Looking from the outside in
Posted on April 27, 2008
I’ve been away from the newsroom for only two months, and I feel my news consumption has changed considerably.
For some background: I was an online news producer for eight years. During that time, I covered entertainment, travel and breaking news. I helped out with the sports and money sections as needed. I focused on online community development and then, specifically, multimedia. I’ve worked for large and small papers.
And I loved what I did because I loved being a part of a community. Serving their need to know what’s going on around the world and in their towns and their need to be educated about how what’s happening affects their lives.
I was a news junkie. I consumed news reports as much as I produced them.
- Of course, I read the site I worked for daily, and I subscribed to the print edition.
- I knew all of the breaking news updates that happened — every single day.
- I supplemented my local news updates by reading the national newspaper and cable TV news Web sites.
- I used an RSS reader to keep up with blogs and news sites.
- I used del.icio.us all the time to keep up with blogs and news sites.
- I “played” with content and sought out video, interactive graphics and special reports by newspapers — not just in my local area, but around the world.
- I watched cable and network TV in the morning, evening and weekends.
- I looked at the Drudge Report and Google & Yahoo news a couple of times a day for another overview.
I wasn’t reading and watching everything, but I felt plugged in.
Now? Well, my schedule’s not nearly the same.
- I don’t subscribe to my local print papers (there are four in my area, including two in my town). Sometimes, one of the town papers ends up on my driveway for some mysterious reason, but I rarely read it. And when I do, I’m disappointed by the lack of LOCAL coverage.
- During the day at work, I don’t have time to read these four newspapers’ Web sites. I might check them during lunch. But I won’t be going back to the sites for the rest of the day, so I’ve missed out on all those breaking news updates.
- I remember how important it was to beat the competition by even seconds when posting to the Web. But guess what? As a news consumer now, I don’t care. In all honesty, unless there’s a 9/11-type event, I’m probably not even checking the site. I don’t even know it’s posting all that great content.
- I only have time to “play” with multimedia and other content that’s most important to me — I’ll engage in interactive graphics, watch videos and read blogs that interest me most. The others, either I don’t have time to read or I don’t know the content even exists.
- I still check Drudge, Google and Yahoo when I have the time.
- I depend on RSS feeds even more.
- I still watch a lot of cable news TV at night and on the weekends.
Here’s what’s completely new:
- I’ve become one of “them.” I don’t get my news from newspapers and I get little of my news by traditionally viewing a newspaper Web site — as one would a newspaper. I don’t go to the homepage (A1) as often. I don’t flip through the different section fronts and scan the headlines as often. And I certainly won’t read any type of e-paper.
- But I DO subscribe to print magazines. Why the difference? I get niche content in magazines. My perception is I don’t get that in my newspapers.
- I subscribe to news Twitter accounts. CNN posts breaking news tweets, and I love that it doesn’t overload me with updates. When I get a tweet from them, I pay attention. I enjoy USATODAY.com’s “On Deadline” tweets. They give me a great overview of what’s going on nationally during the day. More newspaper Twitter accounts are out there, but none for my local or city area.
- I get news stories from friends on Twitter. It’s like standing around a virtual water cooler. Sometimes tweets are chit-chat. Sometimes they’re gossip. And sometimes they’re news links.
- I depend more on links shared by friends via Facebook.
- I depend on my del.icio.us network even more to keep up with blogs and news sites.
- I’ve gone back to reading e-mail newsletters. These have been so valuable to me, and I’ve noticed blogs offering an e-mail option (I don’t know if this is new, or if I’m noticing it because it’s more important to me now).
- I seek out shows that analyze the news and entertain me. I watch “The Daily Show,” “Reliable Sources” on CNN, and I browse YouTube videos.
- I’m less often distinguishing my news by TV, print or blogs. News is news. Information is information. The only distinguisher is whether I trust the provider.
I’m still not reading and watching everything. In fact, I feel like I’m seeking out much less. But I still felt plugged in.
Lessons to be learned for news organizations:
>> Make it local. Of all the news I get, the information I usually want most is what I’m not getting: local content. And what I really, really want is micro-local content.
>> Rethink what interactive means. Newspaper’s are doing a great job of creating innovative interactive content, but much of it requires a user/reader to seek out the Web site to participate.
Why not tie social networking tools into your next project? Make it viral. Let readers “play” with that awesome database you made — from their mobile. Here’s an opportunity to take greater advantage of the Web to break up linear storytelling.
>> Personalization is so important. The beauty of blogs and social networking sites is the ability to drill-down to niche content. THAT is what I want as a news consumer now. I still want the main overviews, but I don’t have time to get specifics about everything. I want the specifics about what matters to me most.
Too often newspaper Web sites are too difficult to navigate. I find it hard to find the specifics I need. When I worked for a news site, I used it and several others every day. I knew where most everything was on those sites and could click to the content I needed quickly. But since I’m not visiting them daily now, I tend to get lost right away.
>> Push your content & take advantage of social networking (aka, learn how to market your site and its content). All the fabulous, innovative work that newspapers are doing may be lost to readers who have to seek it out themselves. There are a lot of other Internet and real-life interests, commitments, and demands that are competing for your readers’ time.
As a former journalist, I may be able to find links to innovative special reports via NPPA, ONA, NAA, etc. But “average” readers probably don’t know about these awards or these sites, nor would they be likely to seek them out.
