Practice Makes Perefect at the Community Media Lab

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Nov. 4 will mark a milestone for the Community Media Lab, which is my ideaLab project for 2012. It will be the seven-month anniversary of when I launched the Community Media Lab, its blog on WordPress, as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account, to document our work, share it with the public and start a conversation about it. Since then, we’ve had more than 100 posts written by myself and our news staff, who work four-hour shifts in the lab, and nearly 3,000 page views.

I was fortunate in that my project was chosen this year, along with a handful of others, for funding through our parent company, Digital First Media. We have two computers for web surfing, experimentation and blogging, and another for video editing at SPARK-East, a business incubator in Ypsilanti. We also recently purchased two MacBook Pros, an iPhone and Smart TV to facilitate our work.

While the main focus of the lab is to teach technology tools and reporting skills to members of the community so they can share their voices and document the important events, traditions and news in their communities in partnership with Heritage Media, we also want to reach out to nonprofits, businesses and individuals to help them feel more comfortable using technology.

The Community Media Lab is still a work in progress. I am pleased with everything we have accomplished so far. From hosting a couple dozen workshops on everything from writing press releases and working with local media to choosing the right blogging platform, using social media and editing audio for podcasts, we’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of local educators, professionals and experts in various fields. We have livestreamed their workshops using uStream and a webcam on our Netbook, and simultaneously hosted live, interactive chats using CoverItLive to engage our online audience. We have also posted our presenters’ PowerPoints using Scribd, and promoted their workshops on our website, Facebook pages and through Twitter.

While the efforts we make associated with hosting workshops in the lab are fun and professionally rewarding, as we use new technology to connect with our audience, working one-on-one with the public is personally rewarding for me. For example, I helped a business owner set up a YouTube account so she could share product demonstration videos. She had hired a professional videographer to create the the videos, but wasn’t sure how to get them in front of an audience. I walked her through the process of setting up an account for her business on YouTube and uploading the videos. I also worked with a senior citizen, who didn’t feel comfortable with technology, to set up a Facebook account to communicate with family and friends, and an account on Craig’s List to sell a car. Both were grateful to receive individual instruction and afterward felt more comfortable using technology.

At our workshops, we’ve seen merchants interested in setting up social media accounts to market their businesses, bloggers seeking to improve their writing skills and people associated with community groups, clubs and marketing firms wanting to learn how to write the perfect press release. Journalists and students have learned about the Freedom of Information Act, how to edit video and audio, and how to improve their photography and video editing techniques. Workshops set in December will include “Blogging 101″ and “Contributing community content to your hometown newspaper.”

Last week, a freelance journalist, who feels more comfortable putting pen to paper, attended one of our workshops on blogging and decided to take the plunge. It was rewarding to see her take baby steps into the digital world and begin her journey as multimedia journalists. We set up an account on WordPress and she plans to write about social injustices. Once she gets started, I’ve encouraged her to share her work on our blog roll at Heritage.com.

There is still so much more to do, though. Our Community Media Lab isn’t widely known. I’ve had business cards created so reporters could pass them out at meetings and events, I’ve created fliers promoting our workshops, and recently I was a local “celebrity” guest at a business opening in Ypsilanti, where I was given the opportunity to promote the lab. My plan is to do more community outreach and take our lab on the road. Community Engagement Editor Erica McClain and I would like to present the Community Media Lab Roadshow, visiting chambers of commerce, senior centers, teen centers and schools across Washtenaw County, educating people about the lab and how we can help them.

Beyond promotion, I’d like to recruit students interested in writing, photography, videography, podcasting, social media and animation. The Community Media Lab can serve as a training ground for them, with their work shared on our website and some repurposed for print. If you know of any students who may be interested, please put them in touch with us through our Facebook page or have them stop by our lab at 215 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti.

In the meantime, we will continue our daily efforts in the Community Media Lab, with a journalist or editor there between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday working with individuals, experimenting with technology or reporting and editing, and hosting regular workshops free and open to the public. After all, practice makes perfect.

Attorney speaks on ‘New Rules for the Digital Media Age’ at MPA convention

Note: These are live notes from a workshop at the Michigan Press Association convention. Follow the live Tweet stream at #mpa2012.

