Culture

What’s Next For Journalism? The Biggest Fights And Lessons From This Year’s Storyology

Some of our best journalists debated the big tensions in the industry last week (and only lightly throttled each other once).

by Emily Meller  18 November 2015

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There has been a not-so-secret war being waged in media for at least two decades which could be crudely categorised as legacy versus new media — a premise that’s somewhat complicated by the fact Buzzfeed are now in the press gallery.

Each year, the Walkley Foundation’s Storyology conference gives both these sides a place to come together to “innovate, create, and inspire” over a packed few days of panels and free coffee. But having just finished up last week, I can tell you it felt more like a rallying of the troops. The tagline could have been “Storyology: Journalism versus the world”.

With keynotes from big media players like The Washington Post‘s Jeremy Gilbert, Upworthy’s Amy O’Leary, and reporters Adele Ferguson, Kate McClymont and George Megalogenis, there were no better practitioners to lead talks about developing new strategies, tactics and attack-points.

Here’s a little of what they brought back from the frontlines.

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Legacy vs. New Media

That old chestnut. Or is it a new chestnut?

The fact you’re reading this on Junkee suggests you have a decent grasp on the latter and may even be on the side of the “#hashtag activist” harbingers of the “meme-ification of journalism” (ugh). But the division between this and more traditional types of media seems to be a lot more fluid in practice. In reality, there’s space for both legacy and new media to coexist; and, though they definitely have different roles to play, they often end up feeding into and learning from one another.

Take The Washington Post, which has an 138-year legacy. That’s an accomplishment that most new media outlets won’t be able to make for another 134 years. As their director of strategic initiatives Jeremy Gilbert told us, that brand has been built on being both the first and best on new stories. Alisa Bowen from News Corp spoke along similar lines, saying audiences rely on this editorial judgement and careful curation. “I think as a society we need to think about what editorial lens gets put on the news,” she said.

But those outlets have recently needed to start understanding the importance of broad interaction with an online audience. According to Gilbert, this means hiring people with a “built-in social following”. Part of being a journalist now is about creating larger conversations about what you’re covering.

The Washington Post, for example, also developing a lot of exciting new tools to tell these stories with. Last year, they developed ‘The N-Word‘: an interactive series of video interviews and written reports that tell social, political and personal histories around a single word.

Meanwhile, platforms like Buzzfeed, Vice and Mashable regularly experiment in this space, while running news production on budgets a mere fraction of what a legacy outlet spends. But in a keynote from Jim Roberts of Mashable, it was clear they’re still testing and navigating the intersection of credibility and popularity. These platforms aren’t all about cat videos; serious stories can generate large amounts of traffic too and, though it’s still being tested, sites like Mashable are increasingly leaning away from purely viral content.

As opposed to Wash Po‘s carefully curated model, Mashable also encourages their staff to focus on the writing, and leaves the rest — such as organising the website’s homepage — to computers.

LESSONS!

  • Whether you’re working in legacy or new media, editorial direction is key.
  • Don’t abandon your core principles to fit the market – The Washington Post is still built on being first and best.
  • Test and learn. Don’t make the same mistakes twice.
  • Keep developing and experimenting with new storytelling techniques.
  • Don’t be afraid to venture online — there’s a whole new world of stories there.

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Reportage vs. Data-Driven Storytelling

This conversation is intimately tied up in the legacy versus new media debate. In its most simplistic terms the sides can be split into: ‘proper’ reporting (fact-checks and a hard news voice, which aims to equipping citizens with knowledge to hold the powers that be to account); and viral content (cat videos and the ten most unbelievable gifs and WOAH you won’t believe what happens next, click here to find out).

In her keynote, Upworthy’s Amy O’Leary said that while her company has been using data to structure stories specifically to drive traffic, it’s not based on an assumption that people are idiots. (Although she did apologise on behalf of Upworthy for inventing clickbait). Instead, the technique is based on the idea that people respond to original and emotionally engaging stories: combining new data with editorial skill can add real value to journalism.

