories get coverage

The Aggregators

Drudge Report Conservative in nature Monica Lewinsky/Bill

Clinton Scandal

Huffington Post Liberal response to

Drudge Report

The Aggregators

Beyond news, there are several popular aggregate blog sites for specific areas of interest

Examples: Technorati.com BoingBoing.net

“Crowdsourcing”

“Crowdsourcing” is a new trend in online journalism that has many supporters and skeptics

What is “Crowdsourcing?”

A collaborative form of reporting Each contributor researches and contributes a

component to the overall piece The actual story may or may not be written by a

collaborator Content is usually overseen by a centralized

editor

“Pro-Am” Journalism

Crowdsourcing is often referred to as “pro-am journalism”A combination of both professional and

amateur contributions

Examples of “Crowdsourcing”

In Journalism:Wired.com and NYU: AssignmentZero.comMinnesota Public Radio: Public Insight

Journalism

Gannett Restructuring

Major media company Gannett restructured most of its print and Web operations to include “crowdsourcing” in Nov. 2006“Information Centers”Gannett is the largest newspaper publisher in

the U.S. (by circulation)

Pros

Community involvement Transparency of reporting process Micro-reporting of events and developments

normally missed by mainstream media “Hyper-local” reporting

Builds valuable “database” of content Tomorrow’s “reporters” may also be “database

managers”

Cons

“Amateur” reporting has its risks Majority rules

Stories only developed because users ask for it (or participate in it)

Subject to manipulationPolitical or personal agendas might inspire

disproportionate coverage of particular issues Staff reporters might lose some value

“Assignment Zero”

Launched March 2007 Users “log in” to find potential news story

assignments that they can contribute toSuggest questions for the reporter to askConduct research/interviews for the story In some cases, you can actually write the full

story