How to improve live coverage

Follow my live blog where I will tell you what you're watching on the teevee but with a delay.
— Ivan Lajara (@ivanlajara) July 9, 2014

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.
Today we are talking about how to improve live web coverage. What makes readers stay? How do you cover sports games? What tools do you need? As always, bring your #realtalk.
You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.
If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.
Meta live blog container follows.

Beyond 'don't be stupid': Best Twitter practices for journalists

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking the best ways to tweet as a journalist and how to avoid problems. What are the social media guidelines for journalists, beyond 'stay professional' or 'don't be stupid'? Should all journalists in a newsroom be on Twitter? How do you balance encouraging people to add personality with risking getting into trouble?



Bring your #realtalk.

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Should news stories be more 'bloggy'?

You probably wouldn't use this image in a news story.
OR WOULD YOU?

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking articles, but also blogs. Should news stories be more 'bloggy'? Should blogs from news organizations be absorbed by the main site's own coverage in articles? Is the blog itself as a form undergoing a crisis? How should one measure a blog's success or failure? Bring in your realtalk!

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

5 questions about the value of listicles in journalism

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about Listicles - the much derided and highly popular list articles. How can they be used in a way that can actually help journalism and help the understanding of issues? Are they being overused? Can they be redeemed? What about linksticles and gifsticles? 


You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to upgrade your story planning and meetings

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about story planning and the meeting formerly known as the Page One story budget. Let's rethink this thing. How do do you include digital tools into the workflow in the planning stage? How much time should be spent planning the front page of a print edition? Bring in your ideas— and your #realtalk.

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

What's the right way to use content from social media?

#111052761 / gettyimages.com

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about the right way to use content from social media (and other sources, like the Getty image above), copyrights and fair use.

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on maximizing Twitter use in journalism

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about advanced Twitter use for journalism, with an emphasis on how to cut through the noise, avoid spending too much time on it and how to add value.

Advanced (•_•) <) )╯Twitter / \ \(•_•) ( (> for / \ (•_•) <) )> journalism / \ #dfmchat noon ET
— Ivan Lajara (@ivanlajara) May 21, 2014

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to execute a digital first workflow in a newsroom

Steam-first journalism FTW!

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about developing and executing a realistic digital-first workflow for newsrooms, taking into account resources and audiences (so you might not need a Snapchat or Instagram strategy if you work on a rural area with no cell reception.) But the question remains, how do you report during the day as a true digital-first entity if you still have to get a paper out? Well, let's find out, shall we?

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Daily Freeman digital initiatives for 2012

What follows is a slightly abstract slideshow of the kinds of offerings we've given you last year.

Daily Freeman digital initiatives 2012 from Ivan Lajara

DFM chat on process journalism during breaking news

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about process journalism during breaking news, including dos and don'ts.
The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on commodity news

Image via http://www.edupics.com. 
Trying to illustrate churnalism over here. 
YOU SHUT UP!

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about commodity news, its role, how to gather and disseminate such information and the changes brought up by content farms and companies that outsource such tasks like Journatic.

The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on using multimedia during breaking news

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about using multimedia during breaking news.

The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to post from Instagram to Blogger, via Android

Earlier, I wrote about how to post your Instagram photos to blogger from a phone, which works with an iPhone. In the comments, it was noted that Android devices only have a share this function and that posts a link to the photo and not the photo itself.

So here's how to post from Instagram to Blogger from an Android device.

Superfast Tutorial 1: Make an ifttt recipe. Better yet, just grab this one.

Obviously, you might want to save it as a draft and then edit the post. Here's one I just did with ifttt.
The advantage of this method is that it's fast and the images appear larger (though you can always size the image).

I should also note that it took about 10 minutes or so for the draft to appear.

Tutorial 2.
1. Get the Blogger app and place it next to your native 'Galleries' app.
2. Open the Gallery app. You'll be happy to find that one of your albums is your Instagram photos.

