Anita M. Harris

An aspiring author asks if she needs a Website for her new book.

My answer is yes:.the more exposure you can get on the Web the better–so that people searching for you or your topic can find you. But building a website is not for the faint of heart.

Having researched several site-building platforms, I decided to use WordPress to  build this site and  sites for my books,  Ithaca Diaries and Broken Patterns.

I chose WordPress because it seemed to be the simplest option, and you  can build a site a WordPress.com for free.   But I have to say  there was  quite a learning curve. To start with, the free templates are not at all intuitive (nor are the paid ones).

Then I had to decide if I would  pay for my own domain (web address). That is,   a free WordPress site  for New Cambridge Observer would be posted on WordPress.com and have the address  http://newcambridgeobserver.wordpress.com. I opted to pay approximately $12 to purchase the domain name  “New Cambridge Observer,” so that it could have the simpler address  https://newcambridgeobserver.com.  Then, I had to decide if I would pay for hosting at wordpress.com (simple, but limited options to sell from a site there,)  or pay to have it hosted on the server of a company like Godaddy, com..   I chose the latter because it allows more versatility and hosts my multiple sites for approximately $100 a year.

But no matter which building or hosting option you choose,: be aware that once your site or blog is launched, it takes a lot of time and energy to get readers to go there.  You need to understand the ever changing methods of search engine optimization and be very active on social media. And  once you get readers to the site, it’s a challenge to get them to comment or interact.  (To my readers–what gives?)

So, if you want to do it yourself, I’d advise a simple site optimized for SEO, combined with an intense social media plan. . If your goal is to build a community, you should put time, energy and $ into a Web site. If your goal is to sell books, I’d advise  a small site or blog (like this one–I used a free template called “Magazine Basic”).  It’s relatively easy to post   important information and links  that will take readers to Amazon, Kobo or other sites for stores where your books are available. You should also build an author site on Amazon–that’s  easy compared with building a Web site– but you still need to get people to go there.

Good luck!

–Anita M. Harris
Author, Ithaca Diaries, Coming of Age in the 1960s, Cambridge Common Press, 2015)  Broken Patterns, Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity (Cambridge Common Press, 2014)

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a marketing and PR firm based in Cambridge, MA.

Newspapers have long kept tabs on the changing world–but have themselves been slow to modernize. To  flourish these days,
when anyone with a computer can be a publisher,  news organizations must develop a “culture of innovation. ”

So said Richard Gingras, the head of News Products at Google,  on May 11, 2012 in a talk at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation.

Gingras, a founder of Salon.com and long-term media technologist , said “I push people to rethink every aspect of what they’re doing”–including their mission, ethical guidelines, how they interact with their audiences, transparency regarding sources,  and even whether reporters divulge their personal political positions. In light of today’s powerful new technologies and human interactions,  “innovation  must be part of an organization’s DNA,”  at the core of newspapers’ culture, and  incorporated into “the role of every member of the team.”

Gingras pointed out that this by no means the first “disruption” time for the media.  With the advent of television,  for example, newspaper advertising declined and in some cities, the number of newspapers went from five to one or two.   This was not great for the newspapers that went out of business and  led to monopolitistic control by the  survivors. But it also led to    “40  golden years of profitability” for those survivors.

Today, the Internet has “disaggregated” the advertising economy., he said.  No longer do consumers look to their local newspapers for car ads, for example: rather, they search the Internet for information and deals.  “In the past, you could have an ad in the New York Times for Tiffany’s near an article on starvation in Darfur… or articles for garden centers in  the Lifestyles section,” Gingras said.   But on the Internet, such “vertical models” for advertising  are not effective.  ” Might news organizations’ Web sites do better as “a stable of focused brands with independent business models?” he asked.

Gingras also suggested that news organizations:

• Optimize news Web sites for multiple entry points,  because individual story pages are, today, more valuable than first or home pages. These individual pages should be updated so that urls remain constant–thus optimizing search engine results.

• Include more “computational journalism”–in which reporters post interactive information tables that would allow readers to answer their own, individualized questions.  For example, in a story on the state of education, provide tables showing student progress in school districts across the city–so that parents could assess statistics on their own children’s schools

•  Leverage the assistance of  “the trusted crowd”  (interact with readers and keep them involved)

•  Make reporters responsible for updating their own stories–with “constant” urls  to encourage multiple visits to their pages

Gingras also said that  in a culture of bulletpoints, updates and posts,  there  is low return on investment for long articles–and advised keeping articles  under 500 words.

