Advancing the Story

If you’re reading this post, my guess is you probably already have your own Twitter account, but social media expert Jeff Cutler has some thoughts on what’s good about Twitter as a journalistic tool and what could be better.

Tip #1

“Twitter is perfect for talking to a crowd and just getting your question out there and seeing what you get back,” Cutler told a group of journalists recently during a training session at the Bloomington Herald-Times.  “However, if you’re using it for a news source, it’s just a place to start.”

Cutler says the old rules of verification apply, especially with new media.   Once you find a tweet with potential news value, the real reporting begins.

Tip #2

Have your company account and a personal account.

“Corporate accounts are good for ‘broadcasting  messages’ – a personal account is good for engaging people, talking to them to source different things and to find out what they’re thinking,” Cutler said.

One of the drawbacks to Twitter, according to Cutler, is the difficulty users encounter when they try to communicate one-on-one.

“You cannot send a direct message to someone who is not following you,” Cutler said. “That’s  frustrating for reporters, if a source DMs you [and you're not following them], it will bounce back.”

Tip #3

Make it easy for people to share your tweets.

Instead of using all 140 characters available for a tweet, consider keeping your tweet to 100 characters — that will make it easier to retweet (RT)  the info.

Tip #4

Don’t overdo the shouting.

Cutler suggests you monitor your ratio of “tweets that are broadcast or those that are just conversation.”  If all you ever do is push people to watch or read your stories, you’re not using social media to its fullest potential, according to Cutler.  He feels many news organizations and individual journalists are missing the point of Twitter.

Tip #5

Stay connected to other journalists.

Cutler suggests you begin to follow #journchat on Twitter to see what your colleagues are tweeting about.

Jeff Cutler has more than 5,000 people following him on Twitter.  He conducts workshops on social media through the Society of Professional Journalists Newsroom Training Program.

Filed under: 10. Delivering the News | No Comments »

The Project for Excellence in Journalism just released its State of the News Media 2010 report.  Here are four of the most important major trends. 

• News consumers “are hunting the news by topic and by event and grazing across multiple outlets.”  This puts more pressure than ever on journalists to make important news interesting and relevant.
• In trying to predict the future, the authors suggest that journalists must continue to figure out how to work with people formerly known as the audience in newsgathering and presentation of content:   ”One concept that will get more attention is collaborations of old media and citizens in what some call a “pro-am” (professional and amateur) model for news.”
• Journalists appear to be falling short in the area of objective news reporting.  According to the study, “72% of Americans feel now most news sources are biased in their coverage.”  The question — is objectivity an unattainable and/or outdated concept?  If unbiased coverage is still important, what should journalists do differently to migitgate bias? 
• Technology is causing news organizations to place greater emphasis on breaking news than ever before:  ”Shrinking newsrooms are asking their remaining ranks to produce first accounts more quickly and feed multiple platforms.”  It’s critical that journalists become familiar with the tools that allow information to be disseminated quickly.

Other key points from the study include more specifics on what’s happening to the audience — the news for local TV is not good.

We’ve been getting used to the news about such audience losses in the newspaper industry, but the following should serve as a wake up call for local TV newsrooms:

According to PEJ analysis of Nielsen data, viewership of the late news fell an average of 6.4% in 2009, four times the rate of a year earlier. Early evening news, at the dinner hour, fell 6.7% (similar to 2008). And early morning news, the programs that air prior to network morning shows that have been an island of relative stability for audiences, fell by 5.5% on average.

And it’s no surprise that the loss of audience has an impact on employment at local stations as well.

In local TV news, PEJ estimated that about 450 jobs were lost at stations in 2009, on top of 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. Despite staff reductions, the average amount of news increased to 4.6 hours, from 4.1 hours the previous year. Researcher Robert Papper estimates that local TV newsroom staffing peaked in 2007.

The report is rich in detail on the economic issues facing local TV, as well as the need for continued experimentation and innovation on the editorial and business sides of journalism organizations.

Filed under: 12. Getting Ready for the Real World | No Comments »

As the saying goes, sometimes the best camera for the story is the one in your hand. Yet, when it comes to shooting video, some still photographers seem to avoid using their digital SLR cameras.

Jeff Achen is an interactive media strategist for GiveMN.org.  He recently wrote a column for Quill magazine on using still cams for video storytelling.

1.  Use a tripod.  Ah, a piece of advice near and dear to our hearts.  Achen says handheld video should be a last resort. 

2.  Shoot in sequences.  Achen says that, “Just as in still photography, good video is a series of snapshots and details.”  He suggests going for wide, medium and close shots and holding each for 10-15 seconds while shooting.

