The interest in the Digital Editors Network is growing . Coming to the first meeting on tomorrow will be both freelance editors and folks representing the following companies:
- Cumbrian Newspapers
- Guardian Media Group
- Johnston Press
- Newsquest
- Trinity Mirror
- Wilmington Media
(If I've left someone out, please post a response and let us know)
As a result, we've moved the first roundtable discussion to Room 228B (from 123A) on the second floor of Greenbank Building, home to the Lancashire Business School and the Department of Journalism. Coffee will be available from 2:30pm.
From 4-5pm DEN members (not quite sure of the acronym, perhaps we should go for 'DigEd'?) can join a special Journalism Leaders Programme session on blogging. Robin Hamman, co-ordinator of the BBC's Blogging Network, will give a presentation on the much-discussed BBC Manchester Blog, which he describes as "a project to engage with user generated content without owning the platform, moderating, or incurring any of the usual costs and risks associated with hosting audience communities." With three of the UK media industry's top bloggers in the room - Andy Dickinson, Martin Stabe and Robin - the discussion is guaranteed to be lively and informative.
Spaces for this session are limited, so please let me know soonest at leaders [at] ukjournalism [dot] org. Following this hour-long workshop, there'll be a networking reception (Read: wine & snacks) before the Forum, which typically wraps up officially around 7:15pm, though discussions are known to continue at the Variety pub nearby.
Will keep you posted on the outcome of the roundtable.
Senin, 14 Mei 2007
Selasa, 01 Mei 2007
Do you link?
Jeff Jarvis has some interesting things to say about the role of journalism in his latest Guardian Column (re-published on his blog).
His summary
I feel a slight contradiction here. Without the role of providing the content we take on the role of providing access to the content that is out there. What makes us different from a search engine is that we apply some editorial guidelines to the process - we vet, verify and sanitise. That's supposed to be our USP in a digital age. How is that different from " finding and sending readers to the best and most reliable"
Regardless of the language used it seems that filter rather than gatekeeper. Trusted guide rather than trusted voice may become defining parts of a digital editor's role.
Update: Paul Bradshaw has a real world example of how far newspaers haev to go on this issue.
His summary
News organisations can no longer afford to own, employ, and control - to vet, verify, and sanitise - everything that happens. The only way they can expand is to work cooperatively with witness-reporters, community members, experts, people who publish on their own, finding and sending readers to the best and most reliable among them. How? Via the link.
I feel a slight contradiction here. Without the role of providing the content we take on the role of providing access to the content that is out there. What makes us different from a search engine is that we apply some editorial guidelines to the process - we vet, verify and sanitise. That's supposed to be our USP in a digital age. How is that different from " finding and sending readers to the best and most reliable"
Regardless of the language used it seems that filter rather than gatekeeper. Trusted guide rather than trusted voice may become defining parts of a digital editor's role.
Update: Paul Bradshaw has a real world example of how far newspaers haev to go on this issue.
Senin, 30 April 2007
Internal convergance
Having trouble persuading your peers of the value of this digital stuff? You aren’t the only one.
Trade journalist Paul Conley has come across some pretty entrenched views:
Sound familiar?
The temptation may be to leave the hard-headed behind and go for the fresh young team. There are plenty out there. New journalist Meranda Watling is one.
And that’s the point. Will there be anyone around to teach her? Conley starts his post with:
Does a digital editor have a role in changing this mindset? I think they do.
Traditionally bright-eyed and jaded journo don’t often mix but digital editors are in an enviable position at the moment of having the influence to be able to pull together those different generations.
So why not try a little internal convergence. Everyone may thank you for it.
Trade journalist Paul Conley has come across some pretty entrenched views:
Consider the editor who told me he wouldn't think about providing headlines for mobile devices because "no reasonable person needs more than a PC to stay connected."
Or consider the reporter, told by his boss to include links in his copy, who insists that his publication "has to hire a specialist to do hyperlinks for me."
Or consider the managing editor who told me she'd fight any attempt by her staff to launch new online products because she liked her job and her schedule "just the way it is."
Sound familiar?
The temptation may be to leave the hard-headed behind and go for the fresh young team. There are plenty out there. New journalist Meranda Watling is one.
Thing is, the industry is being flooded with “kids” like me. Bright-eyed and ready for anything, willing to take everything on and to become an expert on whatever you put on the budget with our name beside it. Willing to learn. If there’s someone there to teach us.
And that’s the point. Will there be anyone around to teach her? Conley starts his post with:
Many of the journalists I know have adopted a strange, delusional vision of their value. I could say that they are in a state of denial. But that hardly describes the sorts of things I hear from people.
Rather, I think it's fair to say that these folks -- veteran journalists with years of experience -- have moved from denial into fantasy.
They've gone from being stubborn about adding new skills to being rigidly opposed to any change in their job description. And they cannot see the damage they are doing to themselves, their peers and their publications.
