MPI conference: Story comments and social media
It was a pleasure to be asked to talk about social media and journalism at the Mid-America Press Institute conference today. The beauty of smaller conferences is that it offers more chances for discussion and interaction — and often the presenter gets to learn as much as the “presentees.”
It was great to hear from the woman at the Chicago Tribune who works with story comments frequently — and who had experience at USA Today — as she contrasted how comments are handled in a local paper versus a national or worldwide audience. (I’m sorry I was not able to meet you afterward, but if you happen to visit here, I’d love to have more of your insights in my comments section).
I particularly enjoyed the discussion around how much journalists should be willing to give up the notion of “exclusivity” on a story in order to engage the audience in the reporting. We talked about Talking Points Memo and its Polk award for legal reporting, which included inviting readers to scrutinize e-mails and memos related to the firing of federal prosecutors. From this New York Times profile, “In addition to pursuing the tips from its readers, Talking Points Memo has been known to give them assignments like wading through virtual piles of documents released by the administration.”
Journalists are by nature competitive, so it was fun to talk about strategies for “easing” into this idea, if faced with a skeptical newsroom. Carving off a portion of a story, perhaps, or setting up a social network on Ning, for example, in which key sources or contacts who are interested might be asked to participate.
Also loved hearing from Mark Ridolfi, editorial page editor at the Quad City Times (a sister newspaper of my employer). The Times has had story comments for quite awhile. Apparently, an area resident and devout churchgoer has made a ministry of monitoring story comments. She welcomes newcomers, defuses arguments and reminds people to be nice. The paper also has a reporter who mines the comments for stories and golden nuggets of poignant stories or especially artful insights.
If anyone who was there stops by this little spot on the web, I’d be delighted to hear how it went, how it could have been better and what you’ve done in your newsroom that we could all learn from. Here’s a .zip file of my presentation for anyone who can use it.
Oh, and a special note to the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis: It’s 2008, folks. Can you and all your friends in the hotel industry get together and figure out how to provide fast, reliable wireless Internet access in your conference centers? I apologize to the conference attendees for the videos that had to buffer every 10 seconds. Here’s a link to the Common Craft Show videos I was talking about.
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Kurt's Tweets- Bravo. RT @pwthornton: "Banning unsigned online comments undermines the media’s role as a forum for debate.” http://bit.ly/bmZsOn
- I would like to just take the two steps forward and skip the one step back. How about that? Would that be OK?
- Still seeking talented journalists to run #Patch sites in two south St. Louis County communities. Know anyone? http://ow.ly/2Axnv
- Waiting for a listings collector to give her more #Patch marketing cards. The work never stops.
- Realizing how woefully out of touch I have been with this part of the county. (@ Saint Louis Bread Company) http://4sq.com/5z5Bfh
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