good tools for digital journalism

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GOOD TOOLS

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Hardware & Software for Social Media

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02Introduction

Jack Lail | Knoxville News Sentinel

Erin Cubert | The Tennessean

Karen Kraft | The Daily News Journal

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ToolsJack Lail

Knoxville News Sentinel

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The Link

05• Would you try to send Web visitors off your site?

• Would you send your customers to competitors?

• Would you seek out bloggers and alternative voices and link to their sites?

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If you did, you would grow traffic on your site.

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If you did, you would grow traffic on your site.

by a lot!

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Call it the “Miracle on 34th Street” effect.

09http://www.publish2.com

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Sharing

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14• Photo galleries are huge traffic drivers

• User submitted photos are huge traffic drivers.

• User submitted videos are huge traffic drivers (just ask YouTube).

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Cell Journalist, LLCSuite 500

3212 West End AvenueNashville, TN 37203

P: 615.469.4411

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David Mastioeditor@blognetnews.com

(757) 773-1722

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18

Can you afford free?

19• Google Docs (docs.google.com)• OpenOffice (Microsoft Office for free at

openoffice.org)• Picnik (image editing, manipulation)• Maps (Google, Yahoo)• YouTube (video hosting)

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Social News Tools

Erin CubertThe Tennessean

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Are you having trouble reaching your online audience?

You might not be reaching them where

they’re at.

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Where are they?- Twitter

- Flickr

- Aggregators

- Facebook and

other social sites

- YouTube

- Google News

23So, now that you know where they are …

These tools will help you maintain your organizations digital identity and brand.

24Start sharing contentThe easiest way to start sharing content, is by contacting other news organizations.

Examples:- Baltimore Sun and The Tennessean swapped RSS feeds- Commercial Appeal and The Tennessean joined up and conversed with audience via Twitter - TennesseeGreen.com contacted HuffingtonPost about a breaking TVA story- News Sentinel and Tennessean traded links on a UT salary story

25Find the influencersReporters asked to look at stories and to think where and to whom stories could be pushed to.

If it’s a celebrity story, which online community might find the story interesting?

If it’s a breaking news story, which news organization should be contacted?

If it’s a community story, who in the community might be interested?

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The new mantra in the news room is:

Push content out to bring the audience back and

be a one-stop shop

27How?There are more tools you can use to get started …

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Twitter News and information in 140 characters or less

- Get tips on breaking news stories in your community

- Send out information and links to the community

- Know the topics the community is interested in and saying about you.

- Have a conversation with your readers

- Customer Service

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Twitter Tools

TweetDeck: Your new ‘police scanner’ TwittGroups: The #, or hashtagStrawpoll: Ask questions with pollsTwitPic: Send out quick picturesURLZen: TinyURL with analyticsPing.fm: Update all networks at onceTwitterholic: Watching your progress

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Metrics: 2 different audiences

Conversational RSS Feed

31Scribd-Don’t just put up documents and expect people to download them

Use a Qualified Publisher account with Scribd

Allow online community to see documents, tag documents, archive and link back to the article

Host these on your site within articles

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Bookmarking and AggregationOther tools to use include submitting

content to Reddit, Newsvine, Del.ic.ious

Digg will block you if you have people intentionally submitting content and have people within the newsroom voting the story. They will block the IP address.

Mixx.com and Reddit.com are up-and-coming social bookmarking sites

33Forums and Blogs

Listen to what your audience is saying!Read forum posts and story comments: The community is helping write the story or telling you what they want

Read local blogs

Start topic-oriented blogs with Wordpress, Blogger or other blogging software

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Digital Tools

Karen KraftThe Daily News Journal

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Multimedia =Alternative Visual Tools

36Multimedia:

What’s the big idea? Who can do this? How can I do this?

Why should I do this?Aren’t we doing enough?

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Multimedia 101

38The Right Tools: Video Cameras

• High End– Sony 1080i– Canon XH A1

• Low End– Flip Camera– Point and Shoots

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Now that I know my options, how do I decide?

40High End Vs. Low End

• Quality and Quantity– Will make a difference when breaking out the check book!

• Importance of Multimedia Project– Just a brief interview or heavy editing

• How it’s sound?– To mic it or not to mic it

• Always use external mics when possible (lavaliers, recorders)

• How much time do you have?– Usually not a lot, post within 2 hours tops (sooner for breaking news)

• Best Option- have one of both

41Digital Voice Recorders

• High End– Edirol R-09– Korg MR-1

• Low(er) End– Olympus DS-30– Olympus Ws-311M

42Video Editing Software:

options, options, options

Macintosh:• Avid

– Avid Media Composer

• Final Cut Express• iMovie

Windows:• Sony Vegas• Adobe Premiere

Elements

43iMovie

44Additional software…• Video Conversion

– Sorenson Squeeze– iSquint*– Handbrake

• Audio Editing– Audacity*– Garage Band– iTunes– Pro Tools– Switch

• Audio conversion

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Decisions, Decisions• The right tool for the right job• Don’t over think it• Less is sometimes more to readers• Have a back-up• Batteries, cards, tapes OH MY!• Minor training to shoot• Basic training to edit

46Getting it noticed

• Attach it to the story

• For the love of God, Link it!– Utilize YouTube

• (Be aware of copyrights. Read the fine print!)

• Promote heavily in print

47How can we make money?

• Online Contests (U Pick ‘em)– Baby of the Year*– Christmas Lights, Battle of the Bands– Ruthies

• Short videos turned into commercials

• Sponsorships– Steady multimedia can lend itself to revenue $$

• DNJ’s Athletes of the Week

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Contact Us!Jack Lail jack@jacklail.com (865) 898-3331

Erin Cubert ecubert@tennessean.com (615) 726-8971

Karen Kraft kkraft@dnj.com (615) 566-2022