Does a digital editor have a role in changing this mindset? I think they do.
Traditionally bright-eyed and jaded journo don’t often mix but digital editors are in an enviable position at the moment of having the influence to be able to pull together those different generations.
So why not try a little internal convergence. Everyone may thank you for it.
Selasa, 24 April 2007
Digital Editors' Network to link up before next Forum
It seems appropriate that a Forum about entrepreneurship should be used a launch pad for the new Digital Editors' Network
. For those who are keen to join Nick Turner for a roundtable about this new network, we've booked Room 123A in Greenbank Building, the home to the Lancashire Business School of which we (the Department of Journalism ) is a part. The suggestion is that folks meet up at around 3pm to plot a way forward. From 4-5pm DEN members can join a special Journalism Leaders Programme session on blogging. Robin Hamman, co-ordinator of the BBC's Blogging Network, and Richard Fair, a Senior Broadcast Journalist from BBC Radio Manchester, will give a presentation on the much-discussed BBC Manchester Blog, which they describe as "a project to engage with user generated content without owning the platform, moderating, or incurring any of the usual costs and risks associated with hosting audience communities." Spaces for this session are limited, so please let me know soonest at leaders [at] ukjournalism [dot] org.
Following this hour-long interactive session, there'll be a Networking Reception (Read: wine) before the Forum, which typically wraps up officially around 7:15pm, though discussions are known to continue at 'the local' nearby.
. For those who are keen to join Nick Turner for a roundtable about this new network, we've booked Room 123A in Greenbank Building, the home to the Lancashire Business School of which we (the Department of Journalism ) is a part. The suggestion is that folks meet up at around 3pm to plot a way forward. From 4-5pm DEN members can join a special Journalism Leaders Programme session on blogging. Robin Hamman, co-ordinator of the BBC's Blogging Network, and Richard Fair, a Senior Broadcast Journalist from BBC Radio Manchester, will give a presentation on the much-discussed BBC Manchester Blog, which they describe as "a project to engage with user generated content without owning the platform, moderating, or incurring any of the usual costs and risks associated with hosting audience communities." Spaces for this session are limited, so please let me know soonest at leaders [at] ukjournalism [dot] org.
Following this hour-long interactive session, there'll be a Networking Reception (Read: wine) before the Forum, which typically wraps up officially around 7:15pm, though discussions are known to continue at 'the local' nearby.
Rabu, 18 April 2007
- Hi
I am hoping to use the next Journalism Leaders seminar on May 15th as an opportunity to kick-start the idea of a Digital Editors’ Network.
Just to recap the aims of the Digital Editors’ Network are:
To provide an online community for journalists involved in running media websites
Facilitate discussion between digital editors and encourage sharing of best practice/tips, etc
Allow digital editors to access the expertise at the University of Central Lancashire’s journalism department
I hope we could have an opportunity for an informal discussion about how best to take forward this idea on May 15th at UCLAN.
At 6pm The Journalism Leaders Forum discussion will include Nick Jaspen (North West Enquirer and now How To website), Eamonn Carey of the mobile media start-up, Random Thoughts Media, and Robin Hamman. More details at http://journalismleadersforum.blogspot.com
It’s an open invite and I would be grateful if anyone interested in a discussion about the Digital Editors’ Network beforehand would get in touch soon (UCLan have offered a room).
Please let me know if you will be able to make it and any suggestions you have for taking the Digital Editors’ Network forward.
I have already had some encouraging support from regional and national journalists and can report back on this on May 15th.
Nick Turner
07764 657037
Kamis, 22 Maret 2007
Let's work together
What is the point of the Digital Editors’ Network?
After all, we already have the new media landscape being discussed online at Media Guardian, Press Gazette, Journalism.co.uk, holdthefrontpage, the Sociey of Editors, the Online Journalism Review and a wide variety of media industry and academic blogs.
The usp has to be in the last word - Network – and the ability to connect people charged with delivering the digital revolution on a day to day basis.
It might be a utopian idea born from the less competitive media environment here in Cumbria, but the aim is to develop a way for media websites managers to discuss the nuts and bolts issues with people in similar jobs.
So we might be able to share tips or ask each other questions about how certain website features work or indeed whether they work.
Already we have been able to pass on work done with the Newspaper Society on ways of developing reactive moderation for forums and blogs.
You’ll find other websites that regurgitate press releases or other forums that discuss the direction of the digital revolution.
But the Digital Editors’ Network is about helping those of us who are responsible for making it happen.
We might be able to work out together the best ways to tackle issues such as search engine optimisation, maximising the potential of videos, developing ad revenues and increasing user generated content.
In many cases this can be achieved with a phone call or email to ask: Have you tried this? Or how does that feature on your website work?
Hopefully, we can do this in a way that is not constrained by the competition between rival media.
It’s early days yet, but if you want to be involved please get in touch.
