In journalism school, the only professor I ever addressed as “Dr.” was my multimedia management and leadership teacher James K. Gentry. He was the former dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, so maybe I sensed some extra gravitas. But I still referred to him as Jimmy Gentry when he wasn’t around. It’s still j-school.
One thing Jimmy Gentry taught me that really stuck was the management concept of low-hanging fruit: When you’re looking to improve your product or your workplace, start with the the changes that are easily within reach. When it comes to online journalism, news organizations are missing out on a lot of low-hanging fruit.
As a copy editor/designer, I don’t get to do as much online work as I’d like, and I’m definitely no expert. But here are seven reasonable things — low-hanging fruit — news organizations should be doing to manage their online presence, according to Sarah Kelly, for whatever that’s worth.
1. Put someone in charge. The No. 1 thing newsrooms are doing wrong: Not hiring someone to oversee their online product. If you’re serious about becoming the go-to news source in your market, you can’t make your website and social media an afterthought. It should be someone’s full-time job. Hire someone to add stories to the website as they come in, update them with new information when you have it, and correct any errors you find.
Almost Home 