Saturday, February 14th, 2009...9:08 pm
A typical day in an online-first newsroom
Here’s part three of my series, what’s an online-first newsroom look like. Today, I’ll talk about what a typical day should/could be like in an online-first newsroom. (Be sure to read the rest of the series: Part one examines the over-arching ideas that form a f0undation of an online-first newsroom; part two examines the nitty gritty.)
A typical day in an online-first newsroom should be different than in a traditional newsroom. If it’s not, your newsroom isn’t online first enough (or at all.)
One note: I’ll be highlighting what’s unique about an online-first journalist’s daily routine. But social media and multimedia shouldn’t be all you do. You still need to engage readers through more traditional means — going to a school board meeting to meet officials and parents if you cover schools or having an informal coffee with sources. I’m a huge proponent of journalists getting out of the office and going to the scene of the crash, the crime or the trial. Online first shouldn’t change that. And of course, you’ll still need to interview folks, do research and write stories.
Before I get into the details, a word about time management. Learn it. Using social media as a journalist and engaging the community means more work — but it adds more value, too. When I explain to other journalists what I do on my beat, I often get an exhausted look from them: “How do you fit it in?”
My answer: You have time to do what’s valuable to you. Make the time. Get organized and get into a rhythm. You don’t need to check every social-networking site every day or even every week. Dip in and out.
Here’s how it works for me. Of course, a typical day might be different for you, depending on the day, the beat or your personality. (I’m what you call a type A-plus personality, pretty frenetic.) Hopefully, these ideas will inspire you to add some social-networking and multimedia to your workday. Because new media can easily overwhelm even the most organized journalist, I’ve divided my list of what I do into things I check every day, every few days, once a week and regularly. You can’t do everything every single day. But remember: If I can do this; you can. Really, you can.
Everyday:
- E-mail: Check e-mail first thing and repeatedly throughout the day. I use e-mail groups to sort through the hundreds I get daily. I run frequent contests on my blog, which all come through e-mail. So contest entries get one group; potential guest blogs get another. I deal with the most important e-mails and then save the rest for later. I re-check my e-mail frequently, so if I hear from a reader, I can respond very quickly.
- Twitter: Right after e-mail, I check Twitter, see what people are saying and check if I have any @replies or direct messages from other people on Twitter. I also check if anyone started following me overnight, and I’ll check out his or her page to see if I want to follow. Then I get a few good tweets out — from my blog, from my newspaper’s breaking news blog or retweeting smart tweets I’ve read. Depending on how busy my day is, I’ll try to check in on Twitter near lunch, mid-afternoon and right before I leave for the day. I’ll tweet, retweet and check search.twitter.com, where you can find out what people are buzzing about on Twitter.
- Blog: I firmly believe that journalist bloggers need to blog pretty much every day. My goal is three new posts daily on my Family Life blog, a goal I meet most of the time. (I’m not quite there with this blog.) I try to schedule posts for days when I’m off, and I’ve bl0gged through every vacation at least occasionally. Frequent blogging rewards the readers who keep coming back with new content. Plus, it helps your blog get crawled more frequently by Google for new content. I don’t tweet every post; just the ones I think have a wider reach. I respond to comments on my blog as quickly as possible.
- Facebook: I update my status through Twitter frequently. If someone responds to my status updates, I try to reply quickly. I treat responses like blog comments. It’s a conversation, so I need to keep up my end.
- News sites: I try to read my newspaper’s Web site, The New York Times and The Huffington Post every day or several times a day. Journalists must be informed. Period.
- Other blogs in your niche: I suggest journalist bloggers have a good working list of blogs in their niche to read regularly. Some you might read daily if they update frequently; others every few days. It helps to add the blogs you like to Google reader, so you’ll get a feed to all of them in one nice, neat page. It helps you not forget to check them. As I read, I also bookmark interesting posts in Delicious for use in later blog posts.
- Google alerts: I have Google alerts set up for stories about parenting (my beat) and for my name, Gina Chen and my Twitter name, bloggingmom67. That way I can see what others are writing about on my beat and when someone mentions me. I get an e-mail in my inbox daily with these alerts, and I read them right away unless I’m having a horrifically busy day.
- Check trending topics: I check Google Hot Trends and Twitscoopto see what’s getting a lot of buzz in the blogosphere, twittersphere and Web.
At least once a week:
- Comment on other blogs: My goal is to comment at least 10 times a week on other blogs in my niche. (That’s not a lot; I’ve heard bloggers recommend commenting on 30 to 40 blogs a week, but 10 is all I can swing.) It helps me connect with other bloggers and join the larger conversation. It can also help increase my blog traffic as readers of the other blog reads my comments and possibly check out my blog.
- Check niche social-networking sites: For me, this includes Cafe Mom and Twitter Moms, but it would include other social networks in your niche. I might post a blog post at Cafe Mom, link to my blog on it or add a story to that site’s hot list. I also check Linked In.
