Theme: Engage authentically

Themes:
  • Engaging with Users
  • Who are the Journalists?
    • Personally, I’ve had a hard time articulating how I feel as I see the pain, anger, support and sadness pour from communities around the country. The news appears on my phone in a constant stream of push alerts. It’s also in my social media feeds as images, videos and raw emotional thoughts from friends and family — but also from a lot of people I do not know but feel I relate to, depending on the moment. I think it is important for us to remind ourselves: These feelings are normal. These feelings are shared. These feelings are human. As journalists, I think we sometimes forget that. We put those human feelings to the side as we do our jobs. As we report on what we see, we push back feelings so we do not let them impair our ability to fairly and accurately share what we are seeing. But, we have to remember that we are people. People with families and friends. We are people who worry about issues, the future, our communities and our safety. More from this edition can be found here and to receive the tips in your inbox each week click here.
    Personally, I’ve had a hard time articulating how I feel as I see the pain, anger, support and sadness pour from communities around the country. The news appears on my phone in a constant stream of push alerts. It’s also in my social media feeds as images, videos and raw emotional thoughts from friends and family — but also from a lot of people I do not know but feel I relate to, depending on the moment. I think it is important for us to remind ourselves: These feelings are normal. These feelings are shared. These feelings are human. As journalists, I think we sometimes forget that. We put those human feelings to the side as we do our jobs. As we report on what we see, we push back feelings so we do not let them impair our ability to fairly and accurately share what we are seeing. But, we have to remember that we are people. People with families and friends. We are people who worry about issues, the future, our communities and our safety. More from this edition can be found here and to receive the tips in your inbox each week click here.
    Themes:
  • How News Works
    • The Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times wrote an article explaining who they are, why they do what they do, and what the newsroom’s decision-making process is. The article included information like the newsroom’s mission, how the newsroom decides what to cover, how they use content from wire services, its process for handling corrections, as well as how the public can submit news tips. By putting all the information into one place they’ll be able to easily share the link when questions come up in the future.
    The Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times wrote an article explaining who they are, why they do what they do, and what the newsroom’s decision-making process is. The article included information like the newsroom’s mission, how the newsroom decides what to cover, how they use content from wire services, its process for handling corrections, as well as how the public can submit news tips. By putting all the information into one place they’ll be able to easily share the link when questions come up in the future.
    Themes:
    Watch how users share your posts. Sometimes the best conversation happens on their shares, not on the original post.
    Watch how users share your posts. Sometimes the best conversation happens on their shares, not on the original post. Also, questions that are personal or especially controversial work best if your users already are used to talking to you. You might need to build up to these conversations if you want them to be constructive.
    Watch how users share your posts. Sometimes the best conversation happens on their shares, not on the original post.
    Watch how users share your posts. Sometimes the best conversation happens on their shares, not on the original post. Also, questions that are personal or especially controversial work best if your users already are used to talking to you. You might need to build up to these conversations if you want them to be constructive.
    Themes:
  • How News Works
  • Engaging with Users
    • Newsy Native Americans
    627 likes on a comment! Look for opportunities to explain your process, especially when you see commenters asking questions about it. This comment shows a thoughtfulness behind word choices that not all news consumers would assume journalists have. This example also shows the value of staying involved in the conversations we host and participating in them.
    Newsy Native Americans
    627 likes on a comment! Look for opportunities to explain your process, especially when you see commenters asking questions about it. This comment shows a thoughtfulness behind word choices that not all news consumers would assume journalists have. This example also shows the value of staying involved in the conversations we host and participating in them.
    Themes:

    A Plus: Host meaningful conversation

    Link to post

    THEME: Engage authentically. Listen and respond. Invite people to get to know you. Participate in a way that feels natural to the user. Admit what you don’t know. Be human.

    STRATEGY: Host meaningful conversation. Select a topic you want to talk about. Picture a physical room full of interested listeners and brainstorm what you wish you could get them all to talk about. Choose informal, conversational language. Craft a post that gets people in the mood to talk about the issue and includes your question. Consider not including a link, or including a parenthetical short link as part of the text instead of as a link preview. Consider also having a staff member sign his/her name if it feels appropriate. METRICS: Take a quantitative (how many) and qualitative (how good/interesting/diverse) look at the resulting comments.

    A Plus: Host meaningful conversation

    Link to post

    THEME: Engage authentically. Listen and respond. Invite people to get to know you. Participate in a way that feels natural to the user. Admit what you don’t know. Be human.

    STRATEGY: Host meaningful conversation. Select a topic you want to talk about. Picture a physical room full of interested listeners and brainstorm what you wish you could get them all to talk about. Choose informal, conversational language. Craft a post that gets people in the mood to talk about the issue and includes your question. Consider not including a link, or including a parenthetical short link as part of the text instead of as a link preview. Consider also having a staff member sign his/her name if it feels appropriate. METRICS: Take a quantitative (how many) and qualitative (how good/interesting/diverse) look at the resulting comments.