This writer finally did it — he gave up his daily newspaper subscription in favor of getting his news online. Even if you don’t encounter a lot of folk with this dilemma, what he has done will be more and more common. So take the time to read Mark Glaser’s blog post, Kicking Ink: The Struggles of a Print Newspaper Unsubscriber.
Category: Link topic
In a short video interview, Kevin Hessel from the Marin Independent Journal shares some of the ways he uses social media at the Marin (Cali.) Independent Journal to engage readers.
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Advice on ethics and social media
With all the discussion over ethics on Twitter and other social networks this week, I thought I’d post this entry from a few months ago by Steve Buttry, TCU alumnus and information content conductor at Gazette Communications. He offers some guidance journalists who participate in social networks.
Ben McClanahan shares some tips for newspapers for getting their sites indexed on Google News. He also links to a Google blog post that has some great information. Ben’s entire blog is dedicated to search engine optimization for newspapers, so check it out. He has tips on everything from Web headlines to search engine submission.
The Wall Street Journal has released rules for professional conduct on social networks. The WSJ policy addresses an interesting area that many news organizations have been grappling with for a long time — what is considered appropriate conduct for journalists on new mediums like Twitter and Facebook? The first link is an Editor & Publisher story about the issue, which includes the policy. The second link is social-media blog Mashable’s commentary on the policy.
Leah Betancourt, the digital community manager at the Minneapolis Star Tribune shares some tips for journalists on how to use Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site.
Howard Owens writes that “hyperlocal” news, often-heralded as the savior of the news business, is really just community journalism — something big dailies have gotten away from lately
His description of good community journalism sounds a lot like what many small-town newspapers are doing, and have been doing for years. He writes:
“… there is something to be said for finding fervor and valor in cherishing your home town and the unique individuals that give it vitality.
“As journalists, we’ve gotten away from cherishing community — that isn’t objective enough — and it’s hurt not only democracy, but our business model.”
This comes from Steven Bridges at Goldthwaite, a thought-provoking video, “Can Design Save the Newspaper?”
There has been a flood of articles on the whole “hyperlocal” phenomenon of community journalism on the Web. If you want to read one good – and fairly short – article on what this means, see this one
Traffic at newspaper Websites up 10 percent in the last quarter, according to Editor & Publisher