How to spruce up your newsroom—and draw eyeballs

There are two kinds of digital newsrooms in the organizational world.

• Some are designed to please the chief executive with flowery turns of phrase but offer little concrete information.
•  Others meet the needs of reporters, customers and the general public with useful information, videos, photos and spokesman contact information.

If yours is the former, your organization is underperforming when it comes to reaching out to reporters, editors, influential bloggers, customers and the general public. You can change that. A new, three-page tip sheet from Ragan Communications and PressPage is a quick way to find out whether your newsroom is up to snuff: “ 11 Essentials for a Stellar Online Newsroom .”

The tip sheet offers examples from major companies such as Coca-Cola, Nissan North America and H&R Block.

“When it comes to images in newsrooms, it all boils down to technology,“ says Bart Verhulst, co-founder and chief executive of PressPage. “If the newsroom in question does not support easy uploading of images, the hassle for PR pros to include them can sometimes be so enormous that it is simply undoable.”

The tip sheet explains how poorly designed newsrooms thwart reporters—and it suggests specific upgrades to make your newsroom a strategic platform for outreach.

It will help you benchmark your newsroom in areas such as B-roll and video, responsive design, executive bios and even the “about us” page.

“Journalists don’t live behind their desks,” the tip sheet states. “They search for information on the scenes of fires, shootings, conferences and sporting events. They file updates and access websites through their smartphones. Many journalists also report live from industry events, such as a technology conference or product launch.”

Learn what you must do to reach these influential voices.

At a time when organizations are becoming content publishers in their own right, find out why you can secure more coverage on TV and in newspapers by providing photos and video of your own that they will steal and use.

Nearly all bloggers and traditional journalists post organizational video, affording opportunities for communicators that include placement of unedited video on media outlets’ websites, a recent survey revealed.

Your newsroom can offer stories that help TV reporters decide whether the visuals are sufficient “to cover stories or, frankly, cannibalize what we’ve done, and pull a video or some sound bite,” says Ed Garsten, a former CNN correspondent and bureau chief who heads Chrysler Digital Media.

Download your free guide now.

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