VIDEO: Working at The Beacon

The Beacon wins its first national award for digital work

Living Editor Cassie Sheridan

Cassie Sheridan has won a national award for an interactive digital timeline she made for The Beacon last spring: “The History of Women at UP”

Cassie won Second Place in the category of “Interactive Graphic for Digital Media” in the Gold Circle Awards sponsored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, which is based at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York.

The Beacon has won several national awards in recent years, but this is the first national award The Beacon has won for anything digital.

So, thanks, Cassie, for helping to bring The Beacon into the 21st century.

If that’s not impressive enough, get this: The prominent blog College Media Matters named Cassie’s timeline one of the “7 Standout Student Press Stories”

 

Tips from a Pulitzer Prize Finalist

Investigative reporter Les Zaitz, who heads The Oregonian’s investigative team and a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, visited the newsroom last week.

Les has uncovered the workings of Mexican drug cartels flooding Oregon with heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. He’s exposed corruption in Oregon’s prison system and was on the hit list of the Rajneeshees in the 1980s as he reported on the inner workings of their central Oregon commune. So he knows a thing or two about digging up compelling information.

Here’s a recap of some of the advice he shared with Beacon staff.

1. “Shut up and listen” during interviews. Let there be silence at the end of the person’s answer to your question, even if it feels awkward.
2. Arrive prepared: Know what information you want out of the interview and bring a list of questions
3. Avoid email interviews (except to get certain facts.)
4. Tell the people you want to interview, “We are doing the story” and “I just want to make sure I get it right.”
5. Don’t ask yes/no questions.
6. If you ask a general question, you’ll get a general answer.
7. Details make a story good. Dig for interesting ones.
8. Never mislead a source about what your story is about.
9. Appeal to people’s humanity. Do what you can to earn their trust.
10. If someone is upset, put the notebook down for a while.
11. If you’re not 100 percent sure what a person meant when they said something, ask them to clarify it for you. Don’t worry about looking stupid. They will usually respect you when they see you are striving to get the story right.
12. Get documents if relevant to the story.
13. At the end of every interview, ask if there is anything else that’s important or interesting to know about the story.

End of one era, beginning of a new one

The Beacon recently said farewell to Kelsey Thomas, who had been editor-in-chief for one year and one semester. Kelsey, who is graduating in December, passed the baton to her successor Katie Dunn at the final critique meeting, which was actually a party if you want to know the truth. Here are some photos from our final layout night of the semester and the party the next night. By the way, in case you’re wondering, that is sparkling apple cider.

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Mobile App Launch Party draws a crowd

Lots of fun and good vibes for the app launch. Cake, coffee drinks and Italian sodas (Thanks, Espresso UP!), music from KDUP and a photo booth. More photos here.

 

All hail The Beacon Mobile App

A message from Editor in Chief Kelsey Thomas

                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

What we learned at our first ONA conference

by Nancy Copic | @nancycopic

Beacon Opinions Editor Lydia Laythe, Adviser Nancy Copic and Beacon Editor in Chief Kelsey Thomas at Google’s Chicago office during ONA14

This was my first Online News Association conference, so neither my students nor I knew what to expect besides a great setting. (Hello, Chicago!) With the exception of a few local, one-day SPJ conferences, all other conventions I’d attended with Beacon staffers were for college journalists only.

Chicago in September- ideal setting for ONA 14

At ONA, we were at the ‘adults’ table,’ though many of the attendees (and panelists) were not much older than Kelsey and Lydia. For instance…

Digital Millennials Take Center Stage

This panel featured:

• Aaron Williams, a news apps developer for the Center for Investigative Reporting
• Anika Anand, director of engagement for Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization that covers education
• Beatrice Katcher,  graduate student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism working on a project to get children more interested in news.

Inspired by her kids who say "newspapers are made by middle-age/old people" @beatricekatcher finds how to draw young audience #digmillenials

— Jennifer Brett (@JenBrettAJC) September 25, 2014

My takeaways:

Advice to young journalists from Aaron: “Learn math. Please.”

Anika on getting your stories out there, engaging readers: “Send your story to everyone you talked to in your story.” Also get people/groups who care about your story to post/share it on their social media, and look at journalism “with a fresh pair of eyes.”

