"Cancer Corner" in front of Oneida High School has been a source of consternation for some members of the community going back at least three decades. And local residents have recently used a new citizen journalism tool - SeeClickFix - to express concerns on Oneida Daily Dispatch's Web site.
Oneida Police Chief David Meeker responded to the issue in today's newspaper in a report by Caitlin Traynor. Read the story online and join the conversation.
Showing posts with label SeeClickFix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SeeClickFix. Show all posts
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Parent company of this newspaper produces web sites and newspapers using free tools
The parent company of this newspaper - the Journal Register Company - announced today it successfully produced two websites and newspapers – one daily and one weekly - using only free web-based tools.
The participating newspapers were The News-Herald in Lake County, Ohio and the Perkasie News-Herald in Perkasie, Pa.
The company’s Ben Franklin Project, announced April 21 by CEO John Paton, challenged the legacy newsgathering process and proprietary computer system model – while focusing on the company’s digital-first model. The websites and newspapers involved in the project were produced – from story assignment and advertising design through publication – utilizing free tools available online. The employees were given 30 days to meet that challenge and this week they succeeded.
Highlights of the project:
- The papers' newsrooms solicited story ideas and contributions through social media tools including Facebook and Twitter.
- Residents of one community shared their views on the county’s most dangerous roadway intersections and the newsroom staff compared those submissions with data from police reports. The audience, using Journal Register Company’s community portal partner SeeClickFix, also reported blighted properties – ranging from fields in need of mowing to a house that has been under construction for 10 years – that were included in newsroom reports. Residents in another community submitted questions for local officials as part of reports on the local pay-as-you-throw trash system and the community’s electric supplier contract.
- Advertising designers used free, web-based tools to design online and print advertisements, and copy editors and designers utilized a desktop publishing system available free online.
"Taking a digital first, print last approach motivates journalists to tap into readers before they even start reporting," said a blogger for the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, Mallary Jean Tenore, reporting on the project.
“We have taught ourselves the power of open source journalism by involving our communities," Paton said in a news release, "and we have showed the industry a way to a much more effective business model by bypassing costly legacy media proprietary systems and harnessing the power of the web.”
The participating newspapers were The News-Herald in Lake County, Ohio and the Perkasie News-Herald in Perkasie, Pa.
The company’s Ben Franklin Project, announced April 21 by CEO John Paton, challenged the legacy newsgathering process and proprietary computer system model – while focusing on the company’s digital-first model. The websites and newspapers involved in the project were produced – from story assignment and advertising design through publication – utilizing free tools available online. The employees were given 30 days to meet that challenge and this week they succeeded.
Highlights of the project:
- The papers' newsrooms solicited story ideas and contributions through social media tools including Facebook and Twitter.
- Residents of one community shared their views on the county’s most dangerous roadway intersections and the newsroom staff compared those submissions with data from police reports. The audience, using Journal Register Company’s community portal partner SeeClickFix, also reported blighted properties – ranging from fields in need of mowing to a house that has been under construction for 10 years – that were included in newsroom reports. Residents in another community submitted questions for local officials as part of reports on the local pay-as-you-throw trash system and the community’s electric supplier contract.
- Advertising designers used free, web-based tools to design online and print advertisements, and copy editors and designers utilized a desktop publishing system available free online.
"Taking a digital first, print last approach motivates journalists to tap into readers before they even start reporting," said a blogger for the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, Mallary Jean Tenore, reporting on the project.
“We have taught ourselves the power of open source journalism by involving our communities," Paton said in a news release, "and we have showed the industry a way to a much more effective business model by bypassing costly legacy media proprietary systems and harnessing the power of the web.”
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A look at John Paton's first 90 days as CEO of Journal Register Co.
John Paton will celebrate his 90th day as CEO of the Journal Register Company (parent company of this newspaper) this weekend. It has been a whirlwind three months for John and for the 3,100 employees of JRC, including those working here.
After a year of uncertainty as the company went into, and later emerged from bankruptcy and conducted a search for a leader, JRC has not only been reporting the headlines but making them almost weekly for a series of announcements about the bold steps it is taking to transform to a digital company.