3. Pick the photo you want, hit the "Menu" button, "Share" and "Share via Blogger"

4. The image will be embedded on your post, which you can edit however you want.

Here's one I did with that method, the Ghost Mobil of Route 199 before the Taconic Highway:

DFM chat on new digital tools for journalism

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about new digital tools: What are they, what they do, how to use them in journalism.

 The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Curated discussion about content curation

The following are highlights of today's Digital First Media chat discussion about content curation in journalism.

DFM chat on content curation

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about content curation: Why, how, best practices, copyright concerns and whatever else is on your mind.

 The live feed is posted below (and yes, I'm using ScribbleLive instead of CoverItLive). But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to post your Instagram photos directly to Blogger from your phone

Instagram lets you post your photos directly to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Flickr. But what if you want to post quickly and directly to Blogger from your mobile device?

Here's what you have to do.

1. On your Blogger profile. Hit "Settings" and set up an email address under "Posting using email." You'll need at least a four-character secret word. It would be something like "LOGINNAME.SecretWord@blogger.com."
2. In Instagram,  Pick up the photo you want. Hit the "..." icon at the bottom right of the image.
3. Instead of hitting 'Share post," hit "Email photo." Send it to your Blogger email and hit send.

Your subject line will be your title. You can add more text if you want. But the photo will appear like this:

(see full image)

Sent from my iPhone

Related content:
* If you are using Wordpress, the process is pretty much the same. Here's how to set up your special email.

* There is a widget for blogger, which displays your latest Instagrams on the side.

http://badgeplz.com/

 * If using a desktop,  you can visit http://statigr.am search for the image you want (not just yours), Pin them to pinterest, and grab the Embed code for your image and post it in Blogger, so it displays much bigger. Here's how.

*  For more images, here's how to make a slideshow withPinterest and Instagram images with Storify. 

DFM chat on the future of the article

Good morning! Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're talking about how to improve your stories, story-telling and the future of the article.

The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to make an automatic map of phone photos with Picasa

Picasa is Google's photo sharing service. If you have a Google account, you have this already.

The idea, again, is to take photos with your phone and have a map automatically created from them.

1. Take photo.
2. Share to Picasa (native on Android; or via email on iPhone or through apps) in an album of your choice. Don't forget to have geolocation turned on.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as needed.
4. Visit https://picasaweb.google.com. Login with your Google account. Your photos should be in an album. Click on your album. Noticed all your photos are already mapped. Similar to Flickr, you can view it in a map, or as a slideshow. But what if you want to embed the map?

4.Click "View in Google Earth." Don't worry if you don't have the program. Click "save File" instead and make sure the file has the extension KML (example: "freeman.kml")

5. Visit http://maps.google.com and hit "My Places" and "Create map."
6. Hit "Import" and upload your kml file. BOOM!

7. Hit "done" and the link icon to get your embed in however shape you want it.

8. Paste in your site and do a silly dance, because you're done.

-----
Troubleshooting: Every now and then you'll get a "this map cannot be embedded."

HAHAHA. Funny Google, you.

Just get the URL and paste it in your browser. Then get your embed code.


View Freeman test in a larger map

How to make a map of geotagged photos with Flickr

The following is a 10-step process to take photos with your phone and make a map with the photos for your site.

You're going to need a Flickr account (You can sign in with Facebook or Google, and if you have a Yahoo! account you already have one).

1. Take photo with phone.
2. Share to Flickr (preferably in the same album) IPhone? You can email photos to Flickr (thanks to Siobhan Connally for the tip) or use the Flickr app. Make sure geolocation is on.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as needed.
4. Go to Flickr, your photos should be there.

5. Click on a photo and 'Add to map'

6. Your photoset (album) should have all your photos in a single map. Click on the map link.

You should see something like this.  But you want to embed your map to your site, right? Of course!

7. Visit iMapFlickr.com and hit 'Create a map.'
8.Add your user URL, which is http://www.flickr.com/photos/YOURNAME/

9. Pick your album and hit 'Create a map.'
You can geotag your photos later too. Find out how to do this.
10. Grab the embed code and paste in your site. You can change the look and settings if you want.