This week is Local Newspaper Week so a good time to take a look at how regional publishers are innovating in digital.

In this week’s Journalism.co.uk podcast, technology correspondent Sarah Marshall speaks to:

• Nigel Vincent, head of online editorial development at Newsquest
• Marc Cooper, head of publishing at Northcliffe Digital
• Ed Walker,  senior digital producer, Trinity Mirror

They talk about how journalists working for the regional titles are approaching social media, data journalism and mobile – or iPad – reporting.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod: How journalists can use SMS to engage with the audience
• #jpod – SoLoMo: a look at the Guardian and Northcliffe’s innovations in social and local
• #jpod: How news organisations are using Pinterest
• #jpod – How the social media community can shape the news agenda
• #jpod: Why the Guardian is taking a laid-back approach to news on the iPad

Analytics can give you much more information than just your number of readers. Delve deeper and analytics can also lead to news stories and help shape editorial angles as a story unfolds.

In this week’s podcast Sarah Marshall, Journalism.co.uk’s technology correspondent, speaks to:

• Laura Amico, who set up Washington DC-based Homicide Watch. Laura explains how she gets news stories by looking at the different terms people are searching for.
• Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, a real-time analytics company used by major publishers including Al Jazeera and the New York Times. Tony gives examples of how news organisations respond to what audiences are reading.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• Newsbeat, an analytics tool just for news sites, launches
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – setting up Newsbeat for analytics
• #jpod: How news organisations are using Pinterest
• #jpod – Open data and journalism: How and why journalists should be digging for stories
• Poynter: How to set up Newsbeat, real-time analytics tool for news sites

This week’s local and mayoral elections have given journalists a great opportunity for producing data-driven journalism and experimenting with visualisations to present that data to the audience.

In this week’s Journalism.co.uk podcast Rachel McAthy looks at the current opportunities for journalists in the world of open data, with lots of tips from data journalism experts on where to find data resources and tools to help reporters find the stories within.

The podcast hears from:

• Tony Hirst, lecturer in telematics at the Open University
• Chris Taggart, co-founder of OpenCorporates
• Simon Rogers, editor of Guardian Datablog and Datastore

More recommended data journalism resources to get you started:

• The Data Journalism Handbook (online version)
• Paul Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog
• Tony Hirst’s OUseful.info blog
• How to: get to grips with data journalism, by Simon Rogers on Journalism.co.uk
• Screencast: How to use data journalism tool Tableau, on Journalism.co.uk
• Five great examples of data journalism using Google Fusion Tables, on Journalism.co.uk

Journalism.co.uk runs training courses in data journalism. There are two levels: introduction to data journalism, being held on 9 or 28 May, and intermediate data journalism, which will run on 29 May. Both are being run by Kevin Anderson.

Those looking to expand their skills quickly can book on one of the introduction to data journalism courses and the intermediate course. If you book both options the cost is at the reduced rate. 

This is the last time we will be offering this course led by Kevin Anderson due to his commitments – so take advantage of the final opportunity to learn from this former BBC and Guardian journalist.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – try this tutorial on using Google Fusion Tables
• Tool of the week for journalists: Data.gov.uk’s map-based search
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – dive into the data journalism handbook
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – try this Google Fusion Tables tutorial
• #followjourn – @smfrogers Simon Rogers/data journalist

Image by shawncampbell on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

This week’s jpod looks at how Al Jazeera English programme The Stream, the new ITV News website and NME.com are embracing social media contributions.

Journalism.co.uk hears examples of how the social media community can set the news agenda, participate in the story, and how news organisations are using the passion and enthusiasm of the audience to shape output.

There are also examples of how a reader comment can turn into a headline and how the outlets are harnessing live activity streams.

