Welcome!

It’s important for journalists to have elite access to information.

It’s important for journalists to get the facts right, every time.

It’s important for journalists to tell a raw story, complete with detail.

In order for journalists to accomplish their jobs swiftly it’s important that companies do their part by setting up an online newsroom to aid the journalists.

Online newsrooms, also called virtual newsrooms or social media newsrooms, enhance the relationships between journalists and companies. Because journalists consistently work on a deadline, the access to up-to-date information needs to be easily accessible and most of all correct, in order to avoid a company reputation meltdown. This blog explores the good, the bad and the ugly online newsrooms through characteristic breakdowns enhanced with case studies.

*header edited with picnik.com

Role Reversal

As a corporate communicator it is just as important to know the role of the journalist during the newsgathering process within an online newsroom, as it is understanding your own role.

I’ve mentioned throughout my blog that it is vital that corporate communicators or those updating the online newsroom should post more frequently than ever before. The reason? The field of journalism has expanded to the 24/7 time crunch, and journalists are constantly wanting the latest and greatest breaking news. If your company has something worth sharing, don’t hesitate, because your company could miss out on an opportunity to have a published story. Now that your company is updating so frequently, how in the world are journalists going to sort through all the different means a company can report their breaking news? Let’s take a trip back to our roots with the RSS feed, which generally hasn’t been as popular as e-mail alerts amongst journalists. Journalists, let me ask you to reconsider.

On the Online Journalism Blog, the team stresses the importance of what they dubbed aggregating-network newsgathering as “passive aggressive newsgathering.” What this means is journalists are subscribing to RSS feeds and at times e-mail alerts, which is more passive, while exploring a collection of networks, which is more active. So in short the RSS feed from Twitter, for example, has a social component, Twitter “followers.”

To get a handle on the several types of social media sites, set up a reader in Google or another aggregation site and subscribe to:

•       2 news sites
•       2 blogs
•       1 blog search (Technorati is a great place to start)
•       1 news search  (Google)
•       1 Twitter search (search.twitter.com)
•       1 forum search (boardreader)
•       1 del.icio.us tag

As a journalist having experience and understanding the various ways companies interact takes practice. Journalists should not only research the above social media tools but participate to get a true understanding of what is expected from the tools, whether they are making a blog of their own, commenting on posts or forums, or simply “tweeting.” By learning the different tools journalists will be better prepared for the online aspect of their field.

In the PowerPoint below the team at OJB has provided two tips to manage feeds. Do you think they are quality suggestions? Why or Why not?

To complete our role reversal from the corporate side to the journalistic side, Ryan Thornburg, a professor at the University of North Carolina, created a presentation about how to report news online and posted it on his blog. This presentation is meant to inform and help the corporate communicators understand journalists’ expectations, making room for a relationship to form between the two groups. By watching and listening journalist can gain insight of where their field stands within the online world. However, corporate communicators can still gain knowledge of what journalists are expected to do when reporting. Knowing this vital information can improve the process of newsgathering within the company’s online newsroom or other social media tools.

2.0 Newsrooms vs. “Traditional” Online Newsrooms.

Throughout my blog I’ve been calling newsrooms that exist on the Web, online newsrooms and social media newsrooms. What’s the difference? The 2.0 social media newsroom is more enhanced with searchable databases, video presentations, podcasts, and to-the-point news releases. It covers the basis of everything multimedia and does so with precision. The online newsroom is more traditional, in the sense that is has the basics: contacts, search feature, backgrounders, current events (news releases) and maybe an image gallery or two; all downloadable, of course.

Ford Motor Company is an example of a fancy 2.0 newsroom. The page proves that smaller companies do not have an excuse to have sloppy organizational structure. If a large company was able to organize the vast information not just through news releases with text but also high-resolution photos and video, any company with the proper tools should be able to succeed in creating a well-designed and organized social media newsroom complete with bells, whistles and maybe some tinsel for extra glitz.