Michigan Press Association general counsel Robin Luce Herrmann led a discussion Jan. 28 with her team of attorneys at the 2012 Michigan Press Association convention about latest Michigan media law matters. Topics included “How to protect your Internet assets.”

Media in the digital age

Terms of use and privacy policies
Need rules for people accessing and using your digital products. How will you manage posts that you may allow, copyright issues, editing and removing posts.

Report Abuse buttons: Used to manage content. Allows people to alert us to potential problems on website.

Terms of Use posted on website. This is a contract between media and user. You tell them what they can and can’t do. You want to protect your intellectual property, copyright.

Using social media for newsgathering: Many reporters now look to social media to gather news. We use it to find out what’s going on in the communities and world around us. How can a reporter use that for a news story or can he/she use it and what are the risks. If a Facebook page is public, with no privacy settings, then, according to Facebook’s terms of use, you are allowing everyone to access and use that information and associate it with you. When using social media for newsgathering, keep these things in mind: What does that site say in its terms of use; you don’t want to violate the policy if take something from the site. Facebook’s terms of use are straight forward, but Twitter’s less so. Attorney suggested consult with MPA attorney when you want to use something from social media website. Make sure you’re not violating terms of use. Even so, the site won’t provide “absolute protection” to you if someone complains.

You should treat information collected on social media sites the same way you would if someone came in and handed it to you in person. You verify the person who gave it to you is a reliable source and has the right to give you the information, and whatever they give you, you independently verify.

You have to be careful of confidential sources as there are degrees of protection. Keep in mind that smartphones are good newsgathering tools, but they could harm your confidential source because they can track where you have been, and that info could be subpenaed. If trying to keep a source confidential, you may want to leave your smartphone back in the newsroom and just take notes.

A lot of law enforcement agencies have outdated policies and that can come into play if videoing at a scene of a crime and they see it as interfering with an investigation. Our most concern is to be able to get the story and then educate police on the issue if they overstep bounds and try to restrict us in doing our jobs.

Michigan is a one-party consent state, so we can record phone calls as long as the other party agrees.

Anonymous posters: Some publications are using Facebook to police posters because there are some protections. If you allow anonymous posters, you have to be upfront with your terms of use and whether you would out them if it came down to it or you thought it was newsworthy. Everyone has some degree of protection for its anonymous posters.

In a lot of jurisdictions across the country, there have been some tests developed. We have a First Amendment right to speak anonymously. In order to reveal an anonymous poster, you have to notify the poster, tell that poster. Court has to review the complaint first, before considering whether to reveal anonymous poster. Media’s terms of use may require you to post on the anonymous poster’s behalf.

Intellectual property
Intellectual property involves domain names like your website, Twitter and Facebook accounts, Twitter handle and copyright. Question of copyrights. Who owns the photo and can I use this? If it’s a work-for-hire and copyright is transferred. It’s a question of fair use. Fair use determines whether we can use it. Fair use is whether in advances discussion. A mechanical process involved, forces of nature and a machine can’t be copyrighted.

Stock photos and Google images: Images taken from the web can be risky to use. If you Google, sometimes you’ll pull up database images and you can’t necessarily use those images.

Can’t trump access to public records under copyright. Law enforcement, for instance, can’t copyright photos from crime scene if you get your hands on it and publish it.

Domains and social media handles: Domain names registered on first-come, first-served basis. If you have a trademark, you may be able to take your domain name from someone else if someone else got it first.

Facebook and Twitter have detailed terms of use policies and you can get your name back if someone else owns a social media account using your company’s name. If employee opens social media account, do you have an agreement with employee who created it to get it back if they leave your employment? Non-competition agreements protect newspapers when sales people with connections to customers placing advertising leave your employment. Urged protect property (social media) accounts. Need to specify whether you can use your social media accounts and blogs after the employee leaves employment. If want control, though, the paper could be held responsible for posts.

Posting gone wild: Defamation and Devaluing Your Image
Online comment section: In print, any third-party content can be vetted. However, online comment section, there’s no review and it’s automatically posted. This raises questions of liability, if it’s defamatory content. If you’re a web host, you are generally not responsible. But if you’re a content provider, then you’re responsible.

You have to be careful what you do with respect to what is posted under the Communications Decency Act. It’s OK to remove for relevance, you can edit, but can’t insert defamatory materials; if you remove content and change message and it becomes defamatory.

