Yesterday I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet with some New York Times editors and tour their incredible office space. I went along with my Studio II class, which is helping to plan and launch the NYT/NYU collaborative Local East Village blog. We got a tour of the newsroom, as well as the Pulitzer hall, and even got to peek into Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.’s office. Suffice to say it was a media geek’s dream come true. We also got to meet with a number of NYT writers and editors, including TV reporter and Media Decoder blogger Brian Stelter, who gave us some interesting tips on web journalism:
Complete Tool Kit for a Web Journalist
1. The ability to synthesize a lot of information very quickly.
This comes mostly with reading a lot, whether it be print articles, blogs, tweets, whatever. In an all-media-all-the-time world, you have to be incredibly permeable, but also analytical about the types of information you’re absorbing.
2. The ability to write quickly and accurately.
Journalism isn’t only about meeting that 12:30am deadline anymore. In an atmosphere where you’re constantly competing with countless online (and speedy!) outlets for scoops, immediacy is key, but accuracy is the gold standard. To combine both takes a talented web journalist.
3. Twitter
For scoops, reader feedback, tips.
4. Facebook
For contacting sources who won’t call or e-mail you back.
5. Audio recorder
Whether it’s an iPhone or a digital audio recorder with a USB plug, in-person and Skype interviews require audio recorders to get transcription just right.
6. Flip cam
Multimedia is an important aspect of web journalism. Flip cams are easy-to-use, cheap, light and can record HD video instantly.
7. Personal brand/identity
Objectivity is a marketing ploy! But when writing hard news pieces it’s important to report fairly. By developing your own website or Twitter account, readers can understand your perspective and personality without you having to inject it into your articles.
8. Becoming a reliable member of the link economy
Whether it’s sending out e-mails to try to get other blogs to post about your link, or just tweeting it at them, getting linked to is one of the most crucial ways of driving traffic to your articles.
Later on we saw Brian recording a video about the iPad, which will be on the web today at 1pm. I barely caught a glimpse of the thing, which Decoder writer David Carr quickly shielded from our glance when we approached, but from the peek I did get it looks AWESOME.
We also got to meet with Social Media Editor Jennifer Preston, and Senior Editor Dana Canedy, who is in charge of Times internships. She told us she prefers to have internship candidates SNAIL MAIL their application packages to her. I was very confused, but I guess to each his/her own. Canedy talked a lot about basic human curiosity and the integral part it plays in getting good scoops. “The best stories,” she said, “come out of a sense of curiosity.”
I couldn’t agree more.
This is great and a really professional filter for a lot of the random info out there. Now if we can only get every journalist to do this!
My biggest issue is, from an academic standpoint, never being able to reach journalists, especially at the Times. People at all other companies and in all other industries have emails and phone numbers available for those who wish to reach out to them. Every professor in the country gives his email address out somewhere online.
But reporters? Forget it. The Times doesn’t facilitate it and the journalists dont go out of their way to achieve it. Sad state of affairs.