Monday, February 21, 2011

Newsroom Evolution

An article was recently released regarding suggestions that newsrooms should adopt to make them more updated and fresh. I'd like you to read the suggestions by clicking here. I'd like you to post your reactions to the items. Which suggestions do you agree with? Which suggestions do you think could have unintended consequences and what would those consequences be? Are all these suggestions helpful for newsrooms or could there be problems?

P.S. - Someone used the name "NaturallyDelish" to post last week. I'm not sure exactly how i'm supposed to determine the student's name to award them credit. I'm not qualified to determine who in class is the most "naturallydelish!"

18 comments:

Unknown said...

I definitely agree with the transparency team. Actually knowing a little bit about the authors will show that they are credible. Only knowing their name, e-mail address, and job title isn't always enough. The news as software definitely seems like it will make the audience feel like they have a voice. In the lines of product management, anything that is presented for users online that can be made where it's easier to use (or find) is great in my opinion.

The behind the scenes blogging could be dangerous for an organization. For intstance, Tatango has installed web cams throughout their offices so that others can view what's going on during the day-to-day. What if someone engages in something illegal and stupidly does it at work? I don't know. Something about this one does not settle well with me.

Unknown said...

With any kind of media, authors should list more about themselves. It shows that they have experience and they know what they are doing. It shows that they have credibility. Instead of just having basic information that anyone could find out, more information should be included in their bios. I think that it’s an incredible idea to allow your audience to be able to participate and give their opinions on a topic online. It’s much more convenient and useful.
What you do in the dark, definitely comes to light. There are a lot of people out there that will do some of the most craziest and dumb things. Do illegal acts at work like no one is watching. I always say someone is always watching. A lot of companies have put a lock down on what their employers do because people feel like no one is watching, but they are really monitoring what you are doing. I feel that Tatango was very smart about the idea of installing webcams throughout their office. Sometimes you have to keep a close look out of what’s going on and to protect your investments.

Unknown said...

It's all about getting your voice heard. Reporters go to school to be able to say what they want to say and to tell the story. This is the first of many changes that the newspaper is going to have to make in order to survive. I think each of these plans have pros and cons. I think the idea is to get the audience to join in on the conversation. The biggest problem I can see with this software is that there may be too many opinions and not enough facts. It's kind of like having too many cooks in the kitchen. But again, the newspaper is hurting from the internet. If there is any way to survive, they must find a way to change with the times.

sswog said...

It's all about getting your voice heard. Reporters go to school to be able to say what they want to say and to tell the story. This is the first of many changes that the newspaper is going to have to make in order to survive. I think each of these plans have pros and cons. I think the idea is to get the audience to join in on the conversation. The biggest problem I can see with this software is that there may be too many opinions and not enough facts. It's kind of like having too many cooks in the kitchen. But again, the newspaper is hurting from the internet. If there is any way to survive, they must find a way to change with the times.

Brandon L. Atkison said...

Traditional newsrooms have become dull and boring. Most of them have lost their ability to be creative and innovative. They produce the same thing without caring to hear what the readers really want. I agree with all the points made in the article. These news startups are the future and being innovative is the fundamental part of their success. The main reason they are so successful is due to their employees. They believe anything is possible and work as a team to create new ideas. They work endlessly around the clock to ensure they provide the top information to their consumers. Traditional newsrooms need to read this article and start the reinventing process right away.

Sarah Jordan Lear said...

I like the idea of the transparency team. I can't tell you how many times I'm looking for information on someone and all that comes up is their name, phone number and email. When I go to a site looking for a person, that is not the type of information I want. There are so many websites that could benefit from updating the profiles for their 'teams'.
I also like the idea of behind the scenes blogging. I think having feedback from people in the community could really put an interesting spin on stories. People want more than just the facts. Interacting with the community can shed a lot of insight on particular topics that may not have been there before.
A lot of these new additions to the newsroom, I feel, can help reach the young adult age group more so than current newsroom practices. A lot of the time I find news rather boring and only listen to the highlights of it. If I had a way to know a lot more of the in-depth, even opinionated information, i'd find the news a lot more interesting. There are a lot of people out there who have strong opinions on a lot of topics and while all opinions might not be consistent with our own, it offers a broader way of thinking. I think a lot of these news startups and surely more to come with change the future of news.

CLiddell said...

I agree with the article. But, I have always found the news to be boring. So of course, if they have new ways to change their style, then they should add different touches that will keep the viewers viewing.
Also, I believe that more infor do needs to be revealed than just common infor on the author. They should tell enough to justify this person information as a trustworthy source for the news. And, I think blogging would be a good asset for the news to use, althought I know it would be bring an overloaded, but it is a good way to bring the audience in voice their opinions.

dgarrard said...

I'm not too fond of the idea at Tatango. Having cameras throughout the building, monitoring the employees actions and whereabouts, seems to be a bit extreme. Granted the employees are on company time, but allowing investors to watch them day in and day out is too much.

As for the idea of news transparency, the news team should always be transparent. The best way to reel in more subscribers and express your own credibility is to make yourself as transparent as possible. The more of yourself that you put out there the less likely anyone will try and discredit you.

JG Hanks said...

I think the transparency of team is a great idea. As we advance in technology, the age of information become more and more involved with who is providing the information. To some it might seem like information overkill to know so much about reporters, but there are many people who welcome the interaction. This includes the reporters themselves. It allows them feedback on their work they might not otherwise get.

