Tag: Journalism

Curiosity about how systems work, plus the notion of “journalism as hacking”

A random late-night thought and a few of the responses:

Ripe for discussion

Have you heard talk of “journalism as hacking?” (Not to be confused with journalists involved in hacking.) If so, please share links — or any thoughts — below!

Highlights from #ONADC meetup about awesome Washington Post projects

The Washington Post (disclosure: my employer) hosted and presented a series of lightning talks for the January 2013 gathering of the Online News Association D.C. meetup group (disclosure: I’m a board member). Below are some highlights I pulled into Storify:

#ONADC meetup: Washington Post projects

The Washington Post hosted and presented a series of lightning talks for the January 2013 gathering of the Online News Association D.C.

Storified by Greg Linch· Wed, Jan 09 2013 11:56:15

About to listen to journalists talk about content management systems, strategy, & stories. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmnk9Dennis Bonilla
The #onadc meetup is starting to fill up. Journalists pouring in. http://twitpic.com/btmq8pDennis Bonilla
"The Washington Post is a popular draw. Who knew?" — @mattmansfield #onadcErnie Smith
Packed house for #ONADC meetup: @washingtonpost lightning talks! @ Washington Post – Auditorium http://instagr.am/p/UPguYRMDLa/Greg Linch
@washingtonpost Three words for 2013 – #mobile, social and video .. So, get ready for a digital future #ONADCAndy Palanisamy
.@jmfbrooks talks up @ONA programs at #onadc at @washingtonpost (feat @jweb) http://pic.twitter.com/BHIGfV31Mandy Jenkins
#onadc huge turnout tonight!Jen DePaul
The smart @yurivictor on the stage. "If you’re not tweeting, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life." #onadcErnie Smith
It’s cool that the speaker is reading her presentation from her iPhone but a bit distracting! #onadcNatasha Tynes
Yuri’s post about his presentation after the meetup:
Why The Washington Post uses WordPress | yuri victorThese are the notes from my lightning presentation at #ONADC. See the slides. The Washington Post hearts WordPress and I heart WordPress….
Yuri’s complete set of slides from the lightning talks
#ONADC Why the Washington Post uses WordPresshello#ONADC
View a longer version of Yuri’s presentation about The Washington Post’s use of WordPress at a WordPress DC meetup in fall 2012.
WordPress DC MeetupfathomTV
First up is @yurivictor to discuss "Wordpress as a Platform". #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmtvnDennis Bonilla
Empathy: "Design starts with people." Build for people. (of course!) #onadcErnie Smith
Next up @yurivictor #ux director at Washington Post. Talking about his love affair with WordPress #ONADCErin Bonilla
Philosophy drives action. Empathize, says @yurivictor about why the @washingtonpost uses @WordPress to be nimble. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
"Enterprise platforms aren’t built for us, they’re built for enterprise people." #PreachIt #onadcErnie Smith
At @ona DC meetup, met some pple w/ very diverse backgrounds. Excited to learn about @washingtonpost digital strategy #ONADCMallory Sofastaii
@yurivictor "Everyone hates their CMS." #ONADCErin Bonilla
@yurivictor I am watching you at #ONADC and loving it!Aimée Chiu
"When there’s less to do, there’s less to screw up." #ONADC #KillBabiesErnie Smith
Yuri is arguing for less in news CMSes. I agree. Keep it simple. Rock what you need to. #onadcPatrick Thornton
. @WordPress does more by doing less – @yurivictor #ONADCMatt Mansfield
@yurivictor at @washpost preaching on philosophy on #wordpress #onadc #ona2013 http://pic.twitter.com/DBScs3IHDavin Hutchins
Is the whole media world moving towards a #Wordpress path? #onadcAhmad AbouAmmo
The @washingtonpost is launching WordPress blogs at a quick clip … two next week. #onadcErnie Smith
Yuri sez: shitty CMSs makes change harder #onadcscottpham
I’m hanging with some cool and really smart people. Learning stuff too! #ONADCJamila Bey
@yurivictor UX guru at @washingtonpost is rocking the stage at #ONADC and evangelizing #wordpress http://twitpic.com/btmud2Andy Palanisamy
. @Washington_Post is moving all their blogs to WordPress #onadc #WordPressNatasha Tynes
"It’s much easier to destroy then to create." – @yurivictor #onadcJeanne Brooks
"So many projects fail when you start from nothing." WP gives you a starting point says @yurivictor. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmuhpDennis Bonilla
At the @washingtonpost listening to the awesome @yurivictor talk about WaPo and WordPress. <3 #onadcAndrew Nacin
At @washingtonpost’s #onadc meetup. @yurivictor doing a good job justifying WordPress migration.Joe Webster
I love the fact that @yurivictor is so bullish on WordPress. Ditch the enterprise, go WordPress. #onadcErnie Smith
"Always be changing!" ~ @yurivictor #ONADC http://twitpic.com/btmurhErin Bonilla
"Change one thing you dont like with your web site everyday, and in a year, you’ll make a big change" -@yurivictor #ONADCPaul Franz
