It’s time for our annual list of things your newsroom needs to do online. Some of these are repeats – and that’s because they’re still relevant to many newsrooms. There’s no “pie in the sky” stuff here; just steps you should take that are relatively cheap and painless. Happy New Year from Lost Remote.
1. Build a mobile version of your site. This should not be hard – on WordPress it’s a free plugin. If you’re using a firm to service your site, demand this. There’s really no excuse why your site shouldn’t be mobile-friendly. You can still run ads. You’ll get a leg up on the competition. When I visit a site on my iPhone or iPad, I want to see a clear, large-text version of your offerings. Forget “zooming in” – it’s a bad user experience. Use your same information – just make it easy to read on mobile devices.
2. Get an app version of your site. This is slightly trickier, but there are many services that will build an app for your site inexpensively. (We paid $49 for the Lost Remote app; you’ll want something that’s the next step up.) As is the case with #1, it’s ideal to have a different experience for your mobile users. The most successful apps present a reason for visitors to stick around and explore. That’s probably your 2.0 app. Get cracking on the 1.0 first.
3. Do a Skype video remote. Just try this once and you’ll be hooked. The major cable news networks are doing this, so no excuse about this not being “broadcast quality.” I never understood that excuse – is a phoner broadcast-audio quality? Many of your news subjects will have Skype on their computer, so you can interview them from their homes. (If they don’t have Skype, it’s easy enough to talk them through.) Best of all – it’s free.
4. Innovate, Fail, Innovate Again. The major success stories of the web during the past five years have not come from established media; they have come from people willing to challenge the established practices. And – even more importantly – they have come from people who are willing to fail. There’s absolutely no reason why Groupon couldn’t have come from a local media group. Yes, some stations tinkered with couponing, and some are now partnering with Groupon. But until the project is native to us, we won’t make the kind of money the originators do. The money is in the platform.
5. Give Your Team “Innovation Time Off.” Google allows its staffers to experiment 20% of the employee’s time. That’s one full day a week. Now, we know you can’t afford to give every employee a day away from their core tasks, but you can certainly give some time to some staffers. Think of this as HFR for digital media.
6. Send Your Digital Media Pro to a Seminar or Convention: You will get your money’s worth and more if one of your digital media staffers attends a convention or seminar. The Knight Foundation runs a great program and they’ll even pay for people to attend some of their seminars. Poynter and the RTDNA also have terrific seminars. Start with a regional conference. Have the participant present his/her findings to the newsroom immediately afterward. It will make for a great education for your entire staff.
7. Clean Up That Site!: Yes, we’ve been calling for this for years, but it always bears repeating. Media sites have shown that you don’t need to clutter your sites with a ton of ads and promos to be successful. On the contrary – cleaner is better. Yes, you will irritate the marketing department. But it isn’t allowed major time in your newscast; it shouldn’t hog space on your site.
8. Embrace Continuous News: The online audience has spoken. It doesn’t need (or even want) finished product news. People scan the web. Whether we like it or not, they want “the nugget.” There is always time to put up the finished product, but doing so will be more for your benefit than for the audience’s. Continuous News (which is blog-like in its presentation) will also improve your Google Ranking if done right. Everyone likes more visits. And while we’re on the subject – link out! Traditional media is the last bastion of refusing to link to outside stories. If you want others to link to you (which is good for your Google Ranking) you have to link to them, even if that means linking to the competition.
9. Expand Your Social Media: Most newsrooms have a Twitter feed and a Facebook page. Good start. Now you need to take the next step. Have many Twitter feeds. Think of them as RSS feeds – you want people to be able to drill down as much as possible. I’m not a huge fan of mandating a feed and page for everyone who is on-air. Such an approach usually means that most of these efforts will get a certain amount of effort to start, and then go largely unused. I like the topic approach better. Have a breaking news feed. Have a sports feed. Let your assignment desk run a feed. When there is an ongoing story, dedicate a Twitter feed to it – and claim the URL best associated with the event, as in twitter.com/blizzard2010. I know it goes against the “our brand means everything” mindset. You can still have your brand on the page.
10. Engage Your Audience: A Facebook page and a Twitter feed are not one-way. Don’t put every finished news product on the feeds. Don’t make every Tweet a tease for your site. Think “would my friends share this?” And when someone comments on your Facebook entry, reply. Facebook is a conversation, and you have to engage. When someone asks you a question on Twitter, reply. When you get a positive mention, thank the person who posted it. You don’t stand at a party and only talk about yourself. Be Social.
Have a happy, prosperous and innovative new year.
