Sourcing
How to use social, search, messaging radars
You’ll learn
To read digital signals with specialised tools + how to build a beat online by setting up trackers
Concept
Tracks events as they break + track trends before they peak; keep yourself informed of all developments
Maybe a photo?
A graph or illustration that helps give a framework
Search tools
> Optimise email with Google Alerts, Nuzzel, newsletters
> Use search insights from tools - Google Trends, Twitter trends
Track beats
Use Twitter Lists to track experts, reporters; optimise Tweet Deck to track them
Infiltrate or set up WhatsApp groups
Community listening
Hearken - get people to direct journalism
Groundsource - messaging-based news gathering
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Sourcing
How to curate posts/feeds around a story/beat
You’ll learn
> Curation vs plagiarism �> Aggregation vs curation
> How to build feeds
SEO vs good practice
Attribution doesn’t harm SEO karma, not linking might instead do it
Checklists
> Types of plagiarism
> Attribution guidelines
> Tracking a beat online
Online beat tracking
> Twitter Lists and Tweet Deck, Moments
> Email feeds and alerts
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Sourcing
How to deal with fake news, disinfo and bias
Disinfo is huge
> 126m got Russian ‘fake news’ on FB
Source: BBC
> Almost 50% shared tweets = fake news
Source: Quartz
Video is pernicious
Guatemalan woman lynched; video passed off as Hindu being killed as Muslim in three different states
Framework
Understand what is ‘fake news’, disinformation, misinformation, bias and polarisation
Need multi-pronged approach
Verification tools
Media literacy
Reclaim trust
Social media/Tech
Verification tools for:
Photographs
Video
Maps
Social Media
MetaData
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Sourcing
How to develop sources & interview people
Sources
Who is a source (see funnel), what we owe sources, managing source network, keeping in touch.
Learn
Pick/cultivate source, on/off record, do not attribute, background, types of questions, tip lines, leaked info.
Interviews
How to prep, set up, question, record, transcribe, attribute, corroborate
Why
Rampant “sources said” attribution and fake news, no check on access journalism and propaganda.
Questions? Ask @kamalasripada
Module: Sourcing
How to develop stories, series, themes, verticals
Programming
Themes, intersections, year-quarter-month arcs, calendars, idea bank, campaigns, calls to action.
Learn
Build a destination around any news lens, with limited resources
Frameworks
Sample calendar and newsletter, brand partnership guide, understanding micro content.
Why
Most stories are one-off, short-lived. Arcs/series ensure cumulative impact, depth, longevity
Cases
GenderAnd, News deeply on malnutrition, refugees, Syria
Commissioning
Rally resources, plan contributor schedule, build a team for series, calendarise coverage.
Questions? Ask @kamalasripada
Module: Sourcing
How to use thematic lenses in journalism
Why learn this?
Stories change dramatically when seen through different viewpoints (lenses).
Retrain Your Eye
Everything must be tested through a gender, caste, class, religion, language, region lens
Exercise
Watch does Kabali’s trailer tell you?
What did you think of Bahubali?
Concepts
> Gender vs sex
> SC/Dalit vs ‘low caste’, ‘Harijan’
> Health, sanitation, etc. as a lens
> Politics vs public interest as a lens
Intersectionalities
Mix and remix. GenderAnd: Culture, Science, Caste, Politics, Education, Sport, etc.
Resources
GenderAnd stories
(The Indian Express)
Sujatha Gidla: Being Dalit, Marxism vs feminism
(Conversations with Tyler)
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Sourcing
Production
How to film and edit live/video on your phone
Why it’s important
By 2021, digital video traffic will account for 82% of global consumer internet traffic. Source: CISCO
Framework
> Basic composition of shots
> Video sequencing
> Storyboarding
> Basics of editing
You will learn this
> Video/Audio gear
> Video formats
> Video platforms
> Editing software
> Video scriptwriting
Another image?
Images are good to break up the slide and also order the eye. It should be relevant though.
