Virginia Griffey’s Blog

The Maynard Institute’s multimedia editing program will end this week, so today I started a new blog that I can continue to post to after the program is over. I’ve also exported the posts and comments from this blog to the new blog. I will no longer be posting to this blog.

Check out my new blog at http://vgriffey.wordpress.com.

Sounds like a boring headline, right? But for the Web, it’s fine. It tells you exactly what this post is about. Cleverness doesn’t count for Web headlines.

Gil Asakawa, manager of audience development for MediaNews Group Interactive, joined us Monday morning to talk to us about search engine optimization. All that means is making your story and headline something search engines like Google will notice.

Why Google’s attention is important:

• Most people don’t browse the Web. They go online and search for something.
• Most users never see a newspaper’s home page and won’t see stories in the order that editor’s choose.
• Traffic comes from search engines, news aggregators and social networking sites.

Google notices the title bar (that’s the set of words at the top of your browser window), the URL (the Web address), the headline and the lede of the story. Ideally, the words people are typing into search engines will show up in those places. Of those four things, the headline is the most important, and it’s also the easiest place to put those search engine-friendly words.

Tips for writing Web headlines:

• Write a headline that makes sense without the context of the story. The art head for a feature story will not work when standing alone on the Web.
• Avoid puns. Being straightforward is more important.
• Put the most important words at the beginning of the headline.
• Use names, not descriptions, for famous people. For example, “Schwarzenegger” is better than “governor.”
• If a person in the story is known widely by a certain description, use that. For example, early headlines on the birth of octuplets might have read, “Woman gives birth to eight children.” Later, after her name became well-known, “Nadya Suleman” could be used in a headline. After everyone starting calling her “Octomom,” that became a preferred headline word. Why? Because that’s how people would search online for a story about her.
• Use company names rather than descriptions.
• Use city names (or other geographical information). But don’t use city nicknames, like “Big Apple” for New York City. People don’t usually search that way. Some common city abbreviations are OK (e.g. NYC and LA). Also consider using locally known geographical names, like “East Bay.” If your readers (or those you’re trying to attract to your Web site) use it, that’s fine. It’s also good for building local readership, which in turn is good for attracting local online advertisers (those local advertisers don’t care how many views you get from across the country or from other countries).
• Use city names with sports teams.
• Use columnists’ names in headlines. (e.g. Newhouse: This headline is for a column)
• Wondering which keyword to use? Try typing your options into this search and see which one gets more hits.

Other considerations:

• Hard-news ledes do better than feature ledes. That doesn’t mean you can’t run a feature story on the Web. Just make sure you’re balancing your feature lede with a straightforward headline that uses keywords.
• Google searches the tops of stories, so the more keywords there are up there, the better your story will do.
• Stories that are posted first get picked up first, so it’s a good idea to file something quick and short, then update.
• When there’s enough news to merit it, file a new story. That gives you new a chance for Google recognition.
• More references to location get your story ranked higher.
• Post briefs and letters and separately rather than as packages. That way they’ll be indexed individually and have a better chance for higher rankings.

Videos and other multimedia:

• Search engines won’t see text embedded in Flash players. So have text and headlines independent of your videos.
• Search engines can read captions that are independent of photos, but they can’t read text that is embedded within graphics.
• Embedding a video in an article allows search engines to index the video.

Linking is good:

• Search engines give you more weight for incoming AND outgoing links.
• Linking to other sites is good.
• Use keywords in links rather than “click here.”

Last week, Mark Hiland, senior director of digital operations for The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, talked to us about telling the best story in the best way. We spent our time going over a few multimedia options: slide shows, videos and Flash packages.

When deciding whether a story needs a multimedia element and which kind of multimedia to use, consider these questions:

1. How much time do you have? How long will it take to produce?
2. What are your resources in terms of people, equipment, programs, etc.?
3. What is the shelf life of the project, and is that shelf life worth the time it will take to produce?
4. What opportunities will users have to control what they are seeing, hearing, etc.?

