Everhart: Smart storytelling
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The document discusses the importance of adapting storytelling techniques for mobile audiences, highlighting key statistics about news consumption on mobile devices and the prevalence of social media. It presents various alternative story formats (ASFs) like Q&As, podcasts, and visual content to enhance audience engagement and accessibility. The content emphasizes the need for creativity in news reporting, particularly through platforms like Facebook Groups and Instagram, to maintain reader interest and maximize impact with minimal resource expenditure.
Everhart: Smart storytelling
- 1. Making smart choices in storytelling Michelle Everhart @meverhart26 #MilwaukeeNewsTrain
- 2. Why is this important? People’s time is valuable. More people are using mobile devices. If they come to you and it is too hard to read, they won’t be back.
- 3. Why is this important? U.S. adults often get news on a mobile device Pew Research Center survey 58% 39% U.S. adults often get news on desktop/laptop
- 4. Why is this important? Adults ages 18-29 often get news on mobile device Pew Research Center survey 71% 20% Adults get their news via social media
- 5. Why is this important? Americans who own a smartphone Pew Research Center survey 96% 20% Smartphone-only internet users
- 6. What you should be able to do at the end of this ● When presented with a particular story, brainstorm different ways to tell the story, including on a smartphone. ● Make smart choices among alternative ways to tell a story to get the maximum audience impact with the least expenditure of time, energy and effort.
- 7. What does your website look like on your phone?
- 8. What are ASFs? Alternative story formats Q&As Nuggets Podcasts Videos Social round upInstagram stories Charts Photo galleries Quizzes Maps
- 9. ASF: Q&As
- 10. ASF: Q&As Bonus: Use reader engagement forms. Ask readers what questions they have about a topic and answer them in the Q & A.
- 11. ASF: What we know/don’t now Good for breaking news or ongoing investigations Link to stories that might address more indepth What we don’t know is good for transparency
- 12. ASF: What you need to know
- 13. ASF: What you need to know These are great for community events that happen every year. Give the people what they need to know.
- 14. ASF: Social round up Twitter moments are quick and easy ways to do this. Easy way to document what your community is saying about something or what high-profile people are saying.
- 17. ASF: Charts/Maps
- 18. ASF: Podcasts ● Podcasts make news accessible to people. ● Podcasts make news convenient for people. ● Podcasts are good revenue opportunities.
- 19. ASF: Podcasts
- 20. ASF: Video Use animation to explain something better than you can with words.
- 21. ASF: Video Keep it simple. Let your subject tell their story.
- 22. ASF: Video Make it easily shareable on social media.
- 23. Think beyond the story: Facebook groups ● Facebook algorithm change in Q1 2018 indicated ‘meaningful social interactions’ would be more important ● Facebook has indicated this year that the future of their products will be more around private conversations ● Groups are a way to have meaningful interactions with a smaller portion of your audience. ● They can occasionally be a big traffic driver
- 24. Think beyond the story: Facebook groups Publisher’s Facebook groups (group size quoted from date of report) Top local ones: Where NOLA Eats (Times-Picayune): 39,000 members Neighborhood groups (Cincinnati Enquirer): 17,000 members Things to do in Cincinnati (Cincinnati Enquirer): 13,000 members Discussing race in Boston (Boston Globe): 3,000 members Subscribers (Boston Globe): 3,000 members Fort Collins Neighborhood Watch (Coloradan): 2,400 members Celebration of Texas (Dallas MN): 1,700 members Subscribers (Dallas MN): 1,300 members
- 25. Think beyond the story: Instagram
- 26. Think beyond the story: Instagram
- 27. Think beyond the story: Quizzes and games
- 28. Long reads can work too nytimes.com/1619 Dispatch.com/unmasked gatehousenews.com /failuretodeliver gatehousenews.com/ a-world-rocked
- 30. Let’s try this! How would you tell the story of flooding using alternative story formats.
- 31. Let’s try this! How to cover a community event that you have to do every year.
- 32. Questions? Michelle Everhart The Columbus Dispatch Digital News editor [email protected] @meverhart26