Weekend reading: Link love

I am playing catch-up after a couple of weeks on the road. Here are links worth checking out if you haven’t already:

-- Scott Karp at Publishing 2. 0 argues the value of links in drawing audience. Karp focuses on traffic on the Drudge report. Like Drudge or not, the site has big traffic, and Karp argues that its heavy offering of links has something to do with that (and via its links, Drudge also is a top sender of traffic to major traditional news organization sites).

“There are two main reasons why news sites are reluctant to send readers away by linking to third-party content. First, you shouldn’t send people away or else they won’t come back to your site. Second, a page with links that sends people away has low engagement, which doesn’t serve advertisers well.
“But if you actually look at the data, both of these assumptions are completely wrong.”

Here’s the post and a follow up.
Karp builds on good thinking about linking from Jeff Jarvis. Here’s Jarvis.

- More recently, Jarvis looks at the big picture on member discontent with the Associated Press. The money graf:

“The AP is not bad (no matter what foolish things it may have done in the blog kerfuffle recently). It’s just expensive. Papers the size of the Cleveland Plain Dealer say they pay $1 million a year. As they get more local, as reverse syndication models come to the fore, as they have to tighten budgets, the industry-supported AP syndication model is mortally threatened. Still, this isn’t about the AP. It’s about the new architecture of news and media.”

Read the full post here.

Steve Yelvington sees change ahead as well:

“It’s clear that we’re coming to a major fork in the road, one that could profoundly reshape the way nonlocal journalism is created and distributed in America. What’s not so clear is what’s down that road, or even how many forks we’re going to face.”

-- At Medill and the Readership Institute, Mary Nesbitt offers a little antidote to the woes of the industry - Incoming students!

- Innovate This offers still more reasons to check out Twitter.

Link: Comments on comments

Mindy McAdams offers this post on online commenting practices and points to a good treatment of the issue by Jack Lail, managing editor/multimedia at The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel.

Great line from McAdams: “Comments are messy, demanding, problematic. So are most children. That doesn’t mean the solution is to get rid of them.”

Link: Using Twitter

Ryan Sholin makes it easy for newsrooms to get started with Twitter with ”Five Ways to Gather and Report News with Twitter.”

Mindy McAdams offers some perspective with ”Twitter is Growing on Me.”

Think you don’t have time? Try this: Open a Twitter account and sign up to follow Sholin and McAdams (five minutes). Check the account a couple of times a day (five minutes). See where it leads (one potential window into the future of news gathering and delivery)

Are you using Twitter? Please share experiences in the comments..

Link: 10 ways to improve comments

Derek Powazek offers ”10 Ways Newspapers Can Improve Comments,” in a post worth reading in full.

Here’s the quick list:
1. Require Accounts. Make people register but don’t worry about anonymity.
2. Set and Enforce Rules. Delete bad comments and promote good ones.
3. Employ a Community Manager to monitor comments, participate in discussions and remove offensive comments.
4. Sculpt the Input. Ask for more on a comment, or less.
5. Empower the Community to help monitor comments.
6. Link Stories to Comments.
7. Enable Private Communication so people can vent.
8. Participate and get your staff to participate.
9. But Don’t Feed the Trolls, learn when and how to join the fray and who to ignore.
10. Give Up Control, expect surprises.

(Thanks to Notes from a Teacher for the pointer.)

Link: Tweeting the quake

If your news organization has not been using, or at least following, micro-blogging tools such as Twitter, Jack Lail’s ”Twitter as personal news wire” gives ample reason why news organizations need to pay attention. These are powerful tools, not only for pushing out breaking news feeds but for monitoring eyewitness accounts when news breaks.

Lail noted that the Associated Press moved a story nine minutes after the quake hit Southern California on Tuesday. “By the time AP moved a story, Twitter already had thousands of first-hand reports. Twitter has often been described as micro-blogging, but the Twitter blog says that for many people, the concept of Twitter is evolving to personal news-wire. We’ve seen this all along, but it’s growing.”

Update: Chris O’Brien, who is heading up the Next Newsroom project, posts his thoughts on Twitter, the earthquake and implications for newsrooms. It’s worth reading in full.

