What Are Your Favorite Online Tools for Reporting?
Reporting has always been about digging for facts, finding people to talk with, and gathering visual and aural accounts. Now that broadband is widespread, the tools have changed.
This Saturday, I’ll be in South Florida teaching an Online News Association workshop on where to go and what to use to mine, crowdsource, and distribute stories. It’s part of ONA’s free all-day Parachute Training program. Today’s the last day to register.
As I put the finishing touches on my talk, I’d like to know:
- Which tools and methods are most effective for you? Twitter and Facebook for querying, discussing, and linking are two. Others?
- Are there specific tasks you want to figuring out? For example, how to filter through many streams of information to find gold?
Leave a comment, or reply to me @MacDivaONA on Twitter.
Evan Williams’ Keynote at ONA09
Twitter co-founder and CEO Evan Williams opened the Online News Association 2009 conference with a discussion about the service, how it’s changed and what plans the company has in store. Watch the livestream:
You can also watch Leo Laporte’s keynote and the ONA Online Journalism Awards ceremony. Video from ONA09 panel sessions are free for members, $25 for non-members. Details on how to watch those are here.
Who’s Missing From This Food Map?
Ever wonder what the most popular links are within your circle of friends and trusted sources?
Web Trend Map, a new interactive site, let’s you do that. Created by designer Craig Mod and information architect iA Inc., the website maps selected Twitter users and displays the trending links among those users off to the side.
The site was sorely lacking in food-related maps, so in the spirit of my most recent post, I made one.
Are there any food bloggers/makers/photographers you love who are on Twitter? Let me know and I’ll consider them for inclusion.
Craig and iA write more about the thinking behing Web Trend Map on their site. And if the words “web trend map” sound familiar, it’s ’cause iA Inc. is the company behind the popular Web trends infographic, now available as a poster.
Have a Look at These New Sites Around the Web
Just wanted to bring your attention to some news-related projects that launched this week:
Reporters looking for advice from other reporters should take a look at ReportingOn.
Ryan Sholin’s revamped site is like a help forum for news developers and journalists, particularly beat and local journalists. Follow ReportingOn on Twitter. You’ll find me on ReportingOn too.
The hyperlocal news and data site Everyblock released its source code, much to the delight of Django developers everywhere.
Everyblock is the brainchild of Adrian Holovaty, one of the co-developers of the Django framework. Read more about the project, poke around and see what you find.
Personally, I’d also like to see the source code for the Everyblock iPhone app, but one thing at a time.
If you want to learn more about mobile site design, consider signing up for W3C’s first-ever live training session in Cambridge, UK.
The event takes place Oct. 13. Registration — at a hefty €399.00 (about US$558 at today’s exchange rate) — includes lectures and hands-on workshops, as well as access to the nine-part course. Read the full description, register online or read more about the W3C Mobile Web Initiative.
And finally, if you’re here because of the list of “100 Best Blogs for Journalism Students,” welcome!
Feel free to browse around. A few of the most popular posts on Ricochet include:
- Have Reporting Work You’re Proud Of? Enter the Online Journalism Awards (Hurry! Deadline is July 8.)
- 10 Golden Rules for Video Journalists
- How to Tell a Multimedia Story: The Pitch
What ideas and tools would you like to know more about? Drop a comment, or ping me on Twitter @MacDivaONA.
What’s With ‘The Hed Made Me Read It’?
Headline writing has always been part of the craft of journalism. Online, it’s even more important as it catches reader attention and affects Google page rank.
Those who follow me on Twitter will sometimes see an update that begins, “The hed made me read it.”
In doing so, I’m trying to point out just how important it is to write a headline that makes a reader want to click. And in turn, I want to acknowledge the work of sharp journalists — and copy editors in particular.
In the last few days, it’s been fun to see “the hed made me read it” and its variations show signs of becoming a mini-meme on Twitter. Kevin Koehler picked it up. Dan Berko gave it a twist.
What headlines have made you want to click on content? Want to follow my tweets? You’ll find me @MacDivaONA.
Addendum: If you’re looking some background on hedwriting for the Web, I suggest:
- “This Boring Headline Is Written for Google” from The New York Times
- “Headline writing: How to write web headlines that catch search engine spiders” from New Media Bytes
- “Writing Headlines for Regular Readers, Search Engines, and Social Media” from Copyblogger
