Leaderboard for week of 6-29-2009: Good link journalism edition

This week’s Leaderboard examines what good curation/link journalism is all about.

Link journalism seems so simple. It just some links and a little text. Not hard, right?

Poor link journalism is incredibly easy to produce, but good link journalism is an art and a science. Good link journalism requires a knowledgeable and well-read curator. The value in link journalism is derived from a knowledgeable curator looking at a myriad of sources and information and distilling down the best of it.

Most people don’t have time to do what a good curator does. Many journalists already consume a lot of content on a daily basis on their beats. They have RSS readers stuffed with feeds.

Curation is a skill that more journalists should pick up. Beat reporters are very knowledgeable about a set topic and already process a lot of information. Why not show users what you’re reading, watching and consuming?

We also examine a few other topics in this week’s Leaderboard, including advocacy journalism and hyperlocal journalism.

The Infrastructurist | Jebediah Reed

• The Daily Dig continues to be one of our favorite daily link journalism roundups and not just because everyday has a new “edition” like our Leaderboards.
• What makes good link journalism? It all starts with quality curation. People like Reed monitor a lot of different news sources, agencies, Web sites and saved searches. What makes The Daily Dig good is the fact that Reed links to a variety of different sources and he finds the best infrastructure-related stories. The core value in Reed’s link journalism is derived from him being an expert on the topic, and only someone who spends a lot of time consuming content on a specific topic can be great at link journalism.
• Good link journalism is also about making the links seem interesting. It’s not enough to just grab headlines and link. A good curator sells you on why a story is worth reading. A good curator gives you a true taste of what is to come and highlights the biggest reason why you should read on. Link journalism is in some ways content marketing by offering succinct summaries.
• Good link journalism is also interesting. This goes back to good curation, but it’s not enough to just find news worthy stories or content. Rather, a good curator also finds interesting and unique stories. Some content might be mainstream, while other content off the beaten path.

Steve Rawley | PPS Equity

• PPS Equity offers more than just news about Portland schools; it’s also an advocate for change. And it is starting to seem like good beatbloggers — especially education ones — mix in a bit of advocacy with their journalism. It’s not that they are biased, but rather that they care to see change. For many education reporters, they are covering school districts that are failing. In fact, the American education system isn’t doing so well.
• Advocacy speaks to readers. Rawley is not advocating on behalf of the teacher’s union or some other vested interest but rather advocating for change. That really resonates with readers, especially with beats like education. Most people deeply interested in education are so interested in the topic because they believe the status quo isn’t working.
• Rawley is himself a father of two PPS students. Some may think that’s a conflict of interest, but rather it humanizes Rawley to readers. He, like most people reading his blog, has a vested interest in the district himself. He wants change because he, like his readers, believe the district needs improvement.
• The mission of PPS Equity is to, “inform, advocate and organize, with a goal of equal educational opportunity for all students in Portland Public Schools, regardless of their address, their parent’s wealth, or their race.”
• What ultimately makes this beatblog work is not just the passionate advocacy, but also the content itself. The blog has newsworthy items and features great discussions in the comments after posts. It’s an all-around strong beatblog.

Plano Blog | The Dallas Morning News

• This is yet another strong beatblog from The Dallas Morning News. This one is run by Theodore Kim and Matthew Haag. This beatblog is focused on providing local coverage of the city of Plano, Texas.
• Again this beatblog is patterned after the pioneering work that Kent Fischer did with the DISD Blog. Many of the new beatblogs at the Morning News are trying to capture that same magic that Fischer had. Fischer and the DISD Blog are an excellent blueprint for how to do beatblogging well.
• Kim said, “By using the blog, we’ve been able to cover much more ground. The small stuff and the big stuff, the chicken dinners and the larger trend stories: We’re finding a place for all of it through regular features such as our daily Morning Jog and Bulletin Board. And people are responding.”
• The blog is allowing reporters to cover smaller topics. In the era of shrinking newspapers, beatblogs offer an opportunity for increased coverage, instead of diminished coverage due to a lack of space. Also, the Plano Blog is spurring conversations about the area and attracting residents to the Morning News brand.
• This is a hyperlocal effort of sorts, but instead of developing an entirely separate site ala Loundoun Extra, the Morning News has decided to hand two reporters a blog and tell them to provide in-depth coverage of a single geographic area. This is a less sexy option than other hyperlocal efforts, but early returns suggest it is working. And it’s the kind of effort that can be started in a matter of minutes, rather than months like big projects like Loundoun Extra require. A beatblog like this is a down and dirty way to provide innovative and new journalism to a community.