Looking at the tweets from the #ONAdc meetup! Looks like @yurivictor is dropping great knowledge! @ONA #digitaljournalismShauna Stuart
@yurivictor says: " I <3 WP ( word press) "#onadcJen DePaul
.@yurivictor talks up WordPress as a means to prototype quickly and iterate with ease. WaPo has launched a lot of projects with it #onadcMandy Jenkins
Now up at #onadc, @melissabell talking about @washingtonpost’s slick liveblogging platform. (Hint: built on WordPress.)Andrew Nacin
There is an insatiable curiosity around breaking news. #onadc #agreedErnie Smith
#onadc @washingtonpost is a word press convert (easy iteration, easy for hacks to use, easier to launch products without endless meetings..)Melinda Wittstock
Just because you have one design that works well doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying different things. #onadcErnie Smith
The rapid iterating the @washingtonpost has been able to do is quite impressive, built on smart starting points. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Experiment. Tweak. Repeat. #onadcAmanda Knowles
Next, @MelissaBell discussing live blogging. Learn by doing. Iterate quickly, make the design malleable. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmvjfDennis Bonilla
Was already sold on wordpress, but if I needed more convincing @yurivictor would have done me in #onadcMargy Looney
"It’s not about creating liveblogs. It’s about fully understanding a story." — @MelissaBell #onadcErnie Smith
Fully understanding the story is part of being digital first, building competency as you go along – @MelissaBell at #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Get people involved. Have them write on smaller events so they’re ready for the bigger ones. #onadcErnie Smith
I’m hearing a "failing fast" mentality. @melissabell talks about WaPo working hard to get reporters to live blog. #onadcDennis Bonilla
The backroom ops. That makes @washingtonpost’s live blog humming #onadc http://pic.twitter.com/fHLjCBk8Andy Palanisamy
Now @josephjames is talking about the awesomeness that is The Grid. Rapid prototype FTW! #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Really cool presentation by @MelissaBell on how @Washington_Post uses live blogging #onadcNatasha Tynes
It’s about live events, but it can also be about past events. Second screen the focus. #TheGrid #onadcErnie Smith
Listening to speakers at #ONADC, I conclude that journalism in 21st century involves a lot more tech. involvement.. WordPress is at centerAndy Palanisamy
"The Grid" focuses on second-screen data. @josephjames talks about prototyping for specific platforms. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmwdrDennis Bonilla
The Grid, by @washingtonpost, is about second screen experience. It’s responsive & adaptive. #onadcShannan Bowen
Design is involved at every level at the @WashingtonPost #onadcErnie Smith
.@josephjames Responsive and adaptive Grid. Fabulous job – glad you did more than just the prototype. #ONADCAimée Chiu
Love seeing how involved design is in @washingtonpost thinking on storytelling. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
My heart stops and silently I say "there is hope" when I see design so well integrated into process. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmwldDennis Bonilla
Theme of the night: WordPress rules especially at @washingtonpost #onadcKaren Cheung-Larivee
Theme of the night at #ONADC: WordPress development.Shannan Bowen
The process that churns out awesome products @washingtonpost .. And WordPress is at the centre of it all #ONADC http://twitpic.com/btmwoaAndy Palanisamy
Inspiring so far #onadc.Josh Davidsburg
WaPo building upon technical successes to build more technical successes. It should be like that everywhere. #onadcErnie Smith
What can The Grid do? The future is livecasting. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmwr3Dennis Bonilla
I had no idea that the @washingtonpost grid pages were built on WordPress. Go @josephjames! #onadc (sensing a pattern here…)Andrew Nacin
And tonight’s theme is– #wordpress @ona’s #onadc. @billysab99 @HutchDC http://pic.twitter.com/0RC3zEXaAhmad AbouAmmo
#onadc is making me miss my wordpress #corepublisherscottpham
WordPress allows us to build on the technology we use everyday. Washington Post Digital #ONADClottie
If you think WordPress isn’t a great platform for building for the future, tonight’s #onadc would prove you wrong.Ernie Smith
@josephjames Wish I could make my WordPress work like that for me. I shall strive to learn more. Thank you! #ONADCAimée Chiu
@yurivictor probably one of the most interesting PowerPoints I’ve ever seen #onadcJosh Davidsburg
Next up, @terri_rupar on Washington Post Politics app for the iPad. #onadcErnie Smith
Hinting at The Grid being used during the inauguration for aggregating audience content is @josephjames. #onadcDennis Bonilla
Wishing we had lots of people to work on anything. @washigtonpost has a great team putting together a great product. #onadcGabrielle Levy
Packed room for #ONADC at the Washington Post. http://pic.twitter.com/fJaRwyYlJessica Estepa
