The Evolving Newsroom » Journalism

In case you missed it… links

Julie Starr — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:14:38 +0000

Australia’s Financial Review slashes paywall prices

The new regime at Fairfax Media’s Financial Review Group will cut online subscriptions prices by 40% from next Monday for The Australian Financial Review, allow print subscribers full access to online content for free and launch an iPad app early in the new year as part of a major overhaul of the group’s market strategy.

Guardian’s Facebook app generates almost 1m extra page impressions a day

The Guardian’s Facebook app is generating almost a million extra page impressions per day, according to figures released by the news outlet and by Facebook… The news outlet also believes that the app is engaging a younger audience, as over half (56.7 per cent) of the app’s users are 24 and under and 16.7 per cent are 17 and under.

Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011

We recently looked at the most shared articles in the US on Facebook over the past year. The stories range from cute to thought provoking and represent the type of news people have been sharing and discovering with friends in 2011.

Kiwis’ most search terms on Google in 2011

In 2011, the fastest rising search by New Zealanders was perhaps unsurprisingly the Rugby World Cup. Second on that list was “Japan earthquake” after people hit Google for more information about one of this year’s most devastating disasters. This year, Sonny Bill Williams trumped Justin Bieber in the most popular searched images, proving biceps and ball skills could overcome Bieber fever.

Igloo pay-TV details released

Sky Television and TVNZ have taken the lid off their new discount pay-television service, Igloo, promising it will offer “pre-pay TV for fun-loving Kiwis”. A website for the service was visible briefly yesterday before taken offline. It said customers would be able to pay in advance for “30-day channel packs” that would let them watch 11 Sky channels. Sky’s sports channels aren’t included, but viewers will be able to pay to see “the best sports live” on a pay-per-view basis.

The road to one million mobile apps

Mobilewalla, a search, discovery and analytics engine that tracks apps in real time, said the count had risen to 989,476 across all four platforms. Apple holds about 60 percent market share, while Android accounts for 32 percent and Blackberry and Windows account for the rest at 4.4 and 3.6 percent. In the last 12 months, Apple apps grew from 338,000 to 589,148, while Android apps went from 115,000 to 319,774.

Nice one, Storify

Julie Starr — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:03:48 +0000

A small thing, but impressive. I really like that Storify notified me when a proposed fix I had voted on was implemented.

Web editor for dompost, editors for garden & boating mags – #journalism jobs

Julie Starr — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:00:01 +0000

Updated December 2, 2011

>>>Post your own job messages in the comments or email julie@allaboutthestory.com.

New Zealand

WEB EDITOR | DOMPOST.CO.NZ

We’re looking for someone who believes the future of journalism lies in powerful, smart digital content. Dompost.co.nz has almost doubled its audience in the past year and we are growing our team to meet the demands of our loyal and growing community. Your role will be interesting and varied and will involve editing stories, images and multi-media content submitted by our large network of reporters, photographers, videographers and social media specialists. You may already be working as a web editor, or be a reporter or sub editor looking to move into the exciting world of digital media.

Deadline: December 9

EDITOR | TRADE A BOAT

A rare opportunity has arisen to lead one of New Zealand’s most well known boating magazines on a fixed term 12 month contract. Trade A Boat New Zealand is looking for a new editor with extensive knowledge of boats and the boating industry. The new editor must be confident assessing and testing a whole range of boats in an objective and professional manner.

EDITOR | WEEKEND GARDENER

Our editor is leaving after four years so we are looking for an enthusiastic person to take over, working with our small Auckland team. The person should have a keen interest in gardening and have experience in the media. You will be directing our team of contributors around the country from our Newton offices.

REPORTER | WESTPORT NEWS

The Westport News (est 1871) is one of New Zealand’s few remaining independently-owned newspapers. Our busy newsroom employs two general reporters and a chief reporter. They also write and voice news bulletins for our wholly-owned subsidiary, Coast FM. Your hours of work would be 8am-4.30pm or 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday, with a limited amount of after-hours work.

Deadline: December 10

EDITOR | PARLIAMENTARY COUNSEL OFFICE

The Parliamentary Counsel Office is responsible for drafting New Zealand’s legislation. We wish to appoint a fixed-term Editor to undertake editorial responsibilities in our Editorial Services team until 21 December 2012.

