• Hofstra University

• JRNL 10

• Prof. Vaccaro

• Blogging/MicroBlogging

Today’s roadmapToday’s roadmap

• REMINDER: Blog your class notes during lecture

• REMINDER: Today, start tweeting links to your blog entries. Use #JRNL10

• Lecture on blogging and microblogging

Blog vs. Traditional MediaBlog vs. Traditional Media

• Opinion• No set style• Completely online• Citizen journalists• Anyone can do it• Free/sustainable

• Objectivity• Proper style• Print/online/TV• Trained journalists• Hired by company• Biz team needed

Popular BlogsPopular Blogs

• Top blogs on internet as of 9 a.m. Thursday:

• 1 | HuffingtonPost• 2 I BuzzFeed• 3 I Mashable• 4 I The Daily Beast• 5 I The Verge• 6 I TMZ• 7 I Business Insider• 8 I Engadget• 9 I CNN Political

Ticker• 10 I Gawker

• Common characteristics

• Focus on one subject area

• Packed with information

• Constant changing homepage

• Perfect amount of multimedia

• Mix between paid/unpaid writers/editors/bloggers

• “What’s now” content … hip, unique, trendy

• Let’s analyze the top five blog sites …

• 1 | HuffingtonPost• 2 I BuzzFeed• 3 I Mashable• 4 I The Daily Beast• 5 I The Verge

Blog BasicsBlog Basics

• Characteristics defining a blog• Unique content, some related to a specific niche• Frequently updated - new content should be at

the top• Every entry has a headline/body text and

includes hyperlinks• Contains a spot for reader comments/feedback

Blog BasicsBlog Basics

• San Jose Mercury News added a blog in 1999 and changed journalism• Every newspaper has blogs• Every major newspaper has broken news via

their blogs• Every reporter hired now, is asked if they know

how to manage/run a blog

What are your favorite blogs?What are your favorite blogs?

• Tell us your favorites?

• Let’s look at newspaper blogs …

• Vaccaro• Let’s Blog it Out (Entourage), Newsday• Jim Romenesko, journalism industry• MLB Blog network, baseball• Hardball Talk• Pro Football Talk

Creating a blogCreating a blog

• Make a plan: editorial/business• Choose a blog system

• Blogger/Wordpress

• Choose a theme/design• Extras/Gadgets/Widgets• Build your audience

• How? Remember from our second class?

Tips for BloggersTips for Bloggers

• Organize your ideas• Be direct and to the point• Use appropriate language and style• Be the authority with a personality• Link, summarize and analyze• Be specific with headlines/tagging• Post early/post often• Use images and multimedia elements• Participate in the community/social network• Write less and with conviction

Blog Ideas and Better IdeasBlog Ideas and Better Ideas

• News• Education• Hot-button issues• Animals• HS Football• Politics

• Breaking news• Sachem Schools• Immigration• Doggies• Sachem Football• Newsday LI Pol.

Other Blog Creation TipsOther Blog Creation Tips

• Define your competition … who else is writing about this topic?

• Who cares about the topic? Will anyone read or see this?

• How can I make this a visitor destination? • Live blog and host talk sessions … think

outside the editorial box

MicrobloggingMicroblogging

• Using Twitter and Facebook to get your message out quickly

• Effective medium for breaking news• Can host chats/Q&As• Extension of your editorial reach• Building a digital community• Another reach for advertisers• Building your brand tweet-by-tweet• Create lists and communicate with others• Go mobile (big discussions to come on this)

Planning multimediaPlanning multimedia

• Assess situation for adding multimedia to your story and platform:• Photo galleries• Photo slideshows• Audio• Video• Info graphics

Tips on info layeringTips on info layering

• You have all this content? How do you place it in nonlinear format on your platform and have it make sense?• Create each element to stand alone

• Only include redundancies that are necessary

• Avoid editing your ideas in early stages of planning … having too much is not a bad thing, you can always cut down. Having too little is a problem.

Assess multimedia potentialAssess multimedia potential

• Can the story be broken down into several topical chunks?

• Does the story describe a process? (Info graphs, video and photo galleries are perfect to displaying a process of events)

• Is the story laden with stats and figures? (info graphs and data visualization will help you!)

• Is there emotional narrative to be shown? (Video shows action and events as they unfold)

Assess multimedia potentialAssess multimedia potential

• Are there dramatic visual moments that can be captured in photographs?

• Does the story contain strong historical references? (Interactive timelines add context)

• Is there potential for animation? (gifs, memes, flash, cartoon, art design?)

Next ClassNext Class

• REMINDER: NO CLASS Sept. 18

• For Thursday, Sept. 20:• Lecture on social media tools (no reading)

• Slight chance there is no class (travel), but that’s not official or booked yet.