It's All Journalism

Who better than reporters to lead culinary and cultural tours? While working as a freelance reporter in Istanbul, Yigal Schleifer and another writer started a blog about the kinds of restaurants and holes-in-the-wall that the travel pages of various websites and newspapers were missing. “Each of us was writing about once a week,” he said of the blog, Istanbul Eats. “We kept getting frustrated at all the articles we saw, mostly in travel sections. People were coming to Istanbul and kept going to the same tourist traps, or they’d write about these places we thought were terrible and leaving saying they didn’t eat well. We knew — it’s one of the most amazing places to eat in the world, especially if you enjoy exploring these backstreets as we like to do.” As a journalist, Schleifer admitted, with a laugh, that he’s always used his job title as an excuse to find new and different places to eat, considering it “the greatest side benefit of doing journalism.” As the blog grew and drew more traffic and attention, filling a cultural and tourism void, Schleifer and his co-author eventually accumulated enough material to write a book. “We approached a local publisher about doing a guidebook and collecting all those materials,” he said, with the intention of writing the book in English first and then translating it into Turkish. While working on that project, and continuing to write the blog, a friend in Rome suggested they consider starting food tours through the neighborhoods and restaurants they’d highlighted. “We originally called it Culinary Secrets of the Old City,” and the tours were based around “information you wouldn’t find out on your own, getting the stories of people making the food in the city.” Eventually, the cultural and food tourism enterprise expanded to other cities: First Barcelona, then Athens, followed by Shanghai, Mexico City, Rio, Tokyo, Lisbon and Tbilisi. Now called Culinary Backstreets, the website is a collection of posts written by local correspondents, people with “real enthusiasm about the local and authentic scene,”Schleifer said. “Once we get on the ground there, we develop an activity, usually a walk, a food tour.” They stress to their correspondents that “this is not about food. It’s about people,” he said. “I say this to the photographers too: It’s not a food porn thing. We want to see the people making the food, get a sense of the place. It’s really about community, it’s about tradition, it’s about culture and how these food places fit into the wider fabric of a city.” On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Yigal Schleifer about how he combined his love of food with his career as a freelancer to co-create Culinary Backstreets — The Global Guide to Local Eats. The website not only highlights culture through food writing and photography, it provides tours into the backstreets of 18 foreign locales.

Who better than reporters to lead culinary and cultural tours? While working as a freelance reporter in Istanbul, Yigal Schleifer and another writer started a blog about the kinds of restaurants and holes-in-the-wall that the travel pages of various websites and newspapers were missing. “Each of us was writing about once a week,” he said of the blog, Istanbul Eats. “We kept getting frustrated at all the articles we saw, mostly in travel sections. People were coming to Istanbul and kept going to the same tourist traps, or they’d write about these places we thought were terrible and leaving saying they didn’t eat well. We knew — it’s one of the most amazing places to eat in the world, especially if you enjoy exploring these backstreets as we like to do.” As a journalist, Schleifer admitted, with a laugh, that he’s always used his job title as an excuse to find new and different places to eat, considering it “the greatest side benefit of doing journalism.” As the blog grew and drew more traffic and attention, filling a cultural and tourism void, Schleifer and his co-author eventually accumulated enough material to write a book. “We approached a local publisher about doing a guidebook and collecting all those materials,” he said, with the intention of writing the book in English first and then translating it into Turkish. While working on that project, and continuing to write the blog, a friend in Rome suggested they consider starting food tours through the neighborhoods and restaurants they’d highlighted. “We originally called it Culinary Secrets of the Old City,” and the tours were based around “information you wouldn’t find out on your own, getting the stories of people making the food in the city.” Eventually, the cultural and food tourism enterprise expanded to other cities: First Barcelona, then Athens, followed by Shanghai, Mexico City, Rio, Tokyo, Lisbon and Tbilisi. Now called Culinary Backstreets, the website is a collection of posts written by local correspondents, people with “real enthusiasm about the local and authentic scene,”Schleifer said. “Once we get on the ground there, we develop an activity, usually a walk, a food tour.” They stress to their correspondents that “this is not about food. It’s about people,” he said. “I say this to the photographers too: It’s not a food porn thing. We want to see the people making the food, get a sense of the place. It’s really about community, it’s about tradition, it’s about culture and how these food places fit into the wider fabric of a city.” On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Yigal Schleifer about how he combined his love of food with his career as a freelancer to co-create Culinary Backstreets — The Global Guide to Local Eats. The website not only highlights culture through food writing and photography, it provides tours into the backstreets of 18 foreign locales.

