The document discusses how newsrooms can transition to being digital-first by increasing their digital content, audience, and revenue. It recommends that newsrooms prioritize digital coverage and storytelling, processes, engagement, planning and management, mobile capabilities, and standards. Specific suggestions are provided for breaking news, daily coverage, enterprise reporting, and utilizing various digital elements like videos, visuals, and interactive features to enhance storytelling. The document also addresses changing workflows, staffing, meetings, and metrics to better support a digital-first approach.

1. Going Digital-First
in Your Newsroom
Steve Buttry
Madison SPJ
October 17, 2014

2. Why “unbolt”?
● Increase digital content
● Increase digital audience
● Increase digital revenue
● Digital is the future
● Work more efficiently

3. Digital-first priorities
● News coverage & storytelling
● Processes
● Engagement
● Planning & management
● Mobile
● Standards

4. Coverage & storytelling
● Breaking news
● Event coverage
● Routine daily coverage
● Enterprise coverage

5. Breaking news
● Independent breaking news team
● Publish as soon as you verify
● Update frequently
● Liveblog
● Tweet & post from scene

6. Daily coverage
● Liveblog all events (meetings, trials,
festivals, sports)
● Report routine daily stories as they unfold:
Verified newsworthy fact, then updates
● Early deadlines (during workday)
● Quick version, then full version
● Crowdsource

7. Digital enterprise
● Plan & work for digital platform & timing
● Not “Sunday story” or sweeps
● Plan digital elements from the first:
databases, social, videos, interactive …
● Engagement
● Crowdsourcing (you can’t scoop yourself)

9. Five Satins
● Story published online Monday
● Text twice as long online
● Loaded with links
● Videos
● Audio clips
● Strong engagement all week
● Still published Sunday in print

10. Digital content
● Videos (yours & community’s)
● Visuals (photo galleries, maps, graphics)
● Link to relevant content (external & archives)
● Embeds (tweets, source documents, etc.)
● Interactive storytelling tools
● Interactive databases
● Live (blogs, chats, streams)

11. Processes, planning
● How do you change daily, weekly meetings?
● Critique website, app, not legacy products
● How do you change staffing, shifts?
● Edit for digital publication
● News budgets for digital planning?
● Training for digital tools & workflow
● How do you measure success?

12. Read more about it
● stevebuttry.wordpress.com (Project
Unbolt category)
● @stevebuttry
● stephenbuttry@gmail.com