Making a Transformation:
Running a 24/7 news site with a 9 to 5 staff
Andrew Chavez
Associate Director / Digital Initiatives
Texas Center for Community Journalism
New Media for the News Media Workshop
March 11 to 13, 2009 at the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism
So what are these “Internets”?
Can you hear me now?
• The Internet is a “disruptive technology”
How We Did It: A case study
“You watch old media on the couch. This
new media is horse material. You travel
and you tell people and it’s like Paul
Revere.”
— Will.I.Am, musician
Taking the paper out
• Become a news organization
• Focus on the reporting, storytelling
• Become “platform agnostic”
Skiff
Newspaper
Web site
YouTube
channel
Facebook
page
Twitter
feed
Internet TV
channel
24-hour news cycle
Story
Brief
Quick
hit
News
alert
Day
and a
half
How we do it
• Multimedia
▫ Videos
▫ Slideshows
▫ Podcasts
• Interactivity
▫ Sharing
▫ Commenting
▫ Quizzes/puzzles/polls
• Varying engagement
▫ Links
▫ Landing pages
• Extra content
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Blogs
Databases
Raw content
Reader content
Landing/topics pages
• Being there
▫
▫
▫
▫
Up-to-the minute news
Links
Resources/guides
Going where the readers are
So … what changed?
Back in the day
• 1998
▫ Individually
created pages
▫ Black and white
photos
▫ “Shovelware”
Back in the day
• 2003
▫ More links
▫ Images of the
print edition
▫ STILL
Individually
created pages
▫ STILL Black and
white photos
▫ STILL
“Shovelware”
Now
• 2008
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
24/7 news cycle
Videos
Slideshows
Podcasts
Live audio
Full print
edition
Interactives
Blogs
Linking
Viral sharing
Breaking news
e-mails
YOU Can Do It
What you’ll need to make it
happen
1) A game plan
• Think about scalability
• Start with the freebies
▫ Free online tools
▫ Bundled software
• Use your resources
▫ Inexpensive, untapped outside resources
▫ Hidden staff talents
▫ User content
2) Understand the medium
• Learn like the Millenials
• Interact online and have fun doing it
▫ Message boards
▫ Facebook
▫ Twitter
3) A content management system
Static pages
Dynamic pages
• You make them one by one or
• Pages are created by the
from a template
content management system
• They can’t be changed later
• Pages are fluid
• Data’s potential goes unused
• Data can be mined
• Easier to get started
• Lots of work on the front end
• Maintenance costs (in time)
• Easier to update and maintain
increase over time
as site grows
3) A content management system
Textual data
Content management system
• Dogs defeat Cats in
• Headline: Dogs defeat Cats in
semifinal game – DALLAS
semifinal game
– The Anytown Dogs defeated
• Section: High school football
the hometown Cats late Friday
• Date posted: 3/13/2009
at Texas Stadium…
• Location: Dallas, TX
• Body of story: The Anytown
Dogs defeated the hometown
Cats late Friday at Texas
Stadium…
3) A content management system
Textual data
Content management system
• Andrew Chavez, 22, was
• First name: Andrew
arrested Friday in the 3000
• Last name: Chavez
block of University Drive on
• Age: 22
suspicion of jaywalking.
• Date of crime: 3/13/2009
• Address: 3000 University Dr.
• Offense: Jaywalking
4) Learn how to embed content
Embedding simple code is crucial
• http://jmarshall.com/easy/html/testbed.html
5)
Anything is possible
… we’ll prove it