FREELANCE WRITERS | THE MAIN REPORT

The Main Report Group is seeking freelance writers to supply copy for our niche, private subscription news weeklies. These widely read, high profile publications cover Politics, Business, Energy & Environment issues, Transport & Logistics issues, and Agri-Business issues. Expert knowledge of any of these sectors is required, along with a strong background in journalism.

JOURNALISM TUTOR | AORAKI POLYTECH DUNEDIN

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Journalism professional to tutor on our Diploma in Journalism (Level 5) programme. The successful applicant will: have at least five years industry experience; hold unit standard 4098 or are able to demonstrate equivalent; knowledge and skills; keep up to date with industry changes; undertake professional development related to teaching, assessment and the industry.

Deadline: December 7

SENIOR COMMS ADVISOR | LINZ

LINZ is seeking a Senior Communications Advisor to join our Strategic Communications team. You will have proven experience in communications and stakeholder engagement, with an ability to build and maintain strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders. This role will see you working on communications issues and strategies that support LINZ’s role.

Deadline: December 9

MANAGING EDITOR (contract) | INBUSINESS

We’re looking for someone to edit and project manage our national publication IN-Business and regional publications Scope (Waikato), Smart (Wellington) and Peak (Canterbury) for a three-month period with the possibility of extension. Basic planning for the contract period will already be in place but there’ll be plenty of room for you to prove your creative chops across content planning, art direction and feature writing. You will work closely with our designers, freelance journalists and photographers, and manage our relationships with commercial partners and columnists. Personal description: Our ideal candidate will be either a journalist with business knowledge looking for a step up or an editor looking for a new challenge.

Deadline: December 22

REPORTER | TVNZ (CHRISTCHURCH)

We need someone who knows what it is like to work in a fast paced, future-focused news and current affairs setting. We need someone who can deliver reliable and accurate stories across all our platforms and programmes. You’ll need proven experience in broadcast journalism. Ideally you’ll have a broad television reporting background. You need to be passionate about accuracy, fairness and balance in your reporting and have a proven track record in taking on the tough assignments. This is a senior role that will suit someone who has the ability and is keen to support the production and leadership of our Bureau and step away from reporting to help run the newsroom when needed by Steve Bloxham our Bureau Editor.

Deadline: November 29

JUNIOR WRITER/SUB-EDITOR | ACP MEDIA

ACP Magazines is looking for a junior writer/sub editor to join the creative and committed team working on their premium monthly title, Next. The job is a split role comprising approximately two weeks of writing content for the magazine under the direction of the editor and two weeks of subbing/proof reading under the chief sub editor per month.

Australia

SUB-EDITOR | ACP MAGAZINES (SYDNEY)

FOXTEL Magazine, Australia’s biggest monthly subscriptions TV magazine, is looking for a sub-editor to join its team. Reporting to the deputy editor, you will be required to fact-check and edit content relating to television programming, entertainment and lifestyle, and take responsibility for receiving monthly channel highlights.

EDITOR | TIME OUT (SYDNEY)

Time Out Sydney is seeking an ambitious Editor to take the reins of the Time Out website, magazine and complete digital output. The role requires the talents of a longtime resident of Sydney who is an accomplished writer and sub editor, preferably with a background in arts or entertainment journalism. The successful candidate will also have a proven track record as a supplier and manager of digital content and in the management of editorial staff.

Deadline: January 4

DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER | TIME OUT (SYDNEY)

Time Out Sydney (timeout.com/sydney) is looking for a talented junior/mid level content manager with the drive, passion and winning attitude to take ownership of our fast growing website. Based in Sydney, you will pursue a structured and process driven approach to ensure that online content is constantly updated and 100% comprehensive.

EDITOR (MATERNITY COVER) | TOTAL GIRL (EVELEIGH)

As Editor of Total Girl, you will be responsible for the editorial direction of this leading magazine and its relevant brand extensions including the website and licensed product. You will be responsible for managing the entire editorial content as well as managing and developing an enthusiastic and creative editorial team. Reporting to the Publisher, this exciting and creative role oversees the entire brand from the development of the magazine’s strategic direction to the overall publishing performance.

