Three big journalism ideas from SXSWi to apply right now

March 18th, 2011 by Rebekah Monson

Newsroom budgets don’t allow for a lot of conference attendance these days, but thanks to social media and blogging, you can get a lot out of South by Southwest Interactive from afar.

This year’s panels provided a great overview of where content is headed, but I was really excited to see that much of what was presented can be implemented right away in most newsrooms. Here are three key journalism ideas from SXSWi that we can implement right now:

1. Bring back long-form. For years we’ve heard about time-starved readers and the importance of quick reads, but Max Linsky, the co-founder of longform.org, says mobile technology, especially tablets, and software like Instapaper is breathing new life into long-form writing. The success of TED Talks and shows like Frontline prove that users’ attention spans for video aren’t as short as we thought either. As users grow to appreciate long-form, we need to make sure we’re providing it.

2. Open up the conversation. The Guardian’s deputy editor Ian Katz and media reporter Jemima Kiss hosted a really interesting panel on the future of journalism becoming more “open.” The keys to current efforts are transparency and inclusiveness. These ideas were echoed and expanded upon in Doreen Marchionni’s panel on audience engagement. Promoting thoughtful reader comments, sourcing and communicating via social media and embracing new platforms to curate comments from the community are a few of many ways to start opening up conversation for your audience.

3. Use data visualization to provide context. Several panels at SXSWi focused on data visualization. Business journalists we have a strong understanding of how much charts and maps can help convey numbers and processes, so we can lead our newsrooms in implementing data visualization.  Mapping and timeline visualization tools are great ways to tell biz stories on large-scale geographic topics like real estate.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into ideas from Austin, here’s a round-up of some of my favorite coverage:

NPR’s Matt Thompson on Snarkmarket

Brian Steffans and Joy Mayer on RJIblog

Techcrunch for all the headlines and some great video interviews

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