This document contains notes from a journalism course covering various topics: - Types of sources journalists can contact including experts, witnesses, stakeholders - The importance of building relationships with sources - Elements that make for a strong story such as a human case study, background context, and expert analysis - Techniques for search engine optimization (SEO) and social media optimization (SMO) such as using relevant keywords and engaging users - Philosophies on the purpose of journalism and effective storytelling - Tips for web writing such as using brevity, links, images and focusing on audience and platform - Examples of successful publication styles from news sites like the Daily Mail and Buzzfeed - The role of testing and

1. Experts
Witnesses
Stakeholders
Story
from Mark Blaine (2013)

2. Conference: Holes.
What/who isn’t in the
coverage? What can you add
that’s new?

3. Build relationships
@PaulBradshaw : Online Journalism Week 2
Birmingham City University: BA year 2 production

4. What is journalism for?

5. What is journalism for?

6. @PaulBradshaw
Online Journalism Week 1

7. Alison Huggan, Stephanie Bottrill, Tim Salter, Sheila Holt, Caleb Hollow

8. Give a voice to the voiceless?

9. http://helpmeinvestigate.com/welfare/the-bedroom-tax-investigated-in-birmingham-no-place-to-go

10. Go to interviews with more than a
clippings file.
"A URL is an obvious asset. The site you
build at your URL should become your
greatest business asset, but you'll need
to build many smaller assets within that
site first.

11. "An active reader community is an asset.
That takes time to develop."
Robert Niles - http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201001/1816/

12. The story.
A human case study
Background and context
Expert analysis and reaction
Colour and clarity

13. They come into contact with..?
Agencies and charities
Communities and forums
Professional groups, unions
Campaigns and groups

14. SEO
Make yourself findable
URL, title, subheads
Tags and categories
Images: alt tags and captions

16. SMO
Emotive sharing
Useful content
Involving users – guest posts

17. Aristotle
Ethical appeal – this is wrong
Emotional appeal: wow!
Logical appeal: it makes sense

20. Don’t be clever: tell the story

21. Write for platform & audience

22. What do we get out of it?

26. It’s all about… timing.

27. (schedule with Buffer)

28. It’s all about… platform.

29. It’s all about… push/pull.
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/scientific-guide-posting-tweets-facebook-posts-emails-blog-posts-best-time/

30. It’s all about… being useful
http://blog.bufferapp.com/a-scientific-guide-to-writing-great-headlines-on-twitter-facebook-and-your-blog

31. …being important
http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/its-an-outbreak-the-most-shared-upworthy-posts-of-2013-shed-some-light-on-virality/

32. …BWN
Jonah Peretti
http://www.businessinsider.com/jonah-perettis-awesome-viral-media-presentation-explained-2010-8?op=1

33. Jonah Peretti
http://www.businessinsider.com/jonah-perettis-awesome-viral-media-presentation-explained-2010-8?op=1
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/02/features/buzzfeed

34. BuzzFeed’s Golden Rules
Don’t use tricks. Be yourself.
Make content you’d be proud
to share. Experiment. Have a
heart. Is it a human story?

35. Test it with bit.ly

36. image by
Task 2: People
.

37. Your challenge is:
CE: Guest/cross post
CM: Interview key person
DJ: Interview expert
(researcher/analyst/FOI)
MM: Audio interview
ED: Interview key person 2

38. Web writing: BASIC
Brevity: keep pars ultra short
Adaptability: what can I do?
Scannability: subheadings,
bullets, bold words
Interactivity: link, link, link
Community: listen/react

39. Web writing: examples
Daily Mail: images & bullets
BBC/Buzzfeed: text, links
Guardian: adaptability
Huffpo: community

40. Tips:
First person phrases:“my JSA”
Jargon: “spare room subsidy”
site:org site:ac.uk
inurl:forum
Followerwonk

41. Your directed study is:
Find out…
What claims are being made?
What questions being asked?

42. Example of interview:
http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2014/jan/17/health-visitor-homelessfamilies-travellers

43. Now publish.
Twitter.com/paulbradshaw
Links at Delicious.com/paulb/distribution
Links at Delicious.com/paulb/webwriting