Overview: Communications Tactics

what we were doing was akin to “curation”: picking the best gems of news and analysis, and constructing a narrative around them for time-pressed readers drowning in the information overload of the web. And we were forging a direct relationship with our readers. That led me to talk with colleagues in other media organizations... understand the tre…

We talk to a digital journalist from the Euronews about the rise of ‘immersive’ videos like 360° and VR. ... VR (or 360° video) is a very social medium. Some of the earlier comments we received complained the shots were too static, too empty... one of the videos we are the most proud of, and which performed the best... more a feature-style piece, …

This principle of science writing... teaches the writer to lead the reader, step by step, from knowing nothing about a subject to understanding enough to grow enchanted with its broader significance.... Imagine science writing as an upside-down pyramid. Start at the bottom with the one fact a reader must know before he can learn any more. The sec…

Fernando Pereira, who leads Google’s projects in natural language understanding, is less excited about his company’s shiny new devices than he is about what will happen when people use them... how can a machine truly understand phrases... machine learning; specifically... neural networks... use sophisticated algorithms and tons of data to train t…

the next greatest advancement in casual technology and User Experience... a set of glasses known as Spectacles pair up with Snapchat via Wi-fi or Bluetooth ... and enable their users to record 10 seconds of video... in a circle with 115 degrees of view... mimic human vision, so users can record what they see and play it back as if it came from the…

After you read this, you should be able to throw together a logo without hiring a designer in about five minutes.

Raising Barriers... took readers to eight countries across three continents and examined the divisions between countries and peoples through interwoven words, video and sound... we used every multimedia tool in our arsenal. Here’s what we learned from the experience

hierarchy of good writing, particularly of good science writing... Explainers make information clear and comprehensible... Elucidators go beyond explanation and into illumination — they transmute information into understanding by ... integrating various bits of knowledge into a larger framework of comprehension... Enchanters do all of the above, b…

will stream Trump’s rallies directly each night and feature pre-and post-event commentary... a way for the campaign to circumvent the mainstream media ... says as much about Trump’s future in media as it does about Facebook’s.

I finally vlogged my first event. Some first impressions.

we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of journalists experimenting with immersive storytelling to tell important stories in new ways... Journalism 360, an initiative to build a network of journalists willing to tackle those challenges and share what they’re learning. With this effort, we’re looking to support experiments, provide training wor…

where curated broadcast channels shine and it’s easier than ever to search for live videos

people comment 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos... we wanted to highlight some of the recent trends and themes we’ve seen emerge... Local reporters often have devoted fans who are interested in viewing their authentic Facebook Live content. Certain news content resonates...

One of the vlogs I did at the EU Week of Regions & Cities with the winners of the #EUinmyRegion blogging competition I ran for the EC. All vlogs can be found in this Moment.

With its reliance on polling data over source cultivation and number crunching over narrative, FiveThirtyEight... is at the forefront of a shift in the way political journalism is practiced.... being an outsider, maybe you’re able to call B.S. a little easier. That’s a helpful role to have.... the site attracted nearly 10 million unique visitors …

“So far, the growth around online video news seems to be largely driven by technology, platforms, and publishers rather than by strong consumer demand,”

using Facebook to repackage some of its magazine stories into video form... takes advantage of a Facebook tool that lets publishers merge a series of photos into videos... kept things simple... roughly 30 seconds and rarely going beyond a few words, a chart, or a photo in each individual slide... take as little as two minutes

Pay models are gaining some traction... increased focus on appealing to smaller, but more dedicated, audiences ... 10 to 20 percent of revenues from digital...monetizing mobile of course remains an open question... “Honestly, now, I think there is no business model.” Here are a few interesting case studies

Most events are not designed for VR... The rule of thumb is ‘would you look around you in a certain situation?’ if the answer is yes, then ...maybe there is an opportunity to create a VR experience short storytelling is better for breaking news... stick to longer time frames for feature stories

NBC News has found that people are willing to click through to its site when there’s breaking news, so it’s posting less of those articles on Instant Articles while posting more feature-type content... The New York Times ... tended to be long-form think pieces or analysis, not breaking news

they’re not the game-changer he thought they’d be... We have to stop trying to find a single problem. It needs to be solved in a million different ways, every single day.

We’d love to make it easy for you to get up and running with Facebook Ads. These are the exact steps and lessons we’ve been taking to build up our own paid ads campaigns, and we’ll be keeping this post up-to-date with the latest news and learnings.

all the pros and cons had to be considered. Here are some of the reasons and learnings behind this decision.

at The Information, the subscription-based tech news publisher, comments and community aren’t just intact — they’re a selling point... The Information puts its members front and center. Subscribers get their own bio pages... its subscription call to action entreats visitors not to get access to great information or level up their tech and media k…

‘Ask’ enables editors to create embeddable forms to invite contributions from readers. These could come in several formats, including text, photo, video, audio. The contributions can be (optionally) linked to existing user profiles. Editors can filter, sort, share, and manage the contributions, and then display the best ones in a gallery.

I find value in reader comments that can’t be adequately reproduced elsewhere. The argument that the conversation has migrated to Facebook and Twitter is flawed. ... they are no substitute for having discussion take place where the story itself lives. ... News organizations should fix online comments rather than ditch them... the feedback is... f…

Since Facebook made its livestreaming feature widely available earlier this year, publishers have been experimenting with on-the-spot video in a variety of ways... we are starting a series of in-depth articles chronicling their experiments IBTimes UK has been working on three different live video formats: Q&As with columnists and reporters, panel…

BBC Business Unit has been experimenting with 'news you can use', a concept which mimics tutorials and informational videos popular with YouTube viewers, in a bid to engage a wider audience on social media... Using just his mobile phone, Shaw is able to shoot videos quickly and easily, wherever he can grab the interviewees.

Quick response to Baekdael’s Are you under estimating prototyping?, over on Medium: "Your excellent post reminds me of a participation project a few years ago for a government organisation. Ostensibly, it was going to ‘open up’ EU decisionmaking to the public ..."