Meredith Artley, Anna Homes, Liz Heron, Ann Marie Lipinski, Susan Smith Richardson, Vivian Schiller, Callie Schweitzer, Benet Wilson

Lady Leaders Lightning Talks

This powerhouse of a panel featured:

• Meredith Artley, Vice President and Managing Editor of CNN Digital
• Vivian Schiller*, Head of News Partnerships at Twitter  (*She “stepped down” from that position Oct. 8)
• Liz Heron, Facebook News Partnerships Lead
• Anna Holmes, editor of Digital Voices at Fusion and founder of Jezebel
• Anne Marie Lipinski, Curator for the  Nieman Foundation and former Editor in Chief of the Chicago Tribune
• Susan Smith Richardson, Editor & Publisher of The Chicago Reporter
• Callie Schweitzer, Director of Digital Innovation, Time
• Benet Wilson, Social Media/Newsletters Editor,  Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc.

One by one, panelists shared lessons they learned, often the hard way, and “best advice.”

Some nuggets:

“It’s OK to say no.” – Holmes

Lipinski, on the other hand, said she had to train herself “to say yes” because when she was offered promotions, her initial reaction was that she wasn’t equipped to do the job. She also advocated that managers openly acknowledge both personal and professional passions (her family and journalism, in her case) because it “can humanize the leader.”

“If something scares you, it’s probably worth doing.” – Heron, who also said to “always negotiate,” something she learned after accepting her first job and realizing she had undersold herself.

“Expect resistance.” – Richardson

“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” – Wilson

For the record, @MeredithA is awesome: “I don’t buy the narrative that women don’t help other women out. I don’t buy that s***” #ONA14ladylt

— Stephanie Steinberg (@Steph_Steinberg) September 25, 2014

Imposter syndrome "is an infectious disease among women…I still have it"-Head of News at Twitter @Vivian #ONA14 pic.twitter.com/jegMBLwAev

— Nancy Francis Copic (@NancyCopic) September 25, 2014

@cschweitz on leadership: 5 roles of a mgr: decision-making, info-gathering, info-sharing, nudging, role-modeling. #ona14ladylt

— Kevin Siu (@kevinsiu) September 25, 2014

 

“Lady Leaders”
Power selfie

All Eyes On Ferguson, Mo.

Trymaine Lee of MSNBC

This could not have been more timely. As this panel of reporters spoke about their experiences covering the anguish and racial tensions in Ferguson, Mo. following the police shooting of Michael Brown, confrontations flared up once more between citizens and police.

“There are so many stories like this across the country,” Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery said. “The story, frankly, isn’t about Michael Brown anymore. This is a deeper story.”

(In mid-August, Lowery unwittingly became part of the story  when Ferguson police arrested him and Ryan Reilly, a reporter for the Huffington Post.)

ONA produced a follow-up video with all of the panelists, who appear in the following order:

Claire Ward (Producer/Shooter Vice News) & David Carson (Photographer, St. Louis Post Dispatch)

Trymaine Lee (Reporter MSNBC) & Michel Martin (interviewer, NPR)

Wesley Lowery (Washington Post) & Mariah Stewart (freelancer covering Ferguson for Huffington Post and Beacon Reader)

Going Mobile: Best Practices for Staff and Students

This was probably the most relevant session for me as a college media adviser, and the timing was perfect: We’re about to launch The Beacon mobile app.

Mike Reilly, who teaches online journalism at Depaul University inspired me with a site his classes collaborate on,  The Red Line Project . It incorporates a lot of data visualizations, including Chicago homicides, an interactive map with local restaurant inspections, and the ChicagoStumbler, a beginning journalism class Tumblr mapping the city’s worst sidewalks.

My takeaway: Datawrapper is my new favorite digital tool.

The University of Oregon’s J-school was also well represented on this panel. Ass’t Prof. Ed Madison presented on OR Magazine, a slick, interactive iPad publication students produce in a class. I was intrigued with the workflow, which is more collaborative than assembly line style. Designers go out in the field with reporters and photographers, so it’s a team effort from the start. They also use social media extensively to create buzz around the stories.