Liveblogging begat The Grid. The Grid begat Run, an image-focused section of the WaPo Politics iPad app. #onadcErnie Smith
Showing off the very visual RUN is @terri_rupar. "Looks great and feels great on the iPad." Visual news. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmxmiDennis Bonilla
Love "Run" from @washingtonpost on #election2012 … Full-out immersive storytelling. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Run – photo gallery with stories and video. Very immersive. Great experience for IPad. WashingtonPost digital #ONADClottie
What might work on the iPad might not on mobile. Readers want to hang out, immerse in content on iPad. @washingtonpost grid #onadcKaren Cheung-Larivee
What the photo-focused Run looks like #onadc http://campl.us/nBfnErnie Smith
Importance of storytelling by trial and error…loving my first #ONADC eventColleen Shalby
Really cool video but who watches @Washington_Post videos? Do they get lost amid the media overload? I wonder! #onadcNatasha Tynes
@NatashaRudnick, Lead Video Editor at The Washington Post discusses a politically focused channel is coming from WaPo. #onadcDennis Bonilla
Video at the Post will really change. There will now be a video channel. WashingtonPost Digital #ONADClottie
All seriousness though, @natasharudnick is offering up some great stuff on the WaPo’s video efforts. #onadcErnie Smith
Same here. Didn’t know #ONADC to be this immersive “@CShalby: Importance of storytelling by trial and error…loving my first #ONADC event”Andy Palanisamy
News*paper*? What paper. No lines between paper, web, video. #onadcGabrielle Levy
@Washington_Post will be streaming live video for the inauguration. More video developments to come this summer. #onadcJen DePaul
Next up, @juliabeizer on the mobile WaPo site. #onadcErnie Smith
. @NatashaRudnick looking forward to seeing how you will fill "the void" – love video storytelling! #ONADCAimée Chiu
Lots of cool @washingtonpost digital projects at #onadc: The Grid, Run, video experiments in the political space… Lots o’ great ideasMandy Jenkins
There is a void in terms of political programming and the new video channel will fill that void. WashingtonPost Digital #ONADClottie
WaPo betting big on video. Looking forward to seeing their approach this year. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmz71 http://twitpic.com/btmz72Dennis Bonilla
"There’s a void in the political (video) coverage." Most women in right side of room nodded in unison. #onadcJamila Bey
"Reading experience was the fundamental goal for us." This should be a goal for mobile. #onadcErnie Smith
Fascinating to learn about the ways WordPress is being used to leverage adaptive digital content. #ONADCAdam Sylvain
College digital eds: look at #ONADC tweets tonight. WashPo presentation has pros salivating about WordPress.David Simpson
Discussing WaPo goals for mobile development is @JuliaBeizer. Here’s her slide. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btmzm6Dennis Bonilla
Mobile contracts affects user population and mobile content #onadcKaren Cheung-Larivee
WaPo sees huge uptake in mobile users when Apple releases a new product. #onadcPatrick Thornton
"Making something show up on the iphone isn’t the same as serving our mobile audience." #onadcscottpham
WaPo experiments with different layouts on mobile. Wonder if they’d go responsive at some point & if it’d translate. #onadcErnie Smith
. @Washington_Post curating different content for their mobile app than their website. Experimenting. #onadcNatasha Tynes
#ONADC so far: WordPress x10000, liveblogging, mobile, video, emphasis on design, rapid dev/testing. Sounds like 2013. Awesome.Millie Tran
Key takeaways from @juliabeizer’s talk about Mobile platform at @washingtonpost #ONADC http://twitpic.com/btn0g5Andy Palanisamy
"Passive personalization" is a nice phrase. #onadcErnie Smith
Tough to play favorites, but @terri_rupar ‘s multimedia project "Run," for the iPad, might be coolest thing we’ve looked at tonight. #ONADCAdam Sylvain
What’s next for WaPo mobile news platforms? "Article enhancements" should be in bold right? #onadc http://twitpic.com/btn0kpDennis Bonilla
WaPo’s mobile changes have been huge for me as a reader – love that social and email links on mobile go to a good UX #onadcMandy Jenkins
You know you know a lot of people in DC when #ONADC holds a meet up and your twitter feed wants you to know nothing else but that.P. Kim Bui
"With every statement there is an opportunity to give a comment." #onadcErnie Smith
"What’s next?" Learning about The Washington Post’s mobile web strategy. #onadc #journalism #generalawesomen http://instagr.am/p/UPmULmHSOL/Just call me ‘Dubya’
Commitment from @washingtonpost to thinking about users nice to see. Watching @katdowns talk second screens. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Contextual social data about the debates. @katdowns talks about understanding people’s reaction to video. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btn153Dennis Bonilla
Mobile users deserve a unique user experience. #onadcPatrick Thornton
