Second lecture on the Online Journalism module at City University London

1. 2: Platforms
#cityOJ - JOM800 Online Journalism
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

2. This week in 3 bullets:
• Choose your platform - based on you
and your users’ needs
• Customise according to the same
• Blogging is about more than your
blog
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

3. Choose your
platforms
..
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

4. Wednesday, 12 October 2011

5. Where are your networks? What
is your content?
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6. CMS
(Content Management System)
Making it easy to publish, lay out and
distribute content
Adding functionality through plugins
Adding distinctiveness through themes
Adding connectivity through feeds and
APIs
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7. Wednesday, 12 October 2011

8. Customising your
platforms
..
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

9. Style - knowing CSS
Change colours, fonts, column widths,
etc.
Find option to edit appearance or theme
in Settings
(have to pay on Wordpress.com)
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

10. body {
background: #EFEFEF url(images/
content.gif) top center repeat-y;
color: #333333;
font-size: 11px;
font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
margin: 0px auto 0px;
padding: 0px;
}
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11. (Which often means knowing
HTML)
<a> = a, a:hover, a:visited etc.
<h1>, <h2>, etc.
<ul>, <ol>, <li>
<p>, <b>, <em>
<div id="content"> = #content
Combinations, e.g. #content ul li
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12. The CSS styles anything within
the HTML
h2 {
color: #333333;
}
(will style all headers using the <h2> tag)
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13. Hexadecimal colour codes
(a good place to start)
ol {
background: #EFEFEF
color: #333333;
}
Change #333333 to #000000 (black) or
#FFFFFF (white) - Google others
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14. Categories vs tags
Categories are thematic, consistent
(e.g. 'Newspapers, Data Journalism')
Tags are specific, unique
(e.g. 'Telegraph', 'Martin Belam')
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15. Functionality - plugins
Sharing - e.g. TweetThis, Like buttons
Commenting - e.g. Disqus, FB
Management - e.g. contributor
permissions, analytics, donations
Presentation - widgets
Content - series, ratings etc.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

16. Functionality - mobile
publishing
Post by email (FB, Posterous, Tumblr)
Mobile app?
Blog widgets
Auto cross-posting (Pixelpipe)...
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17. Automate visibility -
but focus
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18. Back to the networks...
Use a consistent username so you can be
found elsewhere
Cross-link in your bylines and bios (with
contact details)
Use Twitterfeed or other tools to cross-
post RSS. Too easy? Play with IFTTT
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

19. Avoid shovelware
You wouldn't read a newspaper article on
radio
Play to the strengths of each medium
Know who each audience is, and talk to
them.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

20. Why social capital is
the currency of the
web
Tips on blogging beyond the blog
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

21. What is a blog?
‘Blogging’ functionality now embedded in
almost all online platforms
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22. Why?
Editorial advantages
Commercial advantages
Professional advantages
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23. How?
Conversational
Incomplete
Informal
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24. An introduction to social capital
Blogging is more than what you do on
your blog - it is the sum of exchanges
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25. “This is the number one asset of the
news organization: stored trust,
reputational capital. Any competent
journalist knows how to benefit from
that: your calls get returned… like
magic! But as to how that capital is
created, the professional journalist is
minimally involved.
Jay Rosen, http://archive.pressthink.org/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

26. Bloggers are “building their
reputations from the ground up,” and
to do this they have to focus on
users. They have to be in dialogue.
They have to point to others and say:
listen to him! The connection between
what they do and whether they are
trusted is much alive and apparent.
Jay Rosen, http://archive.pressthink.org/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

27. How? 'Brokerage relationships'
Save search costs (filter)
Reduce uncertainty (ratings)
Trust (verify)
Negative ties (don't shoot messenger)
Emotional involvement (vox populi)
Coordination (campaigns)
Expertise (translation)
Daniel Brass, in Social Capital (2009) ch10
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28. Some suggestions
Behind the scenes
Running story
Niche blog(s)
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29. 10 ideas for blog posts
Respond Interview
Event Question
Fight Reflect
Visual List
How-to Guest post
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30. Where to go from here:
Customise your platform for you and your
users
Increase accessibility through RSS-
powered automation
Move beyond the story to social content
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31. Guest Q&A:
Sunny Hundal,
Liberal Conspiracy
A blogger
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32. This week's lab.
Identify the best platforms for your
project
Customise the colour scheme
Identify plugins if Wordpress
Add widgets
Set up pixelpipe/Twitterfeed/IFTTT etc.
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33. Independent study
Continue to customise
Write at least one post answering a
question from your network - but not an
‘article’.
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34. Further reading.
Delicious.com/paulb/cityoj02
Delicious.com/paulb/blogging
Rosenberg: Say Everything
See Moodle for links & reading
Wednesday, 12 October 2011