Digital Publication Guidelines for the Goldsboro News-Argus

Assignment 1: You have been appointed the public editor or ombudsman for a news organization online. It’s your job to draft a policy covering changes to articles published online, including corrections and clarifications. How will these be handled? What will be communicated to site visitors? 

Note: For the purpose of this assignment, I am acting as public editor of The Goldsboro News-Argus online.

The Goldsboro News-Argus Corrections Policy

The News-Argus is primarily focused on providing our readers with accurate and fair reports of news and information. While we work hard to get it right the first time, we realize that errors, inaccuracies and omissions will occur from time to time.

• The News-Argus corrects all errors of substance and clarifies information in news stories that was misleading or unbalanced. In our printed edition, corrections or clarifications typically appear on the front page of the section in which the error appeared. They will always appear in the online version of the content. 
• Misreported facts, misspellings, omissions and any other clarifications or errors will be included within the article. The context of the correction will be provided along with the correction. 
• Errors reported within headlines, captions, photo text and other supportive details will be corrected promptly and with a parenthetical account of the original text. 
• In addition to the corrections made directly to articles, headlines, captions, etc., a full list of all corrections and clarifications with original and revised dates can be found under Corrections tab in the global navigation of www.news-argus.com. This page makes it easy for readers to find revised information. Corrections will be archived here for 30 days. 
• If you believe a correction or clarification is needed for an item published by the Goldsboro New-Argus, please email the public editor at corrections@newsargus.com. 

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Assignment 2: As an adjunct to No. 1, draft a policy covering how crowdsourced content should be attributed.

Community Guidelines for newsargus.com

The News-Argus relies heavily upon the general public’s contribution and participation in gathering and dissemination of emerging local news stories. We encourage you to submit stories, topics, breaking news information and other suggestions to us through the tab titled Reader Reports located on our Home page. We ask the following guidelines be followed when submitting information to News-Argus’ Reader Reports site:

• Those submitting photos, videos, news and other information to www.newsargus.com are required to provide their name, phone number and email address when making these contributions. Contributors will receive a byline on their reports, but in order to protect their privacy we will not list email addresses or phone numbers. 
• News-Argus staff will research and fact-check names and other essential information accompanying submitted stories and any errors, clarifications or omissions will be corrected and noted as updates. 
• Reader reports that we publish will include a comment section to facilitate feedback and interaction with our readers. Our staff will monitor this content and we reserve the right to edit or remove content, as deemed necessary. 
• Reader journalists agree not to upload or post any content that violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, including any statements which may defame, harass, stalk or threaten others. 
• Stories, articles and information contributed and published by reader journalists should be cited appropriately when being referenced or disseminated by visitors of the news site. The reader journalist’s name should be cited as the author and a link to the original story on www.newsargus.com should be included with the reference. 

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Assignment 3: You did such a great job as public editor, your news organization has named you chief digital officer. It’s now up to you to hire a vice president of social media. Write the job description.

VP, Social Media Job Description

The Goldsboro News-Argus seeks a Vice President of Social Media to lead our digital team and strategy. Reporting to the Publisher of the News-Argus, the VP of Social Media will be responsible for:

• Responsible for overseeing all aspects of social media services. 
• Oversee development of strategic online strategies, social media analytics/insights, campaign plans and reporting to meet business objectives, achieve desired KPIs and executed within budget and desired timeline. 
• Experience in managing projects, in-house team and 3rd party/vendors in developing sites, apps and content relevant for social media and websites. 
• Manage, mentor and develop social media team and other digital staff. 
• Oversee the maintenance of internal database, documentation, reporting, templates and presentations. 
• Track competitive intelligence, deliver competitive analysis and identify trends.
• Maintain team knowledge of key social media, relevant tools, best practices and emerging trends, including: 
• Online PR/Blogger activations and campaigns 
• Key Platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest etc.) 
• Social Media Management tools (Vitrue, Buddy Media, etc.) 
• Social media monitoring, analytics and measurement tools (Visible Technologies, Radian6, Sysomos etc.) 

The ideal candidate will have the following skills and experience: 

• 10 years of total work experience with a majority of such experience at an integrated marketing, PR, digital or social media agency with proven track record of leading clients
• Prior experience in traditional advertising is also helpful. 
• 5-7 years of experience managing or executing brand strategies and campaigns in social media 
• Excellent written and oral communications skills 
• Dynamic, strategic and culturally aware with the vision to lead the News-Argus into the future of journalism

Recap: Live Blog of Vice Presidential Debate

Thank you for following my live blog of Thursday’s Vice Presidential Debate between incumbent, Joe Biden and challenger, Paul Ryan. The event was held at Centre College in Danville, KY and was moderated by ABC News correspondent, Martha Raddatz.  

Covering both foreign and domestic policy and consisting of 9 segments, 2 minutes each, this debate had the potential to stall or accelerate Mitt Romney’s momentum after winning the first debate. And since this debate was between the candidates’s pit bulls it was also expected to be more combative than last week’s face off between President Obama and Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.

Given that this was my first live blog event, I made my share of mistakes. My first mistake was deciding at the last minute to use the CoverItLive software; the result of which was a slow start to my blog event and my inability to include the full introduction I had prepared before the event. Here are a couple of the items I had intended to include:

1.       Head shots of the candidates:

2.       Latest Presidential Polls

Another mistake was that I got so caught up in the event that I allowed my personal political bias to seep into my blogging of the debate. Not overly professional, to say the least. 

Live and learn. 

Now for a few key takeaways from the debate:

Biden turned in a dominant performance.

Most of the political pundits called the debate a draw or gave Biden a slight edge. I disagree. I believe Biden dominated the debate from the beginning. Clearly a primary objective for Biden was to counteract the weak impression that President Obama gave in the first debate, and he definitely did that in a number of ways:

1. Biden spoke from his heart.  Calculated or not, Biden’s display of anger beginning about halfway through gave his performance an authenticity that Ryan’s lacked.  We saw real emotion from Biden, in both words and body language.  And that makes him feel real to voters.
   
2. Ryan’s calculated, buttoned-down performance not as effective.  Because we got no similar display of emotion from Ryan, he came across as a robot with no skin in the game.  So we don’t know that we can trust him.  Trust and credibility are the two qualities audiences look for from debates like this.
   
3. Biden’s facial antics risked sabotaging the rest of his performance.  Biden’s grinning, moaning, and eye-rolling risked looking childish and unfair to his opponent.  See a video of his facial antics here on YouTube. Had he continued throughout the debate, all the rest of his advantages would have been nullified.  But fortunately for the Democrats, when Biden started to get angry, he focused, and cut back on the distracting antics. 

Martha Raddatz was solid

Moderating a rhetorical fistfight is no easy task.  Raddatz did well to try to give both candidates equal time, keep them on the question asked and insert her own expertise — particularly on foreign policy — when it was necessary and appropriate. This was a job well done under remarkably difficult circumstances.

The 47 percent comment made an appearance; Big Bird didn’t

Biden was not only more alert than Obama was; he also remembered to use the lines he was prepped with. Raddatz never asked about the secretly-recorded fundraiser at which Romney talked about “47 percent” of Americans who consider themselves victims.

Political junkies and party faithful won and