At first, WaPo used @VoterTide for social … then built out similar feature for themselves. #onadcErnie Smith
@washingtonpost partnered with voter tide to add social reaction in presidential debate coverage, making audience part of story #onadcKaren Cheung-Larivee
"Be prepared to clean it and have a backup plan." #onadc http://twitpic.com/btn1e4Dennis Bonilla
Social data is finicky. Have a backup plan. WashingtonPost Digital #ONADClottie
Follow @katdowns and @postgraphics for latest visualization coolness. #ONADCPaul Franz
Three Tar Heels presenting at #onadc. Just so you know. (cc @wilsonandrews and @katdowns )Terri Rupar
Up next @wilsonandrews talks about looking deep into publicly available congress data. #onadc #earmarks http://twitpic.com/btn1u6Dennis Bonilla
Capitol Assets was one of the Post’s best stories in a long time. Great context here. #onadcErnie Smith
Brilliant strategy if you have resources @NatashaTynes: @Washington_Post curating different content for mobile than website #onadcsue robinson
Mind blowing journalism at play in @washingtonpost’s Capitol Assets project. Took 2.5yrs and documented how politicians used earmarks #ONADCAndy Palanisamy
A WashingtonPost project called Capitol Assets found a lot of conflicts of interests in regard to earmarks in Congress. #ONADClottie
Financial disclosure data organized into 109 columns, 535 rows. My brain would melt if I had to deal with that. #onadcErnie Smith
. @wilsonandrews Thanks for sharing how technology and good ol’ investigative journalism can be a great watchdog combo. #ONADCAimée Chiu
The closer: @wilsonandrews talks data viz and being true to the story. Right on. #ONADCMatt Mansfield
Check out @opensecretsdc says @wilsonandrews. #onadcDennis Bonilla
Best presentation from tonight’s #onadc meetup, for both the design of the slides and the energy of the talk: @YuriVictor on WordPress.Jonathan Rick
That the Post managed to visualize it in an efficient, non-confusing way is freaking awesome. #onadc http://sfbne.ws/VNVL6CErnie Smith
Final talk: @wilsonandrews talking Capitol Assets investigation. Best part? @dtkeating shout out slide http://instagr.am/p/UPnBf6sDCL/ #ONADCGreg Linch
Wapo’s Capital Assets is truly badass #onadcscottpham
Where do your reps invest? @wilsonandrews and the WaPo Capitol Assets system know. #onadc http://twitpic.com/btn2scDennis Bonilla
WashingtonPost Capitol Assets project is #awesome. #ONADClottie
Love WashPo’s Capitol Assets. Related: Nate Silver on Reddit today — uses excel mostly. Use excel. Great way to find trends, stories. #ONADCMillie Tran
Wow. @nacin is tweeting at #onadc like i would. Jealous.David Bisset
WaPo uses Multisite for WP instances. However, @yurivictor says "it’s complicated" when talking about standing up new sites. #onadcDennis Bonilla
Good stuff tonight. Some great lessons here. Can you scale like WaPo? Maybe not. But they do scale down. #onadcErnie Smith
"Success is not pageviews." — @yurivictor I’m leaving here right now and getting that as a tattoo. #onadcErnie Smith
Final words from #onadc – "Success is not page views." Cue applause.Amanda Knowles
Best thing i heard today at #ONADC – Success is not about page views!! Take that all you social Media suckas!!Andy Palanisamy
Watch the long tail on your content. Lots to mine from search. Who is the core audience, who is interested in the data? #onadcDennis Bonilla
Key takeaway: "Success is not page views." -@yurivictor #ONADCLibor Jany
@pwthornton @JeremyLittau Had a great time following #ONADC and getting insights in WaPo digital and mobile strategies.Jack Lule
A perfect first #ONADC for my first week at the Post.Hilary Fung
What a great turnout for #ONADC at the @washingtonpost … Thanks to all for attending. See you in Feb. at Nat Geo!Matt Mansfield
I love that #onadc is trending worldwide. @ONA represent!Gene Park
@terri_rupar @wilsonandrews @katdowns Great presentations, fellow UNC alumni! I was at #ONADC but couldn’t stick around to say hello.Shannan Bowen
@greglinch great stuff today at #onadc. Very cool, guys!Ahmad AbouAmmo
Pageviews don’t equal success answer at #ONADC got good audience + Twitter fdbck. Impact is better — let’s measure it! http://bit.ly/GLimpactGreg Linch
Thanks again to everyone who came out for #onadc tonight @washingtonpost! Glad we could share the work we love to do.Joey Marburger
Commitment from to thinking about users nice to see. http://bit.ly/WLt8Gu Watching talk second screens. #ONADCJose Washington
Nice to see #NABJ representing at tonight’s #ONADC meeting at @washingtonpost. @jbey @nextgenradio @TMPowell @mthomps @isturgis @yrlambNABJDigital
Thrilled to have several long-distance attendees at #ONADC tonight. Thanks for driving from far-flung places. Glad it was worth it!Matt Mansfield
Great #ONADC meetup last night. The work @dabeard @coryhaik @yurivictor and team are doing gives me hope for the Post.Joe Webster
so great seeing so many friends and so much washington post awesomeness at #onadc last night. great show @tiffanyshack & @mattmansfieldDavid Johnson