In Chapter 6 of PR 2.0 titled Interactive Newsrooms: How to attract the media, Ibery Woodall of TEKgroup International, mentioned her top three newsroom leaders one being the Ford Motor Company. While reading PR 2.0 I found it particularly interesting that the news was divided into corporate and consumer sections, catering to both the internal and external constituents. Going back to look at the site, I found no such segregation and was a bit disappointed, my high hopes for this social media newsroom was diminishing. It’s crazy how fast the Web can change, considering that PR 2.0 was published just a year ago. The next element Woodall mentioned was the Bio section, which not only gave background information on the executive members of the company, but speeches and quotes. Checking back today, I found no previous speeches or quotes just drawn out bio of the executive. Snooze. With two strikes against them, Ford Motors recovers with a layered organization of the brands under their umbrella. Each brand page has their own news page with links to specific news on a specific model. These pages are complete with news releases, photos and videos.  Finally, a new element that I have not seen before in other traditional online newsrooms is the personal folders element or “briefcase” as it is commonly labeled. The briefcase allows the journalist or whomever to save what they have researched allowing them to revisit the site and immediately see their previously viewed new releases, photos, videos, etc. Never again will journalists have to bookmark the page on their computer or search the company’s site over and over again trying to locate that one article that now seems to be lost in cyberspace. Instead the briefcase saves only the items reviewed within the company, and all the journalist has to do is click the briefcase icon. Research made easy, and for journalists the easier the better.

The briefcase icon is labeled by the red arrow.

The following video is a great summary on what should be included in a social media news release and how it differs from the traditional news releases. While you watch focus on the number of ways readers can read, share and interact. 

Social Media News/Press Release by RealWire from WebitPR

What’s New in News Releases

 

Another element that’s important to have correct is the news release. Now a news release is synonymous for press release, but for today’s Web world news release is a better term to cover all constituents who read releases. Either way releases contain information that a journalist (or other audience) desires and comes in two forms, online and print. The online version of news releases is different from the traditional print version. Let me explain. The traditional release is written in a typical journalistic style, the “inverted pyramid.” The inverted pyramid is the most basic story forms defining the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “how,” and “so what” facts at the top of the page incorporating the stories main focus. Further down in the text are quotes that are embedded to give the company’s thoughts credibility and support. An online or social media news release (SMNR) is more to the point with bulleted statements under headings that read something like “facts”, “quotes”, “members”, and “multimedia elements.” This basic template by SHIFT communication is easy for the company’s because they no longer have to concentrate on presenting their ideas with their own spin because well…why waste your time, journalists will change the spin. Lesson: don’t focus on presenting the facts on a silver platter, just focus on presenting the cold hard truth. With the newest SMNR 1.5 template that incorporates more social media elements such as moderated comments and trackbacks, presenting just the facts is made easy!

In an blog post by Todd Defren he chooses the top five principles of a social media news release. The principle of access frustrates me from a journalist standpoint because I don’t agree with the details that Defren mentions.

Access: Making all information, photos, videos and other forms for multimedia available to download by anyone.

Fine, but the company should make certain elements just for journalists, since they do like to receive elite access to information, by having the elements it password protected. From this post Defran links to a past post expanding on this issue of access and how in the PR 2.0 world the point is to make content available by any potential writer, whether it’s a journalist or a blogger.

I don’t agree with Defren when it comes to this principle because I feel journalists are professionals and have a level of credibility to uphold, and if information (or photos, videos, etc.) are open to bloggers and amateur writers the journalists credibility has just decreased. Now that I’m a blogger studying journalism I feel this push and pull daily. On another note the designers behind the logo, the videographers and editors behind the videos, and the photographers behind the photos probably do not enjoy getting ripped off. They’ve worked hard on their work and don’t want people using it without a proper citation, passing it off as their own work.  Journalists are more conscious when they are using other people’s work and know the laws of citations and follow them carefully. Because one wrong move could ruin a career. And the head honcho of wrong moves is plagiarism.

E-Mail Alerts

A 2006 TEKgroup International survey mentioned that journalists are relying on online newsrooms and their diverse functions more than ever, according to the book PR 2.0 by, Deirdre Breakenridge. Within the sixth chapter Breakenridge shed light on an article in PRSA Tactics magazine by Ibery Woodall, director of marketing for TEKgroup International. She said that survey results proved that 99 percent of journalists prefer e-mail to receive their news. It’s important for e-mail alerts to not only provide updates but also a link back to the online newsroom or full press release. It’s important that the company convinces the reporter that receiving alerts are beneficial and valuable to them on the page. Don’t have them click away from the online newsroom page, because remember the more prevalent it is on the page the probability of the journalist sticking around to subscribe is more likely. Once made available directly on the page, be sure to make the instructions of how to register clear as well as the email alert process, so journalists are aware of what their subscription entails. 

