The coverage on Nieman Journalism Lab yesterday of the Engaging News Project pretty much ruined my coffee break as I clicked through the research: there are few things I love more than seemingly wonky research about journalism and democracy. Especially when it’s put in action. Talia Stroud’s research shows, in the most simple explanation, that when you change the language, it can also change how people engage with your website. That should perk most of our ears up. If you want, you can already start making your readers ‘Respect’ stories instead of ‘Like’ them with a WordPress plug-in.

What you can’t make people do, according to her research, is actively seek out information that goes against their views, or their niche. That sounds like old news to me. We’re all in our own little ‘bubbles’ to use Bill Maher’s lingo. That’s bad for democracy, but good for online publishers. It also has something to do with why magazines have fared better in a digital landscape. Chris Hughes of The New Republic spoke to a lot of like-minded, nodding heads this week about how readers (users? can we agree on a terminology?) still look for ‘curated editorial experiences’ whether online or off. That’s something not easy to do with a daily news site, but the goal of most magazines — whether it’s the New Republic or Slate or Field and Stream. 

Apart from saving democracy from ourselves online, the Respect button has my head spinning for another reason. In terms of design and user experience, it’s hard for pubs to break out of the Web 2.0 standards whether it’s about asking readers to like things, comment, or use hashtags. I’m sure there are many strategists and design experts who haven’t slept considering the same things.  I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that everything starts to look the same, all the time. I don’t know for how much longer I even want to ‘like’, let alone ‘respect’ content online, although that’s the formula publications work with to determine all the numbers that make up their bottom line.

Maybe it’s the stormy weather on the East Coast that has me thinking too much about it — but what do you think? If we’ve moved past Web 2.0 and onto the semantic web, how does that affect how we’ll have to start thinking about reader engagement and page design? Is it just that we’ll  be able to better search our hashtags and generate more niche content to read? 

Every summer, I promise that I’m going to use the downtime to get my act together and work on my website and portfolio, and then get lazy about doing all of the work.  That’s why my ears always perk up when I hear about portfolio sites that do all of the hard work for you.

It’s surprising that there aren’t more portfolio building sites targeted at journalists, ones focused on just showcasing your clips, without making you choose background themes and fonts reminiscent of an early MySpace page. But don’t forget about Clippings.me if you, like me, need to get your clips together and don’t have the advanced skills to create your own gorgeous, professional website.

Clippings.me was a pioneer in the market and has just launched a professional package that makes using the site more intuitive and, quite frankly, makes it something you can be proud to link to or use as a digital resume.

The Pro Package runs you $8 per month. You can upload as many clips — print and web articles, video, even podcasts — to your page, as you can with the free version. The perks include being able to host your own domain and have access to social media stats. You can see exactly where your specific clips were shared and commented on, as well as your clippings.me profile.  Read more

One of the most popular platforms for digital magazine distribution, Issuu, is finally getting a new look. With 70 million unique visitors each month via 11.5 million publications already in tow, the website is now transitioning from a place for magazines to get their name out to a place where readers can go to discover new material.

And with a new update that went live today, readers will be exposed to a lot more of what the platform has to offer.

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As far as newsgathering tools go, Storify has radically changed how reporters navigate breaking news and information on social media. In just a matter of clicks, a writer can pull together dozens of tweets, videos and photos onto one platform and collate it into one thorough, complete story. Although it provides for media, there isn’t an easy transition from one video to another.

Now, reporters can create high-impact story compilations with Soo Meta, a video mashup tool that enables users to piece together different Youtube clips to create a cohesive story based around a topic or idea. Users can pull in information from Youtube, Pinterest and Twitter and create full multimedia compilations. Each segment can be controlled and clipped, so only the most important parts of a video would make it into the final piece.

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Like most people, I have a fear of getting really old. You know how sometimes you see an old, grey lady in the supermarket grumbling about the price of milk and scowling at the clerk who tries to help her? I don’t want to be her one day. Other times, I see a woman of the same, grey age on the street with a cooler handbag than I currently do, tweeting her way down 6th Avenue with friend and think, ‘there you go! That’s how I’m going to be!’

The New York Times is both of these grey ladies, all of the time. 

By asking Scrollkit to take down their replica and reference to ‘Snow Fall,’ the Times looks a little cranky. I’m no Lawrence Lessig, but like Cody Brown, I can see how his video ‘could be’ fair use. Asking him to cease and desist using any mention of the Times on their site? That’s a little draconian. But what do I know. 

In any case, the New York Times has been, and still is, a benchmark of decent journalism and decent survival rates online. But it’s going to have to play nice. 

Cool Grey Lady: Experimentation Read more