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Hofstra University JRNL 10 Prof. Vaccaro Blogging/MicroBlogging. REMINDER: Blog your class notes during lecture REMINDER: Today, start tweeting links to your blog entries. Use #JRNL10 Lecture on blogging and microblogging. Today ’ s roadmap. Opinion No set style Completely online
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Hofstra University • JRNL 10 • Prof. Vaccaro • Blogging/MicroBlogging
REMINDER: Blog your class notes during lecture REMINDER: Today, start tweeting links to your blog entries. Use #JRNL10 Lecture on blogging and microblogging Today’s roadmap
Opinion No set style Completely online Citizen journalists Anyone can do it Free/sustainable Objectivity Proper style Print/online/TV Trained journalists Hired by company Biz team needed Blog vs. Traditional Media
Popular Blogs • Top blogs on internet as of 9 a.m. Thursday: • 1 | HuffingtonPost • 2 I BuzzFeed • 3 I Mashable • 4 I The Daily Beast • 5 I The Verge • 6 I TMZ • 7 I Business Insider • 8 I Engadget • 9 I CNN Political Ticker • 10 I Gawker • Common characteristics • Focus on one subject area • Packed with information • Constant changing homepage • Perfect amount of multimedia • Mix between paid/unpaid writers/editors/bloggers • “What’s now” content … hip, unique, trendy
Let’s analyze the top five blog sites … • 1 | HuffingtonPost • 2 I BuzzFeed • 3 I Mashable • 4 I The Daily Beast • 5 I The Verge
Blog Basics • Characteristics defining a blog • Unique content, some related to a specific niche • Frequently updated - new content should be at the top • Every entry has a headline/body text and includes hyperlinks • Contains a spot for reader comments/feedback
Blog Basics • San Jose Mercury News added a blog in 1999 and changed journalism • Every newspaper has blogs • Every major newspaper has broken news via their blogs • Every reporter hired now, is asked if they know how to manage/run a blog
What are your favorite blogs? • Tell us your favorites? • Let’s look at newspaper blogs … • Vaccaro • Let’s Blog it Out (Entourage), Newsday • Jim Romenesko, journalism industry • MLB Blog network, baseball • Hardball Talk • Pro Football Talk
Creating a blog • Make a plan: editorial/business • Choose a blog system • Blogger/Wordpress • Choose a theme/design • Extras/Gadgets/Widgets • Build your audience • How? Remember from our second class?
Tips for Bloggers • Organize your ideas • Be direct and to the point • Use appropriate language and style • Be the authority with a personality • Link, summarize and analyze • Be specific with headlines/tagging • Post early/post often • Use images and multimedia elements • Participate in the community/social network • Write less and with conviction
News Education Hot-button issues Animals HS Football Politics Breaking news Sachem Schools Immigration Doggies Sachem Football Newsday LI Pol. Blog Ideas and Better Ideas
Other Blog Creation Tips • Define your competition … who else is writing about this topic? • Who cares about the topic? Will anyone read or see this? • How can I make this a visitor destination? • Live blog and host talk sessions … think outside the editorial box
Microblogging • Using Twitter and Facebook to get your message out quickly • Effective medium for breaking news • Can host chats/Q&As • Extension of your editorial reach • Building a digital community • Another reach for advertisers • Building your brand tweet-by-tweet • Create lists and communicate with others • Go mobile (big discussions to come on this)
Planning multimedia • Assess situation for adding multimedia to your story and platform: • Photo galleries • Photo slideshows • Audio • Video • Info graphics
Tips on info layering • You have all this content? How do you place it in nonlinear format on your platform and have it make sense? • Create each element to stand alone • Only include redundancies that are necessary • Avoid editing your ideas in early stages of planning … having too much is not a bad thing, you can always cut down. Having too little is a problem.
Assess multimedia potential • Can the story be broken down into several topical chunks? • Does the story describe a process? (Info graphs, video and photo galleries are perfect to displaying a process of events) • Is the story laden with stats and figures? (info graphs and data visualization will help you!) • Is there emotional narrative to be shown? (Video shows action and events as they unfold)
Assess multimedia potential • Are there dramatic visual moments that can be captured in photographs? • Does the story contain strong historical references? (Interactive timelines add context) • Is there potential for animation? (gifs, memes, flash, cartoon, art design?)
REMINDER: NO CLASS Sept. 18 For Thursday, Sept. 20: Lecture on social media tools (no reading) Slight chance there is no class (travel), but that’s not official or booked yet. Next Class