Quick response codes, explained

How to make Quick Response codes work for your publication

Starting Tuesday and through November, you'll see this at the bottom of the front page in the print edition of the Daily Freeman:

It's a QR (Quick Response) code. It will run with the following explanation.

"Scan this QR (Quick Response) code to 'Like' the Freeman on Facebook. You will need special software on your camera-equipped smartphone to decode the image. Search for ‘QR code’ in your phone’s app store"

You'll need a smartphone, and it could be any of these:

This is part of the Journal Register Company's Idealab, something that I'm not explaining again.

Anyway, if you are too lazy to search for 'QR code' in your phone's app store, here are some, based on a quick search and categorized by device. I'm only listing free apps:


iPhone:

* QR app;

* Neoreader;

* QRCode.

Blackberry: 

* QR Code Scanner Pro;

* BeeTagg;

* ATT Code Scanner.

 Android:

Barcode Scanner;

Goggles.

And here's an awful person doing a live video pretending to explain QR codes.

Watch live streaming video from dailyfreeman at livestream.com


 

I know. Awful.

Note that this video, via the Freeman's new Livestream channel, was broadcast, well, live, through the site's channel and on Facebook, which would have added amazing user interaction if I had actually bothered to tell anyone that I was broadcasting.

Oh, well. Next time.

P.S. If you are keeping tabs, my challenge was to double our Facebook fans and triple our Twitter followers. I've been off since Oct. 30, so I'm technically just starting today. Since then, we've gone from 1,200 Facebook 'Likes' to 1,424; and from 600 followers to 651. Some of that growth is natural, and some is due to ease of access (you might have noticed the widgets on our stories and the main site). The big push starts now.

How to improve your social media presence

A few days ago, I ran into a tweet by my tweeps at our parent company, Journal Register Company, touting that the company's "social media efforts (are) outpacing some of nation's largest print publications."

It was a ranking of the top newspapers in the nation's Twitter followers, and it pretty much showed that some of our sister papers ranked better that some big national publications.

Alas, the Daily Freeman's Twitter account wasn't among them.

The blog Journalistics  had similarly posted a ranking of top newspapers' Facebook pages, and our own page would have ranked 25 among those surveyed, even though we're way smaller when it comes to circulation.


That got me thinking.

We're a small shop, and (spoiler alert!) our Facebook posts had generally consisted of tweets that were automatically posted on Facebook. Even though, as JRC Idealaber and awesome dog person Karen Workman pointed out during a social media training session, you don't want to just post just links, and that's pretty much what we've been doing.

So here's a problem. Our social media presence, thought somewhat strong, is not what it should be. I've tasked myself to at least triple our followers on Twitter, currently standing at 600, and to double our Facebook fans.

But how?

In my last post, I mentioned that a couple of our Storify posts were not from our tweets but from our users (that's you). When Billy Joel came to town, we did a story, sure, but I also went around social media to create a storyline using your very posts to create a timeline of his trajectory. When the Ulster County Jail was featured on "Ghost Hunters" and I found myself with no time to watch it or tweet it, I was able to curate a story using your posts.

Both of those stories amassed great interest. And Facebook, in October, was the second largest referrer to our site, surpassing AOL, Yahoo, and Bing, and second only after Google.

So using Karen's tips and fitting them to our newsroom capabilities, we're going to engage you in a more, er, engaging way.

My plan will also include highlighting our featured bloggers, so that they get some traffic and we get some too. We've already experimented with this with our staff blogs, and the traffic results are incredible.

As a side note, I should point out that unique visitors increased dramatically on my blog, just by posting my latest rambling as a latest update on the Freeman's site. So my plan is to increase our own traffic and that of our featured bloggers by highlighting their posts when they have something fresh.

Since I'm technically on vacation, I left the iPad and the Netbook in the newsroom, so our reporters can experiment with them and use them as  they see fit.

I'll let you know how we're doing. And, as always, feel free to tell me I'm a crazy person that should be institutionalized.

Report card: How to get reporters to cover stories from the field

A month ago, I posed the challenge to the Daily Freeman's newsroom, "How to get reporters to cover stories live (and from the field)." 

Recap: As I've mentioned before, this is an experiment, part of the Journal Register Company's Idealab, in which I am tasked, every month, with finding a problem in our newsroom and try to come up with a solution.

We told you we'll be completely transparent about our progress, so here's the second month's report.

Through October, I had to tackle a huge impediment: I found myself with no time to adequately spend experimenting because I had to take on many other responsibilities, so I had to get creative.




