Online Journalism

Today in class, Jim Iovino from NBCWashington online spoke with our Comm 361 class about everything online and the inner-workings of nbcwashington.com. After working in print for sometime, Iovino took the online route and became a devout online journalist (like many of us students, he realized that print is a somewhat dying concept and that the future is online). Although I don’t subscribe to any newspapers, I do buy the monthly issues of my favorite magazines and I know my mom still subscribes to TIME and Newsweek, so I think I can say that print isn’t dead. Yet. I think for at least a couple more years, there will be print available.

While we discussed the transfer to online journalism from a more traditional print style, I thought this clip they showed from “Minority Report,” really shows what the future of technology and news could look like. I would definitely stand in line to get a digital newspaper, although it does remind me of what the iPad looks like today, just not as much constant video. Speaking of Apple, the iPad 2 comes out TOMORROW! Be prepared for long Apple lines and be advised tomorrow will not be the greatest day to buy an Apple product as the store will be jam packed.

The new iPad 2 (Apple geeks rejoice).

As for NBC Washington online, the site has a lot of interesting features that have been added:

• The Feast : A totally seperate website that is connected to NBC Washington, with all new writers that tell you the happenings and local attractions around the DC area. Stories are divided into three categories: Eat, Shop and Play. This was probably my favorite site that Iovino showed us, at it had great places to eat and the best deals on shopping in DC.

• Another favorite feature on NBC Washington was The 20, where it shows the 20 most interesting people in your community at the moment and their stories/blogs that they are talking about.

• Also on the site, Pat Collins, the News4 reporter, has attempted and succeeded in tapping into the social media frenzy that seems to be dominating the web. He has set up a chat room device, called A Q&A with Pat Collins, were people can directly comment and ask Pat a question, and he will answer it back to you via webcam. You can scroll through the chat box and click on the question and answer you want to see. *This is a great idea for people that want to interact and engage directly with your audience, as people love videos more than anything.

*This is a funny gallery I found on NBC’s The Scene section, titled “Awkward Political Moments.”

Jim Iovino, managing editor for NBC Washington, is visiting our COMM 361 class today.

Iovino graduated from Penn State with a major in Communications. He first started work in the newspaper industry, jumped to television, and is now doing online journalism.

He graduated from Penn State University with a major in communications. He started working in the newspaper industry, jumped to television and is now doing online journalism.

Online journalism is important because breaking news travels fast, according to Iovino.

“We break a lot of stories on websites now,” Invino said. “We want to be the first one out there with the story so that we can say, ‘we were the first ones with the story.’”

Being the first one to break a story is important, but Iovino also noted that finding an angle is critical.

“Finding an angle shows that you are not going out there and just repeating what someone else has said,” Iovino said. “Viewers will go back to you because they appreciate that.”

An example of a man who finds interesting angles is general assignment reporter Pat Collins, who also works for NBC Washington. Take a look at his Sandwich Girl story.

“Pat Collins is an incredible reporter because he can get people to say something interesting, say something fun, say something that they would never say to anyone else,” Iovino said. “Whatever story he goes on, he finds an interesting angle that no one else gets.”

Collins also interacts with viewers by making vYou videos. With vYou, Collins is able to talk one-on-one with his audience, which allows him to build a relationship with them. Forming a relationship with his audience is important, because when he goes out to gather information, people within the community feel more comfortable going up to him and giving him tips or leads on stories.

VYou has helped NBC Washington be part of the community because it lets the audience know that they are there for them, and that the audience can help them with news as well, according to Iovino.

Aside from journalistic tips, Iovino also showed us some of the newer projects NBC Washington has been working on and/or is part of. See below.

• The Feast: focuses on restaurants, shopping, plays, music venues, bars
• Capital Game Blog: stories and videos about athletes in the video
• Partnership with American University: out-of-the-box stories/ideas created by American University students
• The 20: finds the most influential people on Twitter in the Washington, D.C. area (allows people to have voice, give them a platform to speak to people

A lot of NBC Washington’s projects consist of short videos about a story. People love to see short, raw, compressive footage, according to Iovino.

“If the video is the best part of your story and that’s what you think people are going to want to see, then that’s what you should focus on and really give them,” Iovino said. “Just let them know what they are going to see, and then let the video run itself. Why would we spend our time to write a whole big thing about this video if it can speak for itself?”

Aside from videos, what’s next for online journalism within the next few years? Mobile, mobile, mobile, according to Iovino.

“Websites as they look today may not look the same as they will two years from now,” Iovino said. “People want their info wherever they are, and they’ll get it somehow, whether if they get it from you or someone else.”

Jim Ioveno

Most stories break on website. Developed story is given later that day in the newscast

                -purpose: immediacy.

                -information travels extremely fast- you want to break the story first.

Pat Collins- “Snow reporter”

                “Incredible reporter because he can get whoever he talks to say something interesting”

                                -Find an angle to a story you think no one else will have and own it.

