Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Lab 1- JournalHub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Gabriel Marquez
CS411w
Janet Brunelle
October 9, 2015
Version 1
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Table of Contents
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................3
1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................4
2 Product Description......................................................................................................................5
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities................................................................................5
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)............................................................................7
3 Identification of Case Study........................................................................................................10
4 Product Prototype Description....................................................................................................11
4.1 Prototype Functional Objectives..................................................................................11
4.2 Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)..............................................................12
4.3 Prototype Features and Capabilities.............................................................................13
4.4 Prototype Development Challenges.............................................................................14
5 Prototype Demonstration Description.........................................................................................15
Glossary.........................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18
Figures and Tables
Figure 1 Major functional component diagram...............................................................................7
Figure 2 Database Schema………………………………………..................................................8
Figure 3 Notification Algorithm…………………………………..................................................9
Figure 4 Database Integration Algorithm………………………....................................................9
Figure 5 Website Map……………………………………………...............................................10
Table 1 Feature comparison between full product and prototype................................................13
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Abstract
Online journalism is, today, one of the biggest industries in the world, with billions of
dollars being invested, made, and spent each year. It is also one of the most dynamically
changing, with advances in both society and technology radically altering the state of news, and
how it is covered and distributed.
Journalists, and the news industry as a whole, have been forced to modernize constantly
to accommodate an ever-increasing audience’s voracious hunger for around clock, constant news
and technology such as the internet and smartphones. These developments have involved radical
change, such as rethinking the journalistic process and embracing new technologies such as
collaborative work environments and live streams through services such as YouTube ®. In turn,
tried and true methods like physical papers that have driven the industry in the past have slowly
declined in popularity and practice, and will inevitably disappear with the advance of the time.
In spite of these many changes, there exists few products in today’s market that are
designed with the specific needs of modern journalists in mind, who will simply make do with
products like google docs. While these products are adequate, accomplishing a job with the most
efficiency and highest quality requires tools tailored specifically to that job. Anything else will
be inadequate to the situation at hand. This is exactly where JournalHub will come into play.
JournalHub will provide journalists with a host of robust tools for collaboration, information
management, and scheduling that is directly intended for use by journalists in the fast-paced
modern news room.
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Lab 1- JournalHub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
1 Introduction
JournalHub is a concept envisioned by students of the Purple Team of Old Dominion
University’s CS 411w Purple Team. The team currently consists of Mentor/Virginian Pilot
Mentor Erica Smith, Backend Specialist Ben Cowan, Database Specialist Zobair Alijan,
Webmaster/Backend Specialist Mark Cunanan, Project Lead Jason Mayo, Risk/Backend
Specialist Adam Lawson, and myself, with the role of Database Specialist.
The concept was born in the fall of 2015, when the team approached by the Virginian
Pilot to develop a solution that would solve their problems of needing better software for the
purposes of better organization, collaboration, communication, and documentation. Although
they used many existing systems, the level of organization needed was not provided, leaving
many aspects to straightforward team work.
Eventually, a concept was envisioned that was inspired by the acclaimed GitHub system.
Although designed for the software development and engineering community, GitHub’s
principles and design approach towards collaboration, documentation, and organization were
exactly what we needed to inspire us.
To effectively design the system, we also needed to carefully assess the customer as well
as look at similar. The end product is designed for the modern news companies like the
Virginian Pilot.
With these issues now weighed and considered, we specified our goals for the system; to
keep the news current, generate quality content, and meet deadlines.
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2 Product Description
JournalHub is designed for collaborative journalistic work, and will be tailored to provide
the best set of features necessary to accomplish any task. The system will have an open source
framework, and will exist on the ODU server and a Virtual Private Server provided by Jason
Mayo through InMotion Hosting (IMH).
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities
The first feature is assignment tracking. JournalHub will possess an account based
system for user logins through FENG office plugins, which will enable the system to track
assignment progress and deadlines. This feature will be presented in a checklist and calendar
based format respectively. PHP and python scripts will also incorporated for database
interaction.
The next feature is component tracking. This feature will enable the tracking of
individual components relating to the selected story. By using the relational database, all data
pertaining to a specific story, be it an image or text file, will be made available to the users. This
can be implemented with addition open source plug-ins for FENG office. PHP and python
scripts will also incorporated for database interaction.
Another important feature will be date tracking. JournalHub will possess date tracking
capabilities to enable users to create calendars and schedules to base their work around, greatly
improving their time management and ensuring that the task at hand are made clearly defined
and constantly available. Like the last two features, open source FENG office and python scripts
will be used for the implementation of these systems.
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
A request system would be the next feature. Users can issue requests and communicate
with other users through a messaging system. This will be implemented using more open source
open source multi user chat room based system with additional sub-feature like user
identification. This will enable users to easily communicate, and keep a virtual, timestamped
record of all communication in a centralized location.