- Newsletter to readers: Nearly every week I send out a personal e-newsletter to about 300 of my blog readers and sources. This is not a RSS feed or e-mail newsletter of just my post titles. This is a personal letter to my readers. The readers have signed up on my blog or through a personal request from me in e-mail or by phone. I usually invite anyone who I interview. It’s set up like a list-serve, so they can opt out whenever they want. I use this as a source list to gather ideas for stories, to invite readers to write for my blog and to send them direct links to notable posts on my blog. I also offer contests (usually children’s book) just for subscribers as in incentive. It’s a great way to boost blog traffic and engage readers. I consider my subscribers a mini focus group, and they just love being sort of “insiders in the news biz.” (At some point, I’ll got into detail on this in a separate post.)
Regularly:
- Use multimedia when it makes sense: In an online-first newsroom, multimedia — video, audio and podcasts — should be part of every day’s news package. But not every journalists has to dovideo every day. It makes sense to put some thought into it. I’ve done videos for my blog with the Flip Video camera and edited them myself; I’ve teamed up with my husband, a videographer for my newspaper, to do more lengthy video pieces. The idea is to be thinking about how you can best communicate a story to readers, engage them and give them a choice in how they get their information. Then pick the right tool for the story.
Please share your ideas. I’d love to add to my list.
– Gina
I'm Gina Masullo Chen, a 20-year veteran newspaper journalist who is a Ph.D. candidate in mass communications. I want to see journalism survive. I believe news organizations need to embrace new media, change their thinking, improve their content and innovate. Read more about me 

19 Comments
February 14th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
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February 14th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
[...] during pregnancy – One fifth of Women crave it Couple of Tards breathing room A typical day in an online-first newsroom The Baby [...]
February 15th, 2009 at 11:02 am
[...] Online first newsrooms Interesting tips on how one journalist coped with the online first demands. (tags: blogging twitter newspaper newsroom facebook journalism) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Notes from DEN April 29; Making moneyHow’s My Blogging?First week of Warhammer Online Age of Blogging successfulLooking into the abyss: the future of journalism [...]
February 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am
[...] Online first newsrooms Interesting tips on how one journalist coped with the online first demands. (tags: blogging twitter newspaper newsroom facebook journalism) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Notes from DEN April 29; Making moneyFormer TV Web Producer Shares Her Blogging ExperienceHow’s My Blogging?Are political bloggers the new muckrakers? [...]
February 15th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Nice article Gina.
I didn’t see a mention of RSS feeds in this, which is a great way to keep abreast of your patch. Would bring some of your tasks like google alerts and checking blogs and sites under one banner.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Andy,
Agreed. I did mention Google reader, although not specificially RSS feeds. Appreciate you expanding on the idea.
I love Google reader. I use it to keep track of all my feeds, and it’s so much easier than hopping from blog to blog.
– Gina
February 15th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Gina,
Once again, this is fabulous. Have you considered writing a “how-to” textbook? Your blog beats the convergence journalism texts I’ve looked at for my class. It gets into the nuts and bolts of how to do this.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Marsha,
As always, thanks for your support. I’m glad you find the post helpful.
Any publisher out there … I’m ready.
– Gina
February 16th, 2009 at 8:09 am
[...] A typical day in an online-first newsroom « Save the Media – A nice round up of how digital has changed the day of a journalist in the newsroom. I don’t see a mention of RSS feeds in the list. Maybe it’s implied but it would save time. [...]
February 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am
[...] Full post at this link… [...]
February 16th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
[...] A typical day in an online-first newsroom [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Gina,
How often do you set aside time, even on a semi-regular basis, for learning new social networking or multimedia tools? Your knowledge and command of Twitter and its various related tools seems pretty darn comprehensive. When do you make the time?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Honestly, I started looking into it at work. I’d get a cool link on Twitter, get intrigued, follow it and read about a great application for twitter or a neat way to use Twitter. That helped me find some great techie and journo sites (see my blog rolls) that I check frequently.
But I do much of my searching at home on my own time. I’m fascinated by social media, so I find it fun searching for new ways to use it.
As they say: If you do what you love, you won’t work a day in your life.
– Gina
February 17th, 2009 at 2:18 am
[...] and journalism By Anthony Salveggi Gina Chen at Save the Media offers her take on a typical day in an online newsroom, and it’s an essential read for journalists trying to manage their time. From Twitter to [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
[...] blog posts and will show your passion for what your are covering. Here is a great quote from ‘Save the Media ‘: “Using social media as a journalist and engaging the community means more work — [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Interesting posts, Gina. Just came across your blog and I look forward to reading more. The idea that traditional journalists need an education in new media/social networking tools is an understatement and a task not for the weak of heart, so thank you for doing your part. A great example of what a “new-age” journalist might look like is Peter Abraham, a Yankees beat reporter in NY. I can’t stand the Yanks, but Abraham shows how one person can write articles, blog posts, Twitter, podcast/vodcast, take photos with his iPhone and a million other things.
Keep up the good work.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Media Slackers,
Thanks for kind words and tip on Peter Abraham. Actually, just read about him today on Nieman Journalism Lab. He’s doing some cool stuff.
– Gina
February 18th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] UMA SÉRIE de três posts sobre como é trabalhar numa redacção que põe o online em primeiro lugar: Parte 1 , parte 2 e parte 3. [...]
February 19th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
[...] it’s a necessity. She estimates 70 percent of her work is on her blog and in social media, (check out her daily online routine) and 30 percent is spent working outside on her beat. She’s by no means alone in blogging at the [...]
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