Headline writing is something of an art form. But how many editors and writers wonder if the words they’ve selected for a story will be strong enough to really grab the attention of their readers? Late last year, Chartbeat, a data analytics company, issued a report (http://blog.chartbeat.com/2015/11/20/youll-never-guess-how-chartbeats-data-scientists-came-up-with-the-single-greatest-headline/) on what makes a powerful headline, one that will not only bring readers to a page, but encourage them to stick around and read more content than the article that first drew their attention. The goal of Chartbeat’s report was to help publishers determine what users are engaging with and want to read, said Chris Breaux, a data scientist and team lead with Chartbeat. “One of the most powerful things about headline testing is it allows you to try out different ideas for the same article,” pitting multiple headlines on the same copy against each other to determine which is more effective for driving traffic, Breaux said. “When you’re running a real test … stripping away the compounding variables, you allow headline editors to see what it really is that’s causing a headline to be successful. It gives them a way to validate that quantitatively.” Using data collected from running more than 10,000 A/B tests run on Chartbeat’s platform from more than 100 different publishers who gave the organization permission to anonymously collect their readers’ practices, Chartbeat conducted an exploratory analysis “trying to find correlations between what the prominence of this addition is and how many trials you might need to determine succinctly that one headline is better than another, and how that relates to the number of headlines you’re testing,” he said. The second part of the trial involved using metrics to determine what is really driving the increased click rate. “What you might find is that it might be high, but it might be high because those headlines are more likely to be used in prominent positions," he said. "By narrowing that scope to comparing the performance of headline ‘A’ in a given spot versus headline ‘B,’ you’re really stripping away some of the compounders again and getting at the essence of what made that headline work.” Breaux said the biggest takeaway from Charbeat’s research, at least for him, was “the types of headlines we looked at didn’t turn out to be that predictive of future performance. We looked at 12 or so different headline types and only one had statistically significant performance.” That difference maker? The use of demonstrative adjectives. Use of words like “this, these, that, those” can “introduce some kind of intrigue to what you’re saying. Instead of saying something outright, you might be able to allude to it,” piquing a reader’s curiosity and drawing him or her in without giving away too much. — Amber Healy (mailto:phfyrebyrd@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Chris Breaux, a data scientist and team lead at Chartbeat, about using A/B testing to determine which headline is the most successful at generating page views. Breaux talks about a recent study that compared the results of 10,000 headline tests run by 100 of Chartbeat's customers. Is a question headline the best way to garner clicks or will a short, declarative statement more draw eyes to your content? View similar data-based studies on Chartbeat's blog (http://blog.chartbeat.com).

