1. Online journalism
ASNE presentation 2013

2. What do good sites do?
I’m asking ...

3. A modern news site
• Mobile first, not just mobile friendly ... or mobile maybe
• Constantly and consistently updated
• Social integration
• Multimedia - video, photos, audio and design
• Experimental with new tools/ideas
• Reporters who understand what digital means

4. Mobile lesson ideas
• Have students examine mobile apps and write essay or a
just a list on what they like and dislike and why
• Have students create a free app: http://mobile.conduit.com/
• Have students report remotely using WordPress App,
camera app that comes with phone, social media
• Have students come up with a paper “wireframe” of an app -
work in groups and have them present.

5. 24-hour news lessons
• Run a mock news event usingYouTube videos and have
students blog from them.They should update with time
stamps and fake Twitter updates.
• Throw students ethical questions and see how they react as
a group.Would they post scanner traffic?
• Have student edit each other’s short news-alert-style
updates.
• Time students on writing. Give them 5 minutes to write
three paragraph news stories. Speed and accuracy.

6. Multimedia lessons
• Have them shoot and edit a short video - less than 1:30.
• Have them dissect the printed newspaper and discuss what
types of multimedia could go with each story
• Have them do an NPR-style audio story
• When they do photos, have them put together a story arc.
Soundslides is good for adding audio component to it.
• Critique news websites (and non-news sites)

7. Experimental lessons
• Have students find a social or news platform (non-
traditional) and have them write an essay on how they
could use it to cover a topic in the news. How could
Pinterest be used to cover the Olympics? Is there a good
audio program for sharing news about the school football
team?
• Have them make a podcast using SoundCloud

8. Social lessons
• If you don’t have access to Twitter in your school, they are
just 140-character sentences. Have them write mock tweets
surrounding a press conference or a sporting event, etc.
• Encourage them to share news on their own Twitter
accounts.Teach them the importance of a serious social
presence.
• Have discussions about how they get their news, what they
trust and why.
• Ethical debate on when it’s OK to share information.

9. Questions for you
• Have you watched any web video in the past 24 hours?
• How about an online video by a news organization?
• Why not? Is it because we get this?
• 60 percent of all online web traffic is viewing video
• 37 billion video minutes per month

10. Why so bad?

11. The importance of audio

12. Preparing to shoot
• Plan first - come up with a goal for your video
• Write out an outline - what do you need, who should you
interview? What equipment do you need?
• Plan for b-roll - a lot of b-roll. Six minutes for every minute
you use of film.
• Test equipment ahead of time - get a friend to help
• E-mail/call subjects if possible - be clear what you’ll do

13. The interview
• Dress appropriately
• Hook up mic early and test again
• Find a quiet area - be mindful of echoes, wind, cars, etc.
• Talk to the subject for a while with camera set up but not
rolling.
• Ask people to repeat information - it’s OK!

14. Shooting
• Use a tripod or a monopod - or a wall or a fence ...
• Be sure lighting is how you want it - film makes shadows
deeper, overexposures brighter
• Use natural, diffused light if possible
• Capture that audio - lavalier mic is often the way to go
• Use the rule of thirds

15. Editing• Don’t use sparkles!
• Professionals use Avid or Final Cut Pro. Use what works
• Keep them short - less than two minutes if possible
• Edit tightly even within those two minutes
• Edit with pacing in mind
• Professionals use Avid or Final Cut Pro. Use what works
• Keep them short - less than two minutes if possible
• Edit tightly even within those two minutes
• Edit with pacing in mind

16. Examples
• Now THIS is watchable
• Local story - note use of audio and b-roll
• Captures audio, lighting, storyline together to tell a complete
story: The natural light bulb
• Newspapers as TV studios

17. photos
• For a photo series, you need at least five photos, and a story
• It should contain a beginning, a middle and an end
• Get a variety of shots - details, wide shots, scene-setters
• Take more photos than you will use
• Take your time to write great captions - a lost art. ID
subjects!
• Again, get the subject comfortable before shooting

18. Techniques
• Again, lighting, shakiness (need a tripod!) and rule of thirds
• Planning ahead works well for a photo series
• You can use software to put photos into a slideshow, but
great photo series should be able to stand without fancy
effects
• Audio slideshows can bring them to life
• Smartphones are getting pretty good

19. AUDIO
• Storytelling is king - people aren’t going to listen unless you
really make it worth their time, but you can get their time
• Audio can be captured via smartphone or through a digital
audio recorder
• A quiet room, a comfortable conversation
• Edit in audacity - add bumper music/intro
• Awesome software - SoundCloud, iTunes, audioboo