O’Leary also warned against measuring success solely by the number of clicks a story gets. When analysing the data from their content, outlets should also be measuring how much time people spend reading articles, how often they finish them, and how often stuff gets shared. It’s all equally important. 

However, sometimes it’s also best to ignore the data completely. O’Leary notes that environmental stories are notoriously bad in data analysis terms, but they’re really important to the public. Data shouldn’t kill good stories; it can also be used to increase their reach.

A lot of this is trial and error, which involves taking risks in the newsroom. These risks will ultimately lead to innovation.

LESSONS!

  • According to O’Leary, stories should try to make the world a better place (no matter what form they take).
  • We need to celebrate taking risks in journalism — fail fast and fail often.

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Print vs. Everything Else

As a writer, it was particularly shocking to learn about some new forms of storytelling that just totally kick text’s butt.

Imagine being able to walk through a re-construction of the shooting of Michael Brown? You don’t have to. It already exists. Dan Archer, founder of Empathetic Media, made this one from witnesses’ verbatim dialogue from the grand jury trial and original broadcast footage:

Of course, the fact he used original news footage proves old school journalism is still vital. In a masterclass on investigative journalism, some of the best in the game shared tips on getting the story, and getting it right. When the stakes are high, sometimes the safest thing is to do your investigations offline.

Walkley Award-winner Ross Coulthart said one of the oldest tips in the book was: don’t call people. Just show up and meet them. Bring them a teacake. Four Corners reporter Caro Meldrum-Hannah said that when you take notes, your should write people’s names on Post-Its and stick them in. That way you can remove all the Post-Its when you’re done, and all your information remains anonymous.

LESSONS!

  • Learning how to navigate new technology will provide groundbreaking avenues for the future.
  • For all things reliant on confidentiality, offline is the way to go.
  • Alternative storytelling can get very meta. Case in point: here is a drawing Dan Archer did of one of the Storyology sessions:

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Interviewer vs. Subject

There were a few panels centred on the art of the interview, featuring some masters of the form. It’s no secret that interviews can be ethically fraught and emotionally tricky for journalists, but to make everyone feel better, Today presenter Lisa Wilkinson and journalist/former Sunday host Ellen Fanning shared a few of their more excruciating on-air moments.

One was when Malcolm Turnbull, giving his first interview as PM, told Wilkinson she should cheer up.

The most important takeaway for journalists who interview politicians is to remember that they’re not doing it for themselves; they’re speaking to the subject on behalf of the people who elected the subject to office.

There were also some excellent tips on interviewing for long-form journalism from Mark Kramer. For example: use four or five inches of duct tape to place over your mouth, so you shut up for a second and listen.

LESSONS!

  • People don’t care how clever you are. Your duty is to the audience.
  • You don’t have to be a nice person all the time, but it’s also a good idea not to be dreadful to people.
  • If you find some gaffa tape in the back of Mark Kramer’s car, don’t call the cops right away.

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Science Vs.

This isn’t a fight or even a finished sentence, but it is the name of a great podcast that hosted a particularly inspiring session.

Science Vs just got picked up by American digital media company Gimlet Media after a very successful stint on ABC’s First Run program. First Run finds talent and boosts new projects specifically in the realm of online podcasting (as opposed to live radio). Science Vs features science journalist Wendy Zukerman diving headlong into strange fads, theories and opinion, armed with the power of fact.

The podcast is also an example of a form of old media that is now new again; in the best plot twist so far, the internet seems to have revived radio for a whole new audience. This American Life celebrates its 20th birthday this week, and continues to reach more than two million listeners per episode; last year, Serial set a new record as the fastest podcast to reach five million downloads on iTunes; and WTF with Marc Maron recently scored an interview with President Obama.

If you’re new to all this, the panel also recommended Start Up, Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything and Memory Palace.

LESSONS!

  • Try podcasting.
  • Listen to podcasts.
  • Does anyone want to start a podcast with me? …Please?

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Feature image via The Walkley Foundation/Eliza Berlage. (Lisa Wilkinson only lightly throttled Ellen Fanning. Everyone’s friends. It’s fine.)