“Chat with Pat”- new way to present news. Great form of social media. – Pat Collins makes himself available via video to answer questions from the viewership.

                -Connect with the audience.

• Good to standout
• Great to be interesting to the readers

Q: What’s more important breaking the story or finding the best angle:

1. A.      Both

“If you break the story people realize that and come back to you”

“If you find a new angle people appreciate the new perspective and come back”

Local news-  It is important to emphasize why the story is important to the readership/community

Raw footage- people love this stuff, just find impressive video and make it available. Doesn’t always have to be “storied” up.

Prediction for online journalism in the coming years:  It’s going to be a lot more mobile. “Mobile mobile mobile.”

News 4 employee Jim Iovino was with us in class today!

At the start of class, he brought up this video of News 4 weatherman Pat Collins interviewing “Sandwich Girl“:

• On that day, every other channel is covering the storm — how could they make it interesting? Or, at the very least, MORE interesting than the other guy?

Iovino suggested finding an angle to any story that you don’t think anyone else has seen or thought of:

• Journalism is always changing, so make it interesting!
• It’s good, basic journalism
• It starts with the questions, it starts with the story

Capital Games is a NBC Washington blog dedicated to finding and “covering the biggest personalities in DMV sports” that Iovino works on, too.

Advice on your clips:

• Strip it down to the bare minimum — don’t add unnecessary banners/bookmarks, anchors or music
• By saving your viewer time, you’ll help to ensure that they’ll come back to your Web site
• “Just like a good picture can speak for itself, video can do that, too.”

Lastly, Iovino put out his thoughts on the future:

• The newspaper isn’t as necessary as the electronic version of it — one screen is better than many pages
• Professor Klein even asked the class who doesn’t think that newspapers will last much longer. A lot of people raised their hands. Then, he asked which of us personally subscribed to a major newspaper. One person kept their hand raised

Jim Iovino, Managing Editor of the website NBC Washington, spoke to our class today about different types of cross-platform journalism.

Iovino began his career in print journalism, but soon switched to online journalism due to the downsizing of newspapers and other print content.

Most of the news content on the NBC Washington wesbite is original, however some stories get picked from TV broadcasts and newspapers. A lot of the news is also instantaneous and gets updated periodically throughout the day.

“Find an angle to a story that you think no one else is going to have,” said Iovino. Pat Collins, a reporter for NBC News 4, does exactly that. Iovino showed us an example of Collins’ reporting style (Sandwich Girl feature), and said that he can get an interesting story out of anyone he is interviewing. This reporting style is about good, basic journalism. You have to tackle the news with a unique point of view to reap in viewers, especially if many local news programs are covering the same stories. You must be able to differentiate your story from the rest!

Another thing Iovino said is important for journalists is their ability to connect with an audience. Collins also does this well in Chat with Pat, where he receives questions online and answers them with one-of-a-kind video responses.

The Feast, a website run by NBC News, works as a content center and incorporates some stories from other news organizations while focusing on entertainment, shopping and food in DC.

Capital Games is a blog run by NBC News, which covers interesting stories about athletes in the Washington DC Metro Area, with lots of video coverage incorporated into the site.

“A good video can speak for itself,” said Iovino. Sometimes, instead of editing video footage, it can be better to post the raw footage to create a higher impact for viewers.

• News leads need to be published, now. There is so much competition out there now someone else may publish it 5 minutes later, or even 1 minute later. Tweet it, post it, get it out there.
• Journalism is about the basics. It all starts with the reporting.
• We find a different angle to stories, find something about a story they didn’t know before.
• A lot of video that people want to see online is quick, impressive, and short.
• If the only thing people wanna see is video, then that is what you should give them.
• Mobile, Mobile, Mobile, everyone wants things on the go now.

Jim Iovino

Jim Iovino graduated from Penn State University hoping to become a sports writer. Iovino succeeded in his dream early with a simple news letter with his friends about hockey.

The creation of LCS Hockey became a in print news letter. However, with print journalism dieing Iovino knew he and his friends must take an alternative route to hockey news. LCS Hockey was then born into an online news source for hockey. Sports information on the sport he loved and sarcasm was enjoyable, Iovino moved on to big news in Washington D.C.

Now catering to the news needs of the Washington D.C. area with NBC news , Iovino has created himself an imprint in Washington news. Working for the company for five years, Iovino has much to share on his career.

Still writing on hockey Iovino must enjoy what he does, sticking with his original dream.  “Its me, I’m doing it for fun, so I am going to go in and find a fun angle for it” Iovino said to our Comm 371 class. Showing he truly does enjoy his job.

Now covering the Washington Capitals hockey team, Iovino writes the coverage on the games for NBC’s website. Telling the fans something different that fans could not have seen in the game by watching it. Go in deeper to get what the fans cannot get but you have the access to get, Jim Iovino does this to cover the NHL games.

Iovino tells our class “they have to feel comfortable with you, you feel comfortable with them, and you get the story.” – Great journalism advice.