The Journalism Explainer

No journalist today can escape measuring the success of their story by looking at likes, shares, etc, etc— not even journos at The New York Times, who held out longer than nearly anyone else. And if you take a simplistic view of metrics and analytics, that's a bad thing. Why should good reporting be judged on clicks, or even shares and comments? We know that the big hitters on Facebook and elsewhere are cute pets, heartwarming acts of charity— junk food stuff. But a deeper appreciation of analytics reveals its ability to improve our journalism, not just sell it better. A recent report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that many newsrooms still have a rudimentary approach to analytics. Some, however, are pushing the boundaries of what they can learn with innovative ways of measuring the success a story, and unique approaches to analysing those metrics. We spoke with the lead author of the RISJ report, as well as one of the people behind NPR's 'Carebot' project, and Fairfax Media's head of digital channels, to explore what metrics and analytics look like when they're done well.

No journalist today can escape measuring the success of their story by looking at likes, shares, etc, etc— not even journos at The New York Times, who held out longer than nearly anyone else. And if you take a simplistic view of metrics and analytics, that's a bad thing. Why should good reporting be judged on clicks, or even shares and comments? We know that the big hitters on Facebook and elsewhere are cute pets, heartwarming acts of charity— junk food stuff. But a deeper appreciation of analytics reveals its ability to improve our journalism, not just sell it better. A recent report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that many newsrooms still have a rudimentary approach to analytics. Some, however, are pushing the boundaries of what they can learn with innovative ways of measuring the success a story, and unique approaches to analysing those metrics. We spoke with the lead author of the RISJ report, as well as one of the people behind NPR's 'Carebot' project, and Fairfax Media's head of digital channels, to explore what metrics and analytics look like when they're done well.

Chat apps have been the ‘up and coming’ distribution network for a few years, and most of the world’s major publishers are now using them to grow their audiences and share their content. The Economist began publishing on Line in January this year as an experiment, and since then has reached almost 250,000 subscribers after publishing 780 posts (at the time of publishing in June 2016). Many of those subscribers are in key developing markets - like Cambodia. For Denise Law, The Economist community editor, it made sense for the UK publication to publish content there: “It’s an amazing opportunity for us to build communities and develop audiences in the Asian market.” Digital subscriptions to The Economist have grown 45% year-on-year in Asia, which is a key market for the publisher. (Song: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom)

Chat apps have been the ‘up and coming’ distribution network for a few years, and most of the world’s major publishers are now using them to grow their audiences and share their content. The Economist began publishing on Line in January this year as an experiment, and since then has reached almost 250,000 subscribers after publishing 780 posts (at the time of publishing in June 2016). Many of those subscribers are in key developing markets - like Cambodia. For Denise Law, The Economist community editor, it made sense for the UK publication to publish content there: “It’s an amazing opportunity for us to build communities and develop audiences in the Asian market.” Digital subscriptions to The Economist have grown 45% year-on-year in Asia, which is a key market for the publisher. (Song: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom)

As Google comes head-to-head with Facebook in the digital advertising race, Google's global head of news Richard Gingras is seeking to collaborate more closely with traditional news publishers. His latest project is Accelerated Mobile Pages, known as 'AMP' - an open source project that aims to speed up article load times to improve user experience. It's also a move to counter the multi-billion dollar threat to news publishers posed by ad-blocking.

As Google comes head-to-head with Facebook in the digital advertising race, Google's global head of news Richard Gingras is seeking to collaborate more closely with traditional news publishers. His latest project is Accelerated Mobile Pages, known as 'AMP' - an open source project that aims to speed up article load times to improve user experience. It's also a move to counter the multi-billion dollar threat to news publishers posed by ad-blocking.

Journalists and their sources face increasingly invasive surveillance tactics. Digital security is often compromised, and a major new UN study of 121 countries' legal source protection frameworks has found that they are out of date and need strengthening in many cases. Julie Posetti, who authored the report, spoke at the International Journalism Festival in Italy about protecting sources in the digital age, just days after the Panama Papers story broke. This episode features her panel at the festival, where she spoke alongside journalist at Der Spiegel Marcel Rosenbach, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship Professor Dan Gilmore, and freedom of information campaigner and journalist Heather Brooke.

Journalists and their sources face increasingly invasive surveillance tactics. Digital security is often compromised, and a major new UN study of 121 countries' legal source protection frameworks has found that they are out of date and need strengthening in many cases. Julie Posetti, who authored the report, spoke at the International Journalism Festival in Italy about protecting sources in the digital age, just days after the Panama Papers story broke. This episode features her panel at the festival, where she spoke alongside journalist at Der Spiegel Marcel Rosenbach, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship Professor Dan Gilmore, and freedom of information campaigner and journalist Heather Brooke.

With the emergence of user generated content (UGC) or eyewitness media there has also been an emergence of trauma experienced by journalists who discovery, verify and witness this content online. It's called vicarious trauma. Asha Phillips speaks to Sam Dubberley, the co-founder and director of Eyewitness Media Hub, and Cait McMahon, the Managing Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and shares her own experiences in dealing with graphic content.

With the emergence of user generated content (UGC) or eyewitness media there has also been an emergence of trauma experienced by journalists who discovery, verify and witness this content online. It's called vicarious trauma. Asha Phillips speaks to Sam Dubberley, the co-founder and director of Eyewitness Media Hub, and Cait McMahon, the Managing Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and shares her own experiences in dealing with graphic content.

Is there a recipe for virality when it comes to long form features online? In this podcast, The Age’s team behind The Big Sleep (http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-big-sleep/) unpack the lessons they learned about the value of traditional craft skills, and the power of human narratives in the production of a high-impact interactive about a complex and sensitive issue - assisted suicide. Here, The Age’s Health Editor Julia Medew, Multimedia Editor Felicity Lewis, and Video Manager Tom McKendrick take Julie Posetti through the production process, and share what they learned along the way. #journalism #storytelling #euthanasia #assistedsuicide #death #TheBigSleep #TheAge

Is there a recipe for virality when it comes to long form features online? In this podcast, The Age’s team behind The Big Sleep (http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-big-sleep/) unpack the lessons they learned about the value of traditional craft skills, and the power of human narratives in the production of a high-impact interactive about a complex and sensitive issue - assisted suicide. Here, The Age’s Health Editor Julia Medew, Multimedia Editor Felicity Lewis, and Video Manager Tom McKendrick take Julie Posetti through the production process, and share what they learned along the way. #journalism #storytelling #euthanasia #assistedsuicide #death #TheBigSleep #TheAge