Cost - benefit analysis

Knight Digital Media Center‘s annual Leadership Conference wrapped up Friday but I’m still playing catch up on a few presentations and a lot of notes and ideas.

Ashley Wells of MSNBC.com offered a highly instructive look at the cost to produce different types of multimedia—slide shows, interactives, video and map mashups. Then he projected the size of the audience it would take to make the effort worth the time. Wells was quick to note that such comparisons don’t drive journalistic decision-making. But I think they can help people think twice about how they’re using their time. The short message: Simple may be better. Click through the whole presentation here. It’s instructive.

Wells finished up by noting that online news sites operate under heavy pressure to build both audience and revenue. What does he need to accomplish that?

“Gimme a:
Flexible publishing platform with great editorial tools
Cross-functional team with cross-functional people
License to experiment withthe intent to scale”

What’s your multimedia strategy and who is implementing it in your newsroom? Please share your ideas in the comments.

Editors: Determination, not desperation

With all the grim news from the news industry—staff reductions, top editor resignations—it’s easy to fall into a state of hopelessness. Certainly journalism’s most widely read news aggregator—Romenesko—often feels like a relentless chronicle of malaise and decline.

So it has been very encouraging—and enlightening—for me to speak with and exchange e-mails with the two dozen editors who are participating this week in Knight Digital Media Center‘s annual Leadership Conference, ”Transforming News Organizations for the Digital Now.” Like their peers across the industry, they face struggles and challenges both within their organizations and without. They are far from naive. But they are very determined to take their organizations across the digital divide. We’re hoping that determination—and the advice of a couple of dozen experts who are joining the conference—will help them draft bold plans for reorganizing and re-energizing their organizations.

A team of two people - the top editor and the top online editor—from 12 traditionally print organizations will participate in the conference, which starts today and runs through Friday. Participating organizations: The Commercial Appeal, the Dayton Daily News, the (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne), the Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.), the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Orange County Register, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Seattle Times, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane), and The Wichita Eagle.

I’ll make a brief introductory presentation identifying some of the patterns and issues that cropped up in my pre-conference interviews. (Later in the evening, we’ll hear about the digital audience from Amy Mitchell of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and then we’ll explore “Seven Deadly Myths of Innovation” with Krisztina “Z” Holly, Vice Provost for Innovation at the University of Southern California, where the Knight Center is based.

For now, here are a few trends from participating news organizations:

- They’ve reorganized in the past year, mostly to do a better job of getting breaking news online by dedicating reporters and editors to the Web. Those moves are showing results in increased Web traffic.Some of the newsrooms have undergone more radical changes—Rochester adopted Gannett’s Information Center model; at the Orange County Register, two-thirds of the newsroom reports to the online desk.
One editor: “Our priority is to create a fast and flexible culture in which we think online first, then print. Ultimately, it is to transform our newsroom into a 24-7 news organization. We must deliver news and information to readers and viewers when they want it and how they want. We integrate our approach. Our editors plan online coverage AND print coverage. We want to be first and we want to be best. We must continually be changing jobs and approaches. We did this a lot last year; we must do more this year. We do not believe in a big “ta da” approach. It should be organic but should also be urgent. Our survival is at stake in this competitive world we live in.”

- The culture in their newsrooms is improving, with more journalists adopting a Web-first mantra.Still, few believe they have achieved critical mass for a more nimble, online-adept culture. There are fewer pockets of resistance. But traditionally print-centric groups—in some cases copy desks or assignment editors—lack online reflexes.
Here’s one editor: “It’s like most places. There are 30 percent who get it, 30 percent who aren’t sure and 30 percent who are resistant. It’s a mixed bag. Some people are unhappy because they feel like it’s more work. Some people are really enthusiastic about it.”

- Culture aside, newsroom production systems and processes remain still highly print focused.  As their staffs contract, newsroom leaders are pressed to re-evaluate the print-online balance. How will they support both a robust print product - since it still pays most of the bills - with more aggressive moves online. Dayton, Rochester and Orange County have begun systematically repurposing (yes, I hate that word too. Alternative?) online content for the next day’s newspaper.
Here’s one editor: “Print is going to be around for a long time. It delivers 90 percent of our revenue. That’s the difficulty, trying to start this new business and keep the old one going. It’s going to be a struggle. We could do one or the other very well but to do both is a real challenge—especially with considerably fewer resources.”

