This video was shot at The River School in Reno, NV.

A wrong-way driver slammed into a car carrying five teenagers. Four died at the scene; one survived and was airlifted to a trauma center. The driver of the other car sustained minor injuries.

I worked on the Web, social media and mobile distribution. I pulled stats and created an interactive graphic and put the call out for reader submissions to our Web site.

I cropped photos, wrote headlines and internal sub-heads.

Traffic on that day spiked. I bring that up not to brag, but to acknowledge that we were able to serve as a community hub on that day, providing a place for people to grieve and share their feelings.

I’m glad I had the training from the Maynard Multimedia Program on that day. Had I not had the training, it would have been good - with the training, it was much better.

Here’s the work:

The photograph was made by a reporter using a point-and-shoot. He emailed it to me. I cropped the image, fixed the color and wrote the caption that ran underneath. At this point, the story is a short I adapted from the sheriff department’s news release, pending a follow up with the reporter.

Throughout the day the images were updated and new text added to the story.

The community was looking for a place to discuss what had happened and a place to share their feelings. Our comment forums became that place. For the most part, there was little trouble. Folks genuinely showed their concern. However, it was important to not allow people to add rumors and second-hand information. In a few instances, I spiked comments that included rumors and what ultimately was wrong information.

I’m going to talk more about this. As a local news source, our responsibility is to help the community understand itself always, but especially in times of great sadness.

HML

I met Jo while walking along the Truckee  River during our first full weekend in Reno. She’s something of a local ambassador who can’t help but talk about the town she enjoys so much.

View University of Nevada, Reno in a larger map

I’m a bit of a chatterbox. But my plan is to do more listening and absorbing than talking tomorrow. I didn’t go to journalism school. I worked for nearly a decade between stints at university.

I came to journalism at the end of my 20s, when I already had pretty strong opinions of my own about what constituted honest and ethical behavior. And into that, what I learned from good folk have informed my stances and opinions today.

So, it might be interesting to hear the discussion led by others who are each at different points in their career and from different backgrounds.

More importantly, I want to hear the reasoning people use when making their decisions. All too often I’ve heard folk discuss their ethical views by reciting what they were taught rather than what they had arrived at through their own reasoning.

On goes the thinking cap and open go the ears and mind.

Below is the code I used to implement the audio player, all you need do is insert the URL of the audio file (MP3_FILE_URL) you want to play.

Being a small market Web editor with eyes bigger than his budget, I can’t help but to look for cheap or free features to round out my offerings. I want my users to have the benefit of rich functionality. I want them to enjoy their visits to my site and tell their friends.

This is fun for me.

But reality never disappears. Economics and priorities dictate that I can’t enjoy the benefits of having a room filled with programmers developing new and rich applications for our readers.

So here are some of my picks for strong applications that you can use in your newsroom and Web site.

Social Networking

• Ning - “Ning” means peace in Chinese I’m told. This service provides an easy to rollout social networking service that you can tailor to your needs. The free service places Google ads on site pages, but for a low fee you can remove them to make space for your own locally-sold ads.

Here are projects I’ve launched on the platform:

• santafescoop.com - a site for pets and their owners.
• etastesantafe.com - food loving and cooking happening here.
• sfnmhoops.ning.com - a gathering place for prep sports fans.

Kick Apps - These guys have a great product. When you’ve outgrown Ning, this is where you go next. The KickApps API gives the savvy customer more ability to integrate social networking tools more intimately to their content than had been possible before. The free version has some tough limitations for a business, but they are worth a look. Fees can be steep depending on usage, but quality is excellent.

Document displays

• Scribd - these folks will take the uploads of all those reports and display them in an easy to use format that is free and no more difficult to implement than the embedding of  a youttube video.

Live streaming video

• Livestream - Until May 2009, Livestream was know as Mogulus. It’s been the hottness for a while. Go to an event and broadcast it live to your audience. Test it and make sure there’s a strong Internet connection where you’re going or you’ll be left with egg on your face, having told your users you’re going to live Webcast something you have no ability to deliver.
• ustream - Before there was Mogulus, there was ustream. It feels a bit like youtube and gives you the same type of functionality as livestream. Livestream’s product is more refined and folks I talk with prefer it.

Time wasters

• If your organization distributes Parade Magazine, get on the phone and call your rep. They might be willing to deliver free games and puzzles to your Web site. The effectiveness of these products is debatable, but it likely won’t hurt.

Photo sharing

• Flickr - big, well built and readily known, here’s an opportunity to build reader submission areas that are the real deal. Coming soon…
• Smug mug - Not free, but these guys do a fabulous job in presenting photos. This might be better geared at those who are professional photogs, but think about what might be possible with your organizations.

So there are a few resources that I’d like you to check out and weigh in on. I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts on resources that newspaper companies can use on their Web sites.