Journalism.co.uk technology correspondent Sarah Marshall speaks to:

• Malika Bilal, digital producer and co-host of The Stream
• Jason Mills, editor of web development at ITV News
• Luke Lewis, editor of NME.com

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod – Celebrating Local Newspaper Week: Innovations in digital at the regionals
• #jpod: How journalists are embracing Facebook subscribe
• #jpod: How journalists and publishers can best use Foursquare
• #jpod: How journalists can best use LinkedIn
• #jpod: Lessons in digital storytelling from Storify and the Guardian

The debate into how to make hyperlocal websites pay for the journalism they carry has been discussed for as long as the local news sites have been running.

Earlier this week we reported how Nesta announced late last month that it was putting up £1 million to fund hyperlocals. That followed a move four months ago when the Lebvedev family launched the Journalism Foundation with a local political news site, Pits n Pots, as one of the first two projects it was supporting.

This podcast looks at the current ideas for making hyperlocal sites sustainable, including public funding, and we hear from three hyperlocals, all of which have published print products to raise awareness of their web offerings or to make their business models pay.

Journalism.co.uk technology correspondent Sarah Marshall speaks to:

• Rachel Howells, a director of the Port Talbot Magnet and a PhD student researching the impact of the closure of local newspapers.
• Richard Coulter, former chief sub-editor and assistant editor at the Bristol Evening Post who now runs the Filton Voice, a (profitable) hyperlocal print magazine now into its seventh edition.
• Mike Rawlins who runs Pits n Pots, which is backed by the Journalism Foundation.
• Damian Radcliffe, author of the Nesta report mentioned above.
• Andy Williams, a lecturer at Cardiff University who has research interests in the local newspaper industry in South Wales.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• Mike Rawlins on how Pits n Pots offers ‘a proper good pub discussion’ around politics online
• The E&P Pub: Seattle Times’ new hyperlocal partners
• #VOJ10: Local news at the grassroots
• Media release: Students produce one-off newspaper
• Hyperlocal sites downplayed by MPs and mainstream – signs of progress?

Image by Dreamer, via Wikimedia Commons

Community management is a key part of an online news outlet’s operation, and in this week’s podcast we speak to two people at the heart of community operations at the Times and Financial Times, to offer a unique insight into engagement strategies for subscriber communities.

Ben Whitelaw, communities editor at the Times and Rebecca Heptinstall, community manager at the Financial Times, discuss how subscribers use comment facilities to interact with journalists, the ways to recognise the value of subscriber through greater interaction and involvement in feedback and what community engagement really means both on the news website and on social media platforms.

For more on the topic of community engagement, this previous podcast looks in more detail at managing reader comments and here’s a feature on how the New York Times is using social media for “deeper” engagement.

And here is a link to the FT’s LinkedIn Readers’ Group referred to by Rebecca in this week’s podcast.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod: Lessons from the NY Times and Guardian in managing reader comments
• #jpod – How the social media community can shape the news agenda
• #jpod: How journalists are embracing Facebook subscribe
• #wef11 audio: Jim Brady of Journal Register Company talks open newsrooms
• #jpod – SoLoMo: a look at the Guardian and Northcliffe’s innovations in social and local

Google announced last week that it had partnered with a number of US publishers, promising revenue-generating opportunities for online news organisations.

When a reader lands on the site they will see a box containing a question. By answering that question, which is being asked on behalf of a market research company, the reader earns $0.10 for Google, $0.05 of which the internet giant gives to the publisher.

In this Journalism.co.uk podcast I speak to representatives from two US publishers that have adopted microsurveys: the Texas Tribune, which added microsurveys in August 2011, and Adweek, which adopted them last week.

• April Hinkle, chief revenue officer at the Texas Tribune, which launched in 2009, explains how much revenue Google microsurveys generate each month.
• Doug Ferguson, general manager of digital at Adweek, tells us how the site is using the surveys.
• Patrick Smith, editor and chief analyst of TheMediaBriefing.com, explains why data collection is important for publishers.
• John Barnes, managing director of the technology and digital division at Incisive Media and chairman of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), explains what type of surveys and data collection methods could be most valuable to UK B2B and B2C publishers.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 7-13 April
• CJR and the Texas Tribune: Is data both journalism and a business?
• Five great examples of data journalism using Google Fusion Tables
• Kindle expanding to more than 100 countries
• OJR: ‘Does your site really need to be in Google News?’

