1. University of North Texas
Department of Journalism
Online Journalism 3340
Feb. 25, 2010
Teens & News& Types of Convergence

2. Todays class
Websites of the Day
Cool online tool of the day:
Slide.com
Teens & News
Types of convergence
3. Lessons about Young Audiences
Study conducted by NAA/Media Management Center@ Northwestern University
Teens Know what they want from online news: Do You
How online news is just not connecting
Interviewed 96 young people, ages 13 -18 in six cities: Denver, Fresno, cA, Springfield, ILL; Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, Orangeburg, SC
Online pre-work and 90-minute focus groups, teens shown prototypes
4. Ten Key Lessons
Dont overload them.
Create home pages that satisfy.
Entice them to keep reading.
Summarize stories on the home page.
Include visuals with anything that matters
Convey whats important with a clear visual hierarchy.
Beware of too much scrolling and clicking.
Provide background, explanation and context.
Provide background, explanation and context.
Break up information into manageable chunks.
Get rid of clutter.
5. Dont overload them
Reduce volume of information on each page
Fewer stories, words, photos
More space highlighting stories, photos
6. PrototypeHomepage
7. Create home pages that satisfy.
Give them them the news with limited or no clicking
Brief, understandable overview
Reports like TV and radio
8. Entice them to keep reading
Eye-catching layout/design
Why should they care? Dont tease
Use photos to engage
Make it shout out, Interest me, please!
9. Summarize stories on home page
Gives gist of stories without clicking on them
Provides info on what to expect
One sentence per story
Long summaries = tune out
10. Include visuals
Photos & graphics a must
Home page and story-level pages with multiple photos a huge plus
Use visuals to convey information
Avoid clutter
11. Convey whats important with a clear hierarchy
Critically think of all element: story, photos, graphics to grab the reader
Too complex, you lose them
Too simple, you lose them
12. Beware of too much scrolling & clicking
Teens want stories that engage
Use links wisely
Integrate images/slideshows that enhance the experience, knowledge
13. Provide background, explanation and content
If a teen clicks, youve hooked them but youve got to keep them
Provide valuable information
Combine the news, background and explanatory elements
14. Break up information into chunks
Uninterrupted text is a non-starter
Smaller, bite sized chunks
Clear headlines, subheads and photos
Graphics, photo galleries, videos and pulled quotes
15. Get rid of the clutter
Dont randomly fill open spaces
Be smart
Ask yourself: What will add to the depth, richness, interactivity
Ask yourself: How can I keep the readers interest, and have them recommend it to someone else
16. The Early Days News Websites
The Evolution
Mainly straight text, no graphics
Bulletin boards (BBS), forums ruled
Minimal investment
Late 70s/early 80s: VideoText
Miami Herald: Viewtron
Belo: BISON Belo Information Systems On-line
Progidy: Cowboys Content
Knight Ridder, Tribune: $30 million
Regurgitation: What was in print showed up online
No staffs Gungho geeks who become mavericks of their time
17. The Miami Herald, then owned by Knight-Ridder, invested $17mm in 1984
Dedicated keyboard/terminal that could only be used for the videotext service. This equipment cost $600 to $900; later, as personal computing caught on,Viewtron would try to sell its services via IBM, Apple, or Commodore PCs.
A television set to display the color images, which took time to load or paint
A monthly subscription fee of $12 (the first month was free)
A phone line to send information back to a central computer, for which the consumer initially paid $1 an hour
Source: Poynter.org: Before there was the Internet, There was Viewtron, by Howard Finberg, http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=52769
18. 1993: September 2: Middlesex (Mass.) News launches first Internet gopher-based online newspaper.
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/carlson/history/ScreenShots/Fred_the_computer.jpg
19. January 1994: Salt Lake Tribune opens a BBS called Utah Online.
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/carlson/history/ScreenShots/utah_online.jpg
20. Interactive tools
Polls
Discussion forums
Blogs
Personalization
Yahoo, Google
21. 22. Types of News Websites
Shovelware
What you read in the daily newspaper or see on TV is what you see on the website
Costs
Staffing
Lack of technology/content management system
Strategic decision
All stories written in traditional inverted pyramid style
What are the pros & cons?
23. Types of News Websites
Periodic Updating
Mainly shovelware with some exceptions
Breaking News
Sports stories/scores
Some dedicated staff assigned
24. Types of News Websites
Continuous Updating
Combination of shovelware and original packages
Wire-service (AP, Reuters) operation mentality
Sports stories/scores
Special web-only reports
Extensive interactive features, graphics, including audio and video
Full-time dedicated staff
25. Corporate Structure
Specific newspaper brands tied to the home town
Dallasnews.com
Washingtonpost.com
Nytimes.com
Umbrella sites
Newhouse News Regional Approach
AlabamaLive.com
NJ.com
ClevelandLive.com
Which approach is better? Does it matter?
26. Digital Storytelling Tools
Shovelware out, Within Media In
Its no place for lazy journalists
Dig deeper, report more, drive to find more sources, quicker
Need to be more accurate and more thorough
Search, research and verify
27. Integration
Among-media
Shovelware
Reproducing newspaper story as-is into newspaper
Posting video from newscast onto the web
I think that the great fear was that we were all going to turn into three-headed monsters and do three times as much work in eight hours, and you just cant. And, furthermore, you probably wont do it that well; particularly in a market this size you cant afford to have a mediocre person on TV or a mediocre news writer.
Jim Riley, Director of Operations, of TBO.com
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017858030.php
28. Integration
Within-media
Great reporting + multimedia using digital media tools: your pen, paper, digital recorder, digital video camera
Long form narrative meets digital story telling
Fully integrated into the story assignment process
Ability for more in-depth coverage
Better interviews
Greater consciousness of photos
Selected use of video
Fairness & accuracy still reign
29. Types of Convergence
Storytelling or presentation: Using digital tools to create new forms of story telling.
Print
Broadcast
Internet
30. Types of Convergence
Storytelling or presentation: Using digital tools to create new forms of story telling.
Broadcast
Internet
Print
31. 32. The Interactive Audience
Shorter lines of communication between journalists and audience
Traditional Media:
Readers v. Non-readers
Readers an amorphous mass
Defined audience by geography
Circulation, signal
33. The Interactive Audience
Now:
Individual, personalized, direct
Email addresses for reporters
Tracking readers: Story by story
Top Down
Editors to
Readers
Readers in
Control
Audience
Participation
34. Participatory journalism - We Media
http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php?id=P36