Reader engagement

Reader Engagement
ENTERPRISING | ENGAGING | ENTERTAINING | ENLIGHTENING

AGENDA
• Reader advisory boards
• Storify
• Reader-contributed content

INNER CIRCLE EXPECTATIONS
The Inner Circle’s Reader Engagement
category includes:
• Reader advisory boards
• Storify
• Reader-contributed content
• Community blogs
Depending on your staff size, you will be required to select a certain number of
these initiatives to implement.
1-8 staff: 1 selection
9-24 staff: 2 selections
25+ staff: 3 selections

COMMUNITY BLOGS
• Strategy, expectations and tips available
in Inner Circle 2015 Handbook
• Remains a valuable way to tap into
reader content and engage audience
• If you select a different category, file a
ZenDesk ticket to have your local blogs
removed.

READER ADVISORY BOARDS
For newsrooms that elect to conduct
reader advisory boards as a part of the
Reader Engagement requirement:
• Hold monthly meetings with a panel of at
least six residents
• Publish an article or column detailing any
changes to occur based on the feedback
received
GOAL: Consistently connect with readers by involving them in the news-
gathering process and evolving products based on their feedback.

RECRUITMENT
Recruiting participants
• Write an editorial explaining the purpose and importance of an advisory
board and calling for participants.
• Ask participants to send the editor a few paragraphs on why they’re
interested in serving on the advisory board.

RECRUITMENT
Recruiting applicants
• Remind readers via callout boxes on your front or
opinion page. Run the callouts multiple times, until
you have a group to select from.
• Utilize social media pages to callout for participants.

RECRUITMENT
Utilizing social media pages to callout for participants
• Post multiple times
• Don’t just post callouts during business hours – also post on nights and
weekends, when people are online the most
• In your social media
callouts, make sure to
include the best way for
readers to contact you

RECRUITMENT
PROMOTION EXAMPLE
We want your feedback!
The News-Reporter is seeking local residents to serve on a monthly reader
advisory board. Come help us make our newspaper and website better!
We’re looking for candidates with no special interests — elected officials and
other community leaders need not apply.
Interested?
Email Editor Jane Smith at jsmith@news-reporter.com with our name, phone
number and a couple sentences on why you want to join.

RECRUITMENT
Reader advisory board members: who to include
• Diverse board of people without specials interests or causes
• Boards should consist of 12 members, but in smaller markers, at least six
are recommended.
• Applicants should be able to commit to at least three meetings, once per
month.

RECRUITMENT
Do not accept applicants with conflicts of interest
• Local officials
• PTA board members
• Chamber of commerce presidents
• Elected government officials
• School district officials
• Leaders of major employers
• People on local hospital, library boards

MEETING AGENDAS
Agenda: the first meeting
1. Give the board some history of the newspaper
2. Talk about your expectations for the board — what do want to accomplish?
3. Give the board a tour of your building and your website
4. Prepare a list of contacts at the paper, so board members know who to
contact regarding subscriptions, announcements, news, etc.
5. Take a group photo after the meeting and run it alongside a column
announcing who is on the board

MEETING AGENDAS
Agenda: monthly meetings
• Board meetings should last no more than an hour
• Start each meeting by updating the board on projects your newspaper is
working on (redesign, re-contenting, new features, etc.)
• Don’t just tell the group what you’re doing; ask specific questions about
what you’re thinking or doing and get their feedback. Focus on two or three
things.
We are thinking about moving the obits from A2 to A6, but
running names of all local deaths on our front page — what do
you think of this?

MEETING AGENDAS
Bring in a different department head (classified, circulation, advertising, press)
each month. Have them talk about their area of expertise and give the board a
chance to ask questions.
Example: Bring in circulation director
• Circ director should explain how the paper is delivered – how many
carriers are used, what time the paper goes out
• Circ director should address challenges involved in circulation, and
how those challenges are resolved
• Advisory board members should have time to ask the circ director any
questions they have about distribution, subscriptions

MEETING AGENDAS
Hold a roundtable discussion – ask board members to provide feedback on
coverage over the past month, with tearsheets of examples of what they liked
and didn’t like. Use specific questions to ask for feedback
Don’t ask: What do you like about the paper?
Instead, ask: What features do you like on this opinion page?

MEETING AGENDAS
Specific questions to ask for feedback
What do you
think about the
content featured
above the fold?
Is the content
most important
to you being
featured on the
sidebar?

FOLLOW UP
To meet Inner Circle expectations, a newsroom must demonstrate that
changes are coming, or that specific feedback was received and is being
considered.
The editor or publisher should write a column about the meeting and explain
what got discussed, and what the paper is going to do about the feedback.
Submission of this column will be required for Inner Circle.

RECAP: EXPECTATIONS
• Monthly meetings with a panel
of at least six residents
• Publish an article or column
detailing any changes to occur,
or feedback received

STORIFY
For newsrooms that elect to create
Storify packages as a part of the
• 1-8 staff: 2 per quarter
• 19+ staff: 1 per week
GOAL: Gather observations and insight from local readers via social media
networks during breaking news and for other topics generating large volumes
of interest on social media – be they national, regional or local.

STORIFY
For newsrooms that elect to create
Storify packages as a part of the
• Must include at least four social media posts
from local sources
• Must be published on the newspaper’s
website, embedded into a story
• Newsroom staff must integrate original
reporting into the Storify
GOAL: Gather observations and insight from local readers via social media
networks during breaking news and for other topics generating large volumes
of interest on social media – be they national, regional or local.

