The why of source diversity and inclusive storytelling

Last year, I wrote a feature story for The Hechinger Report about the obstacles students of color face when trying to get into graduate school. I interviewed Black, Asian and Latino students, professors and education experts. When I wrote about the prevalence of skin cancer in Black and Latinos, I used real people and expert sources of color.

Turns out there’s a few things about obituaries that need re-thinking

Obituaries are a lot of things.

They’re a legal notice of death. They’re the story of a life. They’re a tool for grieving. And they’re a business.

In taking on one kind of obituary – the story – for this fellowship, I constantly bump into all the other forms.

Bolster your digital safety: An anti-hacking, anti-doxxing workshop

Journalists in all newsrooms, especially women, LGTBQ+ and BIPOC, are dealing with unprecedented levels of online abuse that can take form in publishing of private information, impersonations, hacking and more.  In the ONA session, “Bolster Your Digital Safety: An Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxxing Workshop,” Viktorya Vilk, program director for Digital Safety and Free Expression, PEN America and … Continued

RJI now accepting applications for the 15th fellowship class of innovators

Applications due Dec. 18 The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute is now accepting 2021-22 RJI Fellowship applications from individuals or organizations with an innovative journalism project idea that could also benefit the industry. Potential project ideas could include devising new strategies or models to solve a problem, building new tools, creating a prototype, or advancing … Continued

Managing metrics that matter for subscriptions

Managing metrics that matter  Mike Denison, audience engagement editor at Science News, sees analytics and metrics as a tool to “cut through the noise and look beyond page views.” This year at ONA20, learning about the importance of analytics and metrics has shown to be of growing interest for the industry at a time when … Continued

Readers can help you plan your next move

The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic brought with it a surge in engagement and traffic to the Spanish materials we publish on our site, Documented Semanal.  Within weeks, we had built an ecosystem where our readers, using our WhatsApp app, had guided us to create certain stories which would then draw in more subscribers who … Continued

Push notifications: Segmenting and connecting with your audience

Why use push notifications?  When it comes to connecting with your audience, push notifications may not be the first thing that comes to mind. Some may even say notifications are outdated or irreverent when compared to the current technology. However, the company One Signal, saw an increase of two billion push notifications sent out each … Continued

Building a culture of great visuals

Boyzell Hosey, Deputy Editor of Photography, faces new challenges at the Tampa Bay Times in planning the daily visual report.  He directs a significantly smaller photo staff than a decade ago in addition to the added burden of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the plan boils down to the same principle as always, … Continued