You can be held liable for republishing third-party content into your own larger posting. A website owner who incorporated a third-party email is an example.

If an employee uses social media to make favorable comments about a service or product of his employer and does not disclose his employee relationship. If you’re a reporter and retweet a story, are you endorsing that information and if doing it under a newspaper account, is the newspaper endorsing? You have to be careful.

Publishers may be liable if give employees tools and encouraged to Tweet. Social media is becoming inseparable with some job functions.

You should have a social media policy.

Workplace issues
Concerns: Employee productivity and blending of work and personal lives
Pluses of social media: Marketing and business development, recruiting tool, knowledge gathering tool and increases communication among employees

When looking to hire people, if you look at their social media you may find out things you aren’t supposed to learn in hiring process, such as health issues, political affiliations, religious background, etc. If you make those attempts and the potential employee finds out they may assume you discriminated against them. Google has a policy not to Google information about a potential employee, because you can’t use that information in making your decision.

Social media at work: Employers allowed to monitor employees’ Internet use at work; no expectation of privacy; company policy may give privacy rights. There are still potential issues an employer could be exposed to information regarding protected classes or the information gathered could be misused.

MPA conference presents “Making Social Media Work for You’

At the Michigan Press Association’s annual conference Jan. 27 at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids,

Gov. Rick Snyder was the keynote speak at the Michigan Press Association conference.

after a luncheon featuring Gov. Rick Snyder as the keynote speaker, social media was among the topics reporters, editors and publishers were interested in. Matt Resch moderated a panel discussion looking at social media — how it’s used now and speculating how it will be used in the future. The panel was billed as being composed of “a college student, a young newspaper entrepreneur and others who understand the importance of new technology for reaching out to readers and advertisers.”

Journal Register Company’s own Rick Kelley was among the panelists speaking on social media.

Resch referred the audience to “Social Media is a Cocktail Party,” written by a social media consultant who advises large companies on social media efforts. The book explains how people use it and interact with it. The book notes a lot of simple rules: The party will go on whether you are there or not and the same is true with social media. It will go on whether you decide to be part of the conversation or not. You first get to “the party,” listen and see where you fit in. Jump in and speak in circles where you feel comfortable. Don’t be slick or fake, because people can sniff it out and walk away.

News media is the content provider. Look at Twitter or Facebook pages and they have links and topics coming from content providers, Resch said.

Social media strategy important, panelists say. How has audience influenced how you have inserted social media in your business plan. Kelley said we have two audiences: print and online. Knowing we have two audiences allow us to do a better job of targeting. Look at platform demographic, not just age demographic.

It’s about engaging the audience through social media. Facebook polls allow topics and questions to go viral. Find comfort level of readers. Ask people to “like” you. This will drive you to top of news feed.

Resch asked who owns social media accounts: news organization or individuals? Kelley says the law is not keeping up and it will be a major issue as case law sorts out this and other related questions.

Tweeps follow you for a particular reason: They find value in what you’re tweeting, whether news links or particular interests or insights. Panelist notes that the beauty of social media is held in transparency. It’s evolving and moving faster than we can keep up with. One panelist says business owns its account but individual accounts held by the individual.

Twitter account Panelist Kate Jacobson, editor in chief at Michigan State University’s State News, says it’s fun to produce multimedia journalism — to do audio, video, social media, use smartphones in the field while posting breaking news.

Multimedia element should be different than story. Don’t repeat the story. Should be a sidebar of sorts, Jacobson said.

Let people behind the scenes to see how the newspaper industry works. Let them into your editorial meetings. It’s about transparency.

A lot of people don’t understand their privacy settings. People need to learn about privacy issues on social media, one panelist said.

Community Media Lab and citizen journalists discussion prompted by Kelley brought some questions from the audience about libel and potential lawsuits when you’re dealing with people who are not trained journalists. One audience member said she thought in the future it will be the citizen journalists who will be held liable, not the news organization, just as bloggers are responsible for their content.

Mashable.com best resource for social media do’s and don’ts, one panelist said

Tips from panelist

Spotify playlist for local musicians; fashion editor should have an account on pintrist; photographers should shoot behind-the-scenes photos using smartphone and upload to Instagram. These are social media tools and they are designed for sharing. Suggested staying active on Twitter. You can create filters on TweetDeck to customize news feeds.

