writing

Last week news broke about the new Twitter / social media policy that is being used by Sky News in the United Kingdom.

Usually when you hear the words “news” and “social media policy”, the instinct is to cringe and see how bad the damage is. This is no different.

In some ways the Sky News social media policy is a great poster child for how not to write social media guidelines for journalists.

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Create a clear, strategic approach to the way you use Facebook to market your business in our new Facebook Marketing Boot Camp. The online conference and workshop starts April 24. Learn more.

A new study claims it can predict the popularity of a news story on Twitter with an 84 percent accuracy rate by looking solely at four factors that affect content.

The study, led by Bernardo Huberman of the Social Computing Lab Group at the Palo Alto-based HP Labs, examined the content of an article before it was published in determining how popular it would be on Twitter.

Specifically, the authors looked at:

• The news source that generates and posts the article;
• The category of news the article falls under;
• The subjectivity of the language in the article;
• The people and things mentioned in the article.

“Our results show that while these features may not be sufficient to predict the exact number of tweets that an article will garner, they can be effective in providing a range of popularity for the article on Twitter,” Huberman wrote in the study. “We achieved an overall accuracy of 84% using classifiers.”

The study, however, raises a lot of questions for journalists.  Read more

Breaking into the literary dream that is New York magazine means you’ve got to offer something new, an interesting angle or exclusive access into a little-known subcultural scene in the city (or anywhere else in the world).

“A freelance pitch that provides unusual insight and access into a slightly more hidden world or scene has a better chance of becoming a story here,” said editorial director Jared Hohlt in How To Pitch: New York [sub req'd]. “Features that trend to get approved are narrative-focused and designed to engage the reader in good old fashioned storytelling.”

David Haskell, the magazine’s feature editor, agrees — but he needs more than just a good anecdote.

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You poured your heart out in a personal essay. Now what?

Find a home for your first-person material with help from our latest guide. We’ve updated our list of the top markets for personal essays in Personal Essay Markets, Part I [sub req'd].

Scroll through details on word count, submission etiquette and insider tips from editors themselves from 15 different pubs like AARP and Elle.

We’ve got more outlets coming in Part II and III, along with an updated guide to digital outlets in Part IV. In the meantime, hone those drafts with these personal essay workshops with published essayists, authors and the articles director at Self.

Portland Monthly, Portland’s first word on city culture, is “smart, authoritative and entertaining,” managing editor Rachel Ritchie said. And that’s exactly what they are seeking in their freelancers, too.

Relevant, timely ideas that are well-researched and concisely packaged in a short and sweet email that highlights your writing skill will lead to bylines for in-depth news stories, provocative essays and essential guides to the best of Portland.

Trend pieces and local profiles are a best for newbie freelancers to break into this city pub. To find out which sections editors are especially open to pitches for read mediabistro.com’s How To Pitch: Portland Monthly. [sub req'd]