Leaderboard for week of 5-4-2009: Timing matters

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: timing matters.

When an event happens, a good beat reporter should cover it ASAP. This also might mean retooling plans and launching a new feature sooner than expected. It could mean scheduling an impromptu live chat to discuss a major news event or crisis.

Great timing requires flexibility. The best beatbloggers have it.

Timing, however, goes beyond just flexibility. Two of the beatbloggers below have timely and modern beats that really speak to the times. Would these beats have been possible 20 years ago, before the Web? No.

And even 10 years ago these beats might not have been very popular, but they are today. Beats need to change with the times, and with the Web and cheap and easy-to-deploy technology like blogs, journalists and news orgs can launch new beats in minutes.

Eric Berger | The Houston Chronicle

• Has there been a bigger story lately than swine flu? Berger is a very flexible reporter, and he scheduled an impromptu live chat to discuss swine flu and answer reader questions.
• Berger answered readers questions on a variety of topics. He provided insightful answers, often linking to official government documents and other Chronicle content on the subject.
• Berger did an excellent job of A) answering reader questions B) calming people down with his measured advice (unlike many others in the media) and C) doing all of this in a timely manner. A good beatblogger knows when to push other work aside and schedule an impromptu chat about a major story like this. Swine flu may not become the pandemic that some predicted, but Berger’s timely advice was much appreciated by readers.
• Berger’s ability to be flexible and cover big stories in a variety of formats as they come in is a major reason why he helped the Chronicle be a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Berger is always up to covering major events with new, innovative techniques. Flexibility is key.

Jebediah Reed | The Infrastructurist

• This is an overall excellence in beatblogging nod. It’s a mixture of good content with good link journalism on a very timely beat. The Infrastructurist is a beatblog about American’s infrastructure and transportation and how politics intersects each.
• In this blog post, Reed asks a thought provoking question, “Why Doesn’t The Stimulus Include Money For Painting Roofs And Roads White?” Painting black surfaces like rooftops and parking lots white could save at least $1 trillion dollars in CO2 emissions worldwide. A white rooftop, for instance, reflects light back into space, leaving the building below cooler. A white road means that less heat is absorbed into the Earth than with a black road.
• This post links to good sources and provides hard facts, but it’s really intended to be a jumping off point. The post is ultimately about how something simple like whitening roads and roofs could greatly reduce CO2 emissions for a fraction of the cost of most climate change initiatives. His post also ends with a few concerns about this idea, which help propel the conversation.
• Many people who read The Infrastructurist are very knowledgeable about infrastructure projects, government and science (several of the commentors on this post are engineers). Users are talking about the different albedo’s of different kinds of asphalt and concrete (how much light would be reflected off of surfaces, instead of absorbed). Other users are talking about what politicians in their areas are proposing and how those ideas could help cut CO2 emissions.
• Reed is active in the comments, mixing it up with users, spurring additional comments from users. The Infrastructurist is a blog that largely focuses on proposals and future projects, which makes it a prime candidate for community building and two-way communication. Reed has done a good job of building a community around a topic that wouldn’t seem that sexy to traditional news organizations, but makes perfect sense in 2009.

Andrew C. Revkin | The New York Times

• Dot Earth blogger Revkin also gets this recognition for overall excellence in beatblogging. Dot Earth is a beatblog that “examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet’s limits.” It’s a blog centered around sustainability that touches on related science topics.
• Like the Infrastructurist, Dot Earth is another very timely and modern beat. 50 years ago this beatblog would have had no chance at serious success, but with concerns about climate change and a rapidly growing population, Dot Earth is a beatblog that makes perfect sense in 2009.
• The blog also ties in really well with other NY Times content, which is important. In the right rail users will find links to relevant energy, climate, biology and society stories from nytimes.com. Users will also find embedded science videos from nytimes.com and audio slideshows from Revkin in the right rail.
• The Times already has a lot of good environment-related content, but Dot Earth does a nice job of tying all of this related content together with its own unique sub-community. Plus, Dot Earth mixes in original content and lots of linking to take the whole package to another level.
• Dot Earth demonstrates why community matters. It’s a sub-community within nytimes.com and a community that appeals to a niche audience. The comments left after posts on Dot Earth are quite strong (it doesn’t hurt that the Times, unlike many publications, actually moderates comments and cares about their quality). Many people commenting on Dot Earth stories are academics, PhDs, energy workers and other knowledgeable people about sustainability, climate change and science topics.