WHAT IS STORIFY?
Storify is a web-based tool created by
journalists for social media curation.
It is a website that helps you tell stories
in a timeline/narrative format by sorting
through and choosing posts from social
media, such as Twitter, Facebook and
Flickr.

WHAT IS STORIFY?
With Storify, you write your narrative, then pull in comments and
images posted on social media to add color to your story.

USING STORIFY
“We did not intend for people to just throw together
social media and create a scrap pile of tweets. The
name is ‘Storify’ because it’s about making stories.
It’s about changing how journalism works to
acknowledge the fact that everyone on the ground
is potentially your eyewitness, and it’s about
empowering journalists to draw from that source
material.”
-- Burt Herman, Storify CEO and co-founder

WHY USE STORIFY?
• Storify can add new angles to a story you may not
otherwise have; it can show emotion connected to an
issue in a way an objective journalist can’t always convey.
• It has been proven in the field to be easy to use, to
enhance our coverage and to spread virally on social
media, which exposes us to new readers.
• It puts us on many of our readers’ turf. It shows we’re
playing on the same playground (Twitter, Facebook, etc).

• In a sea of social media posts, you help the reader sort
through it all and highlight the information that adds value
to their experience.
• We can’t be everywhere all the time. Let the eyes and
ears of our readers help tell a story, especially when we
can’t, and in their own words.
WHY USE STORIFY?

When should we use Storify?
Top national stories
Pop culture
Weather
Big local issues
Note: Check Twitter first. You
can’t Storify if social media
isn’t talking about it.
EXAMPLES
• Local Olympian wins
medal
• Helicopter activity alarms
residents
• Wildlife sightings: Bears,
coyotes, etc.
• Hurricane, tornado or
blizzard damage
• Blizzard Nemo damage
• Election turnout/results

FINDING CONTENT
Twitter: Usually yields the most content. Find local items by plugging
your town, state into “Near” and choose a radius.
Facebook: You can intersperse the Facebook posts with the
Twitter posts or drag them all at the end of the timeline and
rearrange the order later as you decide how to present things.
YouTube: Take the time to watch the video. You can drag
it to the timeline, watch it and delete it if you decide it’s
inappropriate.

How to use Storify: Finding content
Flickr: This is where you can find photos to break up text if you didn’t
already get some out of Twitter and Facebook.
Instagram: Search by hashtag. This doesn’t typically yield a ton.
Google: This searches Google for websites. You may want to use
whatever the official site is for whatever your topic is. Or a link to
your homepage.

How to use Storify: Finding content
Search for content on those social media streams by indicating your location,
and specific terms

EMBED IN SAXO STORY
1. Copy the embed code out of Storify.
2. In Lite Editor, click on the HTML button.
Click “HTML”
button to open
pop-up editor.

How to use Storify: Add to Saxo article
3. Paste the code at
the end of the
article text.
3. Click update at
the bottom left of
the pop-up box.
4. Post story as
usual.

MORE RESOURCES
The 2015 Inner
Circle handbook has
more information
about how to use
Storify, as well as
best practices and
tips.

RECAP: EXPECTATIONS
• Must include at least four
social media posts from local
sources
• Must be published on the
newspaper’s website,
embedded into a story
• Newsroom staff must integrate
original reporting into the
Storify

READER-CONTRIBUTED CONTENT
For newsrooms that select reader-
submitted content as a part of the
• Run a weekly, anchored callout for reader
content on page A2 or another prominent
location in print
• Publish four or more pieces of reader content
at least once weekly in print and online
GOAL: To unite the community through a highly visible program in print and
online, providing an outlet for readers to share photos, stories and other items
of note.

WHY USE READER CONTENT
Benefits to using reader-submitted content
• Establish better connections with readers — strengthen your brand
• Use reader content as part of a story package or special section
• Obtain engaging, local content without using significant staff resources
NOTE: Content must be driven by a callout from the newspaper – it cannot
be a collection of unrelated images or randomly submitted content from
readers.

Choose callouts tied to major or
popular events.
• Holidays
• Easter egg hunts
• Christmas traditions
• “How we met” stories for
Valentine’s Day
• Veterans Day stories
• Popular local events
• Parades
• Fairs
• Carnivals
• Car shows
CALLOUT IDEAS

Choose callouts tied to major or
popular events.
• Milestones
• Photos of teenagers dressed up
for prom
• Graduation photos
• National trends
• Breast cancer survivor stories in
October
• Weather-related events
• Photos taken after blizzards or big
storms
• Fall colors
CALLOUT IDEAS

DRAWING IN RESPONSES
Make the callout prominent
Have a callout always running in your print edition in an anchored position,
and always have on featured on your website’s homepage.
Two week rule: You should run each callout for no more than two weeks,
then insert a new callout.

Utilize social media
For markets that have a difficult time getting responses to callouts, new
technology allows readers to submit through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in
addition to email or uploading to your website.

Use variety
Try several kinds of callouts at first to see which resonate with your readers.
If you need more input, try working with community groups on specific callouts
to show your readers some responses. Once your readers see others
participating, they may be more likely to join in.
Examples:
• If you are seeking flower photos, ask the community garden club to
send you photos of flowers.
• When seeking Boy Scout photos, contact a troop leader and ask him
to submit.

RECAP: EXPECTATIONS
• Weekly, anchored callout for
reader content on page A2 or
another prominent location in
print
• Publish four or more pieces of
reader content at least once
weekly in print and online

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