Here are some highlights:
- John started work on Feb. 1; his first two days on the job were attending an already-scheduled meeting of JRC publishers, a handful of editors and corporate executives. He told those gathered the company's current business model was broken and that "all employees must recognize we have to change. And fast." He explained that the company must be "digital first and brands first" and set goals for significantly increasing operating cash flow from the digital side of the business over the next 3 to 5 years. He also charged those in the room with ensuring that the company is the "number one choice" for news in all of the communities that it serves. He restated these and other goals to all employees later in the week in both a companywide phone conference and in a letter.
- An advisory board was named in mid-March. Paton said in the announcement that the board "is charged with helping us assess the changes we need to make (to participate in social media and other digital innovations) and pushing us to experiment in new ways of news creation and delivery." Named were: Jeff Jarvis (an author and associate professor and director of the Interactive Journalism program and the new business models for news project at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism; Jay Rosen, PhD (a professor and former chair of the journalism program at New York University and a member of the Advisory Board of Wikipedia); and Betsy Morgan (a former CEO of the Huffington Post and former senior vice president and general manager of www.CBSNews.com).
- Earlier this month, Paton announced the launch of the Ben Franklin Project. Two JRC newspapers are empowering their communities to decide what information readers would like to see covered, and to become active members of the news-gathering process by submitting tips, personal stories, photos, videos and more using tools found for free on the Internet. Part of the project's mission is to create a web and print publication for one week that uses only free tools widely available on the Internet to demonstrate just how easy it is for citizens to become 'citizen journalists'. One newspaper had a community forum this week to field ideas of what readers would like to see the paper cover as part of the process.
- And last week Paton announced "a major citizen journalism initiative" with a partnership with SeeClickFix that allows Web site visitors to observe, report and follow issues - from poor road conditions to blighted buildings - in their communities.
Other changes include giving EVERY reporter in the company a digital Flip HD camera to contribute video to our Web sites (these were quickly paid for through new digital sales initiatives); the establishment of community media labs at six JRC newspapers (to encourage citizen journalism); restructuring at corporate to flatten the company and give more decision-making powers to the field; a considerable amount of training through Webinars and corporate conferences (touching more than one-third of the company's employees); and announcement of an employee profit-sharing plan.
Paton and JRC have been garnering considerable press for this recent activity. From trade industry magazines such as Editor and Publisher, to bloggers such as Judy Sims, a former vice president of Digital Media for the Toronto Star Media Group, the industry is eagerly watching the transformation at JRC.
But much more change is coming - most importantly, developments that will radically improve all of our print and digital products. You can follow these here on my blog and/or on John's blog.
My gut tells me the activity in this company in any 90 day period over the next few years will equal or exceed the pace of the past three months. Employees are on notice this transformation isn't for the faint of heart, and readers have been encouraged to expect more - and engage more - with the various products that comprise this emerging leader in U.S. community journalism.
After a year of uncertainty as the company went into, and later emerged from bankruptcy and conducted a search for a leader, JRC has not only been reporting the headlines but making them almost weekly for a series of announcements about the bold steps it is taking to transform to a digital company.
Here are some highlights:
- John started work on Feb. 1; his first two days on the job were attending an already-scheduled meeting of JRC publishers, a handful of editors and corporate executives. He told those gathered the company's current business model was broken and that "all employees must recognize we have to change. And fast." He explained that the company must be "digital first and brands first" and set goals for significantly increasing operating cash flow from the digital side of the business over the next 3 to 5 years. He also charged those in the room with ensuring that the company is the "number one choice" for news in all of the communities that it serves. He restated these and other goals to all employees later in the week in both a companywide phone conference and in a letter.
- An advisory board was named in mid-March. Paton said in the announcement that the board "is charged with helping us assess the changes we need to make (to participate in social media and other digital innovations) and pushing us to experiment in new ways of news creation and delivery." Named were: Jeff Jarvis (an author and associate professor and director of the Interactive Journalism program and the new business models for news project at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism; Jay Rosen, PhD (a professor and former chair of the journalism program at New York University and a member of the Advisory Board of Wikipedia); and Betsy Morgan (a former CEO of the Huffington Post and former senior vice president and general manager of www.CBSNews.com).
