Crowdsourcing

I found the story of the New York Time's crowdsourcing debacle fascinating. Yes, crowdsourcing can be used as a brilliant journalistic tool, enabling journalists to connect with the people, easily gather information from a wide range of sources and turn an overwhelming job into a far simpler one. But oh, how it can be misused.

After requesting readers sort through bucketloads of Sarah Palin's personal emails on the lookout for anything juicy, New York Times journos received responses like "Don't you folks get paid to do this work yourself?" and "I would rather watch paint dry". How humiliating.

These journos overlooked a vital component of any crowdsourcing success story - that the participants have to actually get something out of it, and they lost a whole lot of credibility in the process.

The online world sets up the perfect crowdsourcing foundation. Participants can join in from wherever they are and responses can be tracked, counted and analysed in great detail. However, just sticking a request up on the net doesn't necessarily make it worthwhile. A sense of competition and fun is so important in attracting (and keeping) an audience.

So for my own little crowdsourcing experiment, I'm requesting you all send in ideas for my next online journalism blog post ... Ha. (I'm hoping you sensed the sarcasm)

Scanners vs. Readers

I don’t have a smart phone.

Or a laptop.

My mobile can’t send or receive emails.

Or access the internet.

I can’t take pics and upload them instantly to facebook.

I don’t like Twitter.

I don’t have a Tumblr.

But, I do like online news.

So how is it that I differ so greatly, not only from the Gen Y stereotype, but the stereotyped online news user? I can’t possibly be the only one, there must be thousands of us out there, weirdos who aren’t constantly tapping away on their iPhones, ‘plugged in’ to the online world every minute of the day.

But are speed and applicability really the major reasons online news has taken off? Actually, I find news organisations’ online sites cater particularly well to me, strange person who only accesses the internet from an old school computer. I like to have time when I’m on a news website, I like to absorb the information, re-read particular sections, follow links, engage in interactive visuals, things that are near impossible to accomplish if you are accessing a news site during your 10 second lift journey from level 2 to 6 on an 8x4 centimetre screen.

I love to explore a news story, and the internet has provided the infinite space allowing journalists to do the same. Large, analytical articles that really get to the bones of an issue are now able to be published and accessed. I can view award-winning journalistic pieces with a few clicks; thorough, brilliant works free of charge.

But most of all, I love that it doesn’t have to be 140 characters or less.

Oh, the irony of the internet.

Nailed by the Courier Mail

News of the London riots has swamped our television screens, newspapers, blogs, websites and radio stations over the past couple of weeks. This event was an obvious winner in the news stakes; it provided organisations with striking images, moving anecdotes and dramatic reports.

I believe the Courier Mail’s online coverage of the London riots was outstanding. Not only did they keep readers informed with almost hourly updates, they provided news in every form – through images, video, background reports, succinct updates, in-depth witness accounts and plenty of coverage relating directly to Australians.

I believe the Courier Mail nailed two vital components in attracting and maintaining an online following – speed and interactivity.

Speed

The Courier Mail provided regular updates on the action taking place in London. These updates were concise, easy to read, accurate and simply formatted, placed on their own as well as for background information in larger articles. These constant updates drew me back to the website time and time again, maintaining my interest throughout the day. I also found the Courier Mail provided information just as fast, if not faster, than competing online news websites, making me trust in their capability to keep me informed.

Interactivity

The number of links and extras found on each article page was overwhelming. Recent videos allowed audiences to truly understand the ferocity of the rioters, animated maps depicted the spread of violence and interactive before-and-after photographs truly illustrated the damage caused. I found myself drawn to these elements, and after using each and every one, I went on to ‘Related articles’ to search for more. These novel additions peaked my interest and communicated the story to a much fuller extent than a sole news report ever could.

Congratulations Courier Mail on your superb coverage of the London Riots. A link to your website now holds a secure position in my Favourites bar.

Image: The Courier Mail

Online news design

Online news delivers like no other news has before. It is interactive, immediate and a brilliant resource for the time poor. As online news is written to be scanned and consumed quickly, the layout and design of the page has become fundamental. Bolded words, bullet points and simple headings all accommodate the online consumer's tendancy to skip over content. In keeping with this 'need for speed', I have come up with a clever little online news page inclusion which breaks away from the common web news model.


Most breaking news pages include the news story itself and a 'Related Coverage' menu or similar (as seen in the image below), providing links to older or related reports. There are usually a number of links in this menu, each with a detailed heading. If a reader wants to gather background on the story, it is rather time consuming when compared to the hurtling speed of other web actions: they must read each of the link's headline, open the new window then read the additional article. Phew!

My idea is to include a 'news timeline' documenting each update to the story in a simple, concise format. Each brief  'update' marked on the timeline will be hyperlinked, so readers can quickly access the full report if necessary. This addition will support news organisations' needs to keep the audience constantly updated throughout a breaking story, yet will remove the various messy headlines and simplify the task of sorting through past reports. If the news organisation wants to take the graphic one step further and be extra edgy, they could include a small pop-up photograph of the event to appear when a reader hovers their rmouse over an update on the timeline - a novel addition which will create some visual interest.


I believe this would be a valuable addition to any news website. It would support online news consumers' scanning habits and encourage readers to visit other pages within the site, whilst also providing a valuable summary of events. Furthermore, a graphic such as a news timeline would break up sometimes large amounts of text and provide interaction and a visual point of interest on the news page. This interactive graphic would add value to any news webpage - the audience is engaged, informed and is able to navigate through the website's content with ease. Winners all round.


A simple 'news timeline' example I whipped up myself -