Slide shows are often a quick, easy option. One person can create and edit a slide show. The shelf life varies depending on the subject, and users find them easy to use and somewhat interactive. Only use sound if it is compelling.

Videos are more time consuming (for good videos, consider planning, shooting and editing time). Extensive training may be required, and equipment varies from Flip cameras to expensive professional cameras, mics, lights, etc. The shelf life varies, and interactivity is pretty limited.

Flash projects are very time consuming, so they should have a long shelf life to warrant the time put into creating them. Considerable staff hours and resources will be needed. These projects can require text, photos, video and graphics, and they are as interactive as you make them.

With time, resources, shelf life and interactivity in mind, choose the medium that will tell your story in the best way. Always keep your story in mind! That’s the whole point, after all.

Tips for shooting great video:

• Shoot sequences of shots. About 25 percent of your shots should be wide, 25 percent should be medium, 25 percent should be tight, and 25 percent should be even tighter. For each shot you’re getting, get all four types of shots.
• Hold each shot for 10-15 seconds — this will help in the editing process.
• Don’t zoom or pan. This doesn’t work online — it often stops the video from playing and annoys the viewer.
• Be aware of lighting.
• Shoot cutaways — these are transition shots. Find related shots away from the focal point of your video. That way, if you want to show a person in his house and then in his car, you’ll have a transition shot to put in the middle.
• Prepare a shot list before you shoot. Plan for opening and closing shots, cutaways, sequences, natural sound. Do the interview first, then you can map out your story and make sure to get all the shots you need.

Tips for interviewing:

• Plan for it by researching the topic. Don’t leave your readers/viewers with unanswered questions.
• Ask open-ended questions. (Tell me about …, describe for me …, why, how)
• Keep questions short and concise.
• Don’t editorialize or use leading questions.
• Pause between an answer and the next question (this will help during editing).

Here’s a video I shot over the weekend after receiving all of these tips. I’d love to hear your feedback:

One of the most important things I’m having drilled into my head in this program is not to do things just for the sake of doing them. This applies to headlines, photos, design, videos, data projects, you name it. Don’t use “clever” language in a headline if it’s actually just confusing. Don’t take a photo just for the sake of taking a photo — make sure it is something that will enhance the story. Don’t make a video just for the sake of making a video — make sure there’s some element of the story that needs video for proper telling. Don’t run text over a faded photo just for the sake of doing something different with your design. Don’t do things because you can but because you should.

Last week, J. Ford Huffman, a former deputy managing editor of USA Today, took us on a tour of the Nevada Museum of Art and spoke to us about visual communication. So why visit a museum? Huffman explained that it gives one a chance to get out of the newsroom (or classroom, in our case) and see forms of art other than newsroom photos, graphics and page designs. The museum visit was an opportunity to get ideas for photos and graphics by studying fine art, and to get ideas for thinking visually in a variety of forms. It also gave us a chance to see how curators and exhibit designers work to organize art, much like page designers must organize and display stories and art on a page.

The next day, Huffman critiqued our newspapers and spoke to us about design. He explained that design is about organization, not decoration, and that good content is what drives good design. Here are some of Huffman’s design tips:

• Think of your page as a poster you’re designing. You should be able to frame it.
• Stick to the grid.
• Each page needs a dominant element to tell the reader where to focus.
• That dominant element, or lede, can be anywhere you want it to be.
• Each element on the page needs a dominant part. For example, if the centerpiece has three photos, one needs to be bigger than the others.
• Readers look at photos first, then headlines, so things should be kept in that order when possible. That is, in general you shouldn’t put your headline above the photo, because it disrupts the normal reading pattern. The reader will look at the photo, then up at the headline, then back down, instead of just flowing from top to bottom.
• Again, think about design as organization, not decoration. Be careful about adding things to your page unless there’s a need for them.
• Type is type. Don’t add color, shadows, outlines, screens, etc., to your newspaper’s typeface.
• Use contrasting elements. For example, big and small, horizontal and vertical, open space and filled space.
• Content is key. The best designs come from the best content.
• Write the headline, then make it fit. If there’s art with the story, the headline and art should work together to tell the story, and they should make sense when looked at together. On long-term stories, think of a working headline early on so you can come up with the concept for the art based on that.
• Think of the concept first, then form and mode of execution (photo, drawing, etc.).
• Simplify. The design should call your attention to the content, not to the design itself.
• Bad color is worse than no color. Avoid the message that comics colors send — for example, Huffman says, imagine a locator map for a tragic event that has bright green land and bright blue water. Those bright colors mislead a reader who has been conditioned to think that bright colors belong on the Sunday comics page.
• Crop photos.
• Edit photos.
• Keep a file of layouts you like and borrow those ideas.
• You don’t need gimmicks. Headlines, art and visual structure should tell the reader what the story is about. For example, Huffman says, a story about a basketball player doesn’t need a little drawing of a basketball with it.
• Buy yourself a treat — go to a newsstand to see how other paper’s handle their formats.
• Put your readers in the paper — find opportunities to use photos and illustrations that reflect your readership and potential readership. Don’t just use photos that reflect racial diversity with stories that deal with race. Use them with “normal” stories. And avoid perpetuating stereotypes.
• Don’t duplicate words, phrases or images. If the numbers are in a graphic, they don’t need to be in the story. Don’t use the same words in the headline, lede and cutline. Words to explain a map or graphic should be in the map or graphic. Don’t use three photos of the same person doing similar things.
• Don’t duplicate images unless you’re trying for visual continuity.
• Word editors should learn about art, and art editors should learn about language.
• Bad display can ruin a good story.
• Newspapers are visual media. We need to make readers look at them.

Huffman also gave us copies of some great design and photo checklists that I’ll share when I get back to the Bay Area. I’ve also got tip sheets on glance boxes and writing great cutlines.

I am happy to say that Huffman had some good things to say about the Tribune’s design. I showed him the “Yusuf Bey IV Indicted” paper from April 30:

His first response was, “I wonder what you guys will do for World War III.” But then he said he actually liked seeing a big deal made out of local news when warranted. His only design tip on this page was to move the project logo and the text next to it down to somewhere else on the page. Again, he emphasized that the reader’s eye wants to move from top to bottom. When we put something small up on top, the reader looks elsewhere first, then up, then back down, disrupting the normal flow. He noted that the red used was an appropriate red — not something too bright.

I also gave him the May 6 Tribune for critique:

His comment on the front page was that he didn’t like having the text run over the photo in the centerpiece package, nor did he like having the photo fade out. He said if that part of the photo isn’t important enough to see, it should just be cropped out. Why run text over it and risk making it harder for the reader to see the text? This A1 centerpiece raised the concern that the design was being used as decoration rather than helping sell the content of the story.

He had a similar comment on that day’s Food & Wine front (I’m just showing part of the page):

Huffman’s question: Why feather the photos in the centerpiece instead of just cropping and bordering them the normal way? He thought it was just decoration.

I read this AP brief on page 3A of today’s Reno Gazette-Journal:

INCLINE VILLAGE (AP) — Fire officials plan more fuel-reduction projects this year to reduce the wildfire danger on Lake Tahoe’s north shore.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District officials are hoping to reduce fuels on about 500 acres of forest around Incline Village and Crystal Bay.

Plans call for the clearing of fuels in untouched forest to slow the growth of wildfires, and fuels maintenance in previously-thinned areas.

Officials are hoping to complete clearing of untouched forest around the two communities next year.

Fire officials have stepped up such projects since the Angora Fire.

My question: Is the Fire Protection District planning to get rid of some trees? Remove brush? Both? Who could tell from this brief? The brief uses words like “fuel reduction” and “fuel maintenance” over and over again. Here’s the closest the brief gets to saying any trees will be removed: “clearing of untouched forest.”

Here’s a link to the district’s Fuels Management Division Web page, where you can find more details about what fuel reduction and maintenance mean. “Fuel” means “something that burns in the environment.” It sounds like crews remove trees and brush by hand or with heavy equipment, and those actions are sometimes followed by prescribed fires.