Deadline: December 16

REPORTER (PART-TIME) | SOUTHERN FARMER (MELBOURNE)

The Southern Farmer is seeking a part time journalist (3 days a week) to write and coordinate general and feature stories from our office in Surrey Hills, Melbourne. Newsroom and photographic experience required. A genuine interest or knowledge of the farming and the rural scene would also be an advantage.

BUSINESS JOURNALIST |WA BUSINESS NEWS

WA Business News, Western Australia’s leading business publication, is seeking an energetic, confident and determined individual to join the Editorial Team as a Journalist. Previous experience as a business journalist is desirable but not a pre-requisite for this role. This vacancy provides an opportunity for media professionals with at least 3-5 years of career experience.

PROFESSOR/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR COMMS & MEDIA STUDIES | MONASH UNIVERSITY

Monash University is seeking to appoint an outstanding candidate as Professor/Associate Professor, Communications and Media Studies within the School of English, Communications and Performance Studies, in the Faculty of Arts. The successful appointee will have an outstanding record of research, teaching and broader achievement in any area of communications and media studies and will provide strong leadership in their field and in the school at large.

Deadline: January 31

>>> UK jobs at | journalism.co.uk | Guardian jobs |

Where to watch NZ election coverage online + examples of coverage

Julie Starr — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:57:46 +0000

Updated Nov 26, 2011

A few links on some of the ways media (and a few other organisations) covered the build-up and election night of the general election and referendum in New Zealand (Saturday Nov 26 2011) – #votenz.

The (preliminary) election result

Party	Party Votes	% Votes	Electorate Seats	List Seats	Total Seats
National Party	957,769	47.99	41	19	60
Labour Party	541,499	27.13	22	12	34
Green Party	211,931	10.62	0	13	13
New Zealand First Party	135,865	6.81	0	8	8
Māori Party	26,887	1.35	3	0	3
ACT New Zealand	21,446	1.07	1	0	1
Mana	19,898	1.00	1	0	1
United Future	12,159	0.61	1	0	1
Conservative Party	55,070	2.76	0	0	0
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party	9,516	0.48	0	0	0
Democrats for Social Credit	1,432	0.07	0	0	0
Libertarianz	1,405	0.07	0	0	0
Alliance	1,069	0.05	0	0	0
			69	52	121

The (preliminary) referendum result

Part A – Should New Zealand keep the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system?
Response	Number of Votes	Percentage of Total Votes
KEEP	155,966	53.74%
CHANGE	123,708	42.62%
Informal Votes	10,559	3.64%
Total Votes	290,233	100.00%

Part B – If New Zealand were to change to another voting system which voting system would you choose?
Response	Number of Votes	Percentage of Total Votes
FPP	92,416	31.89%
PV	23,749	8.19%
STV	32,564	11.24%
SM	42,120	14.53%
Informal Votes	98,967	34.15%
Total Votes	289,816	100.00%

Today’s main papers/news sites:

Overseas coverage – the day after

Livestreamed election night coverage online

Maori Television livestream from 7pm. Other coverage here.
TV3 livestream from 7pm. (Streaming available worldwide.) Other coverage here.
TV1: TVNZ from 7pm. (Streaming available worldwide.) Other coverage here.
Radio NZ National from 7pm - Kathryn Ryan and Simon Mercep. Listen online. Other coverage here.
RadioLive from 7pm – Mitch Harris, Andrew Patterson, David Slack and Finlay MacDonald. Listen online. Other coverage here.
NewsTalk ZB from 7pm – Mike Hosking, Barry Soper and Sean Plunket. Listen online. Other coverage here.

Live TV and radio election night coverage

Freeview listings here.

TV1 from 7pm
TV 3 from 7pm
Maori TV from 7pm
Backbenchers special edition at 8pm on TVNZ7
Radio NZ National election special
RadioLive election special.
NewsTalk ZB election special.

Other coverage on election night

The Electoral Commission updated election results here as they came in, and referendum results here.The official results will be available on the same sites by December 10, 2011.

A number of news sites embedded these tables in their own coverage.

By region:

Southland: southlandtimes.co.nz ran live updates out of Invercargill and surrounds.

Wellington: dompost.co.nz focused its live updates on Wellington and surrounding electorates with some national overview too. Whitireia journalism students had live updates on newswire.co.nz.

Manawatu: manawatustandard.co.nz ran live updates on Palmerston North electorate as well as national overview.