Live blogging from the Michigan Press Association conference

Note: This is a live blog post and notes from the Michigan Press Association convention. Follow live tweets at #mpa2012.
Heritage Media reporter James Dickson asks question of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder

It has been about six years, but I am finally back. And a lot has changed in the industry since I last attended the Michigan Press Association’s annual convention in Grand Rapids. I am ready to learn some new techniques to apply to my craft, and I’ve brought two colleagues along for the ride. Heritage Media-West reporter James Dickson and copy editor Tanya Wildt are with me after making the 138-mile trek from Ann Arbor at 5:30 this morning.

Our first session, hosted at the spectacular Amway Grand Hotel, is “The Shape of Things to Come,” and the presenters are current and former college newspaper editors, and the talks is being moderated by Joe Grimm, professor at Michigan State University, who was introduced by Ken Winter, North Central Michigan College and Michigan State University Journalism School instructor, consultant and Petoskey News-Review editor and publisher. Listen to the talk here.

Do you think of print or digital when you think of a job in journalism? This was the first question posed to the student panel. Kelsey Schnell says, “Yes, I will work online,” notes they’re talking about eventually ending print edition of student newspaper. “Ideally, I’d like to stay in print, but I guess I will go where the job takes me,” says Mike Martinez.

How and where do you get your news? The second questioned posed to the panel: Mostly online, phone, through news apps; Twitter and picking and choosing what’s interesting.

Poll: How did you find out Michael Jackson died. Many heard on television, from radio, Twitter, Facebook and print. Make sure to fact check Twitter reports.

Important to uphold standards of journalism. Example, how it was tweeted that former Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno died before he had.

Student editor suggests write a 200-word preview with a photo and put it online, and response from audience will tell you whether to write a followup and produce video, possibly write a column. Let the audience help steer your efforts. Don’t waste time on a story about something no one or very few care about.

It’s important to know your readers, market and demographics. Serve both print and online readers, and cross promote everything.

Question from the audience: When is the last time you used a phone (to do an interview)? “It’s still old-school journalism in this new realm,” Kate Jacobson says, stating she prefers phone or in-person interview over email. Don’t let people hide behind technology and craft carefully-considered answers. Journalists want authenticity.

Advice for smaller or private colleges: Work in social media if you have fewer resources. “It’s free, so it’s not hard, and just brand yourself,” said Jacobson. If it’s a commuter campus, report and Tweet on local road conditions. This will help drive traffic, bring in an audience that you can share other news with. “Don’t worry about the size (of your audience; it’s about the activity (and engagement).”

Jacobson: MSU State News seeing a shift to online advertising and it’s “pumping serious gas in our car.” Print is down to six pages because print advertising is down. Subscriptions help a little bit.

What alerts do you have out there to get the news, Grimm asked. “Hard news matters.” More students interested in writing features. News aggregators like Gawker, Google and Yahoo have good news alerts, pulling from a variety of websites. Gawker has clever writers who aggregate content.

Most news originates from websites. In the new world, students were asked, “What will people pay for?” Students “don’t like paying for stuff.” Students willing to pay for some news content if it’s exclusive content and just what they want. One student pays for ESPN sports. He pays for small-town news because it’s not as shared on social media and those subscriptions are reasonably priced. Long-format writing, one student pays for. Has had a subscription to Esquire since he was 15.

Some college newspapers hoping to monetize Twitter stream by putting ads in feeds.

Thoughts on local community journalism. How do we build community and conversation like our local newspapers have done. Students say great thing about social media is community can share content, comment on content on social media. This builds community and conversation.

One student’s parents didn’t renew subscription because the newspaper isn’t “fun” to read anymore because it got so whittled down as advertising support dropped off and pages were cut, limiting local news coverage.

The session concluded with: “We’ve got to write something good before we tell someone to read about it.”
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder answers question of Eastern Echo reporter at Michigan Press Association convention.

Reporters using technology for journalism

A few weeks ago, I introduced the Digital Draw, a box in the newsroom containing colorful strips of paper with various technology tools listed to produce journalism. Every Friday, my staff draws from the box and has a week to incorporate one of the suggestions in their work such as crowdsource a story from Twitter, create a Storify or timeline using Dipity, live Tweet a meeting or produce a photo slideshow using user-generated photos.

We’ve had success with this effort, and I wanted to share with readers some of our work and seek feedback on what else we could be doing or exploring.