I think it would be clearer if the brief’s lead was, “Fire officials plan more brush- and tree-removal projects this year to reduce the wildfire danger on Tahoe’s north shore.” And I’d like to know what “clearing of untouched forest” means. It sounds to me like crews are going to go in and chop down all the trees and other plants in certain areas. If that’s true, the brief should say so. If that’s not true, then I’ve just been misled by the AP’s choice of words.

This may be a case of jargon being used in a news story because a reporter was too busy or too lazy to be more precise. Or it could be more sinister. Does the district use “fuel reduction” because it sounds less controversial than “chopping down trees”? If that’s the case, the reporter is aiding in the district’s obfuscation.

Whatever the reason, it’s just bad journalism.

Melissa spent a lot of time talking to us about the proper use of photos. Above all, the way we use a photograph shouldn’t mislead the reader.

Here are some of Melissa’s guidelines:

• A photo should directly relate to the event. This is especially of concern with the use of file photos. Melissa said, for example, that a file photo of a cat in a tree should not be used to illustrate a story about a man who died by falling out of a tree while trying to rescue a cat.
• A lot of submitted photos are for one use only, so they can’t be used as file photos later.
• If someone gives us permission to take a photo on private property (someone’s home, for example), that doesn’t mean we can use that photo for another story later on. Of course, if the photo’s taken on public land, then we may use it as a file photo later.
• It’s not a good idea to use a file photo with an identifiable person in it unless that person is relevant to the story. For example, for a story about a new cancer treatment, we shouldn’t use a file photo of a woman who has cancer if she has nothing to do with the story. On the other hand, we can make a mug out of a file shot of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger if we’re running a story that involves him.
• Are reporters allowed to post staff file photos on their blogs? The above guidelines apply. Plus, if the blog entry expresses a strong opinion, it’s probably not a good idea to use a staff photo with it. If a photo is really needed, a wire photo would be a better choice.
• Make sure photos illustrate stories fairly and accurately and aren’t being taken out of context.

Here’s an example of my own: Suppose we’re running a story about the City Council approving a budget that involves laying off a bunch of city workers. Say the headline is something along the lines of “City Council approves layoffs.” Say we have a file photo of a two council members sharing a laugh (bad cutline language alert!) at a council meeting. Would it be a good idea to use that photo to illustrate this story with this headline?

My answer is no, and here’s why: I think the juxtaposition of that headline with that photo might give the impression that the two council members were sitting around having a good laugh about laying off a bunch of city workers. Even if the cutline and photo credit clearly indicate that this photo is from a different meeting, the first two things the reader sees are the headline and the photo. That’s their first impression. Furthermore, which way did these two council members vote? What if they both voted against the layoffs?

Now what if we’re in a situation in which we really need art with this story? (There may be an ethical problem with that line of thinking, but let’s just move past that for a moment.) Well, going back to that original list of ethical considerations, let’s ask what the alternatives are. Find a different file photo of council members? Make sure the council members in the photo voted for the layoffs? If there’s no appropriate file photo, is there still an opportunity to take fresh art? Any city workers protesting?

Again, that’s how to address ethical concerns. Ask and answer questions — and discuss the issue — until there’s a justifiable decision made.

Melissa McCoy, a former deputy managing editor for the Los Angeles Times, spoke to us most of yesterday and some of this morning about ethics, one of my favorite topics.

Great news: There’s more to go on than just your (more later on the use of second person on the Web) gut. Melissa gave us a list of questions to ask when confronted with ethical concerns:

• What do I know? Be accurate and don’t imply things that aren’t true. Be upfront with the reader about how you got your information.
• What is my journalistic purpose? Report the truth as fully as possible. Ask yourself whether something you’re reporting is relevant to the story.
• What are my concerns?
• What guidelines do I have? Some companies have codes of ethics. There are also guidelines from Poynter and the Society of Professional Journalists.
• How do I include others in my decision? There should be discussions about these issues that include reporters and editors with a diversity of opinions.
• Who are the stakeholders? Who’s going to get hurt if the information stays in the story? Are we talking about an individual, a small business, a corporation, a government official?
• What are the consequences of my actions? Weigh the potential harm against the newsworthiness.
• What are the alternatives? Maybe the story can hold a day while the decision is being made. Maybe there’s a different photo to run. Maybe the story can run without a certain quotation in it. Examine your options.
• Can I justify my thinking and my decision?

