Starting the conversation...

La dolce vita80.4% of all British adults (39.5m people) read a

regional newspaper28.9% of those do not read a nationalReadership of regional mornings increased by

60.9% since 2000Regional press is UK’s largest print advertising

medium (£2.3bn a year; 14.3% of all advertising revenue)

The big spenders... Coi, Dfs, Lidl, O2, Nissan

But life is changing...

Journalism is changing too

Infrastructure: What systems we use

Culture: How we present content

Technology: The right tools for the job

Mindsets: What is journalism?

Questions we asked ourselves

What role do newspapers have in a Web 2.0 world?

Netbooks, not notebooks: Should we be www(eb)-first?

Where is our audience? What do readers want?

Can we let go of the past when we’re still so dependent on it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/2907535600

Sourcing options, Web 1.0Reporter gets potential story via:Phone call or meeting with contactLetter to the editorEmailComment on the newspaper's web forumItem in a publication or websiteVideo on YouTubePunter walks into office and asks to speak to a

journalist

THEN...

Phones/meet contacts to verify informationSearches internet for background/expertsFinds expert and emails questions.... includes

response in written articleSets up photo opportunity with picture deskWrites article and sends to newsdesk

Sourcing options, Web 2.0Reporter gets potential story via Web 1.0 PLUS...

Link posted on a social networkRSS feed of news and message board postsStatus update or link on a micro-blogTwitter searchSearch of blog postComment on the reporter's blogOnline forums Email/post/link via reporter/newspaper's MySpace or Facebook pagePodcastOnline searchesThreaded video debateAn incident live-streamed onto a website

THEN...

Crowdsources idea using social networksUses blog searches and blog translators to find posts and

experts worldwideUses own blog to post developing story and ask for input

and suggestions from readersSets up online survey and poll (promoted via linking from

own blog, Facebook page and online forums)Records telephone/Skype interview for podcastCollates findings and discusses package with print and

digital news editorsFilms video reportPosts links and questions on specialist message boardsSearches social bookmarking tools for related issuesUses video discussion site to seek views

Getting your message acrossWeb 1.0 Web 2.0

Press releases: Written, emailed, faxed, posted

Interview: Face-to-face, emailed Q&A, via telephone

Surveys (generic = bin; bespoke = expensive)

Press releases: Video package, podcast, soundslides

Interview: Liveblog, Tw-interview, public Google Wave collaboration, Facebook Wall/Chat, blog conversation, livestream interview via camera or mobile phone, chatroom Q&A, Skype interview

Surveys: Online polls, questionnaires, Wikis, video vox pops, video discussion boards

Was my message heard?Web 1.0 Web 2.0

Analytics: Word-of-mouth, on-day edition sales figures, unique users hits

Possible follow-up article

Possible take-up by other media

Social bookmarking RSS readers (eg Google Reader) Retweets Shared link click-throughs Blog comments Reblogs Indie blogs Social media searches Facebook comments Flickr photographs Reader comments (eg. Pluck) Reader ratings Forum discussions Embedded video ‘Favouriting’ – eg. Facebook’s ‘Like’

option

A quick example

Merseytravel/LDP/LDP Flickr group collaboration for Mersey Ferries competition

60+ entriesMultiple quality articles with

images in LDP and LDP.co.uk

Community engagement

Winning entry hangs in ferry terminal

©Samthesham

We must...

Try new ways to engage existing audience, and reach new ones

Understand that social media - Twitter, blogs, Facebook – is about conversation not broadcasting

Remember, story-telling starts with people

Expect some experiments to fail

Ask the audience to help us break, share and gather information

Listen to feedback

Reach people

Open new channels of communication

Segment our audiences

Start conversations

Seek views, help, feedback, information

Engage and interact

Be more transparent

Accept accountability

Learning through play

Vimeo (HD video site) http://vimeo.com/TwitterFacebookDipity (creates timelines – RSS friendly)Flickr Boardreader (forum search)Twingly (blog & microblog search)Bloglines (blog tracker) Audioboo (podcast from your phone) Xtranormal (text-to-movie)Ustream (your TV channel)Qik/Bambuser (mobile & webcam livestreaming)Seesmic (threaded video discussion)

© Matt Jones

Alison GowExecutive editor (digital) Trinity Mirror Merseyside

015412395944 (w)07788565765 (m)

Email: alison.gow@liverpool.comTwitter: @alisongowLinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/alisongow