Good journalism needs workable technical solutions

Radyo Sagada needed a very simple “business card” website, that would need no manual updating but at the same time show off their activities on Facebook and Youtube.

The site is very simple both in design and features. The design is a simple conversion of Radyo Sagada’s identity on social media. The features are limited to auto-updated feeds form Facebook and Youtube and some ways to contact the media. More features can be added later on.

The website is also the base of a new template for partners who have all their activities on other platforms. This is the case for many partners but there is also a growing realization that we cannot rely entirely on big tech’s platforms. We will need platforms and channels that we own and control ourselves. This website template can work as a starting point for a media going on that journey.

Visit the site here

Working with digital solutions for news rooms can be challenging. Especially for small and medium sized newsrooms with few resources for dedicated IT-people. Therefore we want to test the value of a Digital Publishing Lab Partner Community. Here we want to collect the knowledge and experience of IMS partners and IMS’ own experts in an inspiring and searchable way.

Several IMS partners are these days dealing with all the technical implications of setting up a CRM (Customer Relation Management System) and more partners are in the pipeline. So we have a situation with many partners asking the same techical questions. This seemed like the right time to test this kind of community that in time will grow to be a valuable collection of FAQ’s related to the tools offered by Digital Publishing Lab. 

To begin with there are three groups:

1. “Start here”
2. “CRM, Donation & Memberships”
3. “Social Media”

Feel free to join the community here: https://digitalpublishinglab.org/partner-community/

In September a workshop called “Constructive Journalism Lab for Suara Hijau Newsroom” was held in Bogor, Indonesia. 25 editors from Suara.com participated, and the Newsroom Simulation Platform ws again put to use.

Eva Danayanti co-organized the workshop:

“The newsroom simulation platform offered the participants an opportunity to develop their strategy and decision-making skills with a focus on a more constructive approach to journalism. The simulation allowed the editors to experience constructive journalism in action, working together as a team to produce content using this innovative platform. They applied constructive values to guide their editorial decisions, adapting their coverage in real-time to focus on user needs, inclusive storytelling, and promoting democratic dialogue.”

“During the simulation, the participants worked on the same theme: the Jakarta Sinking issue. It was fascinating to see how they could present different news products and engagement strategies. Each team showcased its unique approach, highlighting its creativity and commitment to constructive journalism by utilizing the menus and widgets provided by the platform simulation.”

Paul McNally is an award-winning investigative journalist and media entrepreneur with 20 years of experience starting companies in AI, podcasting and community radio. 

He started as the new AI Advisor for IMS in March and looks forward to helping the teams across the globe in implementing AI effectively and ethically. 

In 2023 he started the company Develop AI to report on AI, train people globally on how to use AI responsibly and create innovative AI projects. He has won 16 awards and was a Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 2016 where he focused on improving the business models of media outlets in Africa. McNally is also the Founder of Develop Audio, an organisation that produces podcasts of the highest quality with a focus on social justice, human rights and corruption reporting. He worked as an investigative journalist for 15 years, started the non-profit project Citizen Justice Network that trained community paralegals to be radio journalists and is the author of the influential book, The Street, published by Pan Macmillan, which investigated police corruption & torture in South Africa.

Read more on LinkedIn

So what is happening at IMS with AI?

• We are planning AI workshops across IMS so media organisations across the world can be aligned with what they need to know in the field.
• Contact us to chat about AI and media innovation on our Discord server. 
• Or simply send Paul an email: pmc@mediasupport.org

They are not new – but they are good! So we want to share them with you here on digitalpublishinglab.org. With this series any newsroom can get a really god start with Google analytics 4 (GA4). Find them here

The Newsroom Simulation offers easy news sites for training purposes, and in late February it was put to use for the second time at a training in Asia. This time we spun up 4 very simple news sites on a cloud server in Singapore. Here the participants could practice constructive journalism when reporting a fictional flood in the area.

The sites were modified to offer a simple survey feature: a banner where the newsrooms could opt for user feedback.