Media Insider: Insight on User Research for the Newsroom, Social Media Dashboards Compared

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging and freelancing stories from the week.

Photo by JuditK used under CC BY-ND 2.0

Two Out of Two News Organizations Recommend User Research (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Two prominent (but very different) news outlets are implementing user research in order to “shift away from thinking about the institution and toward thinking about customers.” ProPublica’s Design Director David Sleight and two user experience research analysts from The New York Times explain their user research approach and how it has helped the outlets learn about their audiences, and in turn, improve new tools, apps and interactive features. In the coming years, the concept of user research will become more popular for news organizations, especially considering how useful it is in figuring “out how to connect with the people reading their content.”

Stop the ‘presses’? (Columbia Journalism Review)

This light piece explores the term “the press” when it comes to publishing online stories. These days, most stories are posted online and the printing press is becoming less prominent when it comes to storytelling. But, will the word “press” ever disappear when it comes to describing journalism, publications and media production? This insightful conversation is brought forward by a few Columbia Journalism Review editors and asks “how apt is the term ‘the press’ today?”

8 Social Media Dashboards Compared! (Basic Blog Tips)

Journalists undoubtedly depend on social media for exposure. A recent report shows that journalists and media producers make up the majority of Twitter’s 300 million+ users. This article asks, “Are you making the most out of your social media strategy?” It compares 8 social media dashboards (including but not limited to Hootsuite, Tailwind and Cyfe) that can be used to post more proficiently, measure results and help expand one’s social media presence.

6 Ideas for Getting Creative Juices Flowing…for Almost No Money (Poynter)

This article is focused on newsrooms, but will prove helpful for writers and storytellers in any media production or team-based setting. It features several ideas for how a team can cheaply and resourcefully collaborate with each other in order to “ideate, share and learn.” The author uses her own and others’ experiences in the newsroom and presents 6 ideas that will most definitely invigorate social interaction and help accumulate creative suggestions from employees.

Media Moves and News for the Week of July 27 (PR Newswire’s Media Moves)

Media Moves keeps you up to date with who went where in the world of media. This week Travel + Leisure gains a news director, several promotions takes place at Architectural Digest and two contributing editors join The Hollywood Reporter.

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Stephanie de Ruiter is an audience researcher with PR Newswire keeping up with media moves throughout the nation with a focus on blogs and online publications.