Internet Strategy for News Organisations

In this session we talked about rethinking the product that journalists produce. We cover research services and conferences, and then get into data-as-journalism: databases, information architecture, and linked data. We wrap up with mobile news applications and location-based services.

We ended our course in online journalism with this final thought: journalists need to understand the goals of their journalism, and figure out how to use technology to forward them. Everything else — including long held practices and values — is secondary.

Video. Slides.

The class was held Friday, June 18, 2010.

Readings:

• Search for alternative media business models hampered by narrow thinking, Robert Picard
• A Fundamental Way Newspaper Websites Need to Change, Adrian Holovaty
• Location, location, etc: What does the WSJ’s Foursquare check-in say about the future of location in news?, Megan Garber, Nieman Journalism Lab

References:

• Forbes takes a page (and an employee) from The Economist to build a custom research service, Laura McGann, Nieman Journalism Lab
• Information architecture for news websites, Stijn Debrouwere
• Free The Facts: The Guardian’s Editor in Chief on why data matters
• Foursquare Begins Testing An “Add To Foursquare” Button With WSJ, MG Siegler, TechCrunch
• The Newsonomics of iPad and tablets, floor by floor, Ken Doctor, Nieman Journalism Lab
• iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing, Jakob Nielsen