RJI FUTU

RES LAB

C O N V E R G E N C E CA P S T O N E , S

P R I NG 2

0 1 3

RJI FUTURES LAB IS…A weekly, online video show that covers the latest innovations in journalism and is designed specifically to reach out and inform newsroom leaders across the nation.

WE WILL ADDRESS1)Who we are and what we have done this

semester2)What we have learned about our audience3)Recommendations to improve the show4)Suggestions of ways to sustain Futures Lab

A SAMPLING OF THE SHOWS WE’VE PUBLISHEDhttp://youtu.be/qoLcMF1ilfI

FUTURES LAB TEAM• Two editors: Reuben Stern and Olga Kyle• Four capstone reporters• One GRA reporter • One volunteer graduate student

QUICK STATS• Launched March 20, 2013• Nine episodes published to date• 8-10 minute episodes• 40 stories produced• 90-minutes of video content

published• More than 80 interviews with

sources from all over the world• Nearly 2,000 YouTube views

PRODUCTION CYCLE

Pitch stories to editors

Do research, conduct

interviews and gather

b-roll

Produce story and

incorporate editor

feedback

Complete story

HOW DOES THIS WORK?• Reporters typically are working on 2-4

stories at a time on this three-week production cycle.

• Each story takes approximately 15 hours to research, report and produce.

• Reporters completed an average of eight stories per person.

SUMMARY OF AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Website Analytics

Social Media Analytics

Focus Group Insights

WEBSITE ANALYTICS

Users stay on Futures Lab pages for an average of 5:51.

Average time on page for the RJI site is 2:03.

WHAT THE WEBSITE ANALYTICS TELL US• Users aren’t watching the whole video• The viewers who watch the longest come through a direct link• Users coming to the Futures Lab page consume other RJI content

while they are there

SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS• Platforms used: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube• 117 Facebook Fans, 54 Twitter Followers• Majority of those audiences are still Missouri School of

Journalism faculty and students• Hootsuite analytics tell us that the most popular

tweets included handles for organizations and people featured in the episodes and general, searchable hashtags.

• Because this is a work-related show, it can expand to LinkedIn and other professional social networks

FACEBOOK FANSThe majority of Facebook followers are females ages 18-24.

Source: Facebook Analytics

Female fans

Male fans

WHO ACTUALLY WATCHES THE SHOWYouTube viewers skew older and male.

Source: YouTube Analytics

Female viewers

Male viewersfemale

male

FOCUS GROUP METHODOLOGY• Hosted a focus group of five

editors from a variety of newsrooms in mid-Missouri

• Asked for their thoughts about the show and to analyze the usefulness for their own newsroom

FOCUS GROUPPositives

10-minute show length

Video format

Wrap-up stories of conferences they were unable to attend

Themed episodes

FOCUS GROUPNegatives

Sound and visual quality on Skype/Google+ Interviews

Inability to view single stories within an episode

Lack of diversity in sourcing

Occasionally unrelated visuals

FOCUS GROUP KEY TAKEAWAYS•Likely to watch on a computer while at work•Likely to share one story with other, but not the whole episode•Would like to receive specific how-to information in video segments•Would like more coverage of mobile and social engagement issues

RECOMMENDATION 1: IMPROVE STORY QUALITY WITH MORE IN-PERSON REPORTING

Challenge: Most of the stories for this show don’t occur in Columbia, Missouri

Establish a traveling budget for reporting trips to sites like New York or Silicon Valley

2-3 people could report several stories over the course of a few days.

• Send a small team of reporters/editors to important industry conferences where there are high concentrations of sources. Focus group participants cited conference recaps as some of the

most useful stories Potential conferences to attend: ONA, IRE, SXSW, NAB Show

Seven stories came out of the interviews done at the SXSW conference this year.