Cops and courts reporter Ben Baird selected “create a Google map“ to incorporate in his reporting. He applied it to a story he wrote on a series of retail thefts in Saline. A week earlier, he picked “post to a blog,” and did so, writing about a ridealong with a sheriff’s deputy and incorporated a video.

Chelsea/Dexter copy editor Erica McClain chose “create a Storify,” and covered the arrival of University of Michigan football players in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, based on chatter on Twitter.

Online Coordinator David Veselenak also drew “create a Storify,” and did so on the topic “Washtenaw County preps for New Year’s Eve,” compiling Tweets from area residents talking about their plans. He also had “live Tweet a meeting.”

Manchester/Ypsilanti copy editor Tanya Wildt picked “find a story on social media and pursue it,” and found the perfect topic as our publication’s agriculture reporter and Washtenaw County Farm Bureau’s 2011 Ag Communicator of the Year, “Michigan places 10th in USDA’s winter farmers market list.”

General assignment reporter Krista Gjestland drew “create a podcast,” and interviewed a gap year student in Ghana using ipadio.com for a phonecast.

The first week, I drew “create a sound slideshow,” creating a photo slideshow and incorporating the voices of residents weighing in on cuts proposed to the Humane Society of Huron Valley and the second week I picked “create a photo slideshow using user-generated photos,” using photos submitted by the Milan Public Library depicting their holiday activities.

County government and entertainment reporter Sean Dalton selected “hold a live chat” and “crowdsource photos for a slideshow.” He’s still working on both, but says he has sent out Tweets asking for participation. In the meantime, he crowdsourced a story on Twitter.

Education reporter James David Dickson had “find a story lead on social media and pursue it” writing about a children’s author offering to design a new University of Michigan mascot. He also found a lead on Twitter about Lake Superior State University’s banished word list. Next up for him is “crowdsource photos for a slideshow.”

City government, health and environment reporter Amy Bell selected “create a Google map” to complement a story and “crowdsource a story using social media,” which she did after seeing The Bling Thing in Saline bragging on Facebook about its holiday sales.

Introducing the Digital Draw: Pick a technology tool, any tool

“Incentive coworkers to learn new technologies and understand the value of digital. Train coworkers to utilize new tools by showcasing the strength and potential of each offering.”

That was my goal as a member of the Journal Register Co. ideaLab. I’ve steadily worked toward it and had successes. But, with staff turnover, I’ve found we’re often in catch-up mode. Last week, I thought about what I could I do to encourage reporters to think more multimedia in their daily reporting. The days of just producing a story and maybe a photo to accompany it are over. We have to provide multimedia content, meaning adding hyperlinks to previous related coverage, source material and other content that will round out the piece; and, if applicable, a locator map, timeline, photo slideshow, video, audio component and/or host live chat. We also have to take advantage of social media to source a story, generate leads, share material and interact with our audience.

Earlier this year, I asked my staff to learn a new technology tool related to journalism, teach it to coworkers and add it to the ideaLabHeritage blog. In all, we learned about 17. The problem, however, was my reporters didn’t often think to apply what they had learned to their reporting. So, on Friday, I came up with the Digital Draw, a box containing colorful strips of paper with a multimedia offering written on each piece of paper. Reporter Sean Dalton drew “conduct a live chat,” Amy Bell selected “create a Google map,” David Veselenak chose “live tweet a meeting,” James Dickson had “find a story lead on social media and pursue it,” Krista Gjestland chose “create a podcast” and Ben Baird selected “post to a blog.” To lead by example, all the editors had to grab from the Digital Draw, as well. Tanya Wildt drew “create a Storify,” Erica McClain had “create a timeline” and I drew the same tool as James.

Understanding that the digital tool selected may not always complement something each reporter was working on in a particular week, everyone was given the option to pick an alternative from the list. Every Friday, we will talk about what we did, share our successes and talk about challenges, and then stick our hands back in the Digital Draw box and get excited about the next tool and how we can apply it to our work.

So tell me, how would you.get your staff in the practice of producing more multimedia-enhanced reporting? I am hoping since my reporters have learned these tools, it’s just a matter of getting in the habit of applying them and identifying, for each article produced, which digital tool will enhance the piece, whether it’s a locator map to set the scene of an armed robbery, Storify to capture what the audience was saying on Twitter while the reporter was live Tweeting or a timeline to illustrate a sequence of events that led to a particular outcome reported in an article.

