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Guest Column:
Tools and Tips to Save Time in Digital Publishing By Rob Tornoe
ARKANSAS
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Publisher Weekly
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Vol. 14 | No. 49 | Thursday, December 5, 2019
Serving Press and State Since 1873
Former journalist leans on the lessons learned in Arkansas for Facebook communication job Like so many other high-level public relations professionals, Nathan Allen made some stops in the Arkansas newspaper industry on his route to corporate communications. Allen, a Fort Smith native, is now manager of internal communications at Facebook. He handles employee communications at the social media behemoth just a few years gone from his sports reporting gigs for newspapers formerly owned by Stephens Media in Fort Smith and Springdale. He set out for Silicon Valley in 2013 as part of Walmart’s e-commerce communications team, without knowing much about the Bay Area or having many connections to the region. However, Allen quickly found peers with the same types of backgrounds and experiences that he credits for his professional success.
“It’s funny, being in the corporate communications world, you would not believe the amount of people that I worked with at Walmart, or at Facebook today, that have a newspaper or journalism background,” Allen said in an interview this week. “There’s a specific skill set you must have when you become a journalist. You have to be able to write and to work fast.”
Allen cut his teeth on Arkansas newspapers, as the editor of both his junior high and high school newspapers in Fort Smith. He was hired as a sports clerk by the Times Record in Fort Smith in 2002, his junior year of high school. A couple years later, Allen moved on to northwest Arkansas to attend school at the University of Arkansas and work fulltime as a sports reporter for what was then the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.
Chip Souza, previously the sports editor at the Times Record¸ was sports editor at the Morning News, and he offered Allen both of his newspaper jobs.
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Nathan Allen
The Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors met on Thursday, December 5 in Little Rock. Those attending included (left to right): Ellen Kreth, Madison County Record in Huntsville; Rusty Turner, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette in Fayetteville; Jennifer Allen, Pine Bluff Commercial; Lori Freeze, Stone County Leader in Mountain View; Eliza Gaines, Arkansas-Democrat Gazette in Little Rock; Kelly, Freudensprung, The Saline Courier in Benton; John Robert Schirmer, Nashville-News Leader.
Former journalist leans on the lessons learned in Arkansas for Facebook communication job
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“I fell in love with journalism when I was in junior high school… I was certain this was something I was going to do forever,” Allen said. By 2012, as newsroom downsizing led to the layoffs of several of his colleagues, Allen opted to seek an entry-level communications job with Walmart. “I firmly believe the only reason I had the opportunity to get that role at Walmart is because I knew how to write. They needed someone who could come in and look at complex, hard-to-decipher information and write it in a way that makes it simple for someone to understand,” Allen said. While he was a student, Allen fully expected to have a career in newspapers, but he got skittish about his future as the industry began a period of rapid transformation about a decade ago. Like him, many of his peers took entry-level PR jobs at growing corporations in Northwest Arkansas. He went from Walmart to Visa to Facebook, a company that many in the newspaper business blame for an industry downturn.
Nathan Allen (center) conducts an interview while working as a sports journalist in northwest Arkansas.
As readers change how they consume media, publishers of any ilk need to change, too, or be left behind, Allen said. He noted that he spent years reading a physical copy of a newspaper every day. In recent times, though, he only maintains digital subscriptions.
newspaper in five or six years.”
“This is definitely going to be a wonderful way that Facebook is showing support for the journalism community,” he said.
“People today are busier than they have ever been before. Technology has changed the way people consume news, and that’s the way it is,” he said. “It’s happened to me. I’ve gone from someone who’s loved the feeling of a fresh newspaper in my hand to someone who hasn’t touched a
“It’s about how publishers continue to keep up with that rapid change of pace,” he said. “The publishers who survive and do well are going to be the ones innovating, testing new ideas and getting what they’re doing in front of people in ways that are convenient to them.”
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Allen would not comment about Facebook’s thorny relationship with other media companies, or claims that its business model negatively impacts local newspapers. He did say Facebook News, a new initiative within Facebook that directs users to more original and local content, should be beneficial to news organizations as it continues its rollout.
