Is your news website still living in the shadow of your print edition? Learn how a dynamic news website and an "online first" philosophy can transform and reinvigorate your coverage of your school community.

1. ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK
Logan Aimone, MJE
School Newspapers Online

2. State of many high school news websites
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They’re a repository for printed stories.
They’re where the bad stories are published.
They’re a storage place for print PDFs.
They’re only occasionally thought about.
Big stories are published only after the “big reveal” in print.
They don’t live up to their potential.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

3. What if it didn’t have to be that way?
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What if you didn’t have to wait until the next issue?
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What if your audience wasn’t just your school?
What if you needed to reach your audience instantly,
no matter where they were?
What if you have real news to report?
It can be different.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

4. Online first gives you new opportunities.
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Breaking news and emergencies
Developing stories
Sports game coverage
Movie and music reviews
Opinions
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

5. Your publication is no longer a newspaper.
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It’s a news program.
It’s news beyond the paper.
It’s time to change your language.
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Issues/Editions
Archives
Section Names
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

6. Your audience expands beyond school walls
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Students
Teachers and school staff
Parents
Community
The World
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

7. What do you need to do to be online first?
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Commit.
Build the audience.
Have a writing/editing/classroom structure.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

8. You’re committed.
You know what is needed.
So how do you do it?
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

9. Build the audience.
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Establish a reputation: Be the #1 news source in your school.
Deliver relevant content. Timeliness makes content relevant.
How do readers know you’ve posted a new story?
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Browsing
Email updates/RSS
Social media
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

10. Engage with readers via social media.
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Build your social media networks.
Post to social media. Avoid the auto-post plugin.
Time your posts.
Get readers to distribute content they like or want to promote.
Listen to your readers with social media.
Find sources and story ideas on social media.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

11. Start looking at design differently
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Story page design is consistent, putting focus on content.
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Contextual linking
Embeddable elements
Multiple photos and video
Rethink your home page. Rethink the carousel.
Design and structure can vary to fit the circumstances
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

12. 5 things to think about and address:
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Day-to-day activities
Leadership structures
Coverage decisions
Grading
Fun
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

13. Students will be in
different points of the
production schedule daily.
And that’s OK.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

14. Rethink the story cycle
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With an online-first attitude, there is no “cycle.”
You can make every day a story idea day.
You can make every day a publication day.
A story might take three weeks or three hours to produce.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

15. Day-to-day Activities
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You can bring order to the chaos.
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Teach lessons. Large-group, mini-lessons, ad hoc.
Review. What was published yesterday? Did it get read?
Brainstorm and plan stories. What’s happening today? What
do readers need to know?
Set a priority for the day. If it’s the print edition, spend time on
design, editing.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

16. Day-to-day Activities, continued
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Communicate beyond classroom. Develop a method to
facilitate organization and communication.
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One-on-one checkins. These add accountability and
opportunity to redirect student efforts.
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Story groups. Pull writer, editor, & photographer together.
Down time. It’s OK.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

17. Leadership structures
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Accommodate the online-first philosophy by revising student
leadership positions and descriptions.
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Have an online editor-in-chief.
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Also consider a social media coordinator.
Roles for managing editor (assignment editor) and
photographers/photo editors must be expanded.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

18. Leadership roles
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Empower editors to own their positions
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to keep up with story ideas.
to keep the audience informed.
to keep up with the editing.
to make decisions responsibly.
Plan for when big news happens.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

19. Coverage: Timeline and deadlines
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Determine the best platform. Some stories are told better in
print, while some are told better online.
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Don’t just use the general deadline for a print issue.
What deadline makes sense? What deadline is realistic?
Set up an editing process that allows for students to finish
stories successfully. Individualize.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

20. Use a collaborative writing tool
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You need a tool that allows you to collaborate in real time to
speed up the editing process.
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Google Drive (Apps/Docs) is great for this.
Share a folder rather than a Doc
Have a master planning spreadsheet/plan
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

21. Grading: What to consider
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Assignments will have many forms. How do you
accommodate this in grading?
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What happens when students slack off, flake out or just don’t
produce?
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Set up a checklist of requirements to earn grades.
Determine competency levels and grade based on level.
Establish production quota for quarter/semester.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

22. Make time for fun
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The production cycle doesn’t have the same ebb and flow as
each printed paper, so you will need to build in time to
celebrate, evaluate, bond and grow.
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Incorporate Web milestones (analytics, hits, likes, retweets)
into the celebration list.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

23. Take advantage of what the Web offers
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Publishing is instantaneous.
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Content can be the length that is appropriate —
not cut or expanded to fit space.
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Storage is not an issue — lots of photos or multimedia.
Stories can be published when they are ready —
not when the print cycle dictates.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

24. Take advantage (continued)
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Stories can be updated or corrected easily as new information
is gathered.
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A story can be a springboard for exploration with links to
additional content and related stories.
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

25. Ready to jump in?
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK

26. QUESTIONS? Let’s hear ’em.
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Contact me at logan@snosites.com or @loganaimone
School Newspapers Online
See me at the table in the exhibitor area
ONLINE FIRST
MAKING IT WORK