For many sites, a lot of commenters is a benchmark of online publishing success. But why do publishers encourage comments and what value can they get from it? An afternoon breakout session at news:rewired sought to find out…
#newsrw: The future’s bright, the future’s niche
We round up some of the most innovative contributions to news:rewired, from the permanently out-of-office approach, to video game storytelling, to the location-based social media explosion
#newsrw: Interactive storytelling and visualisation: a culture shift to more compelling content
Interactives experts explain how a new way of storytelling is making data newsworthy, content compelling, and journalism an easier sell
#newsrw: Marc Reeves keynote: journalists need to learn to help sell niche, targeted content
Readers have always thought of themselves in niches, claims Reeves, who calls the regional press foolish for thinking of a community of 100,000 as a single group
#newsrw: Users are an essential source of information, agree UGC panellists
Journalists need to lead by example in terms of sharing, and cultivate close-knit communities around content, according Paul Bradshaw, founder of crowdsourced investigative site Help Me Investigate
#newsrw: the Times, RBI confident of a paid-for news future
Times assistant editor said paywall alternatives meant “enormously intrusive advertising”, and claims that at a lot of sites “the barrier between journalism and commercial was getting very thin”
#newsrw: Need some online buzz? Create your own personalised network with social media
Speakers from Open Democracy, Reputation Online and the Libel Reform Campaign discuss building networks and communities around content and making content ‘discoverable, shareable and allowing readers to interact with it in a live setting’
#newsrw: Mobile devices ideal for low-cost, high-volume content, says mobile panel
Mobile devices are not a replacement for professional equipment but can provide low-cost supplementary footage, agree news:rewired speakers in the mobile journalism session
#newsrw: Couldn’t make it? Follow the news:rewired livestream here
The BBC College of Journalism will livestreaming parts of the day here on the news:rewired website
#newsrw: Keynote speaker Peter Bale kicks off news:rewired
MSN UK executive producer stresses the importance of building a personal brand online and urging journalists not to underestimate the long-term importance or new technologies