A discussion about online goals for the DTH

We’re always evaluating how our online operations are going, but it’s been hard to have frequent conversations with many people at the DTH. Typically, it’s just the online editor, myself and a few others involved in short conversations, or e-mails back and forth. We’ve got a new Wave where we discuss workflow problems we’re having, and solutions, and we’re also using it to discuss the mission of the desk and how it fits in to the paper. Eventually, I’d like us to use the Wave to collaboratively come up with a guiding document for the desk.

Daily updates on multimedia projects we’re working on

The multimedia editors at the DTH and I have a Wave where we keep track of all that they’re working on. If they write that they’re waiting on some information before the project can move forward, I can add it in quickly. It keeps us all on the same page, without us all having to be in the office and updating one another face-to-face, and it massively cuts down on the number of e-mails sent back and forth.

A study guide for a class I’m taking

Finals are coming up, and we’ve started a Wave between three of us in a class to share notes and questions before the exam. Before we probably would have done the same thing but with Google docs, but this way we can add comments easier and share other documents.

Probably my greatest frustration with Wave is just the learning curve. I watched the video guides and read a tutorial, but plenty of people who want to Wave with me don’t seem to get it yet, and I’ve had to archive or trash plenty of Waves that don’t go beyond “I don’t know what to do with this.” Many of my contacts have also disappeared from Wave after clamoring for invites and then deciding they didn’t know what to do with it. Since it’s only as useful as the people you’re waving with, if those people aren’t very savvy or interested, it’s kind of disappointing.

I still like Wave a lot though, and I’m optimistic that people will  pick it up. In these three cases it’s been incredibly useful for me, but I’m also not ready yet to give up e-mail, chat and Google docs as other ways of working collaboratively that I already use. Those tools work pretty well for what I want to do right now, and Wave will probably just supplement those for me.

We created our Facebook page in early March, but beyond entering basic info and setting a profile picture, we didn’t do much with the page in terms of interacting with readers. Our fan count was growing gradually, but lacked any sort of momentum.

The graph below shows our fan count since May, but also the incredible jump in our number of fans beginning when our community manager began work in mid-August.

The community manager post at the DTH is a new one this year. We felt like devoting one person — Emily Stephenson — as the face behind our social media accounts would increase the quality of our interactions with readers. The rapidly growing number of fans validates this theory, and because a good amount of traffic to our Web site generates from Facebook, the more fans we have who are potentially clicking through to our Web site clearly benefits us in the long run.

On a daily basis, Emily chooses selected articles to post on our Facebook page. Other times she asks readers for input for future stories we’re working on. Sometimes she asks for feedback on stories we’ve written. She responds whenever readers ask questions, and she’s also solicited reader-submitted photos via Facebook. Emily’s also the face behind @dailytarheel on Twitter (which has seen considerable growth in followers since mid-August too, but had a much more developed fan base than our Facebook page initially).

What Emily’s doing isn’t rocket science, but the results show there’s incredible value in what she’s doing. They also show how much news organizations can benefit by just talking and listening to readers online. Fancy apps are great, but they can’t replace basic reader-reporter relationships.

Since this was a topic I felt I’d come back to a lot, I went ahead and organized my thoughts into a slideshow that I can use for future training for staff. Here’s what I felt were the basics of what any journalist needs to know about search engine optimization. Have I left anything off I should include?

I was getting really frustrated until I found Exhibit, part of MIT’s SIMILE project. I’ve made timelines before using SIMILE and discovered Exhibit while looking back to that. Exhibit basically bills itself as an easy solution to my lack of programming skills:

Exhibit enables web site authors to create dynamic exhibits of their collections without resorting to complex database and server-side technologies. The collections can be searched and browsed using faceted browsing. Assorted views are provided including tiles, maps, etc.

I have plenty ideas for database projects The Daily Tar Heel can use this for, and Andrew Dunn’s already started tooling around with one way to use it. I wanted to try it out first and see how easy it is to use and decided to use it to make a sortable calendar of events, something the DTH lacks.

My HTML skills are rudimentary, and I don’t know CSS well. But I’m decent at following directions, and the kind folks with Exhibit do a good job of explaining the process step-by-step. I saved as while I went along making changes, and the result is my first, second, third and fourth versions. Most of the progress I made was the result of trial-and-error and looking at the source code behind many examples using Exhibit.

My events calendar still still has a long way to go, and Exhibit itself has its drawbacks for a project like this. Exhibit doesn’t seem to work well in Internet Explorer or my older version of Safari at work. The load time is long when there are many events in the database.

But where I think Exhibit excells for any news organization without a handful of legitimate programmers is its ease of use. I can add events to the calendar from a Google spreadsheet, and it republishes instantly when I make changes. The knowledge barrier is low when compared with alternatives. It’s something I could easily see other DTHers picking up and learning quickly. I’m not going to abandon my efforts to learn a real programming language, but in the meantime I can see Exhibit being useful.

More photos on Flickr.

After getting there at 5:30 a.m. in anticipation of their 6 a.m. airtime and waiting in between live shots in the steamy Arkansas weather, I can’t say I’m jumping to get into the TV industry.