Taranaki: taranakidailynews.co.nz ran live updates from electorates in its region.

Waikato: waikatotimes.co.nz had live updates about Waikato and surrounding electorates.

Auckland: AucklandNow wasn’t running much and nzherald had more of a national focus on the night.

The Press ran national coverage (via Stuff) and I couldn’t see anything happening on Nelson Mail, Marlborough Express or the Timaru Herald.

APN appeared to run a single live update with a national focus across all its regional sites on the night, which include The Aucklander, Northern Advocate, Daily Post, Bay of Plenty Times, Hawkes Bay Today, Stratford Press, Wanganui Chronicle, Wairarapa Times-Age, Star Canterbury, Oamaru Mail.

Twitter, Twitterfall, Google+

We seem to have settled on #votenz as a hashtag. Here’s #votenz on Google+ and here’s a #votenz search on Twitter.

Twitterfall might be good to have running – add a search for #votenz in the lefthand column. It might take a little while to load.

(The Electoral Commission asked people not to post comments on blogs, news sites and social media during the day which could influence voters, but it remains to be seen how people responded to that request).

Visualising the results as they came in

Scoop ran an interactive map created by @keith_ng which was updated as results came in. It also ran on electionresults.co.nz.

NZ Herald had a visualisation of the make-up of the 49th House in Parliament, updated for the 50th as results came in.

Stuff and dompost.co.nz also had a results map being updated through the night.

Radio NZ was updating results in a bar chart and table.

Electionresults.co.nz had been visualizing predictions on the make-up of parliament, outcome of the MMP referendum and other questions. They ran the Stuff election map tonight.

Kudos to Whitireia Journalism School

As far as I could see Whitireia was the only journalism students running live udpates on election night – on newswire.co.nz.

Google.co.nz doodle for #votenz day 2011

Keeping track in the run-up to the election

Toby Manhire and Philip Pinner did a grand job collating live coverage of the election over at the Listener – daily wraps of what’s in the papers, and a live update format for the day’s events, links to political blogs, radio interviews, TV and other coverage. They were also tweeting @ListenerLive. Excellent example of why linking out is a smart policy – these guys created such a useful starting point for following a topic (in this case, the election) that I found myself going back again and again. (Scoop does a nice job of linking out too.)

Listener Live was blogging live on election night too.

Most of the larger news sites had an Election 2011 or similar tab in their main nav and/or a fat pointer near the top of their homepage to point to election coverage. (If so, they appear in this list; if not, they don’t):

Listening in

Radio NZ National compiled audio interviews broadcast during the campaign season:

Policy summaries

Most news sites had some kind of summary of policies. Here are a few.

Radio NZ had policy summaries here.
dompost.co.nz posted some bite-sized summaries of main policy points here.
3 News had policy bullet points here.
interest.co.nz had collated policy summaries taken from party websites here.

The parties

The party lists

Again, quite a few sites had the party lists posted. Elections.org.nz and radionz.co.nz are as good as any to check out.

Electorate maps

NZ Herald had a very good interactive map that lets you drill down into electorates to find candidates, previous results, polling places, demographics and more.

You could also use a pull-down menu to see candidates for each party. Would have been nice to click on images to see information on each candidate though, rather than clicking through to electorate information. This screengrab is the result for the Maori Party:

Maori TV also had an electorate map, for the Maori electorates, and while not as comprehensive as the Herald’s it’s still useful, links out to official electorate information, and there’s video of the Maori electorate debates televised over the past few weeks.

Readers’ reporter

Stuff ran a Readers’ Reporter series during the election build-up, inviting readers to submit questions about the issues of most concern to them. Then the Readers’ Reporter asked the question of the main parties.

How the parties have voted

Theyworkforyou.co.nz has a visualisation of how closely parties have voted on issues in the 49th parliament and how often they agreed on bills.

The referendum

In addition to the general election, there was a referendum to determine which voting system New Zealanders would prefer to use in future elections.

Most news sites carried explainers on the referendum and the voting systems on offer. Most referenced Election NZ’s referendum.org.nz, which is as good a place as any to go for the details.

Referendum.org.nz had a tool designed to help people decide which voting system best matches their beliefs.

So did Public Address.

NZ Herald had a quiz testing readers’ knowledge of the various voting systems.