3.  Use your ears.  This may be the most challenging task for a still photogrpaher who’s usually not focused on the sound at a scene.  Achen says it’s important to “get close”  to the source of the sound.

4.  Use depth of field.  Here’s where the DLSRs offer an advantage over Flip cams and other low-end video cameras. 

One of the reasons you’re seeing professional filmmakers and videographers pick up the new video-enabled DSLRs is the versatility that Canon, Nikon and other pro lenses allow in depth of field.  As in photography, the manipulation of depth of field is a trademark of a true pro in the video realm.  Use your fastest lenses to get stunningly shallow depth-of-field shots of details and close ups.  Don’t be afraid to use shallow depth of field on interviews, too.

5.  Lock exposure.  Achens warn that DSLRs can be “tricky when it comes to exposure.  They may be set to automatically adjust, which results in distracting flickers in your video as the exposure adjusts in response to the slightest change in your field of view. ”  He suggests setting your shot and then using the AE lock.

6.  Let the action be the action.  This is standard, but solid advice — Achen advises against overuse of pans, zooms or camera motion.

7.  Learn to conduct interviews.  Ok, so this isn’t really a video shooting tip, but Achen also suggests that still photographers need to practice asking questions of the people they’re covering, so they’re able to tell better video stories.

Filed under: 06. Visual Storytelling | No Comments »

Exclusive! the headline screamed: “U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts considering stepping down.” The story was posted around mid-day last Thursday on the gossip site Radar Online, owned by the National Enquirer. It said Roberts might step aside for personal reasons and could announce his decision at any time.

While other sites, including the Huffington Post and the Drudge Report, linked to the story, mainstream news organizations started checking. Within half an hour, Radar posted an update based on “new information” that Roberts will stay on the bench. But the site continued to insist that its original story was well-founded:

Despite considering resigning from the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts will stay on the bench, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. As RadarOnline.com was first to report, Roberts, 55, was considering resigning from the nation’s highest court due to personal reasons. RadarOnline.com has now learned Roberts will in fact remain as Chief Justice.

That night, NBC’s Brian Williams told a black tie dinner in Washington, DC, that his network’s Justice correspondent, Pete Williams, had knocked the entire story down in about seven minutes. “Let’s just call it ‘primary sourcing,’” Williams said.

But where did the story come from in the first place? Did Radar just make it up to generate Web traffic, as some commenters on the site suggested? Not exactly. Turns out, a professor at Georgetown Law School was trying to teach his Thursday morning class something about the credibility of informants. As David Lat writes at Above The Law, Professor Peter Tague told his class they’d be hearing big news the next day from the Supreme Court about Roberts’ resignation. He also told them not to tell anyone.

“It was an exercise,” Williams said, “but in 30 minutes it had been Tweeted out of the classroom” and you know the rest. “Facts are tougher,” Williams said. “Information is easy. Facts are very tough. They’re best when they’re right. And we’ve got to get it right every day and every night.”

Is there a lesson here? I’d say there are several. 1) No story is too good to check. 2) Mainstream journalism still has standards that set it apart from (much of) the blogosphere. And 3) Primary sources beat rumors every time.

Filed under: 11. Multimedia Ethics | No Comments »

Most stories about the latest poll from the Pew Research Center focused on the growing popularity of the Internet as a news source. But the headline for me was the enduring popularity of television news, both local and network or cable. The trouble is, I’m not sure I believe it.

Sixty percent of Americans told the Pew researchers that they get news from the Web on a daily basis, making it the third most popular source and beating out both newspapers and radio. About a quarter of those surveyed say they read news on their cellphones. And the vast majority of news consumers get their information from multiple platforms every day. Only 7% rely on just one type of source.

But according to the poll, television news remains considerably more popular than news on the Internet, especially local TV news. The Pew study found that almost 80 percent of Americans get their news from a local TV station’s newscast every day; almost three-quarters said they watch network or cable news.

That’s surprising, because other surveys and ratings reports have shown a steady decline in viewership for both network and local news over the past 20 years. The Pew Center itself reported in 2008 that just over half of those surveyed reported watching local TV news daily; 40% said they watch cable news and 30% watched network news. It doesn’t seem possible that daily viewership could have almost doubled in two years, does it?

Sourced from: NewsLab

Filed under: 12. Getting Ready for the Real World | No Comments »

Mike Schuh has been covering daily news at the same station in Baltimore for 17 years, winning a Murrow and several Emmy awards along the way. His official title is general assignment reporter at WJZ-TV, but he prefers to describe himself as a storyteller. So when I asked him how young journalists can improve their writing, I wasn’t surprised when he told me a story.

