FL#190: Animated GIFs for news

(Video missing) This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of the GIF file format. Although GIFs are often used in a lighthearted way, Public Radio International’s global affairs program “The World” uses looping GIF animations as conversation starters to help tell serious news stories. Steven Davy, multimedia editor at “The World,” tells us … Continued

Mike Wheeler and David Danto: OpenTheRoom.org—Driving Citizen Engagement at the local level

Mike and Dave demonstrated emerging technologies that automate the broadcasting of public meetings and sports events. Camera operators can be redeployed to drive engagement of the content with their community through social media. Michael Wheeler is a managing partner of Westerly Partners, LLC, an investor advisory that provides strategic, financial and technology solutions to early … Continued

What the Coloradoan staff is learning while experimenting with bots

We asked newsrooms and ad agencies what they are doing today that they weren’t doing a year ago. Turns out quite a lot! This new RJI series will highlight some of the innovations and experiments we discovered and share what leaders are learning along the way. We call it The What’s New Q&A?

FL#189: Encryption app features

(Video missing) As journalists increasingly see the need to keep communications private, many are turning to apps that enable encrypted messaging. But how do you know if the app you chose actually does the job? We share some advice about key features from staff members at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Reporting by Marlee Baldridge.

FL#188: Assembling social posts with Roundabout

(Video missing) Roundabout is a tool for creating customized, continually updated feeds of social media content from multiple accounts and platforms. The resulting collection of posts can be embedded within a webpage, enabling online viewers to see the grouped social media content all in one place. We find out how it works from Chief Executive … Continued

Reynolds Journalism Institute announces 2017-2018 class of fellows

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute has selected six fellowship projects for 2017-2018 that will focus on filter bubbles, bite-size training and business-side analytics. “If you were looking for one word to describe this class, I’d suggest ‘practical,’” said Executive Director Randy Picht. “These projects are built to have an impact from the minute they’re … Continued

Distribution: What do you really own? What do you really want?

If content is king, then distribution are all the roads leading to, and from, the kingdom. Those used to be toll roads: A simple transaction defined by use. But today, distributed content, in its many forms, has made that transaction complex. Even confusing. Distribution isn’t just about the pipelines of ingress and regress. It’s about relationship building. In a constantly evolving distribution … Continued