We all know how hard it is to find multimedia/special packages on a site when we’re IN the industry (I depend on multimedia blogs such as Teaching Online Journalism, News Videographer & the former Multimedia Shooter). Now I know how hard it is on the outside. If a reader misses seeing a special package the day it was highlighted on the news Web site, they may never see it.
Particularly if readers are focusing on their niche areas, they’ll miss a great effort that could possibly be of great importance to them. I need an easy way to stay in the know.
This is already happening to me. For example, road work may be done to a highway near where I live, which would have a significant impact on my community. But I keep missing the stories about it written by my local papers. Sure, I could set up a Google search alert and hope it finds the stories I need to read. But now you’re requiring the reader to do a lot of work to access your content. It should be easy for them. Plus, what if I didn’t know the road work was going to happen in the first place? I’d most certainly miss it.
Social networking is more than creating a community on your own site (which is definitely an important step). It’s creating a community around your news that’s off your site, too:
- Does your site use mobile and e-mail updates? If so, do they work effectively and correctly?
- Does your site use Twitter? It’s such an easy way to keep your readers in the know about breaking news, weather and traffic.
- Does your site use Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr?
- Does your site interact with bloggers — not just as sources, but to engage in a conversation on their sites? Does your site leverage news aggregates such as Fark, Drudge Report, etc.?
* NOTE: Patrick Thornton has a great post on how news is a social event for his generation that ties in well with my post-newsroom experiences.
Time to do some tweaking
Posted on April 17, 2008
I needed a break from “real” blogging while I adjusted to a new home and job, but I didn’t want to abandon my blog entirely, so I posted some del.icio.us links.
But I don’t like it — it’s boring and definitely not engaging. Time to go return to the old format. Back to writing about issues. I’ll look into what it means to market in and to the social networking world. And I’m still very interested in newspapers and what’s going on in the journalism industry, so I’ll share my perspective looking from the outside in.
One of the things I struggle with, though, is that all of this connectedness can get overwhelming. I finally added a data plan to my cellphone, so I’m mobile now. I’ve started using Twitter, am fully addicted to Facebook and keep finding new, fun tools to use for networking.
It’s like I’m experiencing a new version of information overload — social overload? Just when I adjusted to using the Web to consume news and was comfortable finding my sources and branching out to blogs, feed readers, etc., I feel swamped with information once again with social sites and micro-blogging. All these updates and keeping track of all of our communities, how do we find time to actually live life?
In the end, I think all this will make life easier: Instant contact with your network and access to information. A peek into what your real and virtual friends are up to. A steady stream of consciousness that makes you feel a part of something huge.
Last night, while watching the debates, I received several “tweets” from friends commenting on how the moderators and candidates were doing.
Watching TV makes you feel like you’re engaged with society. You’re sharing in an experience. But when you get a note from a friend during that experience, it makes it an even more interactive, intimate (and multimedia!) experience. There’s a lot of power here that individuals, companies and news organizations should embrace and take advantage of.
So I’ll do my best not to get overwhelmed. Blogging is an excellent learning tool for me, and it’s quite exciting when it generates conversation. I hope to continue to do more of that now. (I also hope to redesign/update the site, but I have to block off at least a weekend for that.)
Thanks for reading.
Work your network
Posted on April 7, 2008
"… 26 percent of hiring managers have used Internet search engines to research potential employees. More than one in 10 admit to using social networking sites in their candidate screening processes. Of the managers who browsed such sites, 63 percent found dirt that caused them to dismiss a candidate.”
Relax, chill and maybe blog
Posted on April 7, 2008
It’s all about balance, right?
"If you drink too much coffee, you are going to have trouble sleeping. If you don’t sleep your heart works longer hours and has to pump more blood and is under stress. Problems get compounded when you are a smoker, are overweight, lead a sedentary life (phone/computer) and/or are on a plane constantly.”
In Web world of 24/7 stress, writers blog till they drop
Posted on April 7, 2008
In Web world of 24/7 stress, writers blog till they drop
“They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.”
Sam Zell: A tough guy in a mean business
Posted on April 7, 2008
Sam Zell: A Tough Guy in a Mean Business
"Since Mr. Zell made his bid for Tribune, things have been worse for newspapers than many predicted, with advertising revenue down almost 8 percent in 2007 and 2008 off to a poor start."
The digital shelf is shrinking
Posted on April 7, 2008
The digital shelf is shrinking
"Just 8% of searchers will venture beyond the third page of search results to find the answer to their query. That’s down from 10% two years ago, and almost 20% in 2002, according to a new study from iProspect."
Links that stink on news sites
Posted on April 4, 2008
Links that stink on news sites
"The real sin here is how extraneous links induce link shyness: When the time comes that the reader will benefit from clicking on a link, he’ll not bother because the site has taught him its links are worthless."
CJR: The Grave Dancer
Posted on April 4, 2008
"Zell is known as the Grave Dancer, for buying distressed real estate on the cheap. Succeeding with Tribune depends on arresting the alarming pace of deterioration at its newspapers—thus the fresh tensions at the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. If the company’s revenues continue to plunge, no amount of financial engineering will save it, and Zell may instead be called the Grave Digger.”
Tribune Co faces default threat in ‘09
Posted on April 4, 2008
Tribune Co faces default threat in ‘09 | Reuters
"Tribune is a big microcosm of issues across the industry, and Sam Zell made an unfortunate bet, if you will, jumping into a business he knew nothing about," said veteran newspaper analyst Miles Groves."
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