Way back then

NZ on Screen has some great video in its NZ Politics section of politicians in action down the years, including the 1984 leaders debate, Norman Kirk talking to David Frost in 1973, and the 2002 Spin Doctors election special.

Te Ara, the encyclopedia of New Zealand, lets you explore the history of political parties, Maori representation and explains parliament and the voting systems.

Paul Lewis on two persuasive examples of the value of crowdsourcing news

Julie Starr — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 06:38:09 +0000

If you haven’t seen this already… a couple of persuasive examples of the power of crowdsourcing in journalism from Guardian Special Projects Editor Paul Lewis. He talks about how Twitter and other social media helped him find witnesses to the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson during riots in London and track down passengers on the aircraft Jimmy Mubenga died on while being deported from the UK to Angola – providing quite different versions of events to those given by officials.

“Some people call this citizen journalism, other people call it collaborative journalism, but really it means this: for the journalist… it means accepting that you can’t know everything and allowing other people, through technology, to be your eyes and your ears. And for people like you, for other members of the public, it can mean not just being passive consumers of news but also co-producing news. I believe this can be a really empowering process – it can enable ordinary people to hold powerful organisations to account.”

Ten tips for kick-starting a malnourished news website

Julie Starr — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:46:30 +0000

We can’t all be the New York Times or the Guardian. Many smaller newspaper newsrooms are still grappling with the basics of how to get their websites moving given a small staff, lack of digital expertise and uncertainty over revenue opportunities.

Sometimes there’s no real will among managers for the task. But even when there is it can be daunting trying to figure out how to go about it. There’s a lot of expertise and knowledge involved in running a news website that’s outside the traditional newsroom skill set and can’t all be learned at once.

If your news site is still at the stage where most of the stories are uploaded overnight from the newspaper, you don’t have much digital expertise in the newsroom, or you’re not sure where to start, these tips might help a little:

1. Your primary goal for your news website is to build audience and then increase engagement with your readers.

2. Five rules of thumb for building audience:

Publish more stories – The more you publish, the more people will visit.
Publish more often – The more often you publish, the more often people will visit.
Keep your homepage fresh - Most people will land on the top part of your homepage and browse for something of interest to read. Give them a reason to click, and click again.
Feed the peaks – Most people probably visit your website between 8am and 9.30am, 12pm and 2pm, 4pm and 5.30pm on weekdays (or thereabouts). Give them something new to read each time they come back.
Make sure everything works – Broken links and out-of-date information drive people away. Don’t give them a reason to leave.

3. Be focused. There’s no point posting the odd story here and there in 10 different sections across the site if you can’t even keep your homepage up to date. Similarly, you will get more bang for your buck on weekdays than weekends, from text stories than video, from News than Features, from posting for the peaks rather than at other times of day. Here’s the drill: get to the point where you have enough stories and staffing to maintain a fresh homepage throughout the day, every weekday, year round; then focus on Sport, then Business, Opinion, then other sections (or whatever order works for you). Focus on weekdays before you worry about weekends, text before video, and the main daily peaks before after hours. Get the basics right before tackling the next bits.

4. Make it sustainable. Don’t launch a section or feature unless you know you can keep it going. Figure out in advance who is going to write the stories and update the pages, and who’s going to do it when that person is off sick or covering a big news event. There’s little point launching a blog, say, if it’s going to peter out after a few weeks because the author has been assigned another project and has no time to write. There’s nothing sadder than a limp list of last week’s stories on a section landing page.

5. Have a plan. You cannot fix everything at once. If you tackle too much at one time you will scatter your efforts, wear out your staff, and end up with nothing to show for it. Write a content plan for your site – prioritise which sections and features you will work on first, and which you will work on later. (Prioritise for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 of the next 12 months, for example.) Consider not only what content you want, but also the staffing and expertise required to create it and manage it online. Create checklists for staff so the basics get done EVERY DAY. Make your plan achievable, and measure your progress. If a new feature is making no difference to traffic, drop it and move on to something else. Think about how to talk to your readers about what you’re doing, and work with Sales and Marketing from the get-go so they can help you shout about your achievements and earn money from your efforts.