So this is what I did: I gave the Idealab's iPad to veteran Freeman reporter Patricia Doxsey, and showed her how to use it to file immediately to editors, and - if she chooses to - to the website itself.

Here's how. Having already installed Dropbox in the iPad, the Droid and the Netbook, I installed the app Plaintext. It's basically the simplest of text editors - just a blank page, with a single but remarkable difference. You type a story in Plaintext from wherever you are, and everyone in the newsroom has immediate access to it, thanks to Dropbox. The iPad also has Skype, so reporters can call the newsroom to inform editors of new filings.

Because I didn't have time to train everyone, I tasked Patti with training everyone in the newsroom, and as a reward, I gave her access to my Netflix account (first month is free :D ) and told her that I'll take her to dinner once everyone posts from the field using it. (My evil plan is to bill the dinner to the Idealab expense account. MUAHAHAHA!)

Every reporter is now trained and capable of posting from the field using the iPad. Better yet, twice now we have found ourselves with a delightful dilemma: We've had instances when more than one reporter needed the device at the same time (That's when the Netbook comes in handy).

Although the netbook has a large advantage over the iPad in terms of being able to do more, like live video streams, the iPad is more convenient to do simple things. Push a button, touch an icon, type a couple of lines - and you're done! You don't have to wait for long load times, log-ins, sign-ins, firing up programs and the like. It's also much easier to carry.

So far, reporters have had three live-tweet sessions (I'm not counting my own) - of two debates, a court case and the high schools' cross country championships. The court session didn't work as we had planned, not because the judge didn't allow it - as we had feared - but because Internet connection in Staatsburgh got cut when the court door was closed. AT&T service FAIL!

Regardless, successful live-tweet session were posted online in a comprehensive way using Storify, a great third-party tool that lets you drag and drop tweets, Facebook post and the like.

Here's how it works:




With that tool, we've 'Storified' 10 posts.

Two of those stories didn't involve our tweets and Facebook posts, by the way, but yours, which will bring me to our next problem and challenge for November, something I will explain in my next post.

As for our first experiment, "How to get a newsroom to cover stories live", I'm happy to tell you that reporters are now posting to the website on a daily basis. The sports department and uber reporter Paul Kirby have to take most of the credit for this, Paul with his constant and tireless posts and Sports with its daily local game results, which get updated at least a dozen times daily by reporters and editors. They actually post so much stuff I've lost track of it. And I'm kind of glad I have that kind of problem. Editors have also joined in the fun, and the constant change in our site on a daily basis is proof it.

So I'm going to have a beer and pat myself on the back now.

How to get reporters to cover news live (and from the field)

A month ago, I posed the challenge to the Daily Freeman's newsroom, "How to get reporters to cover stories live." 

It is an experiment, part of the Journal Register Company's Idealab, in which I am tasked, every month, with finding a problem in our newsroom and try to come up with a solution.

We told you we'll be completely transparent about our progress, so here's the first month's report.

The problem: How to get reporters to break news stories as they happen.

Before September, our website was not what it should have been. Besides a few latest updates, everything else was stagnant and static.

Before, for a breaking news or a latest update, a reporter had to write something and tell an editor - who had to be in the newsroom. Then the editor had to drop everything he or she was doing, edit the item and post it online. If the editor had no time to do this because of workload, the item wasn’t posted. If there was no editor available, the item didn’t get posted either.

How we're measuring our progress

All reporters can post from one to five paragraphs to the web site, as latest updates. The editor in charge of the newsroom at any given time (yes, we have more than one) is notified about the post and position on the website. I am notified as well (to keep a tally and because I'm an egomaniac).

Measuring is done by tallying up direct web posts by reporters. And there have been more than 50 posts in the last month (versus zero at any time in our history).

This tally doesn’t include direct posts from editors.

We've also been keeping track of website traffic numbers to see if there is a spike, and there seems to be some.

On top of this, our site has undergone an unrelated but small overhaul, including easier sharing options through social media, more pages and an online calendar.

If you care about online metrics, as a token, we had 3,181entries through Facebook in January. In September, not counting the remainder of the month, we've had 23,700 entries, surpassing Bing and AOL.

Training:

I first trained one reporter first and began experimenting slowly, trying to uncover problems, addressing those before rolling out the experiment throughout the newsroom.  Then, slowly over the month, I trained the remainder of the News reporters and Life reporters, and asked the Sports desk to train their reporters.

