Online News Association

10 Tech Trends For JournalistsSeptember 2014 – Chicago

Webbmedia Group is a digital strategy agency.

We focus on near-future tech & digital media trends.

Advising: audience, community and business growth.

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7th AnnualTech Trends

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We track hundreds of trends to surface cross-industry opportunities.

10 interesting to your news organization in 2015

Early Stages of Awareness + Thinking: I'm in my early stages of awareness and thinking.  It may or may not develop in a way that matters, but be aware and start thinking individually and organizationally.

Fairly Certain: I'm fairly certain of this.  There are still questions about how things will develop and how it will matter, but you should be watching it closely and planning to act.

Highly Confident: I'm highly confident of this.  It is happening and it will matter.

Look beyond your wrist.

1

Wearables

Steve Mann

Fujitsu

smartwatches.org

253 Devices

*as of September 18, 2014

*

EXCITED!

Publishing for “Glance.”

Soon: GOH(Glance Optimized Headlines)

2015:

Devices intended for biometric reportingand as mobile 2nd screens.

2018:

Devices will have more cross-functionality and will be more widely used.

KEY TAKEAWAYExperiment with wearables.

Wearables can transmit and report information. Utility layer on top of your news platform in 2-3 years.

Hackers and makers: women want to wear this stuff, too.

Just One Thing

Wear Something = Borrow a friend’s wearable device. Think about news content. Would you want news content on that wearable device? How?

Focus on your consumer, not just her device.

2

Behaviors > Devices

Observation: How journalists perceive the media ecosystem in 2014

Newsroom Ecosystem Focus:

Getting our stories to devices in the right format.

STUDY:How do Non-Journalists

perceive the media ecosystem?

Systems, tools, content and partners are all interconnected and are vital components of the ecosystem.

Non-Journalist Ecosystem Focus:

Getting our content (etc) to devices leveraging a certain behavior.

Bell’s Telephone:

The more people bought and used it, the more valuable it became.

NETWORK EFFECT

Newspapers, websites, etc. themselves are the PRODUCT.

On social networks, USERS are the product.

Amazon, Uber, Apple... are PLATFORMS that create VALUE for others.

How can we define the network effect for news?

2015: PLATFORMECONOMICS

Apple, Amazon are platform businesses with insatiable audiences.

Value is created by third parties, too.

KEY TAKEAWAYJournalism is increasingly incompatible with our devices.

How can you develop content for people’s behaviors and motivations, rather than just their devices?

Just One Thing

Self-Audit Strategy = Pick 5 stories a day and interact with them in different scenarios and on different devices.

Focus on your consumer, not just her device.

3

Algorithmic Curation: Publishing

Algorithmic Curation

Automated process: what content should be displayed or hidden, and how it should be presented to your audience.

Current News Story Dimensions

Digital LEGACY

mobile, web, social, app, database, etc.

newspaper, TV broadcast, radio broadcast

Lon

gSh

ort

What you publish iswhat your audience sees.

Device > ConsumerUnintended Consequence:

What are the other dimensions of

news storytelling?

Consumer

Future Story DimensionsApp or HTML5?

Screen size?

Home location?

New location?

Work location?

Commuting?

At the gym?

Eating dinner?

Lean forward?

Lean back?

Driving?

Jogging?

Researching?

Looking for social media posts?

Trending for her?

Will she engage?

New content recommendation?

Algorithmic Curation Case Studies

News Distribution

Current Audience Realities

TEMPORAL

Developed for the news consumer at a particular moment in time, given that there are N# variables in time and activity.

ACTIVITIES

Developed for the news consumer’s activities at that moment in time.

BEHAVIORS

Developed for the news consumer given her past and predicted behaviors.

IQ/EQ

Developed so that it meets the news consumer’s intellectual and emotional needs at that moment.

Case Study: Reverb

Temporal: N/A

Activities: UI shows exactly the right amount of information for screen

Behaviors: aggregates content based on who I interact with on Twitter

IQ/EQ: makes me smarter faster

Simple Case Study: Reverb

Case Study: Nuzzel App

Case Study: Nuzzel App

Case Study: Nuzzel App

To be sure... Filters may restrict broad news consumption.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Can you help curate the news for each individual audience member?

Just One Thing

Matrix = Plot your news organization’s product/ app/ etc on the matrix. How does it measure?

Allow curation tools to help inform your reporting.

4

Algorithmic Curation: Reporting

Curation for reporting.

Curation For Reporting

What’s influencing particular people?

Jonathan Abramsfounded Friendster, among others...

Find, curate and surface critical info

FAST

A shallow magnitude 4.7 earthquake was reported Monday morning five miles from Westwood, California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 6:25 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 5.0 miles.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was six miles from Beverly Hills, California, seven miles from Universal City, California, seven miles from Santa Monica, California and 348 miles from Sacramento, California. In the past ten days, there have been no earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author.

Read more about Southern California earthquakes.

Wait.....what?

•Updated and rewritten >70x by humans

•Supplemental, time-saving work aided by bots

•Allowed journalists to do the more difficult analytic work

Curation of selected content to create efficiencies.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Harness curation tools to help enhance (but not replace) your newsroom’s reporting efforts.

Just One Thing

Build a Bot = Use the LAT’s example and build a bot for one or more reporters in your newsroom.

Machine-aided researching will soon createbig efficiencies for your consumers.

5

Cognitive Computing

Computers are getting smarter...

Emu App

Donna – acquired by Yahoo

Cue – acquired by Apple

Using NLP and AI to understand our intentions.

FACEBOOK

MSFT OFFICE

BING-ISH

C DRIVE

TOOLS & APPS

Imagine this as a newsroom dashboard.

Or a dashboard for news consumers!

Amy’s search for ISIS on NYT delivers content about mobile wallet.