‘New Rules for New Tools’ at #MIAP meeting

Editor’s Note: This post features notes from a conference and has been generated live, so please excuse the choppiness.

Robin Luce Herrmann, a lawyer with Butzel Long and general counsel to the Michigan Press Association, talked on “New Rules for New Tools — What You Should Know about Legal, Ethical and Business Questions in the Digital Age” at the Michigan AP Editorial Association Annual Editors Meeting Oct. 12 at the PohlCat Golf Course Clubhouse.

Luce Herrmann spoke on intellectual property infringement, copyrights, content theft and trademarks.

Copyright protects logos, names and identifiers of business, but doesn’t cover the facts.

Your employees and what they are posting: Who owns that information?
General rule, if it’s an employee, the material belongs to the publications; but contractors/stringers, presumption is that they own the copyright to the material unless you take steps to have that material assigned to you, Hermann said.

“Copyright trolls” looking to “shake down” publications for using their copyrighted material. They have no intention of litigating a case; just looking for quick cash and dismiss the case.

Luce Herrmann said “transformative use”: When creating content online and trying to drive traffic, you can take pieces from others to create a whole. This does not violate copyright law. Question: What if publications has an image and someone takes it for a PowerPoint presentation? They can take it and not attribute it and it’s OK under “fair use” because it’s used minimally out of 60-slide use, it’s for educational purposes and the individual is not making money off of it, Luce Herrmann said. Publications should make sure the consumer is not misled that the user is the publication when it is not. Focus on whether someone will be misled by the use.

Domain names
Publications want to lock down domain names as quickly as possible so no one else can get to them and extort money from you. This is “cyber squatting.” Look on social websites’ terms of use (Facebook and Twitter have ways to register your intellectual property and they can eject anyone using your name).

Defamation and posts displaying “bad judgment”
Make sure posts don’t degrade publication, give away trade secrets, cause defamation.
If you Tweet: “Check out this story” and link to a story that says something defamatory, it’s unclear, or unsettled, whether the person who Tweeted it is responsible for defaming someone as well. Journalists have to think about what they are saying in a Tweet and what they have linked to in their Tweet.

Breaching a contract
The use of new tools, including social media sites and even newspaper websites, often bring a set of new rules based on the agreements signed to use these tools
First Amendment and Communication Decency Act provides protection for what you publish. It’s incorrect to think they are the only things go govern your relationship. Whether you’re accessing another site like Facebook or if someone is accessing yours, the “terms of use” policy is critical. These are contracts with the user. The press is not excused from unlawful behavior, Luce Herrmann said.

Terms of using and Privacy Policy
Covers site use, accuracy, editing and removing posts, copyright violations and legal rights of those involved in disputes. If someone purchases photo off website, can limit in Terms of Use policy how someone can use it.

Employment concerns
Employment discrimination; productivity during working hours
If employee uses personal Twitter account to post something negative about own employer, can be terminated over it.

Third-party posts
Media have immunity under the CDA for what people post. You can move for relevance, edit it for length, remove it for indecencies. Can’t add words or change it in such a way that it becomes your content. Websites trying to engage users today. This can remove immunity under the CDA. You’re OK if you post a broad and non-leading question. Be careful with polls and options for answers.

No decisions yet on whether you can be held for the continued availability of content.

Making corrections and retractions to Internet content
Correct the original content
Leave original content alone and post a separate retraction or correction
Correct the original content and post a separate retraction/correction

Want to ensure readers not misled and advertiser/businesses aren’t victimized.
We are not going to correct ads, unless it’s necessary to inform the public.

Blog and Twitter Account Ownership
Who owns Twitter acccount? Who created it; does the journalist claim affiliation to a news agency; does their contract state that any social media accounts created for the agency remain in their custody.

Using Social Media for Newsgathering
Social media site’s terms of use can provide some protection if we opt to use information. But, for example, Facebook’s Terms of Use are fairly favorable, allowing third-party use. When you publish content or info using the “everyone” setting, media can use it.

Twitter doesn’t address third-party rights.

Treat a photo on social media the way you would if someone walked in and handed you a photo — feel comfortable with the content of the photo and that the person giving you the photo is entitled to give it to you. Check the terms of use for the site where you obtain the information to see what the terms say about posted content.

