Delivered at Confab Higher Ed 2013 At our institutions, we commit a significant amount of resources to creating news content—press releases, internal and external newsletters, homepage feature stories, and more. We rely on this content to tell our story, communicate important information, and forge connections with readers in a timely, high-impact fashion. But how do we ensure that news content is on-brand, reaching the right audiences, and providing real value? News content can have high strategic value for supporting institutional goals, but only if we plan and publish it with that intent. How much do we publish news content out of habit or reflex, rather than with clear purpose? Are we making good use of our time and resources—and our readers’ attention? Learn how to best manage news content publishing, including best practices for editorial planning/workflow, strategic alignment, and measurement. Discover how telling stories and utilizing diverse content types can make for more effective, compelling news content. Gain perspective on how to build and sustain editorial partnerships that reinforce strategic news publishing.

1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/
FIT TO PRINT
Georgy Cohen
@radiofreegeorgy #confabedu
CREATING PURPOSEFUL
NEWS CONTENT

3. “To set his paper apart
from its more sensational
competitors, [New York
Times publisher Adolph
Simon] Ochs adopted the
slogan “All the News
That’s Fit to Print” (first
used October 25, 1896)
and insisted on
reportage that lived
up to that promise.”
Encyclopedia Britannica

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/7087349351/
WHAT IS ‘FIT’?

5. WHAT PROMISE
DOES OUR
NEWS LIVE
UP TO?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74497032@N08/6900311851/

7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/74497032@N08/6900311851/
NEWS IS NOT
INHERENTLY
VALUABLE

8. WHO
CARES
ABOUT
YOUR
NEWS?

9. “
Less than 1% of visitors view a news release.
We can see by looking at landing pages for
visits that include a news release that, when
a visitor lands on a news release page, it is
typically a dead-end with most of those
visitors leaving the site from that page.
- Chris Scott, Headscape
http://boagworld.com/content-strategy/website-news/

11. “
NEWS INHIBITS
Less than 1% of visitors view a news release.
TASK COMPLETION
We can see by looking at landing pages for
visits that include a news release that, when
a visitor lands on a news release page, it is
typically a dead-end with most of those
visitors leaving the site from that page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/4616960925/
- Chris Scott, Headscape
http://boagworld.com/content-strategy/website-news/

12. “
It is not enough, for example, to write a
press release saying how your organisation
has won an award. Instead you need to
clearly explain how that benefits the user.
- Paul Boag, Headscape
http://boagworld.com/content-strategy/website-news/

13. Why does this
matter to the
institution?
Why does this
matter to me?

14. VALUE
OVER
VOLUME
HOW DO WE MAKE
NEWS SOCIAL?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33917831@N00/2911248047/

15. “
We focus on publishing content our readers
love so much they think it is worth sharing. It
sounds simple but it’s hard to do and it is
the metric that aligns our company with our
readers. In the long term it’s good for
readers and good for business.
- Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed (July 2012)
http://cdixon.org/2012/07/24/buzzfeeds-strategy/

16. “
NEWS IS THE
‘SHOW DON’T TELL’
OF OUR BRAND
http://boagworld.com/content-strategy/website-news/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleaf/2536358399/

17. “
Universities have an opportunity to
leapfrog the mainstream media and
explain our research, teaching and wider
contributions to society in forms beyond
the text-based press release. ... We have
websites, and access to the tools needed
to reach the public.
- Kyle Christie, formerly King’s College, London
http://kylelchristie.com/2011/08/07/is-it-possible-to-go-beyond-press-releases/

18. NEWS
NEEDS
CONTENT
STRATEGY

19. 1. PROCESS
2. PRODUCT
3. PEOPLE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

20. 1. PROCESS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

21. CRITERIA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

22. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

23. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

24. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

25. SOCIAL PROMOTION
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

26. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

30. CONTENT DISCOVERY

31. EDITORIAL CALENDAR

32. MEASUREMENT
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chefranden/390872656/

33. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

34. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

35. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

36. #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy
Planning and publishing
Style guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_protector
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/3559945802/
TAXONOMY
36

37. LANDING PAGES
37
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/4367407655/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/argenberg/184104386/

38. “
The old mantra that every page needs to
be a homepage has never been more
true...The goal is to give [the reader] a
clean and interesting reading experience
for the article... and beyond that to make
sure that we are giving the reader a sense
of what else is on our site.
- Bob Cohn, editor, Atlantic Digital
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/08/coming-in-the-side-door-the-value-of-homepages-is-shifting-from-traffic-driver-to-brand/

39. #ncsrmr @radiofreegeorgy
Story metadata:
-
39

40. EDITORIAL PLANNING

41. REAL-TIME
41

42. CONTENT HUB
42

43. 43

44. 2. PRODUCT
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

45. “
The ultimate goal is to retire the press
release. It’s a great holder for facts, but
you’d never want to read one. We want to
tell stories.
- “We Want to Retire the Press Release”: An Interview
with GE’s Tomas Kellner, Contently, July 29, 2013
http://contently.com/strategist/2013/07/29/we-want-to-retire-the-press-release-an-interview-with-ges-tomas-kellner/

46. 1. CONVEY
RELEVANCE
2. EVOKE
2 . STORYTELLING AND
EMPATHY
CONTENT TYPES
3. SPUR
ACTION
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eguidetravel/5662538696/

47. #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy
Planning and publishing
Style guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_protector
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/3559945802/
47

50. #ncsrmr #psuweb12 @radiofreegeorgy

52. #ncsrmr #psuweb12 @radiofreegeorgy

53. #ncsrmr #psuweb12 @radiofreegeorgy

57. #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy
Planning and publishing
Style guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_protector
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/3559945802/
57

58. #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy
Planning and publishing
Style guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_protector
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/3559945802/
58

60. 3. PEOPLE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

61. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/

62. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acanella/7260425106/

63. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitike/5217716870/in/photostream/

64. http://www.flickr.com/photos/35927320@N03/4549876293/

65. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonker/1436280027/
65

66. Owned and
facilitated
Include social,
photo and video
Share
measurement
Take, share and
archive minutes
Source ideas from
across campus
Revisit editorial
priorities
66
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonker/1436280027/

69. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49392356@N03/8446610848/
THANK YOU!
@radiofreegeorgy
@meetcontent
QUESTIONS?