tips for journalism

sciences-po J-School

frederic filloux december 2012

tips for journalism

your address book : begin now, update, add tags, keywords, categories, import your LinkedIn network, create sub-directories

manage your notes : Saving stuff: Evernote

your social presence : mandatory, multiplatform precise, transparent, incremental, connected to your address book

use the cloud : you can store dozens of gigabytes for free, list of resources here

Get Organized

Sourcing

source vs reference

?

source vs referenceSOURCE = personal, nurtured, hardwork, long term

investment (sometimes), not shared w/ anyone tied to the address book

Sources require persistence and finess

REFERENCE = open, freely accessible, 99% online, updated, to be qualified through expertise and experience (including mistakes)

You have no excuses to build for yourself

a good reference system. Begin now!

GoogleSearch: Using Google

Google Search, By Time

Search: Using Google News

Google: File Types

Google: Searching by Domain

Search: Google Alerts

Search: Custom Search Engine

RSS: The Basics

LinkedIn•LinkedIn: Finding Sources

•LinkedIn page for Journalists

•LinkedIn: Researching Stories

Other tools

•Use Klout to measure influence

•or Sulia, a subject-based social network

using wikipedia

• Wikipedia is not a source per se

• It's mostly useless on controversial issues

• But It's a great tool for the basics

• And it's an entry point to other references (not sources)

[Examples]

• Become fluent in social media

• Identify sources, by their authority, influence, etc.

•About narrative writing (and great reporting), the Brian Burrough example

For the rest of your online production :

•Be concise, brief, short...

•Take in account the reading conditions

•Sequence your construction

•Add visual: still pix, video (be OK with it)

Writing

Bullet points and lists are another effective way of breaking up a long story to facilitate reading and attract attention, as they make absorbing the information easier. They can be used in the body of a story or at the beginning to highlight the most important points in a report. CNN.com does this routinely.

Subheads every few paragraphs can help to direct the eyes to "entry points" where users can start reading. They should be concise and to the point – preferably three to seven words - giving readers a clear indication of what comes next. They also help to break blocks of text into manageable chunks.

Liveblogging: A collection of 12 tips covering issues such as selecting a platform, structuring a liveblog and feeding in content, based on pointers from experienced livebloggers.

Learn to report in the field and on the fly: for instance: live tweeting, using AudioBoo to get short clip interviews with the police, using Bambuser to live stream some video.

Aim high : GREAT STORIES IN GREAT MAGAZINES

Production Tools

Mobile Journalism Reporting Tools Guide

Filming : 5 Tips for Using a FlipCam

The best apps, communities & tools for writers and journalists

Richard Bach once said, “A professional writer

is an amateur who didn’t quit.” From CNN

anchors to TNW contributors, those bound by

the written word can always benefit from a leg

up in the digital age. Here, we give you some

of the best apps, tools, and communities for

writers and journalists. Whether you’re

suffering from writer’s block or en route to

becoming the next BBC reporter, we promise:

there’s an app for that.

Learn to code: get a basic understanding of the principles of how programming works; it can really help you use computers and technology tools to cut out some of the mundane bits of production.

Experiment: So many projects you can try are cost-free and low risk. People think journalism is only now experiencing change, but it always has been, it's just faster and talked about more now. Just go and get started – don't look for an excuse not to do something but for a reason to try.

Call yourself a journalist: Not a student journalist, and then act like it – don't wait for permission to get started, just start writing, blogging, interviewing, taking photos and so on.