- Newsroom staff cuts in these organizations range from about 10 to 40 percent from peak. Twenty-five percent is the norm.
One editor: “My goal is to continue to leverage my news staff across as many platforms as we can manage ... The only way we can sustain a newsroom of this size is to master all of these platforms.”

- Newsroom leaders also are frustrated by problems with technology and a general lack of technological resources. Competition for programmers is fierce—within news organizations and in the larger marketplace, which pays better than newspapers. One oneline editor: “It is difficult to attract Web developers because of the perception that the print industry is in decline. Web developers would bring the expertise that is currently lacking as we rely on converting print journalists into online specialists.”

- These problems notwithstanding, these editor report a dizzying array of accomplishments on the Web. From photo galleries, to databases, to videos, to interactive graphics, to broadcast programming, to affinity sites, the migration to online in these newsrooms is going full force. But few think they are ahead of the curve. Social networks, search and mobile delivery loom large on many horizons.

From an online editor: “I try to help quickly move our operation toward a better understanding of audience needs, and a workflow that is multimedia centric. I do this with the realization that we’re asking a shrinking staff to do more every day. The key is in identifying those areas where we can pull back and relax standards or output, and those areas where we must press harder to gain traction.”

Do these newsrooms, taken collectively, sound fairly typical? Please reflect on your challenges, experiments and solutions in the comments.

(Note: I will not be quoting specific conference participants by name or by the name of their news organization without their permission. It’s a tradeoff. We want to make as much information from the conference available as possible. At the same time, we do not want participants to feel inhibited in the discussions. All expert presentations and comments will be attributed.)

From Tampa, “audience editors”

Following a new round of layoffs and reorganization at The Tampa Tribune, much discussion has focused on a blog post in which Tribune intern Jessica DaSilva described the layoff announcement and drew harsh criticism from other journalists (see comments in the same post) for a) admiring the way Tampa Executive Editor Janet Coats handled the layoffs and 2) being too young to have a valid opinion.

This response struck me as symptomatic of old newsroom culture: First, shoot the messenger, then deny there’s a problem or find someone (Coats and other newsroom executives) to blame for it. Happily, journalists also stepped forward to support DeSilva for caring and to support Coats for having a plan.

Indeed, Coats has a bold plan, and it just might work. The reorganization she and her staff are developing should get a serious look from any newspaper editor who is trying to cross the burning bridge to more stable times. You can read a long describing the changes here on Romenesko.

I want to focus on one aspect of the plan, the new job of “audience editors.” There apparently will be 5-6 of them in Tampa and they will operate just below the rank of managing editor in a newsroom that will produce print, online and broadcast reports. Here is how the memo describes the role:

“The Audience Editors are the advocates for the audience in daily and longer-term story choices and story development. Their charge is to make sure we are working on the right things to serve audience needs and wants. They also are responsible for ensuring that we are working on enough of the right things to create relevant, robust newspapers, newscasts and online content.
“· Audience advocacy. The AEs lead the newsroom in thinking about how best to serve the audience. The AEs have a deep knowledge of our audience research across all platforms, and they use that knowledge to guide them in setting priorities for story coverage. They educate and inform the rest of the newsroom about what works for the audience, and they track which stories are moving audience within the news cycle.
“· Quantity control. The AEs are responsible for ensuring that we have enough of the right kinds of stories in production to serve each platform during the news cycle. They can shift resources to focus on different stories, depending on news priorities. They can advance production on particular stories, or stockpile content if we are over-producing for a certain news cycle. They’ll work with the finishing groups to ensure there is a range of stories to be considered for each product.
“· Quality control. The AEs have the responsibility for identifying stories with high audience potential, reallocating resources around the newsroom to reflect those priorities and ensuring coordination among the work groups. If the AEs determine that resources are being devoted to stories with low impact, they can redirect work onto other topics with more potential. They can kill a story or elevate it.
“· Promoting interactivity. The AEs understand that the core of the news mission is to create stories readers can interact with. The AEs identify stories with high potential for interaction, be it through user comments, databases, the potential for user-generated content or by appealing to highly motivated niche audiences. The AEs work with the news circles and the finishing group to apply the best interactive strategies to the stories they have identified as having high audience interest.
“· Communication. The AEs will develop the best method of communicating the daily news priorities to the overall newsroom. They will build a communication system that is real time, focused not on meetings but on the evolution of the news priorities throughout the day.
“· Coordination. The AEs will look for gaps and overlaps among the content circles (reporting teams). They will work with the circle editors to set priorities, mediate coverage disputes and shift reporting resources appropriately. The AEs will communicate daily with the finishing group leaders to track development of each product for that news cycle and to reset coverage priorities accordingly.
“· In summary: The AEs enforce the need for production. They are empowered to shift resources among the work groups to make sure we have enough content for all three platforms. The AEs enforce quality. The AEs are the nerve center of the operation, setting daily goals, looking out for more long-term story possibilities and constantly shifting resources to match priorities.”