You can create a screenshot from Facebook or Twitter and be somewhat safe as it provides context as where you got the information. If group shot, distort the image of the others and their names. Also post where you got it and provide link.

Check out audio from the talk on my phlog.

‘The Nuts and Bolts of Social Media’ at #MIAP meeting

Editor’s Note: This post features notes from a conference and has been generated live, so please excuse the choppiness.

Stefanie Murray, former AnnArbor.com social media and engagement guru, now director of digital audience development for The Detroit Free Press, and Jerry Sova, who is responsible for many of the online components at The Jackson Citizen Patriot, covered what is social media, why news organizations are using it, what it takes in terms of resources and skills, getting started, going further with it and tips on using it.

Check out the first hour of audio on my phlog.

Digital communication turned into an interactive dialogue, user-generated content sharing, conversation.
Wikipedia, post links to stories and updates for local officials, communities. Six different types of social media: Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, World of Warcraft and Second Life.

Facebook has 800 million-plus active users; People in Australia most active. Twitter has 100 million-plus active users and Google+ has 50 million plus. Online content sharing services are also social, like YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr should be part of your strategy; others come and go frequently, such as FourSquare, Linkedin.

Our audience is on social media. They are talking about our stories, our communities and what’s relevant to them. We, as journalists, can engage them and become part of the conversation. Social media allows you to interact with your audience. It allows us to find sources and stories, talk to readers, share our content, grow online traffic, and social media can be used for customer service. At Detroit Free Press, Murray works with web department to monitor Twitter accounts, traffic and interactions. Mentions on Twitter for customer service problems are forwarded to appropriate department. Customers Tweeting customer service problems.

Murray says both reporters and editors should be using social media to engage the audience. Train your staff on social media. Don’t assume staff knows or should figure it out on their own during their personal time.

Murray suggested media organizations buy ads on Facebook to promote publications and also provides important insights/data/metrics. Stressed use of Metatags. Facebook tracks how many people are going to your site.

Murray said if you make it clear you’re asking on Facebook for content, then it’s OK to use it. Be clear on your intentions as you interact with the audience — ask in comments section or private message. Freep posts a lot of photos on Facebook. Readers like to share them. Post a photo and link to photo gallery because Facebook retains right to use them in another format, Murray said. New metric on Facebook shows how many people shared a post. Number of shares important. Let’s you know how many people posted it on their Facebook. Important to know how readers interacting with your domain. Can achieve this with Metatag. Check http://wwww.Facebook.com/insights. You will see pages and websites for administrator. Need to tell website and Facebook talking to each other to get it going.

Professional pages for journalists switching to subscriptions
Facebook doing away with pages for people. Instead, you can subscribe. More valuable to Facebook. Facebook didn’t want a person/profile fractured, so no longer offering personal pages. Will have subscriptions. This could be important to us as journalists. Journalists choose on drop-down whether to post public or private. Can gain subscribers sharing publicly and drive more traffic to website sharing work. Facebook will suggest who you may want to subscribe to on the left side of your profile page, “People you may want to subscribe to.” Facebook offers name and what they do for a living. It’s important for journalists to say what they do to gain subscribers. You will gain readers and sources as you subscribe to people and people subscribe to you, and you will show up on others’ pages. Subscribing is the same thing as being a “fan.” Subscribers are like “fans” on Facebook or “followers” on Twitter. Murray said you can’t currently get analytics on personal pages, but will soon. You can decide to make public or allow friends to see it or customize it. Murray suggests all reporters and editors allow subscribers on personal pages and then choose what you want to make public. Can unsubscribe people who you have who aren’t necessarily friends and convert them to subscribers.

Murray: Facebook ads available for promotions and contests. Use an approved application, instead of posting on wall, “Like us and you could win tickets.” Woobox and Wildfire apps will create ad. Can get a monthly subscription for $30.

Jerry Sova of Jackson Citizen Patriot talked about “liking” businesses on Facebook, offer to share their photos and establish a relationship. Ask if you can post links on their FB pages and share audience. Sova suggests getting referrals and more fans having FB news feed on homepage of website. Tease them to the Facebook page with a news post on website homepage. Contests and giving away prizes can help you get more fans.

