JRNL 10 - Hofstra

1. JRNL 10 - Hofstra Prof. Vaccaro Feb. 5, 2013 Writing for digital

2. Today’s roadmap REMINDER: Blog on your class blog, and tweet notes using #HUJRNL10 On your class blog each entries headline should be formatted like this … “Class Notes: Writing for Digital” Super Bowl media coverage, social specifically Lecture on writing for the web and digital Notes about next class

3. Super Bowl media coverage • Let’s review this infograph of Super Bowl social media figures … CLICK HERE • Let’s discuss digital media coverage of America’s big game • Did you watch? • Did you follow on Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram? • What would you do differently? • Do you understand the cultural significance of the game?

4. Key Ingredients to Digital Media • Key ingredients to successful digital journalism • Ability to tell a story • Summarizing, quick/succinct pieces • Providing context • Being thorough and comprehensive • Understanding all multimedia elements • Engagement and interactivity with users • Developing content initiatives that go beyond the norm

5. Traits for a Digital Journalist • Develop strong writing skills • Understand how stories are told on multiple platforms • Develop proficiency on multiple multimedia platforms • Be flexible, confident, adaptable, versatile • Be able to find, create and understand complex data sets • Be different, access the competition and grow

6. Digital Media Innovation • Keys to being an INNOVATIVE digital journalist • Think critically • Appreciate new ideas and technology • Innovate/teach/connect/relate • Be mobile • Think outside-the-box • Connect the dots

7. Digital vs. Print

8. Elements of News These should never change, no matter what type of medium you are reporting on … • Timeliness • Proximity • Impact • Magnitude • Prominence • Conflict • Novelty • Emotional appeal

9. Writing Tips • Inverted pyramid • Who, what, where, when, why and how still apply with digital journalism • Short and sweet … no more than 500 words on average, many times 250-400 words if you have multimedia elements, sometimes less • Quick, punchy and to the point, concise and exact • Attribution and sourcing still applies

10. Tips for writing: mobile • Focus on what users actually need on the move • Cut ruthlessly – but stay instantly understandable • Don’t forget SEO (Search Engine Optimization) • Make the user’s journey thorough • Related links * Commenting * Sharing *Hyperlinks • Keep the content self contained • Don’t relay on design, but adapt to it when possible • Headline length, caption length, etc. • Put a connection/link to your full site on every page • If you don’t have a main site, then create a URL to dub content for sharing purposes.

11. Let’s study web vs. mobile • Everyone with a smart phone download the USA Today, Associated Press and CNN apps • Go to the homepage for USA Today, AP and CNN and look at the top story, write it down • Go to the mobile homepage for each of the apps now and see if they are the same or different • Headline? • Photo(s)? • Word length? • Related links?

12. Understanding your audience You’ll need to know your core demographic before you can begin reporting … you’re niche, the people you are trying to reach most. You should plan your coverage around the people are are reading your content the most. Is there room for more content that covers a broader range? Of course, but after repeated times with lower stats/clicks/views, then reassess the content. Why does the audience matter? Time, energy, budget … don’t put in the resources if they aren’t going to be utilized affectively.

13. Measuring your audience reception • What’s working on your platforms? You need to find a balance in content to please the sects of your audience and daily users. • Analytics: page views, daily active users, time of access • Comments and user feed backs • Through email, social and on the platforms themselves • Sharing to email/facebook/twitter/pinterest, etc. • For mobile: conversion rates … daily active users vs. total clicks vs. total sessions: how many people are clicking the stories vs. actually opening and using the app?

14. Increasing user engagement • First off, the definition of an “engaged” user is different based on the medium • Do they read your website? • Do they participate in commenting/socialization? • Do they use your app casually or daily? • Is your app multi-function? Game vs. news/info? • Remember that first impressions could be your only impression • Design is important in this case,as are headlines and images • For mobile: tutorial, first page, splash screen, etc. • Talk with users • Either in comments, on social or through email

15. Increase user engagement The more you see which stories are getting positive engagement numbers, the more you should feed that beast … i.e. write to the audience and the users and their every desire if it fits your core message and content plan. Crowdsourcefrom your users to keep them engaged and relate them to the content. We will go over crowdsourcing later in the semester.

16. Next Class • Tuesday 6:30 p.m. start /// Wednesday 7:00 p.m. • Read Chapter 2 advanced blogging • Read Chapter 4 micro blogging • Lecture will include discussion on assessing multimedia opportunities and entrepreneurial journalism