A reflection on my niche blogging strategy

I have enjoyed running my niche blog – Teen Hegemony – an alternative music blog with the intention of championing new music.

I chose to do a music blog because it is a topic I have a real passion for and welcomed the challenge of attracting readers given the large amount of competition out there.

Certain aspects of the blog worked well, in terms of readership it has been quite successful. By using facebook and twitter to promote my content I have received a fair number of hits (150 on my busiest day), my analytics also show the use of SEO helped to generate hits, most notably a post about a recent news story was within the first 20 results on google.

In terms of my niche I have conversations with other writers covering a similar patch and have had a couple of guests posts. However my niche was probably not unique enough and it was difficult not focusing on a specific geographic locale. This meant finding news pegs to justify my posts and there was a bit of a lack of news concerning music I like.

I have enjoyed experimenting with new technologies on my blog. The use of video has been particularly successful and I have nearly a thousand views for one of my uploads. Elsewhere I have enjoyed using maps and charts but I have sometimes been frustrated by the limits of wordpress’ free service which have prevented me from using some of the code I would have liked to.

My main shortcoming was a failure to post as often as I would have like. It was difficult to find time for regular updates and I ended up restricted to shorter posts rather than the longer, more in-depth writing I originally hoped for.

These same time constraints have seen me abandon my blog recently but it is something I would like to return to as the experience has been positive, I have received good feedback and the techniques and ideas I have picked up during the online module allowed me to develop a far stronger online presence than I had before.

In terms of the future I hope to push the blog forward by proactively searching for new music, I hope to draw more content from soundcloud and continue to experiment with new digital techniques.

http://hackbaton.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/andrewmarr/

http://teenhegemony.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/blessing-force-oxford-nme/

http://teenhegemony.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/charting-the-reunions

Is the web dead?

Robert Andrews drew upon Wired’s debate on whether the web is dead to raise some questions about the future of financing for online journalism.

He argued advertisers are trying to save money when they use Internet and as a result cannot be depended upon for investments.

Whereas tablets like the Ipad with their physical presence and potential for far more focused interaction are a far more appealing prospect for investors.

The potential revenue shift this entails had led to some proclaiming the unfocused, chaotic world of the internet will be increasing replaced by Apps.

Tim Berners-Lee, who first proposed the Internet in 1989, was quick to responded, defending the plurality of information available on the web as an essential facet of modern democracy.

I’d occupy the middle ground of this argument, while the Internet is undoubtedly a confusing, disordered environment.

But this does not take away from its liberating power in terms of both the publication and reception of information.

The rise of sites which help us to navigate the chaos – social media, search engines and RS feeds – shows people want to filter the mass of information.

We as media producers must be mindful of this and operate within these parameters.

This is why it is important for us to use SEO, for us to be accurate, consistent and authoritative.

For quality journalism has it’s role to play in ensuring the continued longevity of the internet.

How can journalists use four square?

A lot of journalists see four square as a valuable tool for the profession but no one has quite figured out how we’re going to use it.

In theory geolocation ties in perfectly with the trend for hyperlocal news coverage and the shift towards representing niche communities.

But while businesses such as Dominos seem to be cashing in on sites such as Foursquare, journalists seem unsure exactly how to make the service work for them.

There have been specific examples such as Wall Street Journal using a shout to warn users of a bomb scare in Time Square but no general pattern of usage seems to have caught on.

I had a think about how Foursquare could be used in music journalism but couldn’t come up with much.

There’s the possibility for realtime coverage of an event, drawing on collaborative feedback from others in attendance.

But with little possibility of opening this up to a wider readership it seems a little pointless.

I’m always keen on new ways to cover events but struggle to see a way of journalists using Foursquare.

If anyone has got a great suggestions of how music writers or other kinds of reporters can use the site I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Until then I remain open minded yet skeptical.

Data Journalism and Wikileaks

Data journalism is one of the fastest growing practices in modern reporting and for good reason; just look at Wikileaks’ and the Cablegate revelations.

There are elements of data analysis which can be used at every stage of the journalistic process.