Some things to include in e-mail alerts:

• Small company logo: A logo identifies the company’s brand, and by including it in the email alert it makes it easy to identify who the email is from. When designing a logo keep in mind that it has to encompass all of the qualities of the company, simple, easily reproducible and stand out no matter its scale.
• Title: A title is important so the journalist knows up front what the update’s topic. 
• Abstract: An abstract is a summary of the press release to inform the journalist of the press release’s main topic of information quickly. Don’t give the journalist any fluff. They don’t need it, and they certainly don’t want it. 
• Link to full press release: If the journalist thinks the release would be beneficial from reading the abstract it’s vital to include the link to the full press release. Again, the press release should be in reverse chronological order, easy to read and printable. Also do not forget to date press releases because it’s vital journalists know how recent the information is that they read. It might be a good idea to offer the press release in several languages especially if the company is global. If the company is not global, it might still be beneficial because after all the newsroom is  online and can be viewed by anyone on the Internet all over the world.  

The Bad & Ugly- Wolfstar Online Newsroom

 

The ticking time bomb, the social media newsroom. courtesy of Steve Kayser

In a previous post I examined the traits of a good online newsroom, now it’s time to delve into the bad and ugly.

 

Award-winning business writer, Steve Kayser has a blog titled “Riffs, Tiffs, and What Ifs.” In his post on June 18, 2008 he did case studies on various social media newsrooms. He said that a lot of the ones he studied started out well then flopped. The reasons for this vary: too much work, no results after creation, risk, or not enough digital assets. The lack of digital assets is not valid excuse for not having a newsroom. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are templates to help the company to get started creating one. One of the newsrooms he mentioned was UK’s small PR consultancy firm, Wolfstar. Wolfstar’s online newsroom is almost three years old and the elements still lack completion.

One of the main elements that I’ve been pressing throughout several of my posts is the importance of having contacts in plain view. Wolfstar has the numbers at the top right of the page, however, there is no name of which those two numbers belong to and no e-mail address. In today’s digital world, not having an e-mail address as a prominent contact is inexcusable. 

When it comes to finding out the details about Wolfstar, first the journalist must search for the link that takes them to the homepage. Turns out after several clicks around the page, the homepage link is embedded in the logo above the contact numbers. This is poor design because of the pages that link away from the homepage should at least, if not a consistent navigation bar, have a tab at the top or side of the page linking the journalist back to home. Journalists will probably become frustrated with the site after a few clicks ad no luck finding the homepage.

Getting updated information seems easy because there is a direct RSS icon to subscribe, but to subscribe by e-mail requires the user to click one step further. A one-click to an e-mail subscription is dangerous because the probability of the journalist taking the time to click then fill out their e-mail is slim. Companies have a better chance of keeping journalists updated if they make a fill in box for e-mail directly on the page. If a journalist subscribed to either the RSS of e-mail alert system, they probably haven’t received updates since January. The last “recent news” was dated as far back as January 23. For this reason, Wolfstar doesn’t not have a quality newsroom based on the lack of up-to-date news.

Let’s say a journalist is doing a story on the history of Wolfstar, what would he try to find on the newsroom besides what we’ve mentioned above? The journalist would start with backgrounders. Again, backgrounders share the company’s success, feature executive bios, and include standards on which the company builds from. Next they would look for archives. Surprise, surprise… Wolfstar actually has archives displayed on the newsroom page organized by month and year. However, there is no search box to browse the archives, let alone the newsroom page. This is a major pitfall for Wolfstar. HUGE no-no. With their lack of search function, they have a news tag cloud, which has no tags, so that feature is pointless. If it doesn’t work, delete it or find away to make it work. The only way to save the patient journalist at this point is the several categories, displayed under the archives, in which the archives are filed under.

The final feature Wolfstar does not use correctly is the photos. There are photos available to download via the good old fashioned, “right click, save as,” courtesy of the Mouse. Wolfstar is trying to be hip by being apart of the photo sharing social media Flickr, to feature photos highlighting the company. Here’s where they miss the point. Journalists don’t want photocopies of other journalist’s stories featuring Wolfstar, they want pictures of executive members or events put on by the company. Though the photos along with the online coverage section of the newsroom, shows they aren’t hurting for exposure, I feel several changes need to be made so it’s easy to understand why journalists should report about Wolfstar.