Headline writing is something of an art form. But how many editors and writers wonder if the words they’ve selected for a story will be strong enough to really grab the attention of their readers? Late last year, Chartbeat, a data analytics company, issued a report (http://blog.chartbeat.com/2015/11/20/youll-never-guess-how-chartbeats-data-scientists-came-up-with-the-single-greatest-headline/) on what makes a powerful headline, one that will not only bring readers to a page, but encourage them to stick around and read more content than the article that first drew their attention. The goal of Chartbeat’s report was to help publishers determine what users are engaging with and want to read, said Chris Breaux, a data scientist and team lead with Chartbeat. “One of the most powerful things about headline testing is it allows you to try out different ideas for the same article,” pitting multiple headlines on the same copy against each other to determine which is more effective for driving traffic, Breaux said. “When you’re running a real test … stripping away the compounding variables, you allow headline editors to see what it really is that’s causing a headline to be successful. It gives them a way to validate that quantitatively.” Using data collected from running more than 10,000 A/B tests run on Chartbeat’s platform from more than 100 different publishers who gave the organization permission to anonymously collect their readers’ practices, Chartbeat conducted an exploratory analysis “trying to find correlations between what the prominence of this addition is and how many trials you might need to determine succinctly that one headline is better than another, and how that relates to the number of headlines you’re testing,” he said. The second part of the trial involved using metrics to determine what is really driving the increased click rate. “What you might find is that it might be high, but it might be high because those headlines are more likely to be used in prominent positions," he said. "By narrowing that scope to comparing the performance of headline ‘A’ in a given spot versus headline ‘B,’ you’re really stripping away some of the compounders again and getting at the essence of what made that headline work.” Breaux said the biggest takeaway from Charbeat’s research, at least for him, was “the types of headlines we looked at didn’t turn out to be that predictive of future performance. We looked at 12 or so different headline types and only one had statistically significant performance.” That difference maker? The use of demonstrative adjectives. Use of words like “this, these, that, those” can “introduce some kind of intrigue to what you’re saying. Instead of saying something outright, you might be able to allude to it,” piquing a reader’s curiosity and drawing him or her in without giving away too much. — Amber Healy (mailto:phfyrebyrd@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Chris Breaux, a data scientist and team lead at Chartbeat, about using A/B testing to determine which headline is the most successful at generating page views. Breaux talks about a recent study that compared the results of 10,000 headline tests run by 100 of Chartbeat's customers. Is a question headline the best way to garner clicks or will a short, declarative statement more draw eyes to your content? View similar data-based studies on Chartbeat's blog (http://blog.chartbeat.com).

The next time there’s a governor’s race in Louisiana, get the popcorn ready and enjoy the show. John Bel Edwards (D) recently surprised voters in his state and across the deep South when he was elected governor after a contentious and sc...

The next time there’s a governor’s race in Louisiana, get the popcorn ready and enjoy the show. John Bel Edwards (D) recently surprised voters in his state and across the deep South when he was elected governor after a contentious and sc...

In just a few years’ time, it will be tricky to distinguish a data journalist from a more traditional one, predicts John Burn-Murdoch, and it’s an evolution he’s witnessing from the inside. A data journalist with the 

In just a few years’ time, it will be tricky to distinguish a data journalist from a more traditional one, predicts John Burn-Murdoch, and it’s an evolution he’s witnessing from the inside. A data journalist with the 

Words matter. Being able to communicate clearly, effectively and comprehensively to its audience is a top concern among newsrooms, and having a diverse staff that accurately reflects the community it serves is increasingly important. Take, for example, news coverage of the events that unfolded in Baltimore last April after the death of Freddy Gray while in police custody. Most newsrooms might’ve referred to the incidents of people taking to the streets as “riots” or “protests,” but referring to them as an “uprising” might be an indication of a newsroom that understands both the issue at hand and the longstanding unrest between African American residents of Baltimore and their police force. Meredith Clark, an assistant professor of digital and print news at the Mayborn School of Journalism (http://journalism.unt.edu) at the University of North Texas, stresses the importance of diverse newsrooms, both for volatile and fast-changing incidents like what happened in Baltimore as well as coverage of day-to-day life. “The composition of our country is changing," she said. "The makeup of the people who make up the United States is changing. As we increasingly look in our own communities and then to world around us, you want to have people on your staff who can express what’s going on in those diverse communities in a way that’s culturally competent. You want to be able to connect with your community and reflect their interests and their concerns. Having people in the newsroom who know those communities and are in those communities and can make that plain for your readers is important. That’s a matter of maintaining strong connections between news outlets and the communities they serve.” Referring to the protests in Baltimore as an “uprising” instead of rioting is a reflection of someone who was “paying attention to the conversation being had in minority communities about civil disobedience and about civil disorders around the issues of police brutality,” Clark said.“That means someone’s been paying attention to that conversation on social media, they’ve been paying attention to activists, to the people who have come out to participate in these demonstrations. Where you see people aren’t paying attention is when you hear the word ‘riot.’ Being able to make that difference is reflection in not only having a diverse staff but also having the connections you need in the community to do a really good job in telling their stories.” Word selection, in addition to a knowledge of the underlying problems that sometimes come to the surface during situations of civil unrest, makes for valuable, meaningful coverage when readers need it most, Clark said  It’s also the mark of a good reporter and good journalism, as is willingness to go back after the fact and contextualize what happened and to listen to feedback from the community and audience. “You can listen very closely to what is being said, who is being talked about, and find out some of the other issues you should be taking a look at, other people who might otherwise be overlooked,” she added. “The newsrooms that do that very well are the ones who are in touch with social media and know whose voices should be listened to.” Clark is currently working with Deen Freelon of American University and Charlton McIlwain of New York University on "Social Media for Social Justice: #Blacklivesmatter as 21st-century Civic Engagement", a grant project (http://www.spencer.org/social-media-social-justice-blacklivesmatter-21st-century-civic-engagement) from The Spencer Foundation that's looking into the rise and impact of #Blacklivesmatter movement.

Words matter. Being able to communicate clearly, effectively and comprehensively to its audience is a top concern among newsrooms, and having a diverse staff that accurately reflects the community it serves is increasingly important. Take, for example, news coverage of the events that unfolded in Baltimore last April after the death of Freddy Gray while in police custody. Most newsrooms might’ve referred to the incidents of people taking to the streets as “riots” or “protests,” but referring to them as an “uprising” might be an indication of a newsroom that understands both the issue at hand and the longstanding unrest between African American residents of Baltimore and their police force. Meredith Clark, an assistant professor of digital and print news at the Mayborn School of Journalism (http://journalism.unt.edu) at the University of North Texas, stresses the importance of diverse newsrooms, both for volatile and fast-changing incidents like what happened in Baltimore as well as coverage of day-to-day life. “The composition of our country is changing," she said. "The makeup of the people who make up the United States is changing. As we increasingly look in our own communities and then to world around us, you want to have people on your staff who can express what’s going on in those diverse communities in a way that’s culturally competent. You want to be able to connect with your community and reflect their interests and their concerns. Having people in the newsroom who know those communities and are in those communities and can make that plain for your readers is important. That’s a matter of maintaining strong connections between news outlets and the communities they serve.” Referring to the protests in Baltimore as an “uprising” instead of rioting is a reflection of someone who was “paying attention to the conversation being had in minority communities about civil disobedience and about civil disorders around the issues of police brutality,” Clark said.“That means someone’s been paying attention to that conversation on social media, they’ve been paying attention to activists, to the people who have come out to participate in these demonstrations. Where you see people aren’t paying attention is when you hear the word ‘riot.’ Being able to make that difference is reflection in not only having a diverse staff but also having the connections you need in the community to do a really good job in telling their stories.” Word selection, in addition to a knowledge of the underlying problems that sometimes come to the surface during situations of civil unrest, makes for valuable, meaningful coverage when readers need it most, Clark said  It’s also the mark of a good reporter and good journalism, as is willingness to go back after the fact and contextualize what happened and to listen to feedback from the community and audience. “You can listen very closely to what is being said, who is being talked about, and find out some of the other issues you should be taking a look at, other people who might otherwise be overlooked,” she added. “The newsrooms that do that very well are the ones who are in touch with social media and know whose voices should be listened to.” Clark is currently working with Deen Freelon of American University and Charlton McIlwain of New York University on "Social Media for Social Justice: #Blacklivesmatter as 21st-century Civic Engagement", a grant project (http://www.spencer.org/social-media-social-justice-blacklivesmatter-21st-century-civic-engagement) from The Spencer Foundation that's looking into the rise and impact of #Blacklivesmatter movement.

If Margy Looney could, she'd like to stop using the phrase "western media" in conversations about journalism; however, she recognizes that journalists in the West have pretty "load voices" when it comes to discussing where their industry is heading. "It's definitely hogging the stage a little bit," Looney said. "And I'd like for there to be a little more room for what's happening across the world." Looney is the managing editor at the International Journalists' Network (IJNet (https://ijnet.org/)), which reports on the shifting media landscape from a global perspective. It covers the world beat in seven languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. "We want to be a resource site for journalists," Looney said. "That's definitely how it began with a huge focus on training opportunities. We try to curate opportunities around the Web that journalists can easily apply for at a low cost. We're always keeping journalists in mind that may not have a lot of resources in their own country." To fulfill this mission, IJNet produces tip sheets and tutorials. It's also expanded its coverage of the international journalism industry in order to bridge the gap between what's going on in western media and in newsrooms around the world. "We would like, if we're doing our job correctly, western media to be looking at our site for what's happening around the world in journalism," she said. What those journalists may find are colleagues who are just as dedicated as they are, but who may be working with fewer resources or facing a different set of challenges. "We see, rather than talking about what's happening in digital journalism, overseas we're talking about how journalists are just trying to open data in their own countries," Looney said. "We're bringing in trends that are happening in the U.S. and in the western media, like data journalism, but this is not, 'How can me make this really cool piece online?' It's, 'How can we even let our country give us this data and use it to make something new?'" In some countries, for example, access to broadband is an issue, so journalists turn to other means of distribution, such as SMS alerts. "We see a lot of local coverage that way, especially in Africa," Loonely said. "So, it's not, 'How are my users accessing me when they're commuting to work on the subway?' It's, 'How can my user, who lives in a remote community, get in touch with me?' I can send them an SMS alert, with something that's actually happening in the news that day, and they can also communicate with me about what's happening in their community." On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producers Michael O'Connell and Amber Healy talk to Margy Looney, managing editor of the International Journalists' Network (IJNet) (https://ijnet.org/), about the challenges international journalists are facing in covering the news in their particular countries. They also talk about whether millennial journalists are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to how much they're able to influence the direction of their newsrooms.

If Margy Looney could, she'd like to stop using the phrase "western media" in conversations about journalism; however, she recognizes that journalists in the West have pretty "load voices" when it comes to discussing where their industry is heading. "It's definitely hogging the stage a little bit," Looney said. "And I'd like for there to be a little more room for what's happening across the world." Looney is the managing editor at the International Journalists' Network (IJNet (https://ijnet.org/)), which reports on the shifting media landscape from a global perspective. It covers the world beat in seven languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. "We want to be a resource site for journalists," Looney said. "That's definitely how it began with a huge focus on training opportunities. We try to curate opportunities around the Web that journalists can easily apply for at a low cost. We're always keeping journalists in mind that may not have a lot of resources in their own country." To fulfill this mission, IJNet produces tip sheets and tutorials. It's also expanded its coverage of the international journalism industry in order to bridge the gap between what's going on in western media and in newsrooms around the world. "We would like, if we're doing our job correctly, western media to be looking at our site for what's happening around the world in journalism," she said. What those journalists may find are colleagues who are just as dedicated as they are, but who may be working with fewer resources or facing a different set of challenges. "We see, rather than talking about what's happening in digital journalism, overseas we're talking about how journalists are just trying to open data in their own countries," Looney said. "We're bringing in trends that are happening in the U.S. and in the western media, like data journalism, but this is not, 'How can me make this really cool piece online?' It's, 'How can we even let our country give us this data and use it to make something new?'" In some countries, for example, access to broadband is an issue, so journalists turn to other means of distribution, such as SMS alerts. "We see a lot of local coverage that way, especially in Africa," Loonely said. "So, it's not, 'How are my users accessing me when they're commuting to work on the subway?' It's, 'How can my user, who lives in a remote community, get in touch with me?' I can send them an SMS alert, with something that's actually happening in the news that day, and they can also communicate with me about what's happening in their community." On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producers Michael O'Connell and Amber Healy talk to Margy Looney, managing editor of the International Journalists' Network (IJNet) (https://ijnet.org/), about the challenges international journalists are facing in covering the news in their particular countries. They also talk about whether millennial journalists are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to how much they're able to influence the direction of their newsrooms.

Ever since I started talking to other journalists about how to launch a podcast, one of the big questions I always get is, "How do I record an interview with somebody who lives far away?" I used to answer, "Well, get a job at a radio station, like me." But I realized that was a really jerky thing to say, especially to someone with a legitimate question about podcasting. I'm lucky that I'm able to use the telephone system at my job to record straight to an audio board, but few people have that option. In fact, with more and more people dumping their landlines and owning only cellphones, we do have to find other means sometimes to record good quality audio. We've recorded a few episodes using Sykpe and Google Hangouts. Both have their pluses and minuses, so I'm always looking for other options out there. A few months back, a fellow podcaster told me he had positive experiences using PodClear (http://betalist.com/startups/podclear), an online tool designed to deliver crystal-clear audio for podcasters. I was just about ready to contact the people at PodClear to set up an interview when Blab (https://blab.im), the live-streaming video platform, acquired the company. This turned out to be a happy coincidence because I'd met a few people who were doing their own Blab shows and I wanted talk to someone about it for the podcast. I reached out to Blab and Hannah Russell-Goodson, a community manager there and a former PodClear employee, suggested we record the interview on Blab. So, on this special podcast, I get to try out Blab for the first time, while learning more about how journalists and just about anyone can use the platform to live-stream their own show; and, once you've finished recording that show, how you can get audio and video files to edit and post on your website.

Ever since I started talking to other journalists about how to launch a podcast, one of the big questions I always get is, "How do I record an interview with somebody who lives far away?" I used to answer, "Well, get a job at a radio station, like me." But I realized that was a really jerky thing to say, especially to someone with a legitimate question about podcasting. I'm lucky that I'm able to use the telephone system at my job to record straight to an audio board, but few people have that option. In fact, with more and more people dumping their landlines and owning only cellphones, we do have to find other means sometimes to record good quality audio. We've recorded a few episodes using Sykpe and Google Hangouts. Both have their pluses and minuses, so I'm always looking for other options out there. A few months back, a fellow podcaster told me he had positive experiences using PodClear (http://betalist.com/startups/podclear), an online tool designed to deliver crystal-clear audio for podcasters. I was just about ready to contact the people at PodClear to set up an interview when Blab (https://blab.im), the live-streaming video platform, acquired the company. This turned out to be a happy coincidence because I'd met a few people who were doing their own Blab shows and I wanted talk to someone about it for the podcast. I reached out to Blab and Hannah Russell-Goodson, a community manager there and a former PodClear employee, suggested we record the interview on Blab. So, on this special podcast, I get to try out Blab for the first time, while learning more about how journalists and just about anyone can use the platform to live-stream their own show; and, once you've finished recording that show, how you can get audio and video files to edit and post on your website.

With so many changes going on in social media these days, journalists need to be doing one simple thing, according to Natalie DiBlasio. They need to listen. "I've found that one thing I'm really trying to do right now is, on top of chatting on all of these different apps that are coming up, is doing a lot of listening and figuring out how the audience is using different platforms to communicate with themselves and to share news, and, also trying to figure out who is successful in reaching audiences in different places," she said. DiBlasio is currently in her second stint working for USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com). Her first time around, she spent three years as a breaking news reporter. She then left for a year to edit a running magazine, which grew out of her passion for marathons — she competed in 13 in the last two years. Earlier this fall, DiBlasio returned to USA Today, this time as a digital editor, training with the paper's social-mobile team. "We've got this particular group at USA Today that really focuses on making sure that all of the work succeeds on mobile platforms, like tablet and your cellphone, and social, so Facebook and Twitter and Periscope and everything that's being invented as we're talking," she said. Right now, where DiBlasio is doing a lot of listening — and watching — is Periscope, the live-streaming video app. "I'm really interested in that and trying to figure out how we can use that for better storytelling," she said. She's been spending a lot of time watching Periscopes posted by journalists and non-journalists to get an idea of the many different ways to use it to tell stories. "Seeing everyday people use social the way that they want to use it helps us as journalists figure out innovative ways that we could use it too," she said. After training for about a month in Washington, D.C., DiBlasio recently left to join the paper's digital team in San Francisco. "My focus is going to be to make sure that none of our great work is overlooked and also to try to be another set of eyes, to make sure that we're not missing any stories that are really digital first stories or social first stories that have captured an audience that we would miss if we weren't tuned into social media at the time that they were blowing up," she said. — Michael O'Connell (mailto:moconnell207@gmail.com) On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Natalie DiBlasio of USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com)'s social-mobile team. She talks about how journalists can tell their stories across multiple platforms and the challenges of keeping up with the latest technology. She also discusses her love of breaking news and her experiences running in 13 marathons in two years.