Think you don’t have enough time for watchdog journalism? Overwhelmed with keeping the daily machine running? Get practical advice for creating a newsroom culture that values public service and accountability reporting, no matter the staff size. The first step is deciding what not to do or to do differently. Some newsrooms are growing audiences while producing less content. The key is using data to determine which types of content are not contributing to audience engagement. Chris Coates is executive editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and former Central Illinois editor for Lee Enterprises. These slides are accompanied by two handouts: (1) How to do more enterprise reporting while still feeding the daily beast, by Coates, and (2) Time-management tips for journalists, by Linda Austin, project co-director for NewsTrain. For more information on the News Leaders Association's NewsTrain, see https://www.newsleaders.org/newstrain.

1. How to do more
ENTERPRISE
REPORTING
Chris Coates
Richmond Times-Dispatch executive editor
@ByChrisCoates
ccoates@timesdispatch.com

3. Today’s roadmap
1. What is enterprise?
2. What enterprise are
you most proud of?
3. What are the
challenges?
4. What is the best
story you could be
doing?
5. What to stop doing?

4. MISSION:
Make memorable journalism
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

5. About me
■ Executive editor, Richmond
Times-Dispatch
■ Central Illinois editor for Lee
Enterprises
■ Watchdog editor, The News
Journal in Delaware, part of
the USA Today Network
■ Sioux City, St. Louis area, Los
Angeles
■ Columbia College Chicago

6. Who are you?

7. What's your role?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

8. For which platform do
you PRIMARILY work?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

9. Show of hands:
Does your
newsroom have
50 people or
more?

10. Question one: What is
enterprise journalism?

11. Submit as many
SINGLE words as you
like to describe
enterprise journalism.
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

12. Defining
‘enterprise’
■ Is surprising and
has impact
■ Includes analysis
■ Comes in all forms
■ Helps our audience
navigate life
■ Makes memorable
journalism

13. Why is this important?
■ If we don’t, who will?
■ Readers respond;
analytics show us that
engagement,
recirculation, sharing
are much higher on
content with energy;
audience is hungry for
this material
■ Audience growth
H/T betternews.org

14. Question two: What
enterprise are you
doing/most proud of?

22. 3 buckets:
where to find ideas
Photo by Riin Aisent on Unsplash

23. Bucket one: Quick turn
Finding a fresh angle on a developing story

24. 210 responses,
sources, too

26. Bucket two: The follow-up

29. Bucket three: The deep dive

34. 4-part series: Safety on small farms

36. Where do ideas come from?
■ Breaking news = find the
hook
■ “Is this happening here?”
■ Tips from
sources/working the
beat
■ Documents and
databases: #FOIAFriday
■ Watchdog attitude
every day
■ Curiosity

37. Let’s exercise!
Photo by Unsplash on Unsplash

38. What are your quick-turn, mid-
range and long-term ideas?
■ Train crashes in the 24700
block of Allen Road in
Woodhaven, Michigan.
■ It is at a grade crossing.
■ Seven train cars derail.
■ A police source told you on the
record that a vehicle went
around the gate, and the train
hit it.
■ Hazmat crews have shut down
the area.
Photo
by
MEHEDI
HASAN
on
Unsplash

39. 24700 block of Allen Road in Woodhaven, Michigan

41. Quick-turn, mid-range
and long-range ideas
Photo
by
MEHEDI
HASAN
on
Unsplash

42. Ideas
Quick-turn: Evacuations,
history of train cars
there, history of
problems there, pipeline
Mid-range: Previous
concerns about crashes,
what happens if pipeline
was hit
Long-range: Previous
efforts to fix it, safety of
transportation, response
times, how evacuations
work, funding issues

45. Exercise: Trai crash

47. Question
three:
What are
the
challenges?
Photo by Sylvain Mauroux on Unsplash

48. Question four: What is
the best story that you
could be doing right
now but aren’t?

49. What to
stop doing?
Photo by Andy Ramos on Unsplash

50. …‘muddy middle’
Avoid the…
Photo by Rupert Britton on Unsplash

51. Avoid the ‘muddy middle’
■ Analyze highest and lowest traffic
generators
■ Chances are lowest ones are in the 14-inch
range
■ “The data revealed that short and long
articles performed disproportionately better
with their audience than mid-length articles.”

52. Data to determine what to scale back
■ Pageviews
(reach)
■ Engagement
(time on
story/content)
■ Subscription
conversion
Photo by Mars on Unsplash

53. Think beyond the text story
■ Embrace different story
forms:
– Q-and-A, blurbs,
graphics
– Videos, sound bites,
interactives
– Reporter-interview
videos

54. Avoid the ‘muddy middle’
■ Unbolt from the
print product, “fill
the paper” or
newscast
■ “Sunday” stories
should go up
ASAP
■ Editors = Large
stories are
investments

55. Question
five: What
can your
newsroom
stop doing?
Photo by Andy Ramos on Unsplash

56. bit.ly/illinoisnewstrain

57. Chris Coates
@ByChrisCoates
ccoates@timesdispatch.com
MORE:
bit.ly/illinoisnewstrain
What’s your idea?