Link Journalism: Curation to increase trust, relevance, brevity and pageviews
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Transcript of Link Journalism: Curation to increase trust, relevance, brevity and pageviews
Link Journalism
Vannevar Bush: “As We May Think”Atlantic Magazine, 1945
Link Journalism
“There is a new profession of trail blazers, those who find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record.”
— Vannevar Bush
Link Journalism
In journalism, good links are
Accurate
Relevant
Specific
Link Journalism Watch out for …
Potentially offensive material Beheading video of journalist Daniel Pearl
Potentially illegal material Sarah Palin’s inbox on Wikileaks Computer code for cracking DVDs
Links that might create a conflict of interest Amazon associate site for a book review One candidate, but not the other
Link Journalism
Relevant Links
o Only the primary subjects of the story
o Not every possible link
o Give readers manageable choices
Link Journalism
Specific Links
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/default.mspx
… NOT http://www.microsoft.com
Link JournalismLink Destinations
o Source material
o Full details
o Background information
Link JournalismSource Materials
o Documents (PDFs)
o Interviews
o Observations
o Increase transparency
o Help audience hold you accountable
Link Journalism
Departure Points
o Inline
o Sidebaro Righto Middleo Bottom
Link JournalismDeparture Points = News Elements
Who – Link people’s names to biographies.
What – Link verbs to contemporaneous accounts of the event, or to video showing the action.
When – Dates are rarely linked in news stories. One prominent exception is Wikipedia, which links dates to pages that contain milestones that happened on a particular date. For example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_8
Where – Location nouns point to maps. Location names link to encyclopedic profiles or demographic data about the location.
Why and How – Rarely provide a noun you can use as link. Use verb as departure point.
Link Journalism
Departure Points: Using Verbs
“The mayor spoke last month at the opening of the new cultural
center in downtown Ottumwa.”
“The mayor gave a speech last month at the opening of the new
cultural center in downtown Ottumwa. ”
Link Journalism
Inline Departure Points
o No more than 3-5 words in a row
o No consecutive links
o Link nouns
o Link only first instance …
o … unless the first instance is in the lead. Then only link the second.
o Avoid “sea of blue links”
Examples http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/lux-dark-matter/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/sean-hayes-gay-community-apology_n_4169745.html
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/10/29/william-lee-harvard-corporation/
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9901641/patrick-beverley-houston-rockets-set-start-jeremy-lin-opening-night
http://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/10/29/ambulance-contract-to-stay-private/
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/social-connection-makes-a-better-brain/280934/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/rand-paul-is-hosting-a-bipartisan-coffee-chat-on-the-capitol
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/30/brief-texas-political-news-oct-30-2013/
Link JournalismSidebar Links
o Good For... o Pointing to previous coverage of the storyo Pointing to different angles on the same storyo Pointing to long lists of documents or related tools,
such as a database or calculatoro Or “unrelated” links…
Link JournalismSidebar Links: Story Related
Link JournalismSidebar Links: Story Related
Link Journalism
Types of Unrelated Links …
o Latest headlineso about same general topic, such as sports, business or
politicso across all subjects
o Popular contento most e-mailedo most commented
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Section Related
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Section Related
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Section Related
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Popular
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Link Text
o a label for the destination page
o about three to five words long, often without a verb
Link JournalismSidebar Links: Link Text
Sotomayor Overcame Obstacles
to Sit on Nation’s Highest Court
becomes
Biography of Sonja Sotomayor
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Labels
Related Coverage• Obama’s Speech: Video | Text
• Reaction: Dionne | Brooks
• State of the Union Address History
Link Journalism
Sidebar Links: Labels
o Worst Label: “More Information”
o Better Label: “Related Links”
o Even Better Label: “From the Archives”
o Best Label: “Past News Articles”
“Find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record.”
“Find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record.”
