The changing face of media, Part IV
Posted by Bill Gaffney | April 15th, 2008
Image by jdlasica via Flickr
Newsroom Staffing
Over the past ten years, the traditional newsroom has become more adept at leveraging technologies more commonly associated with new media while new media is skillfully producing content that adheres to journalistic standards as evidenced by Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo winning the George Polk Awards for 2007 for legal reporting.
Ample conversations have been had on convergence, collaboration and integration of the newsroom, but regardless of the staff’s physical proximity, the organization should introduce a 24/7 news-desk where all news decision for all platforms are made. The news-desk should have equal representation from each platform and engage in new conversations over the handling of news:
- What is the optimal platform for the story distribution?
- How should the story be told across the varied platforms?
- Is simple redundancy in publishing across the different channels adequate?
- Should complimentary content be developed to further the story and take advantages of the unique strength of alternate channels?
Of the utmost importance is creating a competent news-desk that has the knowledge in how to compel and entice its audience to return frequently throughout the day through its varied distribution channels. Each return visit should yield consistent branding, voice and design to maintain a sense of familiarity, but more importantly provide completely new content assuring the reader as to the “freshness” and authority by which the organization headless news.
Wednesday: The Challenges
Filed under: Blogging, Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Magazines, Media, Newspapers, Search, Web 2.0