Change logs will be another feature. This feature will keep track of changes made to data
to preserve data integrity and act as a reference for information edits. That way, if any changes
must be revoked or researched, they will be readily available to staff. This log will be created
through python scripts and PHP codes interacting with the database and the file system.
The next feature that will be incorporated is a database integration system that will be
able to incorporate any existing data into the new schema, allowing for reuse of existing
structures rather than ground up reconstruction. The team is still exploring algorithms and
methodology for grandfathering existing CMS systems into JournalHub, but it can be
accomplished with a PHP based program.
Finally, the last primary feature will be a budgeting system. This will allow budgeting
and publication information to be tracked and managed by users. This will be built in as
additional PHP based querying and writing systems to the database. The budgeting information
concerning publication and records will also be stored in a static list in the file management
system.
A host of other accompanying sub-features will be included, such as a user friendly
interface. However, as these features are expected as much as desired, the teams’ focus will be
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
on developing and honing the core features that will define JournalHub as a leader in the market
of collaborative writing software for modern journalists.
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)
JournalHub will be composed of six major functional components, with myriad
subsystems and connections linking them and enabling communication between them. This is
shown in Figure 1, which is the original functional components diagram. The components will
be a database, a file management system, a notification system, an authentication system, a
website, and a phone app.
Figure 1- Functional Diagram
This first among them will be a relational database. This will be a traditional relational
database implemented with MySQL and integrated with PHP. It will act as a references for all
data used in the system, ranging from user information to publication information. The schema is
presented in figure 2.
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Lab 1- Journalhub: Innovating the Future of Journalism
Figure 2- Database Schema
This schema is representative of all the information types that will be stored in the
database, and accessible by the user, and the system as a whole. Though it may be modified,
team research has ensured its accuracy in representing all aspects of the modern newsroom.
The next system is the file management system. This will act as the main information
repository for the JournalHub system. It will use the database as an index for referencing data,
and store all files and information. It will be managed on either the VPS or the ODU private
server.
The notification system will act as an automated email system to users, sending messages
that alert them to deadlines, changes, and status of stories. They will vary based upon the nature
of the user, and the notification. The system will follow the algorithm detailed in Figure 3. The
email data will be logged into the database, and can be accessed through PHP queries. The
entire system will be made in PHP and python.
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Figure 3-Notification Algorithm
The database integration system will take the form of an algorithm that will grandfather
any existing databases into the JournalHub database. The database integration system algorithm
is still being researched, but a user input based system is being considered. It will probably take
inputs in the form of table names, and store the data in the new tables.
Figure 4- Database Integration Algorithm
The Authentication will function as a login identification system for user, to maintain
security. Each user will have a user name, a password, and associated personal data. They will
also have association in the database with all of their assigned projects.
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The website will act as the main interface for the JournalHub system. It will be made
with HTML and PHP. It will be the primary front end interface between the user and the
backend system, and directly connect and interact with the backend systems, like the
authentications. It will follow the layout in Figure 4, and be accessible to both PCs and Macs.
Figure 5- Website Map
The smart phone application will be a mobile extension of the website, designed for
usage by journalist on the go. The web app will mainly act as a stripped down, web accessible
version of the desk-top system, with a smaller interface. This will be implemented with app
development software, and tailored for use by all major web accessible mobile phones and
tablets.
3 Identification of Case Study
According to pew polls, online news has increased rapidly since 2006 (DBTN: 2012).
As of 2014, nearly 70% of homes get their news through computers or laptops, and 30% though
tablets and smart devices (AP: 2014). This massive and ever-growing increase in readership
have forced the news industry to drastically adapt. Many software products currently exists that
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fulfill basic needs collaborative work, but none are tailored for journalism, though there is a
need. To quote Mrs. Smith of the Virginia Pilot ,“We need an easy-to-use and efficient way to
figure out what stories are running, where they’re running, and when they’ll be running and we
need to be able to access it from anywhere” (E. Smith: 2015). JournalHub will fulfill this need,
and can be marketed towards two customer bases.
JournalHub intended for usage in the field of professional journalism. The first customer
base consists of professional news organization like the Virginian Pilot. In her presentation,
Mrs. Smith stated that the Virginian Pilot is frequently challenged by the need for precise, fast
paced management of their staff, which numbers well over one hundred. This problem is
persistent in the news industry switch, exacerbated by the transition to fast-paced technologies
and necessity meeting public demand.
The second target market is news organization like school news-paper and independent
organizations. While professional news organizations are the primary focus, this market of nonprofessional news outlets is quite expansive, with many online magazines and periodicals in
existence. Tapping this market would be tremendously beneficial to the product, as it will expose
new users to JournalHub’s many features and build a loyal following, which form a strong front
against any competition, be it existing or new .