Here’s an example we discussed in class: Suppose you’re reporting about a doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic whose duties include performing pelvic exams and breast exams, prescribing birth control, confirming pregnancy tests, providing prenatal care and performing abortions. Here’s the question: Is it right to refer to this doctor as an abortion doctor?

Let’s go through the decision-making process. First of all, does the doctor perform abortions? Yes, that is accurate. On the other hand, the doctor has many duties besides performing abortions. One of your duties is to report the truth as fully as possible. Are you doing that if you simply refer to the doctor as an “abortion doctor”? How often does the doctor actually perform abortions? One concern might be that this person’s life could be put in danger because of his association with abortions. On the other hand, what if this doctor is a vocal advocate of abortion rights? From the editing point of view: If you see “abortion doctor” in a story, you should start asking similar questions about whether that’s the right term to use. Ask your reporter for specific information about the doctor. If it’s a wire story, can you be more specific? Would it be more accurate and fair to say “doctor with Planned Parenthood” instead of “abortion doctor”?

Now we have a good discussion going, and a bunch of questions being asked and answered. So what’s the right answer? Well, there isn’t one. Every case is different. There are lines we can draw for many cases, but there will always be some gray area. There will always be new challenges to our ethical guidelines that need to be discussed. That’s what makes ethics such an interesting subject!

Just remember that it is important to get the discussion started. We’re always trying to do things so fast in the newsroom these days, trying to get stories posted online as quickly as possible. It’s easy to let things slip into stories that shouldn’t be there. As editors, it’s easy to overlook those things. But when we do this, it harms our credibility, and what are we without that? Certainly not good journalists.

Here are some more gems from Melissa:

• Credibility is everything.
• It’s more important to be right than to be first.
• Ethical standards are not the same as legal restraints.
• Ethics and editing are both about exercising good judgment.

We visited the Reno Gazette-Journal office Thursday morning. James Ku, the paper’s online director, had a lot of great things to say.

1. People like to be led, so you have to show them what’s most important on your Web site. The most important thing on the page needs to stand out.

The centerpiece on the homepage for insidebayarea.com does stand out, but if I visit one of the news pages (e.g. the Bay Area news page), I get a long list of links with little art. The stories are listed by which paper they are from rather than by importance — i.e. all the Tribune stories are listed, then the Review’s stories, etc. In the center is a video player, which may stand out more than the links to the stories. The problem is that the video up as I’m writing this blog entry is about a guy getting an award for California Lottery Retailer of the Month, probably not the most important news of the day. Most pages I checked out while writing this had a lot of links to stories listed on them, mostly just headlines without summaries or art.

2. Stuff with photos gets clicked on more than stuff without photos.

Again, our home page had some art, but other pages tend to be lists of links with less art, or a multimedia element that wasn’t related to the stories on the page.

3. Show readers that stories are new or updated.

I think this one is a great idea I’d love to see implemented on insidebayarea.com. It can be frustrating to wait for a story update and not know just by looking at the homepage whether a story has been updated. This even happens to me when I’m updating a story for the Web. If I don’t change the headline, there’s no way for me to tell whether the updated version has made it online unless I click into the story. What if we had a little “update” indicator show up when a story is updated? Or a “new” indicator when something is posted for the first time? That way, as people check the Web site for updates or new stories, they know right away whether something’s been posted or not. I don’t know how difficult this would be to do, but it’s something to think about that would help our viewers.

4. Give viewers a “call to action” with online ads — i.e. a reason to click on the ad. (This becomes more important if advertisers are submitting their own ads with analytics embedded that measure click-throughs rather than page views.)