Two aspects of this plan hold particular promise for improving content and, perhaps, creating a more saavy, adaptive newsroom culture:
1. Audience focus: “The Audience Editors are the advocates for the audience in daily and longer-term story choices and story development.” Traditionally, the audience is not at the table when editors decide what to cover and who to cover it for different platforms. “What readers want” often is a proxy for what editors want. If these editors can effectively bring audience expertise to the discussion, maintain an independent perspective, and communicate in ways that build staff expertise—without being afraid to use their veto power —Tampa may significantly better its content across platforms.
2. Power to shift resources: The AEs are ...  constantly shifting resources to match priorities. In the traditional newsroom, shifting resources can take weeks, even months, and smart moves often die on the vine of turf politics. Tampa’s plan is likely to see many fits and starts as both Audience Editors and the newsroom as a whole learn what works. But this could be a formula for creating a more nimble newsroom.
How has your newsroom used structural changes to create better content and a more adaptive newsroom culture? Please share your experiences in the comments.

Teamwork and technology in Des Moines

After a tornado blew away the southern third of Parkersburg, Iowa, www.DesMoinesRegister.com published an amazing interactive map that led the reader house-by-house through photos, videos and text illustrating the massive disaster.

After I discovered the map last week (thanks to Al Tompkins at Poynter Online), I wanted to learn more about how the staff created the map and whether the Information Center structure that Gannett newsrooms implemented last year played a role in developing such an engaging and effective presentation.

I got in touch with Kelli Morris, a graphic artist in Des Moines who played a lead role in developing the tornado map. Her account may be instructive for newsrooms that seek new structures and practices that will expand the capacity of their staffs across digital platforms. Here’s Morris’ account:

First, the newsroom data department (created under the Information Center model) pulled a list of all the property owners in the town and those were matched with a satellite map of the town. The staff also developed a spreadsheet for the data that would be collected. “This helped to make sure everyone was on the same page heading in and knew the format of the information needed.”

Next, two reporters and a graphic artist headed to Parkersburg, about 110 miles away from Des Moines. The reporters focused on finding residents to get their stories. The artist focused on making “after” photos and getting stories when possible.

“Back in the office, the graphics department began to assemble the map - drawing in the parcel divisions by hand and seeking out a aerial image of the town as a whole after the tornado. Meanwhile, the data department had scraped the county assessor’s site for the basics for each property and began to build the database. A dummy data file was provided to the artist so he could proceed in the programming before the on-site artist returned from the town.” “Before” photos also were pulled from the assessor’s site and cataloged into the database.

When the reporters and artist returned from Parkersburg, they added information to the spreadsheet, including the stories from the residents, damage levels, and photo ID numbers. The data department then compiled the spreadsheets into one html feed that could be drawn into the multi-layered Flash graphic built by the graphics department.

The map was published two weeks after the May 25 tornado. The staff has kept it up to date with information from daily followup coverage and e-mails from readers and residents about their experiences during and after the tornado.

“Overall we’ve had very good response to the map,” Morris said in an e-mail. “We’ve received more than two dozen stories from residents or their families or volunteers who helped clean-up. Some have even asked for a way to preserve the site as a keepsake, saying that the town will never be the same again. Additionally, we’ve received several comments from folks in the industry, who have appreciated in particular the way that the video, photos and story-telling all work together.”