UO’s Mark Blaine spoke about going beyond he-said-she-said journalism with the Climate Change Reporting Project. His key advice for digital projects: “Always use the simplest tool for the job.”

My takeaway: In pursuing projects like this, (or hiring for The Beacon), identify students who are highly motivated. Value ambition over skills.

This Storify has a lot more on this valuable session.

The Midway

One of the more interesting displays here was Gannett’s  Oculus Rift booth. The Des Moines Register experimented  with the virtual reality technology in a September interactive series called “Harvest of Change.” The headgear’s a bit clunky, but it was intriguing to consider the possible journalistic uses of virtually being on the scene of a story and getting more engaged with it as a result.

Lydia tries the Oculus Rift.

Start up your newsroom: Building your culture, your team and your products

I’m a big fan of  Vox, so it was fun to hear from Senior Project Manager/Executive Editor Melissa Bell. (“Have people enter a story from where they are.”)

She joined Re/Code’s Kara Swisher and Lara Setrakian, CEO of News Deeply and executive editor of Syria Deeply for a panel on startups.

Topically, the conversation went all over the place.

Favorite quotes:

“Make sure we have one set objective…Having that clarity of mind allows you to move much faster.” – Bell on focus

“Do whatever you can to make people feel welcome.”- Bell on diversity in the workplace

“Are we surfacing new information? Are we tapping voices we haven’t heard from?”- Setrakian on adopting “a beat that fell off the news desk.”

“I hate bosses. I didn’t want to have to work for anybody.” -Swisher

Tip by @karaswisher for responding to an idea: require staff to start with "yes and …" not "yes but." Remove negativity. #newsstartups

— Amy Zerba (@amyzerba) September 26, 2014

And there was so much more…

Amy Webb’s Top Ten Tech Trends in Journalism , the

Deep Dive into The New York Times Innovation Report, of which much has already been written and

.@sesamestreet at #ona14 on storytelling, innovating & reaching young audiences #ona14sesame pic.twitter.com/VH2kuj8lpJ

— Zeninjor Enwemeka (@Zeninjor) September 27, 2014

Kelsey and Lydia’s Top Five Takeaways from #ONA14

Lydia and Kelsey with the famed Chicago Tribune building as a backdrop

Kelsey:

1. Mobile mobile mobile. Consumers usually won’t come to our website; importance of going to them.

2. On that same note, send stories to sources / anyone who might be interested or tag on social media. The more other people share your content, the more views you’ll get.

3. Consumer as center of focus – what are her motivations, behaviors? How can we meet that? How can we create experiences that work for the consumer?

4. Brief iPhone video advice: have to be SUPER close to subject to get good sound, alternate wide shots, medium shots, and close shots, don’t have subject look at camera

5. KNIGHT LAB RESOURCES: <3 timelineJS, story map, audio tool

Lydia:

1. Get more diversity (in stories/voices/staff)

2. Read a story in multiple formats in various settings (to see how the user experience is different)

3. Send everyone you talk to for an article the finished piece (good relationships with sources)

4. Say “no” and say “yes” – “if something scares you it’s probably worth doing.” (know your limits but push yourself to do things outside your comfort zone)

5. Meet your audience where they are: instagram, cell phones, SNAPCHAT

(Nancy) From inspiration to reality…

There’s always a moment of truth, a bit of a comedown returning to campus after a conference like this. Inspiration! Ideas galore! So many cool things we could and will do! This week!

The challenge: incorporating ambitious new ideas with the day-to-day reality of training (and re-training) mostly inexperienced student journalists in the basics of reporting, writing, media literacy, visual journalism and ethics. Not to mention the mysteriously disappearing Google Doc (containing one of our most important stories), hiring new student reporters to replace the ones who quit suddenly, and motivating the  remaining fatigued staffers slogging through a full academic load, jobs, volunteer commitments and family obligations.

So we go step by step, one journalism experiment at a time, trying this and that. If it goes well, great. If not, I’ll think of what Washington Post Executive Producer & Senior Editor, Digital News Cory Haik said during the #FailFair panel: “Done is better than perfect.”

Bonus: ONA has linked to videos, slides and more from the conference here.