Gear
Filming: Camera, Mic, Tripod/selfie stick
Editing: Premier Plus, Imovie, FilmoraGo
Questions? Ask @sanaamir06
Module: Production
How to film and edit 360/VR/drone video
Why it’s important
The Global Virtual Reality market is estimated to reach $31.07 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 42.5%. Source:BusinessWire
Concepts
> Rules to shooting
> Directing immersive stories
> Editing 360 video
> Storyboarding
You will learn this
> Difference between 360, VR, AR, MR
> How to set up to shoot, edit & display
> Dos and don’ts
Questions? Ask @sanaamir06
Module: Production
Create micro-content to extend a story’s life
You’ll learn
Tools, skills, formats to create more micro content per story to reach wider, more diverse audiences
Stats
News stories’ median web lifespan 2.6 days, Twitter lifespan 10-72 hrs, FB lifespan 5 hrs for 75% engagement
Concepts
> Focus on impact vs publish and forget
> Multiple entry points > Reusability
> Visual formats
Toolkit
toQuiz, toTimeline, Pixlr, Juxtapose, SoundCite, Infogram, Canva
Formats
Timelines, Explainers, Quizzes, Interactives, Infographic, Snaps, Gallery, GIFs, Live Videos
Questions? Ask @furquansid
Module: Production
How to produce and podcast audio stories
Takeaways
Producing podcasts, for various formats and platforms,
Cases
NYT, It's All Journalism, Song Exploder, NPR, SeenUnseen.in, BBC Hindi, Mint
Trend
>250,000 podcast online, over 1 billion subscribers globally. News/talk among the most listened-to radio
Concepts
Right gear, Interviews and field recording. Punchy, informal writing, Voicing with emphasis and energy
Toolkit
Mics, Headphones, Recorders, Editing softwares. Hosts: Spotify, SoundCloud, iTunes, Deezer, Anchor
Elements
Interviews, Solo Commentary, Panel, Fiction/Non-fiction, Stories, Hybrids, Repurposed podcasts
Questions? Ask @furquansid
Module: Production
How to find, analyse, visualise data for journalism I
Why?
Computer assisted data reporting is considered to be at the “core of investigative reporting globally.” (GIJN).
Finding relevant, clean data in a usable format, however, remains the first challenge.
Examples
IndiaSpend
Hindustan Times
ProPublica
New York Times
Reuters
Maybe a photo?
Framework
- Finding your story and choosing the right data sets.
- The importance of clean data - The Tidy Data Principle
Complementary Skills
- Basic statistical understanding of interpreting numbers
- Data Visualization
Tools for extraction
- Tabula
- Google Sheets calculations
- Web scraping via Google Sheets
Resources
Other links that can help you learn this skill.
Questions? Ask @akshi_chawla
Module: Production
How to find, analyse, visualise data for journalism II
Why?
Projects that require getting and analysing big data are different from one-off data stories that don’t need heavy number crunching and coding.
Data viz tools available for beginners are limited in variety and often inefficient for complex stories.
Maybe a photo?
Framework
- Planning the project and looking for all relevant datasets
- Cross-referencing data sets and finding the hidden story in the data.
Complementary Skills
- Basic statistical understanding of interpreting numbers
- Data Visualization
Tools for extraction
- MIT Media Cloud
- Webscraper.io
- Document Cloud
Questions? Ask @bajpairavi
Module: Production
How to Visualize Data
Maybe a photo?
A graph or illustration that helps give a framework
Tools for visualization
Google Sheets
Data Wrapper
Google Fusion Tables
Protograph
Complementary Skills
> Basic statistical understanding of interpreting numbers
> Scraping/Cleaning data
Framework
> Picking the right type of visualization for the story you are trying to tell.
Questions? Ask @bajpairavi
Module: Production
Assembly
How to measure, optimise analytics
Why measure
Systematically understand editorial priorities, audience preference, reach, monetisation, etc.
Framework
>Define organisational, editorial priorities
>Identify actionable metrics, data, tools
>data-led culture
List of tools
-Google Analytics, -Twitter Analytics, -Facebook insights,
-Chartbeat
-Parse.ly
Approaches
> Rudimentary
> Generic
> Editorial
>Metrics are constantly evolving
Questions? Ask @cyrilsam
Module: Assembly
How to storyboard and then write
Learn
To storyboard themes or projects that are interactive, longform, series, microsites or campaigns.
Elements
Theme-Intersection-
Arc-Story, Lede-
Nutgraph-Data-Quote-CTA, Characters- Moments-Visuals
Why
Breaking stories into components helps structure, repurpose, optimise for many media & microcontent.
Mind map
Questions? Ask @kamalasripada
Module: Assembly
How to use code to tell better stories
Journalism’s new challenges need code
> Navigating info glut vs uncovering info
> Big data analysis → not possible without code
> Short attention spans → interactive, non-linear stories, made possible by code
Jargon you’ll learn
What is code?