News as software seems to be a niche suggested improvement. For many people it might be too much to deal with and something that they wouldn't put much feeling into. Unless the help pages actually functioned to help the reader instead of trying to sell them something, I see this as unnecessary.

Product management could be a welcome addition to many newsrooms depending on how they use it. The suggestion in the article about changing the way the 'refresh' button is presented and implemented is very logical and makes a great difference to the page. In the hands of an overeager manager however and the page could quickly become a nightmare.

Behind the scenes blogging can be either amazing or a potential lawsuit. Who would monitor the blogging? What if someone blogged about something they shouldn't have? What about a disgruntled employee? There is a great potential for information getting out that is either potentially damaging or possibly so mundane it's pointless to post. This could go either way.

General startup culture has proven to be either beneficial or a complete disaster. It's all in the way it's handled. Working in an environment that allows for chances and some freedom would be amazing but it takes the perfect kind of employees to not take advantage of that freedom.

MattDemp said...

I agree that it is great to update newsrooms to make things more modern and current but on the other hand, it could also be dangerous because if you leave a site to an anonomous person, you would risk the site from being hacked.

LMRowe said...

I agree with all the points made in the article. I think that it is important to know about the author. By knowing some information about the author, you can do research to see if he or she is a credible resource. The news can be boring sometimes. I think that is important for the author to be creative. I think that blogging is a good tool for the media to use. But, there should be some exceptions or rules.

DSEELEY said...

I agree with the comment that newsrooms are becoming dull and boring. The creativity of a news team is gone. As for being transparent most are, you can see right thru there stories and themselves. I belive that these new startups are a wave of the future, the employees of these companies are dedicated to their beliefs. The ideas at the Tatango company of cameras in the work place I belive is a way of the future. Companies want employees that are hard workers and these cameras are a way to ensure this. Back again to these new startup companies need to be a little more up front on who they are and what they can do for clients.

Shelly said...

I think that it is a great idea for the viewers/readers to know more about the author of a story. It helps the reader feel connected to writer. When there is a connection between the writer and reader, it gives credibility to what they have to say. But as with everything, there needs to be limits set about what can and will be said and written by the author. Too much information can be a dangerous thing.

I do agree that due to changes in our society, the news media is viewed as "the old way to get news information". Basically because the news is revealed on their time schedule and not the public's. Televised news broadcasts are shown at specific times for networks and news papers print the news once a day. So, needless to say, there needs to be some improvements made to these options.

I also liked the idea that some companies have (Google) where employees are allowed to use 20% of their time to explore an area related to their job that interests them. This is one way to get fresh ideas and to keep employees interested in their jobs. Who knows, once those ideas are used, it could be the new "thing" in news.

Unknown said...

I agree that all these tips are helpful in the newsroom to a certain degree. Having a transparency of team is a good way to come in contact with indiviuals of the team; however, it would be a good idea to living it up a little, like the example they give with pictures of the editores an so on.
also, the behind the scene blogging is a good idea because it gived the people on the outside a chance to post comment and leaern about whats going on in the communnity. Its a good idea for more communication. now some of these suggestion can tend to lead to cxertain consequences because they are freely open to individuals. Its ok to hear what people have to say but sometime it can get out of hand and that could lead to problem with the newsroom like ratings and so on. For the most part, theses ideas are helpful

JLafond said...

If the news agencies want to keep up with the times, then they need to make several changes. The best suggestion is the transparency of the news team. Many people want to be sure their news comes from a reliable source. The more credible the source is, the more readers the news agency will get. Also, if the reader can communicate with the staff, then they also can easily be connected with what is going on in the community. I also think the editorial calendar is a great idea because it allows readers to find a particular story that they might be looking for or interested in.

The only negative is the idea at Tatango because that seems like an invasion of privacy. Plus, I don’t think I would be comfortable with the idea of someone watching me all the time. As long as I am helping the company succeed and I’m doing my work then I don’t think investor should be able to watch over you every minute.

BGibson said...

I think that all of the ideas were great ideas except for the behind the scene blogging or tantigo idea. I do not think that it is necessary to monitor reporters in order for them to get their job done. This may only make the reporters feel insecure and knowing that the cameras are there may cause them to act outside their norm. This idea would not really allow you to know who the true reporters really are.

The newsroom has become boring, but would be better if viewers had the option to venture out with links while browsing the newsroom. There should be individual articles to read about each author, to understand their background and how they think as opposing to where their creativity comes from. This also shows that the authors are credible sources and have a reason for the things that they write or say.

ABilly said...

I also agree with the transparency team. The webcam in offices are a good idea depending on what offices you are wanting to watch because there is still places that need the things done in offices to be confidential and should remain that way.

Blogging is a good idea to get opinions from people but it should be remembered that its only an opinion and should be kept in that way. Blogging would give the news some idea of how to present it so that viewers would be willing to watch it more.

ABilly said...

I also agree with the article and think that news should blog but to remember that it is only a blog of someone who is voicing their opinion. This would help to keep news interesting and to keep the viewers watching.

As far as Tatango, I think it would be a good idea to a point but then again, they do need to remember that this can cause a problem for some people who may have to have some confidential things that need not be seen by anyone else. I believe that no matter where you work there are people who do things that should not be doing things and that the webcame would be good to have but most workers do their jobs without doing wrong and being on a webcam could be a little hard to understand why they need it.