6. Treat your readers with respect. Many of your online readers also buy your newspaper. Many others are new readers you wouldn’t otherwise reach. Some will never buy a newspaper again as long as they live. They are all valuable to you. Give your online readers the same standard of journalism and service you give your newspaper readers. Think about what readers want, try to look at your website through a reader’s eyes, and always err on the side of the reader when making decisions about when and what to publish online. Remember that when you choose to hold a story back for the paper, you are choosing to withhold it from your online readers – so you better make the decision count.

7. Value your website. Websites don’t come for free. The more time and staffing you invest in your website, the more audience, influence and revenue you will get out of it. Don’t underestimate how much expertise and knowledge is required to run a successful news website. Don’t do it part-time. Don’t assume that just because you know how to run a newspaper it’ll be a cinch for you to run a website – they are different beasts. And don’t leave this incredibly important product in the hands of a junior staff member who has no clout – make a very senior member of staff responsible for its daily running and overall development, and hire in people with proven digital expertise first chance you get.

8. Ask for help and adapt ideas. Ask colleagues in other newsrooms (which have better websites) for copies of their strategies and examples of what’s worked for them and what hasn’t. Hire a knowledgeable outsider to review your site and help you write and execute a strategy (if you can wrangle it). Introduce yourself to people working on other websites and pick their brains from time to time. Read media blogs and blogs about web design, information architecture, usability and anything else web-related you can find – learn the language of the web. Emulate or adapt features you like on other news sites.

9. Communicate. Your colleagues won’t love your website if you don’t. They won’t be inclined to make that extra effort if they don’t understand why it’s important. Talk to people when you launch your strategy and keep talking as it plays out. Talk about what you’re doing and why. Talk about what you’re trying to achieve by when. Then say it again. And again. Share successes as they happen. Involve people in planning, respond to suggestions, and encourage enthusiasm and talent when you see it. Let reporters know when their stories resonate and encourage them to engage with readers. Thank photographers for great picture galleries. Let management and the rest of the organization know what you’re doing and how it’s going. Keep talking – and listening – to your readers.

10. Engage. Five ways to engage with your readers:

Be accessible – make sure readers know how to get in touch – via your Contact Us page, pointers on the site, reporters’ email addresses on stories, comments on stories, Twitter and Facebook.
Be social – use Twitter, Facebook and other social channels to share stories, ask questions and talk to readers. Ask questions of your readers in your stories, blogs, polls and surveys.
Be responsive – When readers respond to your questions, ask questions of you, or point out typos or anything else, respond to them in good time and warm tone. One-way conversations are no fun for anyone and being ignored sucks.
Be a host – Invite your readers to participate, not just by sharing a comment now and then but by uploading their own sports results, say, or uploading and ranking photos of their pets, helping build a topic page, suggesting story ideas or giving feedback on your news list.
Get out of the way – Sometimes the best thing you can do is start a conversation, step back and let your readers talk to each other. Keep it on track and seemly by all means, but don’t make it all about you.

Bye bye Ellis, scholarship deadline, flying papers, and other NZ media news

Julie Starr — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:57:20 +0000

A few snippets from NZ media that have been lurking in my browser the last week or so.

TVNZ CEO Rick Ellis resigns

Rick Ellis’ departure from the chief executive’s office at Television New Zealand has left the door open for a range of contenders to take over where he left off. One of those contenders is TVNZ’s sales and marketing head, Paul Maher, who joined the company in August last year soon after another Ellis protege, Jason Paris, left for an ill-fated role as head of MediaWorks’ television business.

Deadline approaches for Kiwi Asian Journalism Scholarship

The scholarship, to the value of $5000, will be paid on completion of the successful candidate’s course of journalism study Candidates must be:

New Zealand residents and passport holders aged under 25 and of Asian or part-Asian ethnicity
Considering a career in news journalism and enrolled in a course of journalism study at an industry-approved school (NZJTO website – list of industry-approved journalism schools)

The ability to speak an Asian language will be an advantage. Deadline: 2 December 2011

NZ business owners 13th in newspaper readership

New Zealand business owners rank 13th in a worldwide survey of newspaper readership though they lag behind those in other countries for surfing the net at work, according to a Grant Thornton International Business survey.

