This week we learn how today’s audiences interact with information; how The Upshot approaches data explanation; and how an app called Newsbeat hopes to change audio news.
PART 1: Audience insights from ASNE/APME/APPM
Product development and audience behavior were two key areas of emphasis at last week’s combined gathering of the American Society of News Editors, Associated Press Media Editors and Associated Press Photo Managers. We sat down with one of the opening session panelists, Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, to learn more about how audiences today are interacting with news.
Reporting by Katy Mersmann and Rachel Wise.
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Conference roundup:
Click here for our compilation of key insights culled from Tweets by participants throughout the conference (using Twitter hashtag #editors2014).
For more coverage:
A group of journalism students from Ball State University and Columbia College Chicago provided in-depth reporting on conference sessions and activities.
PART 2: Data and explanation via The Upshot
The Upshot is a recent addition to the New York Times that mixes data-driven journalism and explanatory reporting to explore the whys and the hows of the news. Neil Irwin, senior economics reporter at The Upshot, explains how the content meets a growing audience demand.
Reporting by Tatiana Darie.
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For more information:
In this recent Futures Lab update, we look behind the scenes at similar journalistic explainers offered by Vox.com and Bloomberg.
PART 3: Audio news with Newsbeat
Newsbeat, an app launched by Tribune Digital Ventures, uses human narration to voice personalized playlists of articles, weather and traffic updates pulled from a catalog of roughly 15,000 articles. We hear how it works from Anil Panguluri, vice president for product at Tribune Digital Ventures and general manager for Newsbeat
Reporting by Tatiana Darie.
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Other services offer similar functionality, including:
- Spoken Layer employs a network of humans to help publishers turn their text stories into audio (as explained in our previous report).
- SoundGecko uses text-to-speech technology to transform web pages into an audio files, enabling users to listen to news, blogs or other online documents.
- Umano recruits humans to narrate text-based articles. It also allows users to submit articles they think should be voiced, and offers a mobile app where users can build playlists of audio content.
Reuben Stern is the deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and host and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.
The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features a roundup of fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos, or download the iPad app to watch the show wherever you go. You can also sign up to receive email notification of each new episode.