Category: Conference

#bcni13 measuring the impact of journalism recap

Below is a round-up of materials from BarCamp News Innovation Philly 2013 discussions about measuring the impact of journalism. Thanks to Gino Canella and the Center for Public Interest Journalism for the videos! Also, check out Jim MacMillan’s roundup of posts from #bcni13.

Erika Owen’s post:

So you want to measure impact: BarCamp 2013

CPIJ summary video of the session Brian Abelson, Erika and I led:

Full session video:

Temple University journalism chair Andrew Mendelson’s “Beyond metrics: Thinking more broadly about journalism’s impact”  talk:

Summary

Full session

I live-tweeted the session and Storified some key points he shared:


#bcni13: Andrew Mendelson’s "Beyond metrics" talk

Temple University journalism chair Andrew Mendelson presented a talk called "Beyond Metrics: Thinking more broadly about the measurement of journalism impact (or building journalism’s theory of change)."

Storified by Greg Linch· Mon, May 06 2013 21:16:35

This session is being led by @andrewmendelson. #bcni13Greg Linch
He’s interested in public interest, investigative, accountability journalism. "Theory of change." — @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Two ideas: Public interest journalism goal to create informed & engaged citizens and "journalism as a curriculum" @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Characteristics: stories themed thematically, focus on problems + solutions, address civic values — @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Also: incl mobilizing info (how to get involved), incl opportunities for engmt and interaction, diverse sourcing — @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
"We need to think of multidimensional aspects of change," @andrewmendelson citing my use of the term in bit.ly/GLimpact thx! #bcni13Greg Linch
Affective level (individ) shorter term: usability measures, attitudes to topic, civic agenda shift, attitude to org @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Cognitive level (individ) shorter term: issue knowledge lvl (free & cued recall), mobilizing knowledge, issue frame @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Conative/behaviorial level (individ): engmt, issue disc + research, mobilizing + voting intention, behav chg intnt @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Affective (individ) longer term: +/- public mood, cynicism, poltcl self-efficacy, social capital, credblty, divrsty @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
>@andrewmendelson calls for A/B testing on news content… couldnt agree more but wonder if editors are on board.brian abelson
Cognitive level (individ) longer term: knowledge retention, cognitive complexity abt socl issues, knwldg abt commty @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Conative/behavioral level (individ) longer term: cmty groups activity lvl, readership, willing to support org 1/2 @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Conative/behavioral level (individ) longer term: netwrk lvl/diversity, voting, willing to disc, behavior change 2/2 @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Showing impact: A/B testing, matched sets btw cmtys, compr betw read vs not, comp attn lvls, content/attndnce links @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
Societal level: issue-related behavior + policy change, civic activity, voting levels, more robust news ecosystem @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
How do people wrestle with community issues and what are they’re looking for? asks @andrewmendelson #bcni13Greg Linch
You want to get beyond just knowledge Qs to the nature of knowledge Qs, says @andrewmendelson re NYT health quiz example. #bcni13Greg Linch

Join us at #bcni13 to work on measuring journalism by impact

It’s April so it must be time for BCNI! Brian Abelson, Erika Owens and I will lead a session this Saturday at BarCamp News Innovation Philly 2013 (see schedule) about implementing ways measure impact in journalism.

Last year I led a more general discussion about impact, which Andrew Spittle expertly documented in his notes. Springboarding from that, Wendy Warren and I did a follow-up #BCNI12 session to dive into specific, qualitative possible news metrics for success.

The thinking and conversations about impact have grown and evolved in the past year, such as with a conversation about impact at #ONA12. With this progress, we’re going to take a much more hands-on approach at the unconference this time, as Erika wrote in her preview post:

It’s pretty easy for the conversations around impact to go in circles, but the aim is for this discussion to be more focused. Greg suggested an “impact-a-thon” format where folks share case studies, discuss them in small groups, and then report back on the findings.

Do you have any case studies of stories you’ve worked on? Analytics and/or anecdotes to share of impact of the stories? Think back to those awards application cover letters, what did you describe for why your story should be honored?

The session, rather than theory, will focus on implementation. How have organizations monitored impact, and what are some specific examples of things they can do for future stories? We look forward to an insightful, action-oriented discussion, and want your help in designing the session. Please email the Google Group, share your thoughts, and join us Saturday morning.

Brian will share his experiences thus far exploring impact measurement as an Open News fellow at The New York Times:

In preparation for the discussion, I’m hoping to get your thoughts and concerns about impact measurement (read up here) – what have we done right so far and what’s missing from the conversation?

In that line Brian links to an extremely thorough list of posts, articles, studies, etc. relating to journalistic and media impact. Be sure to read up beforehand, especially ProPublica’s white paper, “Non-profit journalism – Issues around impact.”

The conversations and the company should be fantastic, so please join us on Saturday — and register for BCNI before tickets are gone!