“It’s kind of like a bricklayer knowing he needs to bring certain tools to the job to build a wall,” Schuh said. “He doesn’t think about, do I need a trowel…do I need a mixer, my pickle bucket? No, he just brings all that stuff and then he looks at the blueprint of a job and figures out what kind of wall am I building today.”  TV journalists, he said, need to be so certain about the tools of their craft–the shots and sound they need to do the job–that they can focus on simply telling a good story. As Schuh put it, “Once you’ve aced the mechanics of how you build a story, then you can worry about the story line and the plot, the quest, conflict and resolution, the reveal, all these other parts.”

With all the necessary elements in hand, Schuh has one simple goal when he sits down to write: “to get out of the way.”

Filed under: 05. Writing the Story | No Comments »

Reporters who want to anchor often get their first opportunity as a “fill in” when a colleague is away. Some slide right into the chair and do just fine. But others worry that something will go wrong and they won’t ever get another chance. Having the jitters about an assignment increases the odds that it won’t go well. So if you’re concerned about sitting on the set, a little preparation will improve your chances of success.

One obvious step is to take a test run in the studio before you do it for real. Get comfortable with the teleprompter, especially if you have to run it yourself. Have someone talk to you on the IFB while you’re reading. If you don’t have your own earpiece, make sure there’s one available that fits you well so it won’t pop out on the air.

Randy Tatano has some additional, excellent advice on his blog at TV News Grapevine, including this tip:

Make sure you have plenty of breaks in the first newscast. Packages and vo/sots give you a chance to regroup. Nothing is worse for a rookie anchor than to have two straight minutes of copy at the top of the newscast, because if you stumble out of the gate you’ll be a snowball going downhill.

Tatano also suggests meeting with the director before the newscast to make sure you’re both on the same page. And one last useful bit of advice: Have water on the set. “Cotton mouth is a really common problem among rookies,” he says.

If you’ve found other useful ways of preparing to anchor for the first time, please chime in with a comment.

Filed under: 10. Delivering the News, 12. Getting Ready for the Real World | No Comments »

Enterprising reporters have always looked beyond the daybook or the local newspaper for stories worth exploring. They’ve browsed bulletin boards, driven around town with their windows down and scoured the Web. And now–perhaps not surprisingly–social media are an increasingly important source of story ideas and sources.

According to a national survey, the vast majority of reporters and editors use social media when researching stories. As MediaPost reports on the study by Cision and Don Bates of George Washington University:

Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

But just because journalists consult these sources doesn’t mean they use what they find without checking further. In fact, 84% of those surveyed said social media sources were “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media.

Another finding that’s probably no surprise: Journalists working for online publications are considerably more likely to use social media sources than journalists working for traditional media like newspapers and magazines. The study apparently did not include broadcast journalists.

Filed under: 02. Reporting the Story | 1 Comment »

Just check out the comments section following the New York Times article on the potential layoffs announcement at ABC News.  The news division is “seeking 300 to 400 buyouts and would resort to layoffs if necessary.” Depending on the person, the development is either another sign that journalism is dying or much ado about nothing.

What I am sure of is that the announcement indicates that the more multimedia skills a journalist has, them more job security.  Take a look at a couple excerpts from ABC News President David Westin’s memo to the staff:

In newsgathering, we intend to dramatically expand our use of digital journalists. We have proven that this model works at various locations around the world. We believe we can take it much further.

In production, we will take the example set by Nightline of editorial staff who shoot and edit their own material and follow it throughout all of our programs, while recognizing that we will continue to rely upon our ENG crews and editors for most of our work.

Some of the concerns expressed about all this are quite valid –  it’s going to be harder for ABC News to do some of the things it used to, and yes, quality may very well suffer.   But what’s the alternative?  Continuing to do the same old things in the same old way is definitely not the answer.

Filed under: 01. The Multimedia Mindset, 12. Getting Ready for the Real World | No Comments »

As journalism organizations try to figure out how to make money in a Web-driven, free content world, MediaPost’s summary of new research from Nielsen offers some important information.

The topline summary suggests that pay-for-view news is going to be a tough sell as 79% of users say they would no longer access a Web site that charges them. 

However, the study also found that about 8% of people have already paid for newspaper content at some point and more than 40% say they would consider paying.  For radio news/talk, about a quarter of those surveyed say they might pay for the privilege of listening. 

Though the survey did not ask specifically about TV news, about 50% of people said they would consider paying to see “professionally produced video” (and yes, there was a separate category for theatrical movies).

But here’s the rub — the survey also indicates that “71% of global consumers say that if have to pay for online content it must be considerably better than what is currently available for free.”

The new report from Nielsen surveyed 27,000 consumers from 52 countries.

Filed under: 08. Producing for the Web, 12. Getting Ready for the Real World | 3 Comments »