Journalistic news judgment, a journalist's online reputation, engaging audiences and advocacy journalism.

1. News Judgment, Reputation,
Engagement, Advocacy
Spring 2012
Prof. Marie K. Shanahan
University of Connecticut

2. What is news?
• News is a report of recent events, of new
information.
• Reporting the news is a public service.
• News originates in three ways: naturally occurring
events, planned activities, and reporter enterprise.
• “Explanatory” stories should also be included as a
form of news.

3. News judgment: 9 elements

4. Timeliness
• Recent events have higher news value than
happenings in the past.
Image by photoxpress.com

5. Impact
• How many people are will be affected/influenced by
the subject of the story?
Image by photoxpress.com

6. Prominence
Significant people
or places are
involved.
Photo by Flickr user BeckyF, used under a
Creative Commons license

7. Proximity
How close to “home” the news originates.

8. Conflict
“Bad news:”
Crime, strife, war,
public discontent,
protests,
disagreements.
Image by photoxpress.com

9. Novelty
The unusual, strange, unique or odd.
Image via telegraph.co.uk

10. Consequence

11. Currency
More value is given to stories pertaining to issues or
topics that are in the spotlight of public concern rather
than issues or topics that have little prevalence.
Flickr photo by David Shankbone

12. Human Interest
Stories about individuals
and groups of people and
their problems, concerns,
or achievements can stir
empathy, interest and
occasionally, outrage, in
the reader or viewer.
Human interest stories are
often the story behind the
story.
Image by photoxpress.com

13. Explanatory Stories
• The public benefits from professionally reported
information explaining issues, processes, trends and
events that affect their lives and communities.
• Digital journalists can create interactive “crash-
courses” on topics that are currently or repeatedly in
the news, providing necessary background to give
users reliable understanding.

14. Data Visualization
• Can be a useful tool in an explanatory story.
• Helps audience understand complex statistics and
numbers.
• Is used to communicate information clearly and
effectively through graphical means.
• Interactive maps are a common form of data
visualization.

15. http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

16. Multimedia Storyboarding
The best multimedia
stories are multi-
dimensional.
Contain elements of
action, process, and
people.
Organize an
explanatory story with
a storyboard.

17. What is a storyboard?
• A visual sketch of your story/project, separated into
different parts so it can be organized.
• Pictures and words depict what users can see and do
on every screen
• Visual representation helps you define the scope of
your project
• Forces you to think about focus of your story.

18. Online Storyboarding
Divide your story into logical parts:
•Lead or nut graph – the introduction
•Profiles of the main person or people in the story
•The event or situation
•Any process or how something works
•Pros and cons
•History of the event or situation
•Other related
topics/hyperlinks/resources/conversation

19. Create a new blog post!
• Open a new browser window and start a new post
on our class blog.
• Your post will have 3 sections: Reputation,
Engagement, Advocacy. Use SUBHEADS.
• Follow the instructions on slides 20-25 and answer
the questions in BOLD TYPE.
• Make sure to include a visual element in your post,
and hyperlinks, of course.

20. 1. Your reputation
• Perform a web search on yourself. For example, I
searched: “Marie Shanahan” and “Marie K.
Shanahan.” What shows up your first page of results?
• If available, click on the links about you. How would
you rate your digital footprint? Excellent, Good, Fair,
Poor, or Invisible. Why? How do you think your
digital footprint reflects upon your reputation as a
journalist?
• How do you think you should conduct yourself
(online and off) if you want/need sources and an
audience to trust you?

21. Read this article
7 Steps For Journalists To Build Trust and Credibility with an
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/community-engagement/122806/highlights-from-sxsw-7-steps-to-buildi

22. 2. Engaging your audience
Once you have a work of journalism to publish, you
need to find an audience for your work. Journalists can
use the power of the web to create a community
around the topic, if one doesn’t already exist.
You can discuss/promote the work of journalism in
“places” where your key audience gathers, including
social media sites, blogs and off-line events.
Journalists are expected to be conversation leaders
and moderators, and not just “broadcasters” of
information. How do you feel about this new role?
Comfortable or uncomfortable? Why?

23. Watch This Video
TED Talk featuring Seth Godin: The Tribes We Lead
http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html

24. Advocacy Journalism
Browse these two websites and read the bio of New York
Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (who will be speaking at
UConn this month.)
•CNN: The Freedom Project
•Hartford Courant:Domestic
Violence Project - Overcoming Battered Lives
•Nicholas Kristof | UConn Reads

25. 3. Advocacy questions
• Should journalists and their news organizations use
their communication resources and large audience
reach to champion “causes?”
• If no, why? If yes, why? Can a journalist advocate a
cause and still operate within the
“objectivity/fairness/accuracy” standards of the
profession?
• Can “crusading” journalists go too far?
• One perspective: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201112/2042/