digital newsroom - 10,000 Words

How News Outlets Could Have Reported on the Boston Marathon Bombing

Karen Fratti — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:30:21 +0000

If journalism is the first draft of history, it’s starting to look a lot like a mangled Google doc with too many approved editors this week.

The only thing more ‘disgusting’ — as Jimmy Kimmel so aptly put it in his monologue Monday night — than the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday is the way traditional news outlets have handled the coverage on social media and on their websites.

Since, unfortunately, there are few, verified, newsworthy updates coming out of the bombing itself, the media critic hive mind has been quick to call foul on how the news broke. I find myself repeating some age-old maxims.

1) Regret Your Errors

At this point, we know the New York Post and the New York Times messed up initial counts of deaths and casualties. The Times corrected the information without a note. It makes you wonder how they win Pulitzers and how they plan on convincing the public that their brand is worth fighting for. Yes, corrections in print were always tucked away on the editorial page; you had to be a real stickler and seek them out. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

How Do You Respond to Trolls? You Don’t.

Karen Fratti — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:21:49 +0000

Do you read the comment thread on your articles and columns? Sometimes, when a piece gets lots of social media attention, it’s hard not to. It’s even been suggested that depending on the tone of a comment thread, readers opinions can change. Comments are content, too. I’m don’t belong to any commenter community on any site, but I do read the threads on some of my favorite news sites. Sometimes they can be useful or just funny, and sometimes, they make me lose my faith in humanity.

In a recent essay, Jeff Jarvis sets out to define the troll. By using Aaron James’ Assholes: A Theory as a jumping point, Jarvis defines the troll as a specific, if not just web-based, animal. The troll is out for blood. Your blood. And responding to them only makes them happy.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Report: Lack of Newsroom Training is Number One Reason for Job Dissatisfaction

Mona Zhang — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:20:21 +0000

According to a new report by the Knight Foundation, lack of training outranks salary and job security concerns for journalists. Authored by Knight consultant Michele McLellan and senior adviser Eric Newton, the report surveyed “active alumni” of the Knight Network from the U.S. and abroad. Though the report “focuses on Knight-funded training,” wrote its authors, “we believe its insights are relevant to all who care about journalism training’s best practices.” continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Easily Manage A Digital Newsroom With Kapost

Jessica Roy — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:05:14 +0000

Even the most seasoned newsroom vet can have trouble handling an army of remote freelancers without the right software. Kapost, a new digital newsroom service, is seeking to change all that.

Kapost is project management software that integrates easily with the Content Management Systems that you already use; just install it within WordPress, Drupal, etc., and you can begin using it without any CMS overhauling.

Kapost allows you to manage content from a large pool of sources, effectively streamlining the editorial process and allowing “writers and editors [to] focus on content, not administrative tasks.” Everything from the germ of an idea (the “concept”) to the actual payment of the writer can be managed through Kapost. According to the site, “Kapost puts the processes of the newsroom–tips/questions, assignments, editorial calendars, revisioning, rights management, performance tracking, and payment–into an online workflow.” A comprehensive analytics platform allows editors to see pageviews, Facebook Likes and ReTweets per contributor, among other helpful stats.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.