I sat with Ira Fusfeld, the publisher, and then Tony Adamis, the managing editor, who’ve encouraged and supported the project. We then had a meeting with top desk editors.

Expected complaints about “needing a filter” and “lack of professionalism” were brought up, and, I hope, properly addressed. We decided that having tried-and-true reporters (in our blessed case, our entire reporting staff) post a couple of lines unedited would be more of an asset than a hindrance.

We've also set up a system to address those concerns to the best of our abilities. Slot editor, once notified about a posting and as time permits, can edit the post or move it to another position online. Just today, assistant city editor Matt Spireng suggested posting the constant updates on a board in front of the newsroom, so that everyone can know what's going on.

Reporters now have the ability to post small stories directly online and then tweet them and post them to Facebook if the stories are big enough.

New problems:

·         Old habits die hard. Although we are all aware about the new process, we do have to get a paper out every day, and the print process cuts into our "web first" approach.

·         Time.  Reporters and editors (and yours truly) already are maxed out, so it will take a complete transformation about the way we do things in order to do what we want to do now. We are working on this to the best of our abilities.

·         Weekend posting: A barebones crew on the weekend makes it very hard to implement our new ideas.

What's next:
Once reporters are completely comfortable posting stories online - and some of them are totally there - we're going to have them go out and post stories from the field.

I'm declaring the office irrelevant. Our new problem is to report news where it happens, from the field.

How?

Well, we have some new tools, and we're going to be using them.

So watch out, we might be behind you.

Told you.

Former CEO of Huffington Post Betsy Morgan shows my face in a presentation. But why?

Fellow Idealabber Kelly Metz (we seriously need a new name for us) posted a video of Journal Register Company adviser Betsy Morgan - former CEO of the Huffington Post, a member of the national advisory board of the Poynter Institute, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of www.CBSNews.com - who did a presentation for the Journal Register Company's IdeaLab.

Somehow (half) my face ended in there.

Seriously.

Fellow labrat Michelle Rogers posted the presentation on Scribd.

Betsy Morgan Presentation to Journal Register Co. ideaLab

How to get a newsroom to cover stories live: Bring down the wall

If you work in a newsroom and/or care about news, I hope you are sitting down.

Because the Freeman is about to change.

Dramatically.

As I mentioned before in a post you didn't read, I was tasked with coming up with a problem and try to find a solution (this is part of the Journal Register Company's IdeaLab).

Once again, I'll let Journal Register Company adviser and New York University Professor Jay Rosen explain:



So here's a problem.

Our website, as it stands right now when it comes to constant updates, is, well, kind of lame. Besides the latest updates, everything else is stagnant and static.

Right now, for a breaking news or a latest update, a reporter has write, say, one paragraph, and then this reporter has to tell an editor, who has to be in the newsroom. Then the editor has to drop everything he or she is doing, edit the item and post it online.

Our current newsroom culture, manpower issues and time constraints also are impediments. Our enthusiasm to do better, and a willingness to experiment are our assets.

So over the next couple of weeks, you'll see some big changes over at www.DailyFreeman.com.

Here's an example. This post on our site was written and posted by Freeman reporter Paul Kirby, without a middle man.

Most in the building still don't know this. But I've already empowered every Freeman reporter with the ability to break news online. We still need to train most reporters, meet with the copy desk and set up a proper protocol.

But we're in. All the way.

Still, there are valid concerns and worries. And we'll address those as we go along.

I would also would like you, our audience, to tell us what you think - what works, what doesn't, where do you think we should go and to tell me I'm crazy.

Yes, we're not the first ones and others have been doing this for some time now. We're not just playing catch-up, but we're trying to also be innovators.

So what's next? This:



UPDATE: Ex-Poughkeepsie Journal reporter Michael Woyton, who is now with http://newcity.patch.com/ points out that PoJo's being doing this for years, which I was told by former Freeman editor (and former Pojo reporter) Lindsay Suchow when I asked for points of reference, in a tweet. Others points of reference include the Financial Times' Alphaville, (thanks to Cate Long via Twitter).

And Kingston's own Arthur Zaczkiewicz told me on Facebook that, "Some business desks at Reuters, The Street, Bloomberg and MarketWatch, among others, allow that as a way to break news first. It's edited and updated as its goes."

So, of course, we are not the first. And we are under no delusion about this. As I've said before, we are simply trying to catch up.
Then, watch out.

Also, another newsroom culture change: Naming your competitors. BY NAME! CRAZY!