- Earlier this month, Paton announced the launch of the Ben Franklin Project. Two JRC newspapers are empowering their communities to decide what information readers would like to see covered, and to become active members of the news-gathering process by submitting tips, personal stories, photos, videos and more using tools found for free on the Internet. Part of the project's mission is to create a web and print publication for one week that uses only free tools widely available on the Internet to demonstrate just how easy it is for citizens to become 'citizen journalists'. One newspaper had a community forum this week to field ideas of what readers would like to see the paper cover as part of the process.
- And last week Paton announced "a major citizen journalism initiative" with a partnership with SeeClickFix that allows Web site visitors to observe, report and follow issues - from poor road conditions to blighted buildings - in their communities.
Other changes include giving EVERY reporter in the company a digital Flip HD camera to contribute video to our Web sites (these were quickly paid for through new digital sales initiatives); the establishment of community media labs at six JRC newspapers (to encourage citizen journalism); restructuring at corporate to flatten the company and give more decision-making powers to the field; a considerable amount of training through Webinars and corporate conferences (touching more than one-third of the company's employees); and announcement of an employee profit-sharing plan.
Paton and JRC have been garnering considerable press for this recent activity. From trade industry magazines such as Editor and Publisher, to bloggers such as Judy Sims, a former vice president of Digital Media for the Toronto Star Media Group, the industry is eagerly watching the transformation at JRC.
But much more change is coming - most importantly, developments that will radically improve all of our print and digital products. You can follow these here on my blog and/or on John's blog.
My gut tells me the activity in this company in any 90 day period over the next few years will equal or exceed the pace of the past three months. Employees are on notice this transformation isn't for the faint of heart, and readers have been encouraged to expect more - and engage more - with the various products that comprise this emerging leader in U.S. community journalism.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
This newspaper wants to partner with you to 'fix' issues in our communities
The Record and the Oneida Daily Dispatch - both papers at which I am publisher - are part of a major citizen journalism initiative to empower citizens to improve their communities.
Starting today, all 18 Journal Register Company daily newspapers and online publications in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan and Ohio - including in Troy and Oneida - are partnering with www.SeeClickFix.com in the communities they serve.
The partnership provides SeeClickFix portal pages on our websites that allows users to observe, report and follow issues - poor road conditions to blighted buildings - in their communities.
This benefits our community by:
- Encouraging our audience to utilize the SeeClickFix platform to alert fellow residents of impact issues.
- Empowering residents to work with our journalists to address the needs of the community.
- Highlighting those who participate and make a difference through news reports.
We all have some issue - a broken sidewalk or a graffiti-marred public sign - near our home or workplace that drives us a little mad. Chances are someone shares our frustration, and experience has shown that municipalities and others will generally respond to those who shout the loudest. This tool is as effective a way as I know to 'shout' pretty loud.
Visit Oneida Daily Dispatch's or The Record's Web sites and look for the SeeClickFix information on the front page. Troy has had dozens of viewers participate in recent weeks; Oneida just launched theirs today.
Starting today, all 18 Journal Register Company daily newspapers and online publications in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan and Ohio - including in Troy and Oneida - are partnering with www.SeeClickFix.com in the communities they serve.
The partnership provides SeeClickFix portal pages on our websites that allows users to observe, report and follow issues - poor road conditions to blighted buildings - in their communities.
This benefits our community by:
- Encouraging our audience to utilize the SeeClickFix platform to alert fellow residents of impact issues.
- Empowering residents to work with our journalists to address the needs of the community.
- Highlighting those who participate and make a difference through news reports.
We all have some issue - a broken sidewalk or a graffiti-marred public sign - near our home or workplace that drives us a little mad. Chances are someone shares our frustration, and experience has shown that municipalities and others will generally respond to those who shout the loudest. This tool is as effective a way as I know to 'shout' pretty loud.
Visit Oneida Daily Dispatch's or The Record's Web sites and look for the SeeClickFix information on the front page. Troy has had dozens of viewers participate in recent weeks; Oneida just launched theirs today.
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