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Allen encouraged newspaper publishers to test new ideas in order to engage newer audiences. For example, he is curious about the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s new strategy to publish only its digital edition Monday through Saturday.
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December 5, 2019
North Carolina contest judging due December 12 Nearly three dozen judges from Arkansas Press Association member newspapers and others are in the process of judging entries in the 2019 North Carolina Press Association Better Newspaper contest. Those who volunteered to judge should already have their materials and judging information from the North Carolina association. The deadline to judge entries and provide feedback is Thursday, December. 12.
APA is judging the contest as part of a reciprocal agreement with its North Carolina counterpart. Members of the North Carolina association were judges in Arkansas’s contest earlier this year. The first five Arkansas judges who complete their judging assignments will each be awarded $25 Amazon gift cards for their work. So far, three judges have been rewarded for their fast work: LeAnn Brown of The Sheridan Headlight, Tammy Curtis of the Spring River Chronicle and
Neal Moore. Two gift cards are still up for grabs.
Others who volunteered as judges were: Harold Coggins of the AdvanceMonticellonian in Monticello; Sonny Albarado, Phillip Martin, Staci Miller, Wendy Miller, Leanne Hunter, Vicki Morgan and David Barham of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Scott Loftis of the Carroll County News in Berryville; Graham Thomas of the Herald-Leader in Siloam Springs; Chris Wessel of the Jonesboro Sun; Lisa Thompson, Rusty Turner, John Nebling and Fran Johnson of the Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette; Karen Sherell of the Pacesetting Times in Horseshoe Bend; Sarah Perry of the Saline Courier in Benton; Steve Watts and Bruce Guthrie of The Daily Citizen in Searcy; Byron Tate and Millie McClain of The Sheridan Headlight; Lori Freeze and Edie Sutterfield of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View; Christy Hendricks, Ray Benton and Jonathan
Feldman of The Leader in Jacksonville; Sonny Rhodes, Jamie BynamMcCollum and Chris Etheridge of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Terri Cobb, Rebecca McGraw and Aaron Sadler of the APA and other friends of the APA, including Kathy Edwards, Frank Fellone and Dennis Schick. “We are grateful to all our judges for their willingness to volunteer on behalf of the association to evaluate the work of others. We appreciate the time and attention put into this contest. Congratulations to our gift card winners and thanks again to everyone who served a role,” APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley said.
During this giving season, consider gift Retirement reception planned to Arkansas Newspaper Foundation The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation “The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation for Sue Silliman (ANF) once again this year took part would not exist without the generous in Giving Tuesday, asking patrons for support of the important work of the Foundation to promote newspapers and educational opportunities across the state.
Sue Silliman, general manager of the Camden News and Magnolia BannerNews, will be the honored guest at a retirement reception Monday, Dec. 9, in Camden. Silliman is retiring after 36 years with WEHCO Media, Inc. She has been general manager of the Camden newspaper since 2005 and took over additional responsibilities as Magnolia’s general manager four years ago. The reception is at the Camden News office, 113 Madison Ave., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. No RSVP is required. Silliman requests no gifts. Arkansas Publisher Weekly
Giving Tuesday, which was Dec. 3 this year, is set aside annually to recognize the important and essential work that nonprofit organizations do for our communities. ANF benefits the state’s newspapers by providing educational fellowships, training grants, internship support and awareness programs. On this year’s Giving Tuesday, donors provided needed funding for the foundation through a Facebook fundraiser. Other donors are encouraged to give between now and the end of the year on the Arkansas Press Association website. To give, visit https://www.arkansaspress. org/page/aboutanf. Benefactors may use the “click-to-donate” button to submit their gift. 3
support of our donors, who want to support the valuable and important service our newspapers offer to their communities,” said Ashley Wimberley, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association. “The gifts received by the Foundation have a direct effect on the quality of journalism in our state and the stability and future of newspapers.”