Search engines and data scrapping can be used to source information as a basis for stories.

Done correctly such techniques can be used to bring together a variety of different sources and give a detailed overview of a topic.

Then by interrogating the data using computer programs one is able to draw out complex trends and patterns from the raw data.

Finally by visualising the data, journalists are able to present their findings to the audience in a way which makes even complicated stories easy to understand.

Some of the biggest stories in the past few years have been played out in these terms.

The publications breaking the story of the leaked embassy dispatches made information accessible using techniques such as Der Spiegel’s Flash map and the Guardian’s exclusive mini sight.

Here users could access use a interactive database to filter the information and find articles they were interested in, alongside copies of the original cables.

For another important element of data journalism is the sharing of sources.

This adds authenticity to your work and allows collaborative efforts to further improve the quality of your journalism.

Journalism: It’s not about you it’s about the reader

A large part of Joanna Geary’s lecture on community at the Times was given to discussing the relationship between a publication and its readership.

Citing Rupert Murdoch’s American Society of Editors Speech in 2005, she said many newspapers have lost touch with their audience and are more concerned with what the story is than who actually wants it.

By asking us to look at our own reasons for wanting to be journalists she challenged us to think about the extent to which we serve an audience.

Journalism is not about satisfying our egos but about listening to what other people want; too often we look down on the audience and think we know better.

It is tempting to seek out things we think are exciting but people should tell us what the action is and we should find out about it for them.

Newspapers need to reflect this ideal with their online presence as much as in their print.

Rather than getting obsessed with analytics, websites should look at how they represent a community of people.

In the case of the times this is made easier for them because their Paywall allows them gain a greater understanding of their audience.

Because they have a greater understanding of their customers’ wants they are able to gear their content towards them specifically.

But the main challenge the Times now faces is to develop interaction with this audience and involve them in a conversation over the future of the brand.

Rolling News and the Coverage of ‘the Battle of Millbank’

The BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones led an interesting discussion into rolling news and coverage of the protests at the rise of student tuition fees.

Some felt the shocking nature of the images, coupled with a location easily accessible to BBC journalists, dictated a specific response from rolling news services and this may have distorted subsequent coverage of the events.

The discussion then looked at how, despite providing more coverage in terms of time, rolling news actually gives an audience less stories.

Mr Cellan-Jones used the example of BBC News 24’s coverage of the Soham murders. At times the BBC cut away from this story to cover other events. This lost them a large amount of viewers and since then they have mainly focused on one large headline.

Many agreed the format worked best in terms of a breaking event such as the Chilean miner rescue, where the audience feels as though they are watching history unfurl.

Robert Leedham brought up the topic of Raul Moat and Mr Cellan-Jones said: “This story would never have played out the way it had if it wasn’t for 24 hour rolling news coverage.”

The discussion concluded with speculation about the future of rolling news services and whether, given the low audiences they attract, they can survive the ever increasing popularity of online news.

Dealing with the ‘problem’ of Opinion

Adam Tinworth’s lecture provided a convincing answer to the questions about what blogs should and shouldn’t be, which were dredged up by the Andrew Marr debacle.

Striking the balance between objectivity and readability can be hard particularly on a personal blog. However Mr Tinworth’s 4 point system is an easy way of overcoming this stumbling block.

Pointing to the medium’s birth as the Weblog Mr Tinworth said how blogging is all about interacting with your audience, taking part in a conversation which is flexible and involving.

He said that the format most conducive to this is as follows:

1. Content – Something you find interesting and wish to share with the world. This can be a link, a photo, a video, a piece of music, anything which will capture peoples imagination.
2. Context – Provide some illuminating background to what you have posted. This should grab and hold your audience by enhancing their understanding and appreciation of the content.
3. Discussion – Possibly the most difficult aspect of blogging but one of the most important. You need to stimulate the conversation by drawing people into the issues and making them consider the facts. Though this may require playing devils advocate it is not about pinning your colours to the mast.
4. Opinion – Lastly, because it is least important, you put forward your opinion on the issue. This gives character to your post providing it with a human element to which people will relate. This will develop the discussion and perpetuate the conversation.