Murray recommends 45 minutes to an hour between FB posts. Bigger audience on Facebook at night. Murray recommends Wednesday as best engagement day between 9 and 11 p.m. Using third-party applications are given less importance on FB. Post manually for better results.

Murray, highest retweet between 2 and 5 p.m. Send out multiple Tweets on Twitter if it’s an important story because Twitter moves so fast. Fans may miss it. Twitter and Facebook two different audiences. Don’t assume same. Sports has huge following on Twitter. Make sure to follow athletes and Tweet and retweet to following. People want to talk to people on Twitter, not necessarily brands. Encourage reporters to Tweet their stories and retweeting. Assign reporters to either use corporate account or personal account, or both. Make sure they’re operating as a reporter at all times.

The second half of today’s talk on social media can be found on my phlog.

Blogging from the AP Editorial Association Annual Meeting

The alarm sounded at 4:15 a.m. this morning, a lot earlier than most days. That’s because I and four staff members had signed up to attend the Michigan AP Editorial Association Annual Editors Meeting in Mount Pleasant. An hour to get ready, 30 minutes to get to Saline and a two-hour-plus drive and here we are — at the PohlCat Golf Course Clubhouse with about 45 journalists. Armed with Netbooks and smartphones, we’re all eagerly awaiting the first session: “The Nuts and Bolts of Social Media — What It Takes and How You Get Everyone Started.” It will be presented by former AnnArbor.com social media guru Stefanie Murray, now director of digital audience development for The Detroit Free Press. Look for my next post on her talk, which is set from 9 to 11 a.m.

David Veselenak, Tanya Wildt, Amy Bell, Erica McClain and Michelle Rogers outside the PohlCat Golf Course Clubhouse in Mount Pleasant for the Michigan AP Editorial Association Annual Editors Meeting.

A Twitter Newswire

As a member of the Journal Register Company’s ideaLab (#JRCideaLab), I’ve been tasked with establishing a Twitter newswire in my newsroom. The idea is to have reporters create lists within their individual professional Twitter accounts or, as I did, establish an account (@ElectionFollow) dedicated to following local political candidates and active party members and political watchers, with the goal of generating story leads from their tweets. I’ve asked my followers to use #mielection in their story lead tweets to make it easier, but I can’t depend on them to do that, so I’ll have to continue to look at their individual tweets.

The thought is that there are many untapped sources and stories in cyberspace, and reporters should start paying attention on social media to what the audience is interested in — what’s relevant to them — and utilizing the audience as sources, experts or for their story leads. While the plan is to start off small with stories focused on the upcoming general election in the weeks leading up to the election, the goal is to establish a thriving and robust Twitter (or social media) newswire, where reporters regularly turn to for potential stories, producing at least one a week.

I introduced the idea to staff about a month ago and our online coordinator/reporter, David Veselenak was asked to be the first to set up the lists on his account and generate a story. He has produced one, so far, but has had a difficult time writing a story each week from it. While I established @ElectionFollow Twitter account to “lead by example,” I suspect the enthusiasm for this project is not at the level I would like to see. I will continue pushing it at our editorial meetings and begin to hold staff accountable for results. In the meantine, it would be helpful if the audience encouraged the effort via Facebook, Twitter and email. If you like the idea, tweet it or post on our local reporters’ personal Facebook pages or our newspaper fan pages.

Often, I think, reporters get in a habit of doing their jobs a particular way and aren’t open to new ideas — or maybe curious but not motivated to actually pursue them — especially if they think their current approach works good enough. But, in my opinion, they need to get out of their comfort zones and start innovating, experimenting with new technology and utilizing all of these new opportunities, such as social media, to produce more crowd-sourced, multimedia journalism.

A reporter can find some interesting news tips on Facebook if they’re following local residents, officials, and community leaders and stakeholders. For example, in my Facebook news stream Monday, I saw a post from Saline City Councilman David Rhoads: “One of the softening units at Saline’s water treatment plant is out of commission for repairs. The less water we can use, the closer the water will be to the normal softness, until the unit can be repaired.” Six comments followed, and I emailed the comment stream to Saline reporter Kevin Doby. The next morning, he fleshed out the story and posted it online.

This example is exactly what JRC wants to see more of in our newsrooms. The challenge is getting everyone to embrace it. Hopefully, through this post and more opportunities to come, they will see the value and get their own newswires up and running.