ANF promotes Newspapers in Education programs, provides support for continuing education and funds scholarships for college journalism students to work for community newspapers. In addition, it supports the APA’s ongoing efforts to protect the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The organization is only able to support community newspapers through donations, and gifts of any size are welcome. December 5, 2019
Jacksonville clerk destroys tape of city meeting
The Leader in Jacksonville reported last week that city’s clerk had erased a tape recording of a recent meeting held between the clerk, the city’s mayor and two city council members. A new provision of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act requires all public meetings to be recorded, and for that recording to be maintained for at least one year. Act 1028, sponsored by Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, was adopted earlier this year.
Free workshops on covering jails set for Dallas, Memphis Poynter will offer journalists a free twoday training seminar in Dallas next month for reporters interested in learning about how to better cover local jails, which are “overloaded, overused and under-covered by resource-strapped journalists.”
According to the Leader, the clerk, Susan Davitt, may also have violated state law regarding tampering with public records. The newspaper reported that the mayor of Jacksonville, Bob Johnson, did not believe the meeting was a public meeting under FOIA, however “the city attorney thinks it might be” and a leading FOIA expert said it depends upon what was discussed.
In a news release, the institute said the intensive workshop will “focus on understanding the causes and consequences of local jail incarceration and explore some ways that communities are addressing the issue.”
After the meeting in question, the mayor and city attorney requested a copy of the tape recording but were told that the recording had been deleted, the newspaper reported.
Poynter will be joined by The Marshall Project and the Vera Institute of Justice for the seminar discussing how reporters can do a better job of reporting on jails, which
more and more frequently house women, juveniles, immigrants and the mentally ill. Al Tompkins of Poynter will lead the training. Christina Melton Crain, founder and president/CEO of Unlocking DOORS and Lipi Roy, director of addiction medicine and c o m m u n i t y engagement at Urban Recovery in New York, will be featured speakers. The deadline to apply for the Dallas workshop is Monday, Dec. 2. Visit https://www. p o y n t e r. o r g / a - j o u r n a l i s t s -g u i d e -t o covering-jails-dallas/ to register. The Memphis training is June 24 and 25. That registration deadline is April 24. A MacArthur Foundation grant will cover the costs of tuition, hotel expenses and most meals for attendees whose applications are accepted.
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Guest Column: Tools and Tips to Save Time in Digital Publishing By Rob Tornoe (Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in Editor & Publisher) Obviously, there are many reasons to attend journalism conferences — networking, an excuse to leave the newsroom, open bars, self-aggrandized posturing, hanging out with friends and former colleagues. But if I’m being honest, often the best thing I take back to my newsroom after these overly-optimistic get-togethers are cool new tools or clever hacks that seamlessly unwind themselves into my daily workflow. I never would have heard about CrowdTangle had it not been for an Online News Association event in Philadelphia several years ago, and my emails would remain crime scenes against the English language had it not been for a friendly suggestion to check out Grammarly. So in the interest of paying it forward, and with the selfish knowledge that I’ll hear from a handful of readers about tool or two that make their jobs easier, here’s a rundown on some cool apps, hacks and digital timesavers that I use on the job regularly. Otter This is my third year in a row writing a column on digital tools, and I swore to myself this would be the year I’d avoid including Otter, the time-saving transcription app that is probably the most important tool I use outside my laptop itself. But recently, a couple of my colleagues at the Philadelphia Inquirer hadn’t heard of the miraculous app, so I felt it would probably be worth mentioning. Basically, Otter is a digital recorder that automatically transcribes an interview in real time into a searchable database hyperlinked with the audio that’s easy to refer back to when writing your story. The smart phone app synchs with its website, so you can move back-and-forth from phone to desktop with ease using a single login. If it sounds simple, that’s because it is. Obviously, the transcribed text isn’t cutand-paste quality, but it gets the job done Arkansas Publisher Weekly