Front-end vs back-end coding, language names, relevant concepts
Use cases
> Liaise with product
> Data journalism
> Special stories
> Design dashboards for analytics
Take four steps
1. Setup laptop
2. Download stuff (Sublime Text)
3. Begin online tutorial
4. Experiment!
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Assembly
Distribution
How to develop channels that drive traffic
Why
450M Internet users in India. >50% first time users not on Chrome, FB; fragmented audience
Takeaways
Traffic channels, omni- channel approach, tech challenges, mailing lists, targeting, creating communities
Channels
Email, browsers, syndicated feeds, chat, photo sharing apps, Content Distribution Networks, aggregators, etc.
Case
The Economist’s social media strategy, BBC’s chat app strategy, Politico Pro, Financial Times
Toolkit
Platform analytics, Mailchimp, Facebook custom audiences, Twitter lists, whatsaapp lists etc.
Questions? Ask @cyrilsam
Module: Distribution
How to distribute micro-content
Framework
Platforms are rapidly changing. Experiment, measure, discard, iterate. Think visual
You’ll learn
> Distributed vs Owned
> Concepts, tools, case studies
Networks
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Messenger
Tools
Buffer, Sprout Social, TweetDeck, SocialFlow, NewsWhip, Buzzsumo
Concepts
Analytics, calendaring, automation, targeting,
building communities, native advertising
Questions? Ask @cyrilsam
Module: Distribution
How to create for emerging digital platforms
You’ll learn
Storyboarding, tailoring content to platforms, extend your brand, pull your audience with teasers
Cases
Vox/Vice on Snapchat, NYT VR, Reuters, Guardian, FT on Insta, Quartz, Economist, BloombergQuint
Resources
Micro targeted media, Snapchat and Insta stories, Social media is driving traffic, How NYT, CNN publish
Concepts
Slideshow sequences,
Template packaging,
Call to action, Clever copywriting, Using photos, videos, gfx
Stats
The Times and HuffPo posts about 1,660 times in a week across platforms, CNN does more than 2,800
Toolkit
Videoscribe, Snapchat, Instagram, Pixlr, Kinemaster, Infogram, Canva, Riddle, Thinglink
Elements
Stories (Instagram, FB, WhatsApp, Snapchat), Discover, Bots, 360, VR, AR, Google Glass, OOH advertising
Questions? Ask @furquansid
Module: Distribution
How to develop newsletters and mailing lists
Takeaways
Creating curated content and mailing list, call to action, automate, monetize
Concepts
Targets-driven evaluation of edit-audience fit, schedule, structure, tone, spam proofing
Resources
Newsletters popular again, as news products, original social media channel, monetization strategy
Stats
91% people check their email once a day. 94% of top executives get their morning news from emails
Newsletters rock
Personal, yet not so intrusive, Easy access, Direct relationship, Works well within niche communities, no platform dependence
Questions? Ask @furquansid
Module: Production
Essentials
How to apply design thinking to journalism
Learn
Why design thinking is crucial for journalism + how to use it to develop stories, series, themes, etc.
Why
A graph or illustration that helps give a framework
Case
How do you approach learning this topic? What principles and values do you need to internalize?
Design Thinking
Set of principles like
“empathy with users, a discipline of prototyping, tolerance for failure.” chief
Resources
Questions? Ask @hrvenkatesh
Module: Essentials
How to manage workflows, comms, docs
Learn
Break down tasks, make coverage plans, separate mundane tasks from urgent ones, automate.
Why
Reduce spiked stories, redundant/interruptive follow-ups, improve efficiency
Uses
Beat alerts, analytics triggers, action prompts, manage payments, create processes.
Another image
Questions? Ask @kamalasripada
Module: Essentials
Questions? Ask @cyrilsam
Module: Essentials
Understanding revenue models for news
You’ll learn
Media models, revenue streams, combining different streams, case studies, challenges
Streams
Advertising, subscription, events, philanthropies, network, affiliate marketing, ad-network
Challenges
Scale, technology, ad-blocker, payment friction, low conversion rate, fragmented users
Case Studies
Vox, Times Internet, Buzzfeed, Texas Tribune, PoliticoPro, The Guardian, NDTV Gadgets
Media models
Content type: Broad-based, niche, Publishing strategy: Distributed, networked