Folded newspapers fly overseas

Despite tough times for print, newspapers remain close to Kiwis hearts, even when they’re overseas. Special Group has followed up its Kiwis Together campaign with a full page ad encouraging readers to fold up the newspaper, pop a message on it, and send it to a Kiwi overseas – so they could read enjoy it just as if they were back home in NZ. Alternatively it could be sent to an Aussie mate.

APN jumps on AR bandwagon

APN is claiming to be the first New Zealand publisher to launch an augmented reality app, with The Herald’s TimeOut section being made into an interactive print product through the use of regularly updated virtual content. By using the new TimeOut App, readers are able to bring the content to life by accessing content such as 3D images, video and audio tracks, and bridging the gap between print and digital media. App users also get the latest Entertainment news, reviews and a ‘Near Me’ events guide which uses location based services to find events on nearby.

Latest newspaper stats a mixed bag for print, but big rises for online and mobile

The latest numbers for newspapers have just been released and, according to Nielsen, readership levels for all dailies via print decreased ‘significantly’, as they did for the country’s biggest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald. But there were plenty of positives, with some readership increases, circulation remaining fairly static for most papers and massive rises in the online and mobile realms taking up some of print’s slack.

Download the readership results here Newspaper Comparatives Q3 2010 – Q3 2011

TVNZ head of news, RadioLive newsreaders, Sunday Magazine editor: #journalism #jobs

Julie Starr — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:50:45 +0000

New Zealand

HEAD OF NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS | TVNZ

This role is positioned in the Senior Leadership Team to provide strategic, operational and editorial leadership of TVNZ News, Current Affairs and Maori and Pacific programmes. Applicants should possess well-demonstrated success in executive and editorial team leadership, broad experience and achievement in commercial television and digital media journalism and be strongly committed to editorial independence and fairness. Superior relationship building and influencing skills in wide fora, decisiveness, and high levels of energy, collaboration and resilience will be amongst the important personal attributes sought. Tertiary qualifications in journalism and business or management will be highly desirable.

Deadline: November 18

REPORTER | TVNZ (CHRISTCHURCH)

Deadline: November 290

EDITOR | SUNDAY STAR-TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE

We are looking for an experienced editor who is also a talented writer with a passion for trends and topical issues. You will work to tight deadlines in a dynamic newsroom. An ability to fit comfortably into a friendly, hard-working, knowledgeable department is essential. Clock-watchers need not apply. The ideal candidate will be attuned to New Zealanders’ lives and their passions. They will need a clear understanding of the relationship between Sunday Magazine, The Sunday Star-Times and its readers. The successful candidate will be “hands on”, particularly in writing cover stories plus directing staff writers and freelance contributors. Experience of all facets of being an editor, including working to a budget, would be beneficial.

Deadline: November 25

NEWSREADERS | RADIOLIVE

We are looking for journalists/newsreaders for regular weekend shifts in RadioLIVE’s Auckland newsroom. The successful candidates will share responsibility for compiling weekend evening news bulletins. They will possess a wide general knowledge and the proven ability to write concise, accurate, lively news copy. They will have a strong, clear delivery, excellent pronunciation in both English and te reo Maori, and experience in live broadcasting.

Deadline: November 25

REPORTER | DOMINION POST

We are looking for a multi-talented reporter to join our Wellington newsroom. You will already have an excellent track record as a multimedia journalist, strive to break good stories and have the ability to work fast and think on your feet under pressure. You will enjoy working as a proactive member of a great team; have an eye for detail and the desire and ability to work in a fast-paced and deadline-driven environment. This position is fulltime and will include some weekend work and evening shifts.

Deadline: November 16

LINE PRODUCER | CLOSE UP

Close Up is New Zealand’s leading daily current affairs programme. It’s a programme that thrives on creativity, a hunger for answers, and a desire to put the newsmakers of the day under the microscope. We are looking for a line up producer to drive the programme’s content on a daily basis. Along with the Executive Producer, you will be managing and leading a team of producers and reporters driven to be the best daily current affairs programme in the country. You will have experience in producing live television, experience in managing the interview structure for live interviews, you will have an ability to find interview talent, sub edit scripts, and work out what are the critical stories and pictures to promote the programme.