when you already know the quotes you’re looking to include in your story. Best of all, the app is free to use up to 600 minutes a month, and as an added bonus, Otter works in tandem with the call recording program I use on my Android (sorry, iPhone users). Nuzzel As a media writer, I rely heavily on Twitter to keep me in the loop on breaking news and the top stores everyone online is yammering about (back in the day, we’d call them “talkers.”) But even my wellcurated garden of Twitter lists get overrun with weeds of distracting garbage from time to time. That’s where Nuzzel comes in. Over the years, I’ve increasingly become addicted to the free aggregation app that essentially creates a social media-fueled news feed. It features the stories that people you follow on Twitter are putting out there, weighted by how many times they’ve been shared. Think of it as a way to de-clutter Twitter, with the added benefit of giving you the option to see trending articles shared by people outside your social media bubble. One of Nuzzel’s best options is the ability to select a specific timeframe, which comes in handy if you ever manage to put down your phone and get away from Twitter for several hours at a time. I was a little afraid about Nuzzel’s future earlier this year when it was purchased by Scroll, a new startup backed by the New York Times and a group of large publishers that hopes to charge users $5 a month for an ad-free user experience on news websites. Thankfully, it’s been status-quo for Nuzzel, and as Scroll CEO Tony Haile told VentureBeat back in February, “Our first priority is not to screw that up.” OneTab This Chrome plugin was recently introduced to by Isabella Kwai, an Australian-based reporter for the New York Times, who like me (and many, 5
many other journalists) has an unhealthy addiction to tabs. OneTab takes all your open tabs and with a simple click, places them in a list consolidated within one single tab and saves them for later use. Whenever you need to access those tabs, you have the option of opening them individually or restoring them all at once. There are also some cool hacks within OneTab’s preferences. You can pick and choose which open tabs to consolidate together and save tab groups, a function I’ve found extremely helpful when reporting on two separate stories simultaneously. Tab groups can also be locked, so fast-clicking writers like myself don’t accidentally delete them. uBlacklist Journalists use Google a lot differently than normal people do, and it becomes increasingly annoying to waste time skipping over click mills, low-quality aggregation websites and Pinterest (which oddly infiltrates the results of nearly every search I undertake) in order to do the research required for a story. That’s where uBlacklist comes in. It’s a Chrome plugin (what isn’t these days?) that adds a “block this site” link next to every Google result the search giant serves. I’ll admit, it does take some time to set up since each sketchy site has to be added manually. But we all know the main websites adept at infiltrating Google’s search rankings (rhymed with “Dora”), and once they’re added, you’ll find your Google searches to be much more efficient. Turn Off Notification Requests When I’m on deadline, nothing quite pushes my buttons than being confronted with a request from a website to allow notifications, as if any self-respecting reader has ever actually hit “yes” on purpose. Continued on Page 6
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Alex James Fitz, a senior editor at Time, recently shared a hack on Twitter to prevent you from being bothered by the notifications in the first place. If you’re in Chrome, simply select Preferences > Advanced > Site settings > Notifications > and select Blocked. It’s such a simple hack, you’ll wonder why you ever endured years of clicking “no” every time the annoying notifications appeared on your screen. t
If you’re a total tools geek like me, the single best thing you could do is subscribe to the “Try This!” newsletter written by Poynter’s Ren LaForme. Every Tuesday, LaForme offers a roundup of apps, simple tutorials and eyeopening digital hacks that can benefit even the most Luddite journalist. The best part is LaForme is a whiz at avoiding trendy tech distractions to instead focus on items with a tangible benefit to journalists. As he wrote himself in a recent edition of
the newsletter, “I’m interested in what’s working or what has clear potential to work.” You can subscribe at poynter.org/trynewsletter. Rob Tornoe is a cartoonist and columnist for Editor and Publisher, where he writes about trends in digital media. He is also a digital editor and writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Support the future of Arkansas journalism by giving to the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation. Your generous donations will ensure the continued funding for the next generation of Arkansas journalists. Ways to give: Estate planning, memorial and honor gifts and charitable donations. The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information call APA at 501-374-1500 or email info@arkansaspress.org
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