By the end of June, the map had generated nearly 40,000 hits and was the third most popular database on the site for the month, right behind a state salaries database and a map of flooding across Iowa. Update: Morris reports that the map got 42,000 hits by the end of June, which makes it the third most popular interactive graphic the newsroom has produced.

Such smart interactives can significantly increase user time on site. “In general, these types of interactive maps usually provide fewer page views and much higher time spent on page, because they take more commitment to explore than the other quick-hit searchable databases. True in this case as well - we’re seeing times of four minutes per visit, which is very, very good, “ Morris said.

As in many newsrooms, the rise of digital has created a larger place at the table for graphic artists in Des Moines. “We’ve gone from a department that produced secondary graphics and centerpiece illustrations to one that is suggesting and writing its own stories, driving online traffic to interactive graphics, and essential in showing readers the story, rather than just telling them,” Morris said. “Much of this has been driven by the ability to take advantage of technology - satellite images, Flash interactive graphics and the database work. Editors frequently approach our graphics staff looking for different angles to tell a 1A story. And many times, the artists are included in project brainstorming sessions in earlier stages due to our unique understanding of what we can do with graphics for both print and online.”

It’s another illustration of how mastery of emerging technologies increasingly sits side-by-side with traditional skills in effective news organizations. Are you encouraging that kind of growth in your newsroom staff? Please describe your efforts in the comments.

Does HelloKittyLove08 play in print?

Pat Thornton has launched an interesting discussion over at beatblogging.org about whether news organizations use online comments in print and whether they require strict attribution. Thornton’s survey of five news organizations indicates the old gold standard of strict attribution in print may be melting. He asks:

“Maybe we need to get used to online handles like HelloKittyLove08. Is that really that much less reliable than me telling a print reporter my name is John Smith when I’m interviewed at the gas station? Or does my name change the quality of my comment?”

I have railed against the unfairness of granting anonymity to the powerful (think Beltway) while publishing the names of more vulnerable people who wandered unintentionally onto the public record (think crime victims). So the idea that the Web may be leveling that playing field intrigues me (even though in my old-fashioned journalistic heart, I’d prefer strict attribution).

That said, I think use of non-attributed quotes may be OK when they are representative of the overall online response. An example might be people’s online comments about why they support one presidential candidate over another or what issues are most important to them as voters. Or comments about why a news organization’s coverage of a local issue misses the mark. In cases like these, the fact that many people express an opinion makes up for the lack of a named source.

I’m less enthusiastic about cheap shot comments - such as personal attacks on individual public figures - that may enliven the report but add little meaning to the conversation.

How does your organization deal with unattributed online comments in print? Please add your thoughts in comments below or visit www.beatblogging.org to join the discussion.

Link: The online community manager

An emerging role in many newsrooms is the job of gathering and maintaining online community, whether it’s a Reader Exchange Editor at MiamiHerald.com or the Managing Editor at MyTopiaCafe.com. Tish Grier on E-Media Tidbits has a terrific post about what to look for in an effective online community manager, including commitment to the cause, love of people and a willingness to learn and embrace technology and online culture.
Who is building your online community?

Hyperlocal: It’s the people, stupid

Journalism blogs are abuzz following a Wall Street Journal article dissecting LoudounExtra.com, a less than successful Washington Post/Rob Curley experiment in hyperlocal news. It appears to be another case where the journalist/developers overlooked the people factor while they chased digital success.

Curley, the uber nerd of local news, acknowledges as much:

“From the second I was contacted by the Wall Street Journal for the story, I knew exactly what I wanted to say in the interview, which was to point out that I thought the two biggest problems with LoudounExtra.com were poor integration of the site with washingtonpost.com and not enough outreach into the community ... ala basically me speaking with every community group that would have me.

“And that both of those problems were my fault. Completely.”