4. JournalHub Prototype Description
The JournalHub prototype will be consist of the each functional component, with the
possible exception of the mobile application. As the website will be the primary system and act
as a basis for the system, the mobile application can be developed as an add-on to the main
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system, built off the website. This, along with the database integration algorithm, may be
outside the scope of the core problems, and is best left for the future.
4.1 Prototype Functional Objectives
The first functional prototype objective is to fully implement and integrate all major
components according the Prototype vs RWP table, and have the system fully operational.
The second functional prototype objective is to access JournalHub using both a MAC and
a PC, with at least two of the most commonly used browsers.
The third functional prototype is to successfully create an account for a user with full
privileges, login to the account, and operate with full functionality on the JournalHub system.
This includes uploading files, altering files, and making request.
The final objective is to create multiple user accounts with different privileges, and have
them interact on the JournalHub system in tandem, mimicking an average work session by
employees. The users will collaboratively work on documents, make uploads and request, and
accomplish deadline set goals.
4.2 Prototype Architecture
Through prototype architecture will follow. The system will be developed on both the
virtual work environment host server provided by the school and a VISP server system provided
Jason Mayo. The entire framework will be linked by PHP code, python script, and JavaScript.
MySQL will be used for the database, and a host of open source software will be used to
implement the other components, many included in the VISP server.
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4.3 Prototype Features and Capabilities
The prototype architecture will follow the main architecture in scope and design. The
majority of the core features, the web and mobile applications, and the support structure can be
fully implemented in this development cycle. However, certain systems will not be fully
implemented at this juncture. This is detailed in Figure 6.
Table1-Prototype vs RWP Table
Most of the core features will be implemented, with the exception of database integration
system and partial implementation of the budgeting system. The database integration system
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will not be included due to time constraints and project scope, as research on similar systems
shows that this undertaking would be a project unto itself. This fact would detract from our
original goals. The budgeting systems partial implementation will only be partial due to
differences in each possible customers existing budgeting methodology. This will simply be a
simple list until a more complete solution is designed.
4.4 Prototype Development Challenges
One of the main challenges for the development of this prototype will be ensuring the
database functions properly as large quantities of interconnecting data are uploaded. The
database will act as a reference to the rest of the system, so any flaws will be directly affecting
quality and performance. However, this will be mitigated by careful design and plenty of testing.
The database will also be mathematically tested with linear algebraic test to ensure that it is
mathematically sound.
Another challenge will be integration of all of the systems. This will involve ensuring all
of the different systems operate and interact exactly as designed. This will be resolved through
careful integration of the individual systems, proper testing of all the components, and
consideration of all possible conditions under which communication breakdown.
The final challenge will be maintaining integrity of large collaborated projects. As many
people will be making changes on the same files at once, it is imperative that JournalHub will
have synchronized collaboration. This can be dealt with by testing the user algorithm with
interweaving users, and working out conflict resolutions for changes and uploads that conflict
and can cause issues with saved data.
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Other risk do exist, like file corruption, but these have been taken account of into the
team work schedule. Local back-ups will also be utilized to ensure data is properly saved in the
event of a malfunction.
5 Prototype Demonstration Description
The JournalHub prototype demonstration will require the JournalHub Web site, two or
more computer systems running up to date windows, access to the VISP server and the ODU
server, dummy files to be manipulated, and any necessary PHP and JavaScript needed to run
JournalHub. Multiple dummy accounts with different privileges shall be created with complete
user information, to ensure that all user related database queries and security is functioning. One
shall be a manager with universal privileges, and the rest will be limited in some capacity that
realistically reflects positions in a news cycle.
Using the PCs, the team will access JournalHub accounts through the website login, and
begin uploading, and manipulating files according to a predetermined script. The script will
allow for all of JournalHub’s features to be shown, and show easy conflict resolution and
organization.
A walkthrough presentation will also be created for the demonstration. It will be used as
reference, and to act as a model for training orientation material and user guides in the future.
These slides will be made available on the team website.
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Glossary
PHP: A server-side programming language designed for building dynamic Web pages
Proprietary system: A system that is used, produced, or marketed under exclusive legal right of
the inventor, maker, or operator
Budget – The allocation of physical space within a newspaper publication. Sometimes
generalized to refer to information pertaining to where or when a story will be published
CMS – Content Management System, any system which organizes electronic documents
GitHubIMH – InMotion Hosting
MySQL – An open-source, multi-user, relational database management system based on
Structured Query Language (SQL)
ODU – Old Dominion University
PHP – A server-side programming language designed for building dynamic web pages
Project Management Software – Software which is designed to make easier the management of
personnel and information pertaining to a project or multiple projects
Python- A higher level programming language
RWP – Real-world product
Slug – The pre-title name used to reference a story during the development process in the field of
Journalism
UI – User Interface
VPS – Virtual Private Server
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Semore, Brandy. "Project Management Success: Part 1, Know Your
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Pricewaterhouse Coopers. (2014). Insights and Trends: Current program and project
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