Chapter 9: The Multimedia Story: How to Help Audiences Get What They Want and Need
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Interviews
Andy Carvin, National Public Radio’s social media strategist.
Andy Carvin, National Public Radio’s social media strategist, identifies how social media may not be the best choice for some news stories.
David Clark Scott, online director for the Christian Science Monitor, points out how he looks at the csmonitor.com’s website traffic for insights about audience and interests.
David Clark Scott, online director for the Christian Science Monitor, discusses the purpose and the writing of a great, searchable online headline.
John Yemma, editor of the Christian Science Monitor and csmonitor.com, compares how a print reader looks at a headline as opposed to an online news user.
Rita Rubin, msnbc.com and Today.com health and medicine contributor, comments on how she curates information through links on Twitter.
Richard Gingras, CEO of Salon.com in March 2011 before becoming Google’s news products head, talks about why journalists should not fret over using SEO to help audiences find their work.
Richard Gingras, CEO of Salon.com in March 2011 before becoming Google’s news products head, points out that journalists aggregated and curated news long before the web.
Assignments
- Use a different search engine/browser (Google, Yahoo, bing, etc.) and give yourself just one hour to find the top five news stories in each. Examine how each provides different results and what might be the reasons. Compare with three online news sites.
- Use OpenCalais or Tagaroo for WordPress or Google’s AdWords and write three or four headlines on two stories you have produced for class to determine the best ones to use via SEO.
- Go to a national news organization’s website (CNN.com, msnbc.com, usatoday.com) and check out the title tags and the headlines to see how they match up. Think of ways in which you would make the headline and title tag more “searchable.”
- Choose a major news story (a weather disaster, a national or statewide election, a major holiday, a protest, a major state or national sporting event) and use Storify to curate information and reports. Consider how you will verify the information being provided and determine what you would use in your story. No online encyclopedia links will be accepted.
- Find a long print news story (newspaper or magazine) and develop a list of links that would be useful for the audience to learn more about the story topic and its sources. See if the story is online and compare and contrast your links to what is online.
- Take any news story you have already produced in print or broadcast and curate a list of links that audiences might find useful. No online encyclopedia links will be accepted. Also plan how you would use social media to inform an audience about your story.
- Sort through information from a daily news wrap story and other research from your beat or topic area and begin to develop three ideas for a small multimedia reporting project that would require a few weeks of steady reporting. Write a focus statement for each idea and prepare a list of at least five sources for each idea.
Links
Links to articles mentioned
Student journalists need to learn SEO more than they need AP style
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201004/1843/
In search of meaningful “social media optimization”
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/01/in-search-of-meaningful-social-media-optimization-smo019.html
Links to articles and websites on links, SEO, SMO, and curation
Digital journalist survival guide: A glossary of tech terms you should know
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/104015/digital-journalist-survival-guide-a-glossary-of-tech-terms-you-should-know/
Google’s real-time search raises importance of link sharing via social networks
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/100546/googles-real-time-search-raises-importance-of-link-sharing-via-social-networks/
5 ways to turn traffic spikes from major news stories into return visits
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/138054/5-ways-to-turn-traffic-spikes-from-major-news-stories-into-return-visits/
The lessons of the past are the lessons for the future in search engine optimization for news websites
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201103/1951/
5 small steps journalists can take to build a bigger, more engaged audience
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/133987/5-small-steps-journalists-can-take-to-build-a-bigger-more-engaged-audience/
The seven steps to a successful aggregation strategy for your news organization
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/137285/the-seven-steps-to-a-successful-aggregation-strategy-for-your-news-organization/
How The Economist’s conversational tweets drive clicks, while Al Jazeera’s automation drives retweets
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/social-media/141837/how-economists-conversational-tweets-drive-clicks-while-al-jazeeras-automation-drives-retweets/
Build your own URL shortener for security, branding, reliability
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/95867/build-your-own-url-shortener-for-security-branding-reliability/
How headlines can help
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/21408/how-headlines-can-help/
The flip side of black hat SEO: If your news site publishes paid links, you risk suffering Google’s wrath
http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/03/the-flip-side-of-black-hat-seo-if-your-news-site-publishes-paid-links-you-risk-googles-wrath/
The thorny question of linking
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/26730/the-thorny-question-of-linking/
Making connections: How major news organizations talk about links
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/06/making-connections-how-major-news-organizations-talk-about-links/
Linking by the numbers: How news organizations are using links (or not)
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/06/linking-by-the-numbers-how-news-organizations-are-using-links-or-not/
5 ways news sites can improve their use of links
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/166175/5-ways-news-sites-can-improve-their-use-of-links-in-stories/
H is for hypertext: What makes a good link
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/chip-on-your-shoulder/83855/h-is-for-hypertext-what-makes-a-good-link/
How, and where, to hyperlink within a news story
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/080215niles/
Why journalists need to link
http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/why_journalists_need_to_link.php?page=all
Why link out? Four journalistic purposes of the noble hyperlink
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/06/why-link-out-four-journalistic-purposes-of-the-noble-hyperlink/
When to hyperlink within an online news story?
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201104/1962/
Requesting metadata with electronic records
http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news-media-law/news-media-and-law-spring-2011/requesting-metadata-electro
How news organizations can create a mobile-first strategy
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/99829/how-news-organizations-can-create-a-mobile-first-strategy/
5 strategies to lower your site’s bounce rate
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/100932/5-strategies-to-lower-your-sites-bounce-rate/
How to: write headlines that work for SEO
http://www.journalism.co.uk/skills/how-to-write-headlines-that-work-for-seo/s7/a545817/
“Google doesn't laugh”: Saving witty headlines in the age of SEO
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/google-doesnt-laugh-saving-witty-headlines-in-the-age-of-seo/238656/
10 questions to help you write better headlines
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/140675/10-questions-to-help-you-write-better-headlines/
Newspapers search for web headline magic
http://www.poynter.org/archived/about-poynter/poynter-on-the-record/80653/newspapers-search-for-web-headline-magic/
How much should journalists know about SEO?
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/94622/how-much-should-journalists-know-about-seo/
Social media replacing SEO as Google makes search results personal
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/social-media/159102/social-media-seo-google-makes-search-results-personal/
Journalists are cheap: SEO and why newspapers should cut out the middlemen
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbits/90432/journalists-are-cheap-seo-and-why-newspapers-should-cut-out-the-middlemen/
What impact is SEO having on journalists? Reports from the field
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/09/what-impact-is-seo-having-on-journalists-reports-from-the-field/
Why SEO and audience tracking won’t kill journalism as we know it
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/09/why-seo-and-audience-tracking-won%E2%80%99t-kill-journalism-as-we-know-it-2/
A message for journalists: It’s time to flex old muscles in new ways
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitem.aspx?id=102415
SEO is dead. Long live social media optimization!
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/106895/seo-is-dead-long-live-social-media-optimization/
The Newsonomics of social media optimization
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/the-newsonomics-of-social-media-optimization/
Share and share alike [content-sharing arrangements]
http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4685
Sharing sites like Pinterest raise copyright concerns
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/161482/sharing-sites-like-pinterest-raise-copyright-concerns/
News organizations that haven’t learned to share
The seams in certain outlets’ social sharing strategies.
http://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/news_organizations_that_havent.php
Build a better journalism career by shifting your focus from writing stories to creating assets
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201001/1816/
Sources
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Cohen, P. (2011, July 15). Internet use affects how we remember. New York Times, p. A14.
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