18th WORLD EDITORS FORUM

Session: How to build a community around your publicationTitle: Building Community Around JournalismSpeaker: Jim Brady

Vienna, Reed Messe Wien

Mark your calendar

64th WORLD NEWSPAPER CONGRESS19th WORLD EDITORS FORUM

www.wan-ifra.org/kiev2012

Building Community Around Journalism

Jim BradyEditor-in-Chief, Journal Register CompanyOctober 13, 2011

Community Engagement

How most news orgs view “engagement.”

Community Engagement

How news orgs should view engagement.

Why Engage?

• Because news organizations always have…– Used experts as sources– Interviewed citizens for stories– Accepted tips from the community– Run photos & videos not taken by staffers– Run freelance pieces by citizens & experts

Why Engage?

• In the new media ecosystem, you need readers a lot more than they need you– Collectively, the community knows a lot more

about each subject area than you do– Consumers have a lot of choices & not a lot of

time– They don’t need to come directly to you to

access your content– Without committed readers, you have no

business

Why Engage?

• Because working with consumers produces better journalism– More sources of information– An ability to cover more beats– An ability to cover more physical real estate– An ability to directly tap experts in the areas

you cover

Shallow Engagement

COMMENTS ON ARTICLES• Almost always a one-way

conversation.• Rarely involves the

community in the creation of actual journalism.

• The tone of discussions actually keeps many readers from engaging.

Shallow Engagement

USER PHOTO CONTESTS• Totally separate from any

kind of actual journalism.• Usually just a cheap ploy

for page views.• Allows editors to claim

engagement efforts without really doing it.

Shallow Engagement

SHARING TOOLS

• Allows community to recirculate your journalism, but there’s no direct engagement.

• Doesn’t create any kind of loyalty or deeper relationship.

What Is Deep Engagement?

• Any direct interaction with a member of the community that deepens their relationship with your organization. That includes…– Spending real, physical time with the community– Training the community in ways it can help you– Using information gathered by the community in your core

journalism– Accepting breaking news contributions from the community– Curating the work of community members– Using the community as a journalistic tool of scale– Understanding that the collective community is a powerful

journalistic force

First Rule of Engagement

Engaging meaningfully with your community means

giving up control.

First Rule of Engagement

Engaging meaningfully with your community means

giving up control. You HAVE to accept that.

First Rule of Engagement

Engaging meaningfully with your community means

giving up control. You HAVE to accept that.If you don’t, don’t bother.

Register Citizen Newsroom Cafe

• Audience invited to sit in on newsroom meeting, watch a live stream or participate in a live chat

• Free public wi-fi access offered, as well as coffee and snacks

Community Media Labs

• Among our papers, we’re now working with 1,024 local blogs.

SeeClickFix

• In more than 25,000 cities and 8,000 neighborhoods• Has gathered more than 50,000 reports• SeeClickFix has relationships with local governments

TBD: Complete This Story

• The audience can help you find out things you couldn’t• It’s a tacit admission media companies can’t – and don’t – know

everything

TBD’s Community Network

• More than 225 sites joined

• We sold advertising for about 75 blogs

• We linked to them aggressively, and put them in our geo-coded feeds to expose them to relevant audiences

• Provided training sessions for network members on blogging, SEO, social media, etc.

• We held public office hours to meet with readers.

Ushahidi: Japan Earthquake

Guardian: MP Expense Scandal

Public Reporting Network

• 5,000 Reporting Network members• They’ve helped conducted spot checks on federal stimulus

spending, unraveled loan modification stories, and tracked the oversight of a state nursing board, among other efforts

NPR Social Investigation

If You Do This Right…

• If you apply these strategies successfully:– The community will view you as a partner, not a rival.

That means:• They will send you tips, not your competitors• They will visit your site more often• They will link to you more from blogs & social media• They will tell their friends about you• In short, they will root for your success• You will be more relevant to your audience

• More relevance =

If You Do This Right…

• If you apply these strategies successfully:– The community will view you as a partner, not a rival.

That means:• They will send you tips, not your competitors• They will visit your site more often• They will link to you more from blogs & social media• They will tell their friends about you• In short, they will root for your success• You will be more relevant to your audience

• More relevance = more audience =

If You Do This Right…

• If you apply these strategies successfully:– The community will view you as a partner, not a rival.

That means:• They will send you tips, not your competitors• They will visit your site more often• They will link to you more from blogs & social media• They will tell their friends about you• In short, they will root for your success• You will be more relevant to your audience

• More relevance = more audience = more revenue

If You Do This Right…

• If you apply these strategies successfully:– The community will view you as a partner, not a rival.

That means:• They will send you tips, not your competitors• They will visit your site more often• They will link to you more from blogs & social media• They will tell their friends about you• In short, they will root for your success• You will be more relevant to your audience

• More relevance = more audience = more revenue = more journalists

If You Do This Right…

• If you apply these strategies successfully:– The community will view you as a partner, not a rival.

That means:• They will send you tips, not your competitors• They will visit your site more often• They will link to you more from blogs & social media• They will tell their friends about you• In short, they will root for your success• You will be more relevant to your audience

• More relevance = more audience = more revenue = more journalists = better journalism

Thanks for Engaging