So  I’ll quit here–at 494.

A video of the complete talk  is posted at: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/newsitem.aspx?id=100198

–Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris, a former national journalist and Nieman Fellow,  is president of the Harris Communications Group, a marketing and communications firm located in Cambridge, MA.

With the job market looking up for 2012 grads–especially in health care and communications fields,  according to   the National Association of Colleges and Employers  and  Reuters– I was very pleased to join Stephen Smith of the Boston Globe and Lara Salahi  of ABC News in speaking to Emerson College students about careers in health communications.

Our panel, on April 5 was one in a series comprising Emerson’s “Communications Week.”  It was moderated by Bridgette Collado, who teaches at Emerson.

Stephen Smith,  now the Globe’s City Editor,   traced  his career as a health reporter from his early days  at the Miami Herald through his many years at the Globe--describing a drive to tell the stories of individuals  in order to bring their plight to public attention.  He pointed out that while in Massachusetts, most people have access to health care,  in other parts of the US, this is not the case.  He also described his coverage of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, focusing on the story of Reginette Cineliene  , a 14-year old  girl who lost her father, a sister, her home and a leg, spent a year living in a tent encampment, was often hungry, yet still managed to study with the goal of one day becoming a doctor.  Smith said he found Reginette  inspirational–and that he was pleased that his reporting had led readers to  provide Reginette’s remaining family with money to rent a home and pay for an artificial limb.

Lara Salahi, an ABC News  health producer, emphasized  the importance of  telling the stories of “real” people-as opposed to focusing on reports by experts. She used three brief slide/video shows to illustrate the hope and difficulties autism brings to families. One featured a young man who had wanted to be a doctor but, instead, went into radiation diagnostics; a second a  husband and wife who are raising three autistic daughters;  and the third  parents of an autistic son who died young of a seizure disorder.

Anita Harris
I described my career as somewhat unusual–mainly driven by the vagaries of the economy. I became a journalist by starting  a newspaper with college friends; worked in print, radio and television in New York City,  taught college, and went into public affairs when my college downsized.  I emphasized that with economic and technologic changes, versatility is key; it’s important to have  skills in all media, enjoy change, and if you’re going to do work independently you have to like to  market yourself.

I also outlined the broad changes I’ve  noticed.  When I started out in,  print and broadcast journalism operated in separate silos and major  news organizations had tremendous power to control and shape the information reaching the public.  Today, increasingly, we are experiencing a convergence of media, in which news organizations are employing multiple media to reach their readers–and no longer monopolize the flow of information.  The results are both positive and negative.

Convergence of media
For example, the  Globe,  previously print only, now has online version that includes video reports.  Reporters for public radio are asked to blog and carry cameras; many reporters and editors are using social media–all of which have the potential to inform the public  in a variety of ways.  However, with staff cutbacks, many journalists are working harder now than in the past;   I’m concerned that  covering stories in multiple  media could diminish the number and depth of stories on which they report.

Dissipation of control
I think  it’s great that  anyone with access to a computer can provide information to the world.  But without vetting by bona fide, trained journalists,   this democratization makes it difficult to know where information is coming from, how good it is, and, to play on words, where the truth lies– presenting special difficulties for health communicators.

—-Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and content strategist in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

Today at Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on  Politics, Public Policy and the Press,  ProPublica  “distributed reporting” editor  Amanda Michel described a new form of newsgathering in which a few editors solicit and manage thousands of volunteers who research and write stories on a myriad of topics.

ProPublica is the nation’s largest nonprofit media organization to focus on investigative reporting. Founded in 2007, it is supported  mainly by a $10M a yearly grant from the Sandler Foundation.

The  method was developed by the Huffington Post during last year’s presidential campaign for a series entitled “On the Bus.”  Michel directed that effort, which employed 5 journalists who worked with some 12,000 citizens.

Michel was hired in May by  the New-York-City based  ProPublica, which employs 32 journalists and is led by Paul Steiger, the former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. Its managing editor is Stephen Engelberg, a former managing editor of The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon and former investigative editor of The New York Times.

As ProPublica’s “distributed reporting” editor, Michel first used “crowd sourcing” and collaborative journalism methods to report on the impact of the federal stimulus bill. She is now integrating those newsgathering techniques into ProPublica’s other investigative efforts.