But Roker talked with me for awhile for my story, and we talked about Twitter - I heard the staff travelling with him talk about how he is constantly tweeting and posting photos. He talked about the video chats he does with his kids when he’s out of town and how they keep in touch.

We also talked about Charlotte, where he’s headed next on the tour. Andrew Dunn’s covering him there for The Charlotte Observer.

Here’s what I carry with me:

• Several pens.
• A reporter’s notebook.
• My Blackberry.
• My Olympus voice recorder and a pair of headphones.
• A Casio Exilim that shoots video, records audio and takes photos.

I wish I would get into the practice of keeping my Nikon D-40 with me more often so I could get better using it, but it’s so bulky for most of my everyday use. Eventually, I’d love to have a MacBook to take on the road with me, but I can send short breaking news text to Twitter or e-mail from my Blackberry until then.

For the breaking news kits I hope to build at the DTH, I think some version of the above is a good start. We use Flip video cameras, and there’s no debating their ease. A microphone for the audio recorders would be useful to gather audio for publication and not just internal note-taking.

I realized I can be most effective if I focus on small-group training, giving intensive feedback and delegating the execution of projects to others.  I also realized while making this list that I can’t do it all, and that I can do much more if I help others do it well.

I think this list is pretty thorough, but I learned last year that the never-ending role of management is to deal with whatever is thrown at you. I’m sure my job will end up encompassing much more than this, but I think this is a good start. Thoughts?

Daily

• Ensure Web site, blogs, social network accounts are all working properly; get problems fixed.
• Oversee the homepage and posting of Web updates throughout the day with online editor.
• Oversee interactions with readers via social media throughout the day with the community manager.
• Send staff e-mail of readership statistics.
• Critique blogs, videos, podcasts, slideshows and other online-only content when the lesson is applicable to all staff. Send links of interesting things to read.
• Send individuals feedback on blogs and other online-only content when critique is too detailed for staff listserv.
• Work with reporters while they edit and upload videos, podcasts, slideshows and other online-only content. Approve before publishing.
• Work with copy editors on hyperlinking and headline writing for the Web.
• Be a third-read on online-only stories. Work with reporters to format print stories for the Web.
• Answer questions from readers and help troubleshoot problems, or refer to someone else to answer.

Weekly

• Send out an e-mail of weekly highs/lows of online content.
• Set goals for the content for the week ahead.
• Weekly management meeting.
• Coordinate plans for multimedia, photo coverage for the week ahead after enterprise.

Monthly

• Meet twice-monthly with online representatives from all desks.
• Meet with Innovation team.
• Solicit professional critiques of our work.
• Work with news adviser to schedule enrichments.

For the last half of my internship, here’s where else I want to go:

• Clinton Presidential Library
• Arkansas Old State House and the State Capitol Building
• Heifer Village
• Little Rock Zoo
• La Petite Roche - the rock that Little Rock gets its name from
• Hot Springs, Arkansas

In general, we plan to trust our reporters to know what is acceptable and what is not. We’re going to accompany this policy with training at the beginning of the year on how to use social media.

10 rules for using social media:

1. Use your own name and photo. If you using your account for DTH reporting, identify yourself as a DTH reporter in your profile.
2. Tell your editor if you plan to tweet as a DTH reporter. Likewise, let your editor know if you plan to livetweet something.
3. In general, do not post something online that would not be appropriate to run in the paper or on dailytarheel.com.*
4. You must disclose yourself as a DTH reporter to potential sources the same way you would if you were meeting face-to-face.
5. Do not disclose political affiliation on profiles and do not write about your political preferences in updates.
6. Do not criticize a colleague’s work.
7. Promoting your work via social media is encouraged.
8. In the interest of transparency, staff meetings are considered open unless otherwise stated.
9. It is acceptable to “friend” sources, but do it evenly. For instance, if you cover the Chapel Hill Town Council, if you wish to follow one member on Twitter, you should follow all of them.
10. Respond to people who contact you via social media. If you aren’t the appropriate person to answer their questions, refer them to whoever is.

In making this list I looked at several professional papers’ guidelines on social media. Most missed the mark with the limits that they placed. I want to make it as easy as possible for readers and sources to contact DTH reporters and place a high premium on transparency. My experience with social media is that it’s expanded my reporting capabilities and made me more responsive to our readership, and I wouldn’t want to limit other reporters.

Feel free to comment with suggestions/improvements. I’m also interested to hear if other college papers have social media policies or are looking to create them.

*Added after a suggestion from Jason Spencer.

The best of the three-liners:

• In the personals - “Rachel, I would like that. Call me or write. Please be sincere.”
• Under special announcements - “I, Jimmy J. Wheeler, am not responsible for any debts/actions of Shona D. Golen Wheeler, this day forward.”
• Cats for sale - “Tom cat, 21-years-old, very skinny, … needs medical attention. Please call…”
• For sale - “French antiques, 1980s original: Inlaid burlwood French Bedroom suite…”
• For sale - “Playboy magazines, 1955 to present. All complete. $5,000. ..”
• Sad - “Engagement ring, white gold, 0.25ct princess cut, worn 3 mos. …” and “Wedding dress with veil, size 8, never worn. Call…”

Who says reading the paper’s no fun?