Wolfstar needs to step up to the plate and hire and expert, say from the Web Communications course at James Madison University, to redesign and reprioritize the content so it’s catered to the deadline driven journalists.

A Trip to the Newseum

 

Outside the Newseum

Last week was James Madison University’s spring break, I didn’t go to an exotic location but I did take advantage of being home, 20 minutes outside Washington, DC. In fact, I visited the nation’s capital, three times during the week, more than I usually do in a year. Taking advantage of the few warm days in March, I scoped out the Newseum, where the nation’s headlines come together. It was very interesting to see how the media has impacted the views of citizens throughout the ages. There were several exhibits spread throughout the seven-story building. One was a dedication to 9/11, complete with an antenna from the North Tower of the World Trade Center that reached from floor to ceiling. (See below for photos.) Complementing the exhibits, were a number of small theaters showing 8-15 minute videos about certain topics like quality of sources, bias, the First Amendment, and Civil Rights throughout the media. One exhibit that I found especially interesting was the small section on Digital Media, which is the focus of my web communications class. It showed technology changes and the way people receiver their news. 

News is transmitted by text messaging, e-mail, photos and video on user-generated social media Web sites like Flickr and YouTube, often before the news hits the mainstream news like newspapers, radio or television. Realizing this, newsrooms are adapting to the change by providing news via text, audio, video, and photos in diverse ways—online and even cell phones. It’s scary for journalists because no longer are they and the newspapers that share the news, the main gatekeeper of information. Now, “citizen journalists” are in control. Often these everyday people have captured the first shots of breaking news via their cellular device. The London transit bombings and the Virginia Tech shooting are prime examples of citizen journalists in action. Though this type of journalism has potential for success, it still brings up the sticky situation of quality and accuracy.

9/11 Headlines

The North Tower antenna

 

The new development of citizen journalists has put pressure on journalists to become more mobile. Mobile journalists or “mojos” are in charge of uploading their own photos, video and audio for their story; all of this is possible without even stepping into a newsroom. With this severe change in journalism the need for printed news is going downhill because people receive news online, therefore the advertising market is no longer utilizing print forms as frequently. After 150 years in business, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News folded on February 27, 2009. 

For more information listen to this podcast from NPR on the growing effects of newspaper bankruptcy throughout the country due to the lack of  advertising interest. 

I’m grateful because I’m on the cutting edge of journalism and it’s transition into the more technical side of news. I’m also skeptical because there will no longer be a hard copy of the news for people to hold in-hand and appreciate and look back on as a piece of history.

“Journalism is the first rough draft of history.”–Phillip Graham, publisher, The Washington Post

The Good- Microsoft’s PressPass

One online newsroom that is a great example is Microsoft’s PressPass. It’s readable and simple. It has separate sections to display different elements like highlights that feature press releases, analyst reports, and upcoming events. The page even features videos one-click away, the PressPass Broadcast Room. The Broadcast Room I think needs some work when it comes to making it downloadable for all computer users as well as making the videos less focused on advertising.  Jon, from the TLC network television show “Jon & Kate plus 8,” was featured in a video on the Broadcast Room page. The footage was cut and focused on how purchasing a Windows PC or laptop would bridge him to all of his eight children. The message sounded forced and for me, though he’s an identifiable character, the red flag went up because I could tell it was scripted from is lines to the setting in which he was placed. Instead of having video like this I think it would be more beneficial to certain constituents like consumers to have a podcast element within the PressPass Broadcast Room.

Microsoft does a good job covering all of its constituents. The left sidebar provides easy navigation to all aspects of the extended newsroom and triggers each branch of audience, based on the links titles. There is even an image gallery that provides photos of products for quick and easy downloads.

For journalists the top tool bar is the most useful. It offers PR contacts, facts about the company (including financial information), a site map, a search box, and an easily clickable RSS feed. Since all these valuable items are located conveniently at the top of the screen, journalists will take the time to learn about Microsoft rather than wasting time fiddling with the site.

Getting Started

There is no right or wrong way to set up an online newsroom as long as it has relevant information that is easily viewed. SHIFT Communications is a PR agency that has developed a template for other PR agencies use in modeling their online newsroom. The template is very busy with icons but when put to use on SHIFT Communications’ own online newsroom it works well. The best part is everything is easily identifiable with bold headings for each section of the page. It is everything a journalist could ever want in an online newsroom equipped with the bells and whistles. One down fall may be the scroll window of each section; this may deter journalists from reading because they do have to scroll to find the information that they want. But it’s better to have an excess of relevant information than not enough. Because we all know what happens when there isn’t enough information and no identifiable contact; the journalist scraps the story on that company all together.

