Editors' Blog | Journalism.co.uk » Top tips for journalists

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – try creating a crowdmap with n0tice

Sarah Marshall — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:10:48 +0000

The Guardian’s online noticeboard n0tice opened its API this week.

One of the many things digital news outlets can now do is create crowdmaps, taking information posted on n0tice. A post on n0tice explains how to do this.

The Guardian has used content from n0tice, Flickr and the Guardian’s own site to create a crowdmap of the Olympic torch relay around the country.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – how to write headlines for SEO

Sarah Marshall — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:05:53 +0000

Mashable has a post on bad, good, better and best practice when writing headlines for SEO.

The advice is at this link.

Journalism.co.uk runs a one-day course on SEO, a practical guide to getting your work found. The next one takes place in June.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – five photo types for audio slideshows

Sarah Marshall — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:07:30 +0000

Poynter has a post that gives five examples of photo types that it recommends be used in photo essays and audio slideshows.

The post suggests the following:

Shot one: the scene setter
Shot two: the medium shot
Shot three: the portrait
Shot four: capturing detail
Shot five: capturing action

Take a look at the example shots in Poynter’s post.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – best times to post on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr

Sarah Marshall — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:58:03 +0000

Search Engine Watch has a post on the best times to post content via Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. The post on social media optimisation states:

The best time to post content with a link on Twitter is 1 to 3pm EST Monday to Thursday. Over on Facebook, between 1 and 4pm mid-week is the sweet spot, while Tumblr users are more likely to click after 4pm and especially on Fridays.

The findings are based on graphs created by URL shortening service Bitly.

The article goes on to say:

Posting a link to Twitter after 3pm on a Friday is pretty much pointless, based on their cumulative data on the number of clicks on bitly links from each social network. Over on Facebook, traffic peaks mid-week, with Friday and weekend posts apt to receive far less attention. Posts between 8pm and 8am any day of the week are fighting an uphill battle for clicks.

The full post is at this link.

Similar Posts:

Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – improving use of audio in multimedia reporting

Rachel McAthy — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:50:09 +0000

On Poynter there’s a detailed ‘how-to’ by Casey Frechette which runs through 10 tips on improving the way audio is produced and presented in multimedia output.

He writes that “sound can make or break a multimedia production”, and as a result offers a collection of tips on getting it right, from understanding and using four different types of audio in projects to introducing “layers to create richer sound”.

Here is his full list.

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – create infographics with Easel.ly

Rachel McAthy — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:00:46 +0000

10,000 Words recently blogged about using infographics platform Easel.ly, which is currently in beta, to create visual stories via “drag-n-drop templates”, based around customisable themes.

According to 10,000 Words:

For newsrooms, this site poses huge opportunity in terms of shareability of information across social media

Read the 10,000 Words post here.

Here is a video from Easel.ly demonstrating how it works:

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Set up a Twitter ‘email digest’

Rachel McAthy — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:05:32 +0000

Image by shawncampbell on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Twitter announced on its blog this week that it had launched the ability for users to set up a “weekly email digest”, offering “the most relevant Tweets and stories shared by the people you’re connected to on Twitter” to your inbox.

Find out more on Twitter’s blog.

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – links to lessons on using Pinterest

Rachel McAthy — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:05:20 +0000

Director of community engagement & social media of Digital First Media Steve Buttry has compiled a list of “helpful things that others have written about Pinterest”, which include journalists themselves sharing how Pinterest is being used by newsrooms and other advice on using the platform, such as tracking the source of images.

He also helpfully links to his own advice on how journalists and newsrooms can use Pinterest.

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – how to write an internship covering letter

Sarah Marshall — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:07:09 +0000

Freelance journalist Chris Goodfellow has shared a covering letter he wrote which successfully landed him an internship at the Financial Times.

Writing on Media Spank Goodfellow states:

When applying for internships I found plenty of articles explaining how to write cover letters, but very few examples of actual applications. These are not the best four paragraphs I’ve ever penned (in fact I winced a little when I read them back this morning), but it did the trick and hopefully you’ll find it useful.

The four paragraphs are at this link.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – six ways to avoid common errors

Sarah Marshall — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:51:29 +0000

Poynter has a list of six ways journalists can clean their copy, commit fewer errors.

1. Assume your copy will be published exactly as you wrote it.
2. Read your copy aloud slowly — and listen carefully — before sending it.
3. Be fair.
4. Stop at every number.
5. Read your email and respond to it.
6. Keep a list and check it twice.

It is worth reading the notes which explain each point.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – five free online portfolio sites

Sarah Marshall — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:46:07 +0000

Elana Zak has blogged on 10,000 Words giving five free online portfolio sites journalists.

She recommends: WordPress, Cuttings.me (which we have written about previously), Pressfolios, Flavors and About.me.

The post describing each of the five portfolio options is at this link.

Here is a post we published last year on five great journalist portfolios.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – embed a photo slideshow using Pinterest

Sarah Marshall — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:02:03 +0000

Before leaving WalesOnline to edit the Daily Post in North Wales last month, Alison Gow blogged about how the “limitations” of their current CMS inspired a workaround with digital journalist Gareth Rogers coming up with the idea of using Pinterest to showcase photos.

It may seem like a small thing, but when you’ve got images that the reader would want to see in more detail (or an infographic, for example) it can be somewhat restrictive.

Anyway, Gareth came up with a clever workaround (necessity really is the mother of invention) to show off a series of fashion photos from the Aintree race meet – he pinned the images to our Piinterest news board, and then embedded them back on the site. Now, when you click on the image, it opens, large-scale, in a new tab.

WalesOnline’s Aintree story is here and you can read Gow’s post and see images of the the embedded Pinterest photos at this link.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – iPhone photography advice

Rachel McAthy — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:48:05 +0000

With journalists often turning to their iPhone to capture images to illustrate a news story, here are some tips collected by the International Journalists’ Network, based on the advice of Cindi Hobgood, founder of Scout Photo Expeditions.

See the IJNet list here.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – data and visualisation blogs

Rachel McAthy — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:50:44 +0000

Flowingdata.com has compiled an updated list of blogs on data and visualisation which may be of use to data journalists.

The list includes a section on journalism-related blogs, including chartsnthings, “a personal blog of data sketches from the New York Times graphics department”.

See full list.

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – improving self-editing skills

Rachel McAthy — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:44:19 +0000

On the Independent Journalists blog, part of the Society of Professional Journalists blog network, sports content editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Sheets outlines some of his tips for better self-editing.

Tips include ensuring your work has “reason and focus”, consider “brevity when writing briefly” and to make use of active verbs which he says “can stand alone and bear their own weight”.

See the full post here.

Tipster: Rachel McAthy

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Similar Posts: