How to get a newsroom to cover stories live

With apologies to the Bard, that is the question.

And a problem, a big one at that.

Members of the Journal Register Company’s IdeaLab, including yours truly, met at the company’s Yardley, Pa., offices on Wednesday to brainstorm the future of our industry. JRC advisory members Betsy Morgan and Jay Rosen were present and shared their insight into what the challenges mean.

I’ll let Rosen explain

We were challenged to come up with a problem and find the solution - in 30 days. I tasked myself with turning my own newsroom at the Daily Freeman upside down and change our current model, which, it should be mentioned, will not be painless. The idea being that once the production god (don’t be lazy and watch the video) is gone, we are free to produce and experiment to better serve our audience.

In the coming days, I’ll be sharing the tools I’ve been given (an iPad, a netbook and a Droid) with my newsroom and we’ll be covering events as they unravel. I'll be keeping you updated on what worked and what didn’t. My plan is to have our reporters using Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook – without a middle man (that would be us, the meany editors) – to post stories, photos and ask for input as the stories develop.

In other words, WE'LL DO IT LIVE!

Idealab NOW!