Vocus is another company that provides on-demand software for PR. They have come up with visuals for what an online newsroom should look like and the perks for having a functional online newsroom. There is even a free demo to learn how to implement the software to create an online newsroom, but users must subscribe first. If subscribing is not the right avenue for your company, PR Web has launched an online newsroom.

The following video features Jiyan Wei, branding manager for PR Web, describing the benefits of having an online newsroom on a host site like PR Web.

Benefits

• Has the ability to have it pop up high in a search within PR Web.
•  Host site has optimal traffic perfect for small business owners that don’t have a prominent Web site.
•  Offers companies ability to create several newsrooms catering to each group of constituents.
•  After viewing a company’s news release, the full online newsroom is only one-click  away.

For more detail about how PR Web works check out this video: PR Web in plain English on the CommonCraft show

An Effective Online Newsroom can Make or Break a Story.

“One of the world’s foremost experts in Web usability,” Jakob Nielsen has high credentials when it comes to design and usability on the Web, but I find it hard to take his advice seriously. The state of his own Web site is not esthetically pleasing and lacks professional quality. However, he does emphasize in a Newsweek article the concept of utilitarian design, or design that is useful rather than attractive. I think he should reconsider to make his site appear more professional, so he has something to reinforce his credentials. 

Nielsen conducted research to find out the top five reasons journalists visit a Web site, the reasons coincide with reasons to visit an online newsroom. An online newsroom is essentially the news page of a Web site but more geared for a certain audience, journalists.

The Top-Five Reasons Journalists Visit Web sites:

1) Locate a PR contact- include this information in a prominent location on the newsroom page.

2) Find basic facts about the company: Executive name and location of company headquarters. Place near the PR contact, or at the bottom of the newsroom page.

3) Recognize the company’s spin on events: Every company has a certain attitude it takes toward events, so a company should be clear enough for the journalist to pick up on.

4) Check financial information: This may not be located directly on the online newsroom page, unless it has to do with a policy or event dealing with money. If the company has an authentic quality (which it should) this information should be available somewhere within the site, or offered with direct contact of an executive.

5) Download images to use as illustrations in stories: This again, makes journalists see the idea. And to be a quality newsroom, make these photos accessible (downloadable) for the journalists in many different formats.

If the company makes these essentials difficult to find right away chances are the journalist will not revisit the site. If he or she does not revisit the site the topic will change because again, a journalist works on a tight schedule.

What are Online Newsrooms?

An online newsroom is a page within a company or organization’s Web site dedicated to sharing information with journalists. The page provides information in “kits” which includes press releases accompanied by photos or videos.

According to publisher Bill Stoller, to set up a successful online newsroom there must be the following elements.

• Press Releases: They are number one. They are the most sought after by journalist for quick and up-to-date information to trigger story ideas. Keeping them in reverse chronological order (most recent at the top) avoids excessive scrolling; journalists are fast-paced and do not have time to scroll. Also by putting the text in a simple font makes it easy to read. There is no need to be fancy if there is quality content. Making the release  available in a printable version (PDF or real-time text format) is crucial to the journalists because not only is it convenient, but it gives them the ability to have the press release in-hand rather than having to refer back to the Web page several times.
• Photos: These are not just pictures of people but charts and graphs that help the journalist see the idea in a concrete way, for easy understanding. Make sure photos are in multiple formats that can be easily opened using different systems. Include a “how to download” segment to avoid frustration with the files.
• Search Tool: Do not provide this element just within the Web site, but within the online newsroom and press releases so the journalist can find exactly what they’re looking for in a timely manner.
• Backgrounders: The company’s awards or executive bios could be included to show the standards on which the company builds from, that way the journalist can have a jumping off point.
• Personal Contact: Again, make it easy for the journalist to get more information by putting the contact information in a prominent location on the page. Include: name, phone number, e-mail, fax number, Instant Message screen name, and if the company is really hip, include Twitter username and blog URL of the primary sources of contact. It’s important to provide this contact information so if the journalist has further questions on the press releases, etc. they can make contact, therefore keeping the two-way communication open.