Microsoft’s Power BI

KEY TAKEAWAY

How can you start using cognitive computing to help the newsroom?

Can you build smarter tools to help your consumers?

Just One Thing

Try One = Try one of the new cognitive computing sites/ applications. How could it inform your own work?

Gather and publish content using your immediate surroudings.

6

Ambient Proximity

BLE and NFC

inches

feet

yards

inches

feet

yards

Pyrim and MobilePaymentsToday

Passively Receive BLE

Create temporary hyperlocal social networks to help communities receive credible reporting.

Passively Receive BLE

KEY TAKEAWAY

In 2015, a wider base of consumers will start using BLE and NFC. What applications might there be for your news organization?

Just One Thing

Nearables = There are lots of stickers coming to market soon. Experiment with a set in your newsroom.

Soon, you’ll create immersive storytelling experiences.

7

VR For News

New headsets are coming

In order to feel present in a VR world, there must be <100 milliseconds delay

In order to feel presence with another person, to sense and react to their avatar’s emotions and facial expressions, there must be <10 milliseconds delay

Perspective: It takes a really long time to commercializenew technologies like VR

News organization will someday create reactive, immersive news stories

Reimagine these groundbreaking stories as VR experiences...

Reimagine these groundbreaking stories as VR experiences...

Or for everyday news broadcasts

KEY TAKEAWAY

VR headsets will come to market in 2015. We anticipate wider adoption beginning in 2017. But now is a good time to start learning about the VR ecosystem.

Just One Thing

Try VR = Get a hold of a VR headset to try yourself. Think about how it can be used for storytelling.

Everyone wants content that disappears.

8

Ephemeral Content

Snapchat was a solution to sending private content.

It’s also a way to clearup our cluttered social streams

Confide

Not just ephemeral. End to end encryption.

Klroy

Versapp (anonymous)

Facebook “Moments”

Our research at Webbmedia Group leads me to believe that ephemeral functionality will be built into most messaging apps in the next 24 months.

NowThis News & Snapchat

KEY TAKEAWAY

Ephemeral content can be used for publishing news. But it can’t be corrected, because no record is left. Talk internally about the implications.

Just One Thing

Experiment = Try live blogging your next big event using an ephemeral network.

Go underground without disconnecting.

9

Digital Security & Privacy

Read Mat’s story, if you haven’t already

2015 is a good time to start protecting your digital privacy.

Toby to Journalists: Don’t use email.

KEY TAKEAWAY

If you’re concerned about your privacy or concerned about the safety of your staff, change how you engage digital media and tools.

Just One Thing

PGP = Experiment with encrypted email, to gain a better understanding of how encryption works.

It’s possible to protect the newsroom’s integrity while ensuring a growing audience for the news business.

10

Rethinking Church v State

Do you know your audience’s behavior on specific story packages?

Do you have DATA to prove your hypothesis?

BuzzFeed244% increaseYoY 13-14

Winning the internet isn’t rocket science.

It’s DATA science.

What is your organization’s data strategy?

Can you allow data strategy to help inform newsroom decisions?

KEY TAKEAWAY

Just One Thing

Predictive Modeling Strategy = Think through how you could increase your own traffic.

Data Analysis - BeginningData:• Past 6 months all traffic• Past 6 months social interactions

Learn:• Categorize stories read by theme• Categorize stories read by device• Which categories read at X time/ on X device• Which categories referred traffic by X network• Etc. etc. etc.

Assumptions:• Website/ Internet didn’t go down• Exclude outliers (holidays, big breaking news)

One last thing!

Kara Snesko and I just launched...

Use our F.U.T.U.R.E. Test during your nextproject ideation and launch.

B

Bonus Round!

Does your project pass our F.U.T.U.R.E. Test?

Will your new project, acquisition or digital strategy endure as technology and consumer behavior evolve? Is it future-proofed and able to withstand changes both inside your organization and in the marketplace? This F.U.T.U.R.E. Test should be used to assess your project’s strengths and weaknesses, regardless of its size or scope.

Foundation Unique Track Urgent Recalibrate Extensible

Foundation. Do you have support from key stakeholders within your organization? Can your project continue to function and evolve, even as key stakeholders transition away from your organization? Do you have a reasonable amount of time, money and desire to shape, launch and maintain your project? Have you set initial benchmarks to measure levels of support? Are your short-term and long-term timelines realistic, given your available resources?

Foundation

Unique. Is your unique value proposition clear to your customer, whether that’s another business or an individual user? Is your IP difficult to replicate? As competitors emerge, how will you help others continue to understand what differentiates you?

Unique

Track. Do you have complete access to the data your project is creating? Given your organization’s current or planned structure, are you able to set meaningful benchmarks and to measure outcomes? Can you use that data for reliable analysis for customer retention and acquisition, as you scale and for your long-term development cycle?

Track

Urgent. Does your project communicate a sense of urgency, both to your staff and your intended audience? Will there be continued demand for your project in the marketplace? Can you create demand within your customers? Will customers see your project as indispensable and invaluable, even as the marketplace evolves and new competitors emerge?

Urgent

Recalibrate. Can your project evolve along with its intended customer segments as they upgrade their personal/ corporate technology? Do you have a realistic budget to continue along a reasonable development cycle? Do you and your staff have the time to comprehensively evaluate the project every two or three months, in order to make adjustments? Do you and your staff have the desire to continue working on the project after it has launched?

Recalibrate

Extensible. Does your project rely on third-party software, tools, devices, content or code that you and your staff cannot control? Will you be able to recalibrate your project internally, or must you rely on another company to implement necessary changes? Can your project still operate independent of device, software or network upgrades? As consumer tastes and preferences change, can you adapt your project without pivoting from your original idea?

Extensible

Thanks!

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