Looking for specifics on how to connect with community, I found these two posts particularly insightful and useful:

John Hassell of The Newark Star-Ledger at the exploding newsroom:

“If we’ve learned anything from our own hyperlocal experiment at MorristownGreen.com, it’s the importance of that consistent local engagement. The site is built as a collection of blogs written by members of the community, including a local attorney and politico named Paul Bangiola and a jeweller named Bill Braunschweiger.  It’s orchestrated by veteran Star-Ledger reporter and Morristown resident Kevin Coughlin, who spends virtually every waking hour running around town, reporting, recruiting contributors and organizing events.

Kevin is always bursting with ideas to give people in town more ways to share their stories, but one of my favorites was his inspired notion to donate two Flip video cameras to the Morristown & Morris Township Library so residents could check them out and record videos to upload to our site. When it became clear after a couple of months that no one was taking us up on this, he persuaded the library staff to produce a short movie with one of the cameras and then throw a world premier party at the library.’’

Check out Hassell’s post for photos of the premier.

Michelle Ferrier at Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits, recalls her experience living in a small rural community where people waved at neighbors whether they knew them or not. She relates this to her approach as managing editor of MyTopiaCafe.com for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

“I regularly do what (I) consider to be the online equivalent of waving to my neighbors—logging on and ‘stroking’ (via comments) contributors who have shared their content. I publicly acknowledge their participation. Also, I use contests and rewards to encourage participation. And I pick up the phone to talk to users about their posts. I ask them whether they’ve encountered any technical obstacles with the site, and let them know that we are listening for their feedback.

“Even more often, I’m out in the ‘real world’—at field trips, photographing school dance troupes, talking to nonprofit organizations about partnering on events, in K-12 classrooms and higher education lectures talking to everyone about MyTopiaCafe.com and what it can do for them—and, especially, listening for their responses.

“I’ve found that ‘What do you want?’ is not the right question to ask your community. Instead, I ask ‘What do you want to do?’ I also look for ways to use existing functions or build new ones to service my neighbors and new friends. And that takes a listening posture, without agenda and with humility, that many mainstream journalists and sites lack.”

Coughlin and Ferrier are meeting the community in energetic ways that most journalists probably wouldn’t consider. No doubt Curley will be doing the same in his next assignment.

Has your news organization found ways to connect with and gather community? Please share your experiences in the comments.

Building an online community

Poynter Online’s E-Media Tidbits features a lively primer by Michelle Ferrier on the outreach she conducts as leader of MyTopiacafe.com, an online community of The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Ferrier writes:
“I’m often asked what a typical day is like as managing editor of an online community. I often respond, ‘What do you mean by ‘typical day’?’ Running a hyperlocal online community like MyTopiacafe.com is more like running a political campaign than an online news site. You must be the candidate, campaign manager and media relations coordinator all rolled into one.”
Ferrier makes speaking appearances and hits local community events to evangelize for the site, which also conducts fund-raisers for community causes.
She is one more journalist who is finding the fun at the intersection of journalism and social networks.

Moving the furniture, moving the needle

The traditional newsroom model—with its compartmentalized teams or departments and assembly-line production for end-of-day deadlines—has proven ill suited to a 24/7 news environment that requires speed, creativity, collaboration and the ability to turn on a dime. The structure, systems and processes of the newsroom drive both culture and results. That’s not to say moving desks around a few times a year will change the newsroom. But smart newsroom leaders are finding reorganization—some sweeping, some in small steps—really helps.
The continuous news desk (which now even has the acronym of CND) has come to symbolize digital transformation in many newsrooms, especially larger ones where cross-disciplinary communication tends to be diffuse. I described that change at the Miami Herald here.
This week, I talked with the editor of another Florida newspaper, about a similar change that yielded striking results.
Janet Coats, Executive Editor of The Tampa Tribune, said the organization in the past year:
- Combined online and print newsrooms under the one editor (Coats). (I confess, I was a little surprised that Tampa, a poster child for media convergence, had separate print and online newsrooms as late as 2007.)
- Reorganized into “deep” and “now” teams in an effort to balance getting the story of the moment with investigative and explanatory journalism.
- Moved a significant number of print staff to a new continuous news desk.

“The results,” Coats said, “were immediate and gratifying - a 60 percent increase in (local) page views year over year.” Breaking news page views were about 11 percent of total before the change, Coats said. “Since continuous news desk, that share has grown to about 30 percent.”