I am happy to note that more than half of the ads I viewed tonight on insidebayarea.com did have some kind of call to action, something that said “buy now,” “free trial,” “learn how …” or other things along those lines.

Michelle told us about three major forms of video on newspaper Web sites: video illustrations, deadline packages and documentaries. Video illustrations are usually about 30 seconds or less and complement or illustrate a written story. The illustrations are meant to show something about the story that isn’t effectively described in print. These usually work for car accidents, house fires, court testimony and other things like that. Deadline packages can standalone — they don’t rely on a written story, but they can run with a story. There should be reporter-written and -recorded voiceover for these. Documentaries are in-depth looks at a topic or the lives of subjects. They involve multiple videos and have no text accompaniment.

Here are some tips for making videos:

1. Think visually. Don’t do a video unless it will enhance the story.
2. Pay attention to sound. It’s just as important as the images. Use an external microphone whenever possible.
3. Also pay attention to lighting.

Michelle also noted that most videos for the Web can be made with inexpensive cameras like the Sony Webbie or Flip cameras — both of which have HD capability. You may want better equipment for a documentary, but for short video illustrations, these cheaper, smaller cameras should work fine in most cases.

We also learned some of the basics of Final Cut Express. Here’s my video:

It looks like I got a little better at holding the camera steady.

On the first night of this program, we heard from Vivian Vahlberg, president of Vahlberg & Associates and former managing director and digital director of the Media Management Center at Northwestern University. She spoke to us about how to attract teenagers to newspaper Web sites. She also said that what works for teens likely works for other “light readers,” people who are not news junkies but who like to be informed.

Vivian talked about two studies: “If It Catches My Eye: An Exploration of Online News Experiences of Teenagers” from the Media Management Center, and “Teens Know What They Want From Online News: Do You?” from the center and the NAA Foundation.

The studies found that too many details and too many choices on a homepage are a turnoff to teens. Teens in the studies made choices based on wanting to avoid “too much” —  too many details, too many words, too much text, too long or too many choices. They want sites that are easy to use, make some initial choices for them and don’t make them lose track of time.

So what else do teens and adult light readers really want? A quick way to keep up with the news, more help understanding the news and more help getting interested in the news. A phrase — well, a clause, actually — that came up  a lot in one study (can you guess which one?) was, “If it catches my eye.” Teens want to go to a newspaper’s homepage and be able to get a good dose of news there, without having to click through to any stories unless something catches their eye. And if they do click into a story page, they want a lot of information.

The studies found that homepages should be designed one way and story pages another. The teens liked homepages that gave a headline and summary for each story and art with all of the most important items. They also liked a clear hierarchy of importance. They wanted the initial choices to be made for them by news professionals — great news for us, right? They trust us to make the decisions for them about what the most important news is on a given day.

A bigger story should be higher on the page and take up more space than less important stories. But all the main news stories for that day should include a headline and summary — and preferably art of some kind. That way, a viewer can go to the homepage, get the important news of the day, and that’s enough. But if something catches his eye, the viewer can click through to get more information.

And they do want more information on the story pages. Once the teens decided they were interested in a certain topic, they didn’t just want that day’s news. They wanted analysis, they wanted video and slideshows, they wanted to see how that day’s news tied in with previous news on the same topic. Timelines, quotations, maps, etc. They wanted more information in text, but they liked the text broken up into chunks.

The design trick is to avoid clutter while providing all of this information. Teens still hated clutter, which made them feel overwhelmed with information. Compare the text-heavy designs of old-style newspapers (e.g. 1908 New York Times) with the designs of today. Today’s newspapers offer many cues to show readers what is important without overwhelming them — photos, teases, different sizes and styles of headlines, smaller blocks of text. But many Web sites are still in a text-heavy mode — maybe not quite 1908-style, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

I highly suggest you check out the studies: If It Catches My Eye and Teens Know. The “Teens Know” study is particularly helpful because it shows examples of which kinds of homepages and story pages worked for the teens, and which kinds didn’t.