 To do so, she places queries on the ProPublica Web site, requesting assistance from the organization’s members, who are scattered throughout the US (and, possibly, abroad). They contribute their time “much as they would to a church or the humane society,”  Michel said.  

 ProPublica editors collect information from  the Internet and from members in the field–relying on journalists and volunteers for interpretation, analysis, and writing, Michel said.

 To maintain quality control, the editors set forth certain reporting requirements and “play the numbers game”–that is, they may ask several people to look into the same topic or report on the same event.  

Completed stories are  provided at no cost to ProPublica’s newspaper partners. One story about wrongdoing on a California Nursing Board first appeared in the Los Angeles Times and later ran on the ProPublica Web site.

Current  investigations described on the ProPublica Web site  include “Buried Secrets, Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat”; “Contractors in Iraq Are Hidden Casualties of War;” ” Strained by Katrina, Hospital Faced Deadly Choices” and “Problem Nurses Stay on the Job as Patients Suffer.”

Other news organizations such as the Wall Street Journal and  WNYC radio, have recently hired journalists to serve as “putreach editors,” to develop “networked” or  “citizen journalism.”  The Cable News Network  and  Yahoo use similar techniques to engage the public in newsgathering, Michel said.

At today’s seminar, when a BBC editor cautioned that the “networked”  method could easily be subverted by unsavory forces seeking to present disinformation,  Michel  countered that that’s already a problem in traditional newsgathering. “Reporters are often ‘played’ by sources,” she said.

Based on my  background in the alternative press, (the Harrisburg Independent Press, AKA “HIP,” was a nonprofit) I think it’s exciting that members of the public can now help the media enhance understanding of the world we live in.  However, like at least one  seminar participant, I wonder  how long people will remain interested in contributing their time for free. 

Still,  for journalists concerned about losing their jobs to unpaid competitors,  not all is lost:  ProPublica is one of the few news organizations that is now actually hiring!

Here’s a link to another writeup about the seminar. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/news_events/archive/2009/michel_12-01-09.html

Let me know what you think!

—–Anita Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisCom Blog.

As an author, former radio and TV producer, and communications consultant, I was excited to read about “Vooks”–a hybrid “literary”  form that merges text, Web and video features–in the New York Times. 

Although most of the highbrows who commented  online were skeptical or negative about new vook ventures by Simon and Schuster and others, I’m thrilled–as I’ve been struggling to cram 4 years worth of my LOL  college diaries into linear form–along with memories buttressed by videotapes and photos of concerts and political demonstrations I was delighted to find  on line.

I’m excited to be  able integrate a myriad of forms that will allow me to share  my experiences and my peers’ with my readers –er–viewers–er  surfers.  Oh, heck.  My audience,  if I can figure out how to find one!

BTW–my book in progress is called Ithaca Diaries, and I’d love for you to suggest possible agents or vublishers.

See my blog on the Times article and commenters  at HarrisComblog.com

Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisComblog.

I’m pleased to report that Cambridge Community Television has once again received the Overall Excellence in Public Access Programming Award from the national Alliance for Community Media in its Hometown Video Festival.

 This is the eighth time in CCTV’s twenty-one year history that the station has received this award, recognizing the diversity and quality of CCTV’s programming, as well as its relevance to the Cambridge community.

CCTV competed in the highest budget category, against much larger access centers in major cities throughout the United States. Numerous CCTV producers also received high accolades in the festival:

Project Documentary’s The Dames, about Boston’s roller derby team, placed first in the Sports Entertainment category; teens participating in CCTV’s youth program were also recognized: Josh Washington and William Sheffield for their original teleplay “Homies”, Julie Pan for “King Open Extended Day Program”, Cody Romano for “Dawn”, and Alex Ayabe for his music video “Guarantee”, which he produced at Cambridge Educational Access.

 Laura Asherman also received an Honorable Mention for her video “You Contribute to Global Warming”. Watch some of our finest programming from 2008 in this video! You can also view the full list of winners at http://2009.acmhometown.org/

I’ve taken several excellent courses at CCTV–in Dreamweaver, Excel, and MS Publisher; also on video shooting and editing.  If you join, fees  are nominal–you get $100 worth of courses for $55–less if you put in volunteer time; more if you’re not a Cambridge resident.  It’s a great way to learn about new technologies,  learn television production, produce videos–even host your own TV program. Check it out!

Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. HarrisCom also publishes www.blog.harriscom.com