Watch this space for more details of Digital Editors’ Network events at the University of Central Lancashire.
Nick Turner
Head of digital content, CN Group
nturner@cngroup.co.uk
After all, we already have the new media landscape being discussed online at Media Guardian, Press Gazette, Journalism.co.uk, holdthefrontpage, the Sociey of Editors, the Online Journalism Review and a wide variety of media industry and academic blogs.
The usp has to be in the last word - Network – and the ability to connect people charged with delivering the digital revolution on a day to day basis.
It might be a utopian idea born from the less competitive media environment here in Cumbria, but the aim is to develop a way for media websites managers to discuss the nuts and bolts issues with people in similar jobs.
So we might be able to share tips or ask each other questions about how certain website features work or indeed whether they work.
Already we have been able to pass on work done with the Newspaper Society on ways of developing reactive moderation for forums and blogs.
You’ll find other websites that regurgitate press releases or other forums that discuss the direction of the digital revolution.
But the Digital Editors’ Network is about helping those of us who are responsible for making it happen.
We might be able to work out together the best ways to tackle issues such as search engine optimisation, maximising the potential of videos, developing ad revenues and increasing user generated content.
In many cases this can be achieved with a phone call or email to ask: Have you tried this? Or how does that feature on your website work?
Hopefully, we can do this in a way that is not constrained by the competition between rival media.
It’s early days yet, but if you want to be involved please get in touch.
Watch this space for more details of Digital Editors’ Network events at the University of Central Lancashire.
Nick Turner
Head of digital content, CN Group
nturner@cngroup.co.uk
Minggu, 04 Maret 2007
Good news for media websites
News and media websites have seen a surge in their online audiences in the last year.
That was the positive message to come out of a briefing at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston to which supporters of this digital editor’s network had been invited.
Heather Hopkins, vice-president of Hitwise UK, revealed the findings of her research into the UK online media sector and fascinating stuff it was too.
Hitwise, which monitors the proportion of visits made to sites rather than unique users, found that during 2006 news and media sites had seen a 28 per cent growth in their share of UK internet visits.
Heather, who describes herself as a “data geek” was able to provide a detailed insight into how the online media market works thanks to the way Hitwise is able to track online traffic flows, search terms and visits through its partnerships with internet service providers.
Here are some of the things that I picked out of her talk:
Surprise, surprise the BBC dominates the online media market with 15 per cent of visits After the Beeb the list according to Hitwise goes something like: Yahoo; Telegraph; Met Office; Sun; Google News; Guardian; Times; ITV.
IT media has seen a huge growth – 57 per cent. A useful tip for those of wondering which areas of content might be worth expanding on our sites.
Weather is a an area of huge interest online with BBC weather and the Met Office both featuring in the top six media sites.
Brands matter. Virtually all of the top search terms are brand names.
The Sun benefits from 18 per cent of its traffic coming from paid links ie google ad words. These can be surprisingly cheap and newspapers could do well to experiment with these to see what benefits are to be had.
More information:
You can read more from Heather Hopkins and Hitwise at http://www.ilovedata.com/ The amount of information there is mindblowing.
The day at UCLan also featured a forum discussion on the challenges facing traditional media brands in the age of web 2.0. The panel included Jane Singer, Alan Moor and Mark Tungate. Hear the discussion here.
That was the positive message to come out of a briefing at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston to which supporters of this digital editor’s network had been invited.
Heather Hopkins, vice-president of Hitwise UK, revealed the findings of her research into the UK online media sector and fascinating stuff it was too.
Hitwise, which monitors the proportion of visits made to sites rather than unique users, found that during 2006 news and media sites had seen a 28 per cent growth in their share of UK internet visits.
Heather, who describes herself as a “data geek” was able to provide a detailed insight into how the online media market works thanks to the way Hitwise is able to track online traffic flows, search terms and visits through its partnerships with internet service providers.
Here are some of the things that I picked out of her talk:
Surprise, surprise the BBC dominates the online media market with 15 per cent of visits After the Beeb the list according to Hitwise goes something like: Yahoo; Telegraph; Met Office; Sun; Google News; Guardian; Times; ITV.
IT media has seen a huge growth – 57 per cent. A useful tip for those of wondering which areas of content might be worth expanding on our sites.
Weather is a an area of huge interest online with BBC weather and the Met Office both featuring in the top six media sites.
Brands matter. Virtually all of the top search terms are brand names.
The Sun benefits from 18 per cent of its traffic coming from paid links ie google ad words. These can be surprisingly cheap and newspapers could do well to experiment with these to see what benefits are to be had.
More information:
You can read more from Heather Hopkins and Hitwise at http://www.ilovedata.com/ The amount of information there is mindblowing.
The day at UCLan also featured a forum discussion on the challenges facing traditional media brands in the age of web 2.0. The panel included Jane Singer, Alan Moor and Mark Tungate. Hear the discussion here.
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