The urgency to pursue and post stories is a priority in newsrooms. It’s paramount to remain relevant to readers and advertisers. That necessity is stepped up considerably in the age of digital editions and the 24/7 news cycle. Readers hear something on the streets and expect immediate reports.
Newsrooms will fall short without systems in place. Organization is a priority.
I distinctly remember attending a time management seminar early in my career. One of the first exercises was to map out a typical day, identifying time slots for planned duties and for whatever else arises. As a benchmark, the instructor recommended an 80/20 split.
Say what? Anyone in the business likely experiences the opposite on regular basis. Meeting the demands of your readers – your customers – requires the ability to multitask and handle interruptions on the fly.
I attended the seminar when reporters only wrote stories, photographers only took photos, digital editions in all their formats were not a regular part of news operations, and social media was not even in the vocabulary.
Editors and reporters today face the same challenges and distractions of yesteryear’s newsrooms – multiplied by at least 20 times. Everyone is expected to be adept at the spectrum of news gathering – writing breaking news for the web and a more complete story for the print edition, taking a photo or video and posting it on the web, tweeting about a sports event or city council meeting and updating Facebook pages. And most newsrooms are doing it with smaller staffs.
Here are some suggestions to help guide the organized chaos of newsrooms.
Create an editorial calendar. Calendars typically steer coverage for the next 12 months, identifying key features and themes. The plans can flag opportunities both to produce solid content and to generate revenue.
Newsrooms should view calendars in the broadest sense. Benchmark events and activities from the annual fire station open house to local government budget workshops to high school and college graduations. Calendars are a great prompt to brainstorm new approaches to annual events. With these on your watch, you’ll be better prepared to cover the unexpected news.
Be proactive. How many times has an organization sought coverage of an event without you really knowing its significance? Both sides often wind up frustrated. The person making the pitch is dissatisfied with the story’s lack of prominence, and the newspaper may have missed a chance to connect on solid content for readers. Track events and connect early.
React with appropriate coverage. Decide how to cover events and meetings. Some require previews and/or follow-ups. Base decisions on an event’s significance and your resources.
Identify useful digital tools. Many organizations and agencies release annual reports that can be posted on websites. For example, post the full text of a mayor’s State of the State speech. Identify one item to highlight in your print edition, then post and refer to the full report on your website. A word of caution: Don’t make the web a dumping ground for anything and everything. Be selective and make it easy to navigate.
Consider posting a slide show of the grand opening of the community theater or the annual open house at the fire hall. Present a personalized tour of a new business via video and/or slide show, produced in cooperation with and paid sponsorship by the business.
Engage citizen journalists. Find ways to enlist your community to help report the news. Use limits – good practices and bad practices.
Use the editorial page. Include the editorial page in coverage of significant issues. Think beyond the task of writing editorials; consider opportunities to encourage and broaden reader participation with letters and guest commentaries. The web allows immediate exchange among readers. Monitor social media to follow, read, react and follow up. You can learn a lot.
Provide tandem coverage in print and online. High-profile stories often are punctuated by banner headlines and photos, then followed by step-by-step coverage. How many newspapers provide a comprehensive online chronology for individuals who have not kept abreast of stories from beginning to end?
View your news delivery in a total package. Decide what works best in the print edition and what works best on the web. Then promote both. Planning what goes where can save time by minimizing duplication of efforts and will result in a more comprehensive package.
The media landscape is all about open community interaction. This “many to many” approach via comments, blogs, live chat rooms and other social media allows the community to assume a significant role in reporting and discussing issues.
Making full use of social media channels does not just happen on its own. Indeed, readers populate the channels. But people must manage these operations, too – the same people who most likely have other responsibilities in collecting and reporting the news.
In the days when print editions were king, success was when your newspaper served as a scrapbook. Items were cut out and posted on the refrigerator: school menus, sports photos, public hearings, the notice of landfill hours, a thought-provoking editorial. That remains a worthy goal.
Likewise, the web presents another opportunity to be a scrapbook. By monitoring page views and using other analytics, editors have a quick snapshot of which news items click with readers and which do not.
Above all, engage in dialogue with readers. It’s a win-win proposition for you and your community.
Jim Pumarlo is former editor of the Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle. He writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. He is author of “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Coverage,” “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in Small-Town Newspapers.” He can be reached and welcomes comments and questions at jim@pumarlo.com.