What were the key themes and challenges facing content producers identified by participants in the 14th International Newsroom Summit in Amsterdam this week? World Editors Forum research editor and WAN-IFRA research fellow, Julie Posetti curates them for you.
1. Countering culture blocking • “Innovate and contaminate” – La Stampa’s Marco Bardazzi • “You need an audience-first newsroom. Social media is your judge & jury” – Alison Gow, Trinity Mirror Group • Train, decode, demonstrate, reward – Lisa MacLeod, FT.com • Change your newsroom profile –Didier Hamann, Le Soir
2. Collaborate cross-culturally to problem solve • “We all face the same problems. We need to come together and solve them together” Espen Olsen Langfeldt, Managing Editor of VG Mobil, Norway
3. Digital tools – just use them! • “It is impossible for me as an editor of a newspaper to say you must use these tools if I don’t know the value of them and how they work”, Robyn Tomlin • Target the free and easy tools (see Nicolas Becquet’s mobile kit & Robyn Tomlin’s toolbox) • Citizen-focused data projects: 1) Target big audiences 2) Respond to a clear need 3) Outcomes based around actionable intelligence – Justin Arenstein
4. Change your newsroom shape and structure • “We now have a globally distributed daytime operation, not a night & day London operation @FT” Mark Alderson, Chief Production Editor, Financial Times • The new newsroom – at La Stampa it’s formed around semi-concentric circles modelled on an Italian piazza
5. Cultivating civil online conversations around content • If you are still asking “Must I engage with my audience?” you’re in serious trouble • Contribute to contribute to the development of experimental aggregation and moderation tools, Greg Barber • Journalists are ‘conversation starters’. The active subscriber audience = ‘expert contributors’ De Correspondent’s Ernst Jan Pfauth • Cybermisogyny is a genuine risk to your female journalists and audience contributors, Julie Posetti, WEF
6. Digital ethical conundrums • UGC content is now integral to content productionm but we have a responsibility to uploaders & it’s time to care about it • What are the potential impacts? What would an ethical digital journalist do? • When do we agree to take down content? Do you have guidelines in place? #RightToBeForgotten (Claire Wardle, Peter Barron, Fergus Bell, Steve Herrmann)
7. Chat apps are the new Twitter • “The push alert from chat apps is the most potent content delivery system in history” – Trushar Barot (@Trushar) BBC World Service • And deep engagement via cutting edge digital storytelling rooted in nostalgia (John CrowleyWSJ) • But it’s back to the future with ‘intimate’ email newsletters (Grig Davidovitz)
8. How DO you make a story go viral? • Pay attention to your headlines – they must resonate and activate • “Ideas journalism is about shifting the lens to the audience to acknowledge that the news consumers have a worthwhile contribution to make” S. Mitra Kalita, Ideas Editor, Quartz • Know your audience and turn readers into subscribers Liam Corcoran, NewsWhip
9. Pushing newsroom metrics beyond pageviews • “Track what matters and measure your audience” Maria Ressa, Rapplr • Beware of the ‘noise’ of analytics and do deeper research before responding to them editorially. Chartbeat is a “pet peeve” Stijn Debrouwere
10. Time to activate knowledge transfer from broadcasters • The audience always knows more than you do • Intimacy, conversationality & realtime audience engagement are standard modes for legacy broadcasters Julie Posetti, World Editors Forum
11. KEYWORDS • Collaborate • Converse • Create
To scroll though Posetti’s slideshare presentation, click here.
This post was first published by the World Editors Forum on www.editorsweblog.org and is republished here with their kind permission.