Deadline: November 20

JUNIOR WRITER/SUB-EDITOR | ACP MEDIA

EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR | DOVE MEDIA

We seek to appoint an Editorial Administrator to join us in our Mairangi Bay offices and become involved in the world of medical and scientific publishing. The applicant will need: a high level of typing skills; recent experience with Microsoft Outlook; be able to respond appropriately and quickly to the requirements of internal and external customers in writing; strong English language and grammar skills; and be highly organized to do well in this key role. The ideal candidate will have previous experience in a publishing environment and possess a relevant tertiary or publishing qualification.

Deadline: November 18

Australia

CADETSHIP | PORT STEPHENS EXAMINER (NEWCASTLE)

The Port Stephens Examiner is seeking to recruit a talented and motivated person to undertake a cadetship with the newspaper. The successful applicant will have higher school certificate qualification or have completed an appropriate journalism degree course and will undertake a cadetship of one to three years’ duration.

Deadline: November 25

EDITOR | GOOD WEEKEND

The job requires an experienced, ideas-driven journalist/editor with a passion for story telling, an ability to mentor and get the best out of staff, a keen grasp of audience needs and proven leadership and editing skills. Forward planning skills are essential, as is an ability to manage and meet budget targets for a magazine with a readership of 1.6 million. But the most important criteria? You possess an innate curiosity, an enthusiasm for the written word and, preferably, are a paid-up, card-carrying member of the Long Form Journalism Really Matters school.

Deadline: November 18

Try journalism.co.uk and Guardian jobs

>>> More journalism jobs at TradeMe, Seek, Herald Jobs, Fairfax Media, AP, The Big Idea, Reuters, NZJOBS.govt.nz.

>>>Email julie@allaboutthestory.com for contact details or to post your own work wanted or job message here.

Bullshit reporting, a charming rage comic and semi-colons

Julie Starr — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:29:16 +0000

Because it’s Friday afternoon and the sun is shining, here’s some bullshit reporting from The Onion (Via @mikeriversdale), an 86-year-old’s summary of his life in rage comic style, and The Oatmeal (who is speaking at Webstock next year) on how to use semi-colons. Have a great weekend.

1. Bullshit reporting

2. An 86-year-old’s life in a rage comic

3. For a reminder on how to use a semi-colon, you can’t go past The Oatmeal’s technicolour grammar guides.

‘A New York Times story is tweeted every 4 seconds’

Julie Starr — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:22:29 +0000

New York Times chairman Arthur Sulzberger gave a speech a few days ago at Polis LSE, which Charlie Beckett kindly posted in full. In it, Sulzberger talks about why the NY Times (which recently said it now has 325,000 digital subscribers) is engaging with its readers.

The main Facebook page of The New York Times has more than 1.7 million fans. Our main Twitter page has more than 3.8 million followers… We have more than 15.8 million followers on Twitter for all New York Times accounts. And here is an astounding fact – a New York Times story is tweeted every 4 seconds.

He points to three NY Times reporters doing a fine job of using social media in their reporting and relationships with their readers:

Nick Kristof — has huge, real time communities on Facebook and Twitter and he uses them to great effect in his reporting, often from some of the world’s most troubled places.

Chris Chivers – uses Tumblr and Twitter to draw back the veil on his reporting, often posting story snippits on his Tumblr blog before they appear on nytimes.com. He also asks his audience to help crowd-source a question for him, for example about ammunition he’s found in the field in war torn Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq.

and…

Lydia Polgreen – She has used her Facebook page to build a community of readers interested in India, where she has been a Delhi-based correspondent. Now that she’s moving to South Africa, I can only assume she will do the same there.

And he makes the point that the NY Times audience is one that is well worth tapping into:

There is a reason why we are so committed to social media at The Times and that reason rests with our audience. We have an incredibly enlightened, intelligent and sophisticated group of users who are highly engaged with our products. Our efforts in social media are meant to tap in to the knowledge from that readership. We value what they can share with us and with other users.

For this specific reason, we are currently in the midst of an expansion of our online discussion and community features at NYTimes.com and we are redesigning our comments section later this year.

We’re also in the process of creating a Trusted Commenter program, which will be available to a select group of readers with a history of high-quality comments. Their submissions will be published on our Opinion pages and across NYTimes.com without prior modification.

Last but not least, the business case:

The business result of all of these efforts is increasing levels of engagement with our site. This includes more time spent, more stories read, more videos viewed…and more ads viewed.

Rest of the speech is here.