RECOMMENDATION 1 (CONT): IMPROVE STORY QUALITY WITH MORE IN-PERSON REPORTING

RECOMMENDATION 2: IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES TO BETTER REACH TARGET AUDIENCES•Create a communication/outreach team of students to• Compile a list of target audience• Push email subscriptions • Build strong social media following• Work with professional journalism

organizations• Identify online communities that would

find the content useful• Ex. LinkedIn and Facebook Groups

RECOMMENDATION 3: MAKE CONTENT MORE SEO-FRIENDLY AND SEARCHABLE

Video format makes it harder for people to find our content

Part of this can be solved by increased use of meta tags

More text and specific headlines with individuals stories will increase search traffic to our site through SEO ranking

RECOMMENDATION 3 (CONT): MAKE CONTENT MORE SEO-FRIENDLY AND SEARCHABLE

HOMEPAGE

EPISODE PAGE STORY PAGE

RECOMMENDATION 3 (C0NT): MAKE CONTENT MORE SEO-FRIENDLY AND SEARCHABLE

Futures Lab

Landing Page

Episode Page

Proposed: Story-

level page

Page with individual video and text story

Focus group participants would like to watch individual segments or skip over segments within an episode.

“I am going to watch all the stories. I just may not be able to watch them all at one time.”

Presentation can be changed to include: Time stamps when the story begins Links to YouTube videos that jump to the start of the

story Individual story videos embedded below the main

episode

RECOMMENDATION 4: MAKE INDIVIDUAL STORIES EASIER TO FIND WITHIN EPISODES

We recommend that each story addresses the following questions:

How much does this idea cost?How much time would I have to dedicate to this idea?

How can I implement this in my newsroom right now?

Some editors wanted step-by-step processes. Others just want to know what innovations are possible.

Include supplemental content that shows detailed processes so main episodes remain less than 10 minutes

RECOMMENDATION 5: INCLUDE MORE LOGISTICAL AND HOW-TO DETAILS

RECOMMENDATIONS TO BETTER SERVE AUDIENCES

Improve story quality with more in-person reporting

Implement strategies to better reach target audience

Make content more SEO-friendly and searchable

Make individual stories easier to find within episodes

Include more logistical and how-to details in stories

HOW WE CAN SUSTAIN THE SHOWReporters have already been selected to work during the summer

For Fall 2013, continue as a project for students in Convergence capstone class with the assistance of two GRAs

Long term goal: create a Futures Lab class

FUTURES LAB CLASSWe propose to create a course that would be responsible for reporting this show.The ideal team would be:• Five reporters• Two communication/outreach team members• Two graduate research assistants

Editor/Advisor Editor/Advisor

GRA

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Comm/

Outreach

Comm/

Outreach

ROLE OF THE GRAHelp flow/stability of newsroom and ease reporter transitions if they held assistantship for more than one semester

Serve as a middle management position

Help reporters develop story ideas and plan out episodes

Assist in editing and producing storiesEstimated hours per week: 10

ROLE OF THE REPORTERSEligibility:Independent study course should have completed Broadcast II, Convergence Editing and Producing or equivalent experiences with video reporting

Responsible forPitching, shooting and editing packagesComplete 10-12 stories in the 16-week semester

Estimated hours per week: 15

ROLE OF THE COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH TEAM

Primary goals:Grow audience Manage social media AnalyticsConnect interested audiences to content by

Using relevant #hashtagsIdentifying online communities Crowdsource ideasCreating a presence on LinkedIn and other platforms

Estimated hours per week: 15

ROLE OF THE COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH TEAMPotential future projects

Plan and execute live Google Hangouts with news innovators

Guests featured in the Tuesday show “hangs out” with Futures Lab viewers to answer audience questions

Implement an awards program that recognizes newsroom innovators

Work with RJI to interject a Futures Lab presence at RJI events

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE WORKFLOWImplement a beat system for reportersPlan out episodes around a certain theme

Implement a system to keep track of sources interviewed in the show

Create a master calendar of Missouri School of Journalism Events, RJI events and special guests

CONCLUSION

With the proposed changes, RJI Futures Lab can continue to aide

Newsroom leadersRJI’s missionStudent journalists

Tomorrow’s newsroom leaders

Questions?