In this week’s podcast we collect together practical advice from those working in digital journalism on the best techniques and tools journalists can use to verify content posted on social media platforms.

The experts emphasise that wherever possible journalists are encouraged to make contact with sources of content directly, such as by phone, but there are also additional checks journalists can make as part of the verification process.

Advice featured in the podcast ranges from how to effectively monitor platforms, how to investigate both the content and source of material and then, once it has been reported (with clear reference to the level of verification achieved), what to do if material later turns out to not be as it first seemed.

Interviewees include:

• Claire Wardle, director of development and integration, Storyful
• Malachy Browne, news editor, Storyful
• Fergus Bell, senior producer and UGC lead, Associated Press
• Paul Bradshaw, course leader of online journalism MA at Birmingham City University, visiting professor at City University London and publisher of Online Journalism Blog and HelpMeInvestigate
• Craig Silverman, founder, Regret the Error, now published on Poynter

Background reading/resources on verification:

• Paul Bradshaw, Online Journalism Blog: ‘Content, context and code: verifying information online’
• Craig Silverman, Columbia Journalism Review: ‘Best Practices for Social Media Verification’
• Peter Verweij, Memeburn: ‘Seven top tips for verifying tweets’
• Craig Kanalley, Media Helping Media: ‘Trusting Tweets, a guide for journalists‘
• Journalism.co.uk: ‘#media140 – Al Jazeera’s early start reporting revolutions’

During my interview with Craig Silverman this week, we spoke about the use of crowdsourcing in verification. His comments on this are in the audio below, in which he also refers to some of the advice shared with him by Andy Carvin from National Public Radio:

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• Regret the Error editor starts business column
• App of the week for journalists: Storyful, for curated social media stories
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Twitter verification
• Tool of the week for journalists: Geofeedia, to locate real-time photos, videos and tweets
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – advice on verifying news tips on Twitter

Pinterest has overtaken Twitter as a traffic driver to websites, according to research by Shareaholic, a company that creates content sharing tools for publishers.

This podcast takes a look at how news organisations are using the online pinboard and social network for collating and sharing links.

It hears from Emily Steel, a social media editor at the Wall Street Journal, Carla Buzasi, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post UK and Janet Aronica, head of marketing for Shareaholic.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod in depth: Huffington Post lands in the UK
• Huffington Post UK’s Facebook app clocks up 20,000 users
• #followjourn @CarlaBuzasi – Carla Buzasi/editor-in-chief
• #jpod: How journalists and publishers can best use Foursquare
• #jpod: How Apple’s Newsstand is revolutionising the publishing industry

Image by RamyRaoof on Flickr. Some rights reserved

This week’s podcast was prompted by an event held by the International News Safety Institute, to mark the launch of their new publication ‘No Woman’s Land’, which addresses the issues facing women journalists reporting from the frontline across the world.

After the event Journalism.co.uk spoke to a number of women journalists – those who have experienced life as a local journalist in a conflict zone as well as the women in senior roles on international news desks in the UK – to find out their past experiences and assess where we are today and what still needs to be done.

Interviewees include:

• Shahira Amin, Egyptian freelance journalist and former journalist for Nile TV
• Liliane Landor, controller of language services for Global News at the BBC
• Florentine Kwizera, producer on the Great Lakes service on the BBC World Service
• Sarah Whitehead, head of international news at Sky News

Read Frances Harrison’s feature on life as a mother and foreign correspondent here.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod – Dying for the story: Citizen journalism and the Arab spring
• #jpod: The top news stories from Journalism.co.uk, 15 April 2011
• #jpod: Broadcasters reflect on the challenges of 2011
• #jpod: The week’s biggest news stories from Journalism.co.uk, 10 September 2010
• Details of BBC funding cuts leaked ahead of spending review