Why Bloggers must use SEO

Blogs should follow the many newspapers and magazines who modify their content to ensure greater traffic from search engines.

Too many bloggers are selling themselves short by failing to understand how to make the internet work for them.

We must consider how every word we write relates to the wider structure of the net and take into account how people navigate cyberspace.

This ties in well with good journalistic writing because text which is short, concise and accurate will almost always be more optimised than that which is not.

The most obvious example of this can be found in the headline as you’ve only got 10 words in which to grab an audience with the essence of the story

…so why go with headlines such as these:

A Tribute to George Costanza

Palavers with a community of ghosts

Last Tango in Hamburg

Do you remember the first time?

As you can see, optimised headlines has not been a strength of mine.
But I’m turning over a new leaf, I can see the error of my ways.

There’s a number of things wrong with these headlines.

1. they’re practically unsearchable
2. they’re trying to be something they’re not: funny, clever, cool…
3. they assume to much from the reader.

That’s not to be patronising, it’s just all four of them are references which may well leave a reader totally cold.

On the internet it is wrong to rely too greatly on a prior knowledge because the potential audience is to large to assume a basis of common understanding.

Instead we pick up a scattered knowledge, based on pieces of information we stumble across or are directed to, often via social networking sites.

I say this not as criticism but rather to share a consideration which I hope will shape my writing in the future.

Because I see the real challenge as trying to draw together scattered knowledge and bridge the gaps in understanding so as to provide a comprehensive and authoritative voice.

A Tribute to George Costanza

“Anywhere in the city—I’ll tell you the best public toilet.”

Here is my George Costanza style run down of toilets in Cardiff which can be used for free.
Now if this isn’t in the public interest I don’t know what is.
I’ve tried my best to find all the toilets available.
Some of those included are technically “for customer use only”, although I think if you’re feeling bold you should be able to use them without losing too much face.

In my experience of blogging the ability to use the internet to gather information can make you a little lazy so I decided – at the risk of looking like a degenerate – to go out and see some of the toilets for myself.

Initially I’d had some skepticism about data-mapping, along the lines of “writing is what I want to do” but these soon dispelled once I’d spent the afternoon of walking around and talking to people.
Regardless of how you intend to publish your findings, the process of information gathering is not only important but also exciting. 
When it comes to presentation your responsibility is to display the information in a way that conveys the energy that was used in find it.

View Larger Map

about the map:

• I’ve tried to include toilets which I was certain about, if I have made any mistakes please let me know, also if you have a favourite toilet which I have missed then please let me know.

• In terms of development there are a number of areas I’d like to improve upon.

• Most of the sites so far are in the city centre, however I would love to cover the whole of Cardiff.

• I would also like to enhance the accessibility information, providing more comprehensive information for disabled people and expanding to cover baby changing facilities.

• In keeping with this I would also like to include opening times and potentially some kind of night and day distinction, for if this worked it could be useful in curbing anti-social behavior.

• Finally I’d like to have some kind of grading scheme, probably based around the coloured markers, this could be used to rate cleanliness and safety of the toilets.

Photo by Possan Extra information from Guardian local.

Palavers with a community of ghosts

There’s a radical energy underpinning what Daniel Meadows does.
From the irrepressible delivery of his presentation to the democraticising intentions of his digital story telling, it all fizzes with the same undeniable passion.
He believes the old adage that history is written by the victor.
But new media technologies gives us a way of taking part in this process.
Drawing on the work of Greil Marcus, Meadows shows the importance of documenting a history of unheard voices which differ from those heard in the mainstream.
Meadows quotes Ivan Illich to show how we are powerless in the face of media if we cannot produce our own information.
Meadows said:

“Every time there’s a new piece of technology, a new way of talking to the people, someone goes out and risks everything to do it.”

Although Meadows believes Digital Story Telling to be a recent example of this he concedes that it is less about the technology itself but about a mind set of listening not telling, of facilitating the audience’s voice. And, considering the new technologies I encounter everyday I think the potential of the latest wave of new media to empower and liberate is very high indeed.