This document outlines strategies for journalists to adopt a #DigitalFirst approach to their work. It recommends that journalists work primarily for digital platforms, experiment with new tools and techniques, engage with communities online and in person, and think of stories as an ongoing process rather than a single product. Reporters are encouraged to live tweet, live blog, crowdsource, and make greater use of tools like social media, data visualization and video. The goal is for journalists to better serve digital audiences and communities through interactive and ongoing coverage.

1. Thinking & Working
#DigitalFirst
Steve Buttry
Park Record
January 10, 2012

2. Read more about it
• stevebuttry.wordpress.com
• slideshare.net/stevebuttry
• @stevebuttry
• jxpaton.wordpress.com
• sbuttry@journalregister.com

5. #DigitalFirst journalists …
• Work & think first for digital platforms
• Experiment & take risks
• Try new tools & techniques
• Join community conversation
• Engage the community (digital, print, IRL)
• Are optimistic about journalism’s future

6. Questions for any beat
• What stories should I cover live?
• How should I use a beatblog?
• What are regular sources?
• How do they like to communicate?
• What digital sources should I follow?
• How should I crowdsource?

7. Questions for any beat
• What data can help my coverage?
• How do I engage the community?
• How should I use video?
• What content & links should I curate?
• How do I report unfolding stories?
• What are beat priorities?

8. Court reporter
• Live-tweet from courtroom
(narrative, not a transcript)
• Feed tweets into liveblog
• Big development: Text news alert to
editor
• Write summary or analysis story for web
& print

11. Court reporter, no trial
• Traditional rounds:
lawyers, judges, clerks, filings
• Add #DigitalFirst rounds: monitor
tweets, search Twitter, Facebook groups
& pages
• Tweet/alert/blog big filings
• Video clips in interviews
• Scan or download docs if not online

12. Visual journalist
• Shoot first w/ smartphone & post
• Shoot w/ camera for slideshow & print
• Shoot video
• Record ambient sound, interviews
• If disaster, shoot some after shots for
before/after

13. Sports journalist
• Live-tweet or liveblog game
• Color commentary/analysis, rather than
play-by-play (especially if on TV)
• Interact w/ fans (polls, answer questions)
• Livestream post-game press conferences
• Post-game chat

15. Sports, not game day
• Video clips of interviews
• Frequent blog updates & tweets
• Data visualization of stats
• Alerts of breaking news
• Webcast and/or live chat

16. Beat reporter
• Beatblog
• Liveblog meetings, hearings, events
• Tweet/alert/liveblog breaking news
• Live chat on continuing stories
• Data visualization
• Curate community conversation

17. Beat reporter questions
• How to crowdsource story?
• What terms, hashtags should you search
(routinely & for each story)?
• Regular/special hashtags to use?
• People to follow? New FB pages/groups?
• Other social media to search
(YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, Google+
…)?

18. Gathering news on the beat
• Video
• Links
• Databases
• Monitor officials, agencies, sources on
Twitter, Facebook, G+, YouTube, etc.
• Source documents to upload
• Map, timeline

19. Assigning editor
• Monitors social media as well as
wires, scanners, etc.
• Staff questions guide digital journalism
(data, Twitter
search, hashtags, crowdsourcing)
• Urgency for breaking news, live coverage
• Edits digital content for print

20. Senior editor
• Listen, join & lead community
conversation (blog, social media, chats)
• Lead staff in trying new tools &
techniques
• Digital focus to daily meetings
• Post daily news budgets online

22. Copy editor
• Social & Google searches to question &
verify facts
• Writes strong SEO headlines
• Crowdsources print headlines, news
judgments

24. #DigitalFirst journos think:
• Story is, as Jeff Jarvis says, a process, not a
product
• It’s great to be first w/ story or the idea, but
otherwise link
• Community = collaborators
• Lots of RTs or a prominent link are better than
front-page story

25. #DigitalFirst journos think:
• Obstacles = war stories, not excuses
• How can you use new tools to do better
stories?
• What are good search terms to use in finding
people discussing this story/event on Twitter?
• Journalism has a bright and boundless future

26. Read more about it
• stevebuttry.wordpress.com
• slideshare.net/stevebuttry
• @stevebuttry
• jxpaton.wordpress.com