Those results in turn pushed culture change in the newsroom, buoyed the staff, and convinced even Web-resistant staff members. “The launch of continuous news desk was the best thing that happened culturally in the time I’ve been here,” Coats said. “It was one of those wonderful moments when we actually launched the continuous news desk we saw immediate results. That was a glorious thing for people who were demoralized. ... We saw that pop, a dramatic pop, in Web traffic. The only thing that had changed was the journalism. That was powerful.”

I bet other newsrooms have similar stories of change. I’d like to hear yours. Please share them in the comments to this blog.

Editors blogging: ‘Doing is learning’

Today I’m happy to feature a guest post from John Hassell, Deputy Managing Editor of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. John, who attended KDMC’s Leadership Conference last year, blogs at the exploding newsroom, often posting interesting updates on his newsroom’s journey to digital. I asked John to write about why he blogs, and why other editors might want to try it. Here’s John:

“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”
--G.K. Chesterton

First, a confession: I’m a lousy blogger. I don’t write often enough, and what I do write is rarely developed as fully as I would like. Caught up in the pull and tug of the newsroom, I too often neglect my blog.

I have great admiration for people like Howard Owens and John Robinson, who make time in their busy schedules to cast a wider net, to think aloud, to leave comments and trackbacks on other blogs. They’re the real deal, and they’re constantly teaching me things.

For me, though, this is one of those times when G.K. Chesterton had it right. Because blogging is worth doing—even if you do it badly, even if it means having to find the odd pre-dawn hour to post something once or twice a week.

Why?

Before I started blogging…

...I thought I understood the nature of the link. But until people linked to something I wrote, until I saw the way these links raised my blog’s profile in Google and Technorati searches (okay, not very much in my case, but...), I didn’t really get it. I quickly began to appreciate and return links, and to make unexpected friends. A link can be a nod, a handshake, a pat on the back, an insult. Whatever it is, it’s personal. It’s the glue that builds community online.

...I agreed with the goal of transparency in the news business. But until I began to see first-hand how closely openness and trust are associated on the web, I didn’t grasp how crucial this is. You build credibility online by reporting the news as it happens, sharing your work and engaging readers along the way. You build it one link at a time. The web is not just a place to publish “finished” stories, if there even is such a thing.

...I talked about news as a conversation. But until I started reading more blogs and getting involved in social media, I didn’t understand how quickly news gets shared, expanded, commented on, filtered and repurposed across the web. This is not a trivial thing. People once relied on the news to inform conversation. Now they are relying on the conversation to inform them about the news. If something’s important, they figure they’ll hear about it.

...I considered myself an early adopter. But until I saw how the best bloggers used social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Seesmic and FriendFeed as reporting resources and channels for distributing content (the beauty of community, after all, is that it allows you to gather and share information more efficiently), I didn’t realize how far behind we really were in harnessing the power of these new tools.

To expand on that last point a bit, when I started work on this piece I posted a short question on Twitter:

“Hey, journobloggers: I’m writing a post for the Knight Center about why newspaper editors should blog. I’ve got my reasons; what are yours?”

Like a tiny stone tossed into a pond, it started producing ripples.

First came the responses from people I’ve befriended on Twitter, each of which helped me think about this piece. Here are three of them:

Damon Kiesow of the Nashua (NH) Telegraph: “My #1 reason - they need to understand their audience. Doing is learning.”

Laura Oliver of Journalism.co.uk: “For transparency of editorial operations like @marcreeves’ blog lets users see behind-the-scenes and air their views on editorial operations.”

Zach Echola of Forum Communications Company: “Regular interaction with real people forces you to think less about media + audience and more about conversation + community.”

Next, because replies on Twitter are public, a few friends of Damon, Laura and Zach discovered and began following me—which means my network of sources will be even greater next time I’m looking for help.

This goes both ways. With any luck, some of you reading this will click through the links to Damon, Laura and Zach and begin following their work.

Each of those links, in turn, increases the chances that Laura, Damon, Zach or others might read this and share it with others. They might share it through their blogs, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, social bookmarking sites or ... well, you get the idea.

This is the social, distributed web.

It’s powerful stuff, and it rewards those who get engaged.

Even if you do it badly.