Author Archives: Kevin Anderson

04.11.07
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Community doesn’t come for free

I expanded on comments I made at the recent Guardian Changing Media conference about community and news in a column for the Press Gazette. I go over some common mistakes that news organisations make when crafting and executing a communities strategy, and I highlight some success stories. Just to highlight the main points:

  1. Your audience isn’t a community.
  2. This isn’t just about choosing the right tool or technology.
  3. This is about changing the culture to involve the public.
  4. It doesn’t come for free. A little investment in a lot of engagement is a key to success.
04.06.07
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links for 2007-04-06

04.03.07
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links for 2007-04-03

04.02.07
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Adopt the mantra “Change or Die”

I’d really missed Tim Porter the last year. He had all but stopped blogging at First Draft as book work took precedent. But, it’s good to see him not only blogging again but also releasing his book. From the first look over on PressThink, Tim and Michele McLellan have produced the kind of clarion call for change that I had come to enjoy from Tim’s posts on First Draft. I really like in the post that they focused both on management and staff.

Management needs to focus on how to foster change, they said.

Many newspapers editors found themselves in the ranks of management somewhat by chance. They were good at their previous job – reporting, say, or copy editing – and got tapped for a promotion. They adapted to the duties – and adopted the values – of their new jobs, becoming decisive, directive and demanding, good for driving a fast-paced environment like a newsroom, but less useful in leading organizational change.

I’m one of those accidental managers, even though I don’t really see myself as managing anything. Although I’m an editor, of sorts, I don’t really see my managerial role as pushing people to do something. I’ve never seen that strategy work. I’d much rather blaze trails and lead by doing. That’s what I’ve been good at during my career. I really see my job not as a blogs editor but as a digital journalism evangelist. Participation and engagement just happen to be part of the mix of digital journalism. Passion can be infectious. Success is inspirational, and if managers take risks, it gives their staff permission to innovate.

Tim and Michele also have some great bullet points for staff as well. They talk about the newsroom of the past, and contrast that with the journalist of the future who will:

  • Take initiative and responsibility at all levels.
  • Enjoy brainstorming and trying new things.
  • Learn even from failed experiments.
  • Adopt “Change or Die” as a mantra.

There is a lot of hand wringing about the future of newspapers and journalism, but here we have yet another blueprint for how to not only survive but thrive in the future. Add Tim to your RSS feeds. He won’t disappoint. He’s definitely one of my heroes.

03.30.07
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If you want engagement, be ready to engage

I just spent the last hour have a very enjoyable time writing a post on the Guardian’s News blog about the ‘hack’ of John McCain’s MySpace page. I put hack in quotes because I really don’t like how the media uses the term. It’s very unsophisticated, and they usually mean breaking into computers you don’t have permission to use.

But the defacement of John McCain’s MySpace page is sure to go down as Mike Davidson, the ‘hacker’ and CEO of NewsVine, has dubbed it: The ‘immaculate hack’.

Mike gives Team McCain some criticism that rings true for political candidates but also for many news organisations who believe their staff needn’t be involved in their communities:

But then I read the article in today’s Newsweek about how politicians are all setting up MySpace pages in order to “connect” with younger audiences. McCain’s MySpace page is listed, as are the pages from several other candidates. I think the idea of politicians setting up MySpace pages and pretending to actually use them is a bit disingenuous, so I figured it was time to play a little prank on Johnny Mac.

Todd Zeigler in this post at the Bivings Report put it more directly:

This is another example of the point I made in my last post: if campaigns are going to play in these social communities they need to understand the rules and respect the culture.

It’s pretty easy to see through these cheap ploys, and they feel disingenuous. Setting up a static page on a social networking site actually makes it look even more static, not at all interactive. Just by being in MySpace, or having a Twitter feed or putting the odd video up on YouTube doesn’t make a media organisation more interactive if you don’t actually interact.

Publishing on an interactive platform is still just publishing. What happens when people ask your ‘content’ questions, and there isn’t a human being there to answer? Well, at the very least, nothing happens. People get bored and go away. But, sometimes bad things happen, especially when you’re not particularly clueful with your approach and don’t understand the space. If you want community and participation, be ready to participate.

03.30.07
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links for 2007-03-30

03.29.07
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links for 2007-03-29

03.26.07
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links for 2007-03-26

03.26.07
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Mini rant: Stop calling everything a blog!

Ok, I just looked up from desk and saw a segment on Sky News called Business Blog. What the hell is so bloggy about a business reporter sitting behind a desk on the telly? NOTHING! So stop calling it a blog.

Oh, but wait you say, Michael Wilson does have a blog on Typepad, buried somewhere in the sub-basement on the Sky News website right around the corner from janitor’s loo. Great! More news sushi! Just chop up what you would normally do and dump it on a blog.

What is interactive about this? Nothing. How is this engaging your audience? It’s not. Transparency? Nope. Easy for the gob on a stick (what some TV producers call the ‘talent’)? Possibly. Bottom line, what is compelling about this for the audience? Nothing. It will fail.

What I’m about to say may sound ridiculous coming from a ‘Blogs Editor’, but there is nothing magical about blog software – it’s just a really easy content-management system with comments. Just dumping content into a blog isn’t going to entice the masses to come round and participate. You actually have to engage with the audience, not just produce more flat boring content.

If you want to start a conversation with people, stop talking at them and start talking with them. Follow them sometimes, not the news agenda all the time. Link out. Link to blogs not just other news sites. Kick off a conversation. Don’t just ask: “What do you think?”

You can have the best technology and still fail because your content is stuck in the age of publishing, not the age of participation. And for chrissakes, stop calling everything a blog because you think a bit of branding is all it takes.