I’m running for the Online News Association board of directors!

Update: I won a board seat! Read the announcement of the winners. Congrats to the others! 

(Here’s the announcement of this year’s candidates slate.)

The Online News Association board application asked for my vision. Here it is!

The web succeeds because it is distributed and networked. To continue our improvement as an organization, we must take cues from that dynamic. Like the web, we need to see ourselves more as a platform than a mere organization. What can we enable and facilitate? The local meetup groups and conference hallways are prime examples of how we already do this well — and there’s much more potential to harness the talents and expertise of our members.

We need to not only improve the tools we use to do better journalism, but also be the ones creating tools. The storytelling and business potential is limited only by our imaginations and technical capabilities. This also makes us more proactive in leading change, not simply reactive and bound to the tools available.

Journalism is inherently interdisciplinary — and it should be even more so. There’s great value in learning lessons from other journalists, but there is much more to be learned from other fields. A possible first step in this direction would be to partner with niche journalism organizations (SABEW, SEJ, etc.) and then explore relationships with other professional organizations or academic institutions to learn about other fields (tech, science, digital humanities, etc) .

Specific ideas:

  • Expanded member base: More non-journalist/associate members and conference/meetup attendees (math and stats, data science, architecture, psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, industrial design, etc). For example, the NICAR12 conference offered a day’s worth of events related to text analysis, featuring — among other things — a computational linguist and a workshop on Natural Language Toolkit.
  • Better discovery: Who else in ONA should I know? Who should I meet at the conference who I don’t know I should meet? We could ask members to submit three interests along with their registration and then facilitate introductions.
  • Unconferences: We should explore hosting smaller, focused discussion-based sessions along with the unconference sessions we offer at the annual conference. Also, we could consider a full-fledged unconference track.
  • Partner with other journalism organizations such as Hacks/Hackers and IRE/NICAR for training.
  • Directed learning and additional self-education resources: similar to what Reporter’s Lab does with tools, this could point people to online courses of interest to journalists and feature reviews, comments, etc.
  •  More local workshops and training: there seems to be a lot of demand for low-cost training, in addition to the pre-conference workshops and parachute training.
  • Mentorship program: pair students with young professionals and/or young professionals with experienced professionals.
  • Better leverage the talents of our network: At ONA11 Michelle Minkoff and Heather Billings set up shop in the hallways to help interested journalists learn some coding skills. We need more of this! Not just for coding, but in general.

Finally, if I elected, I will work to institutionalize a karaoke event at the annual conference. This is important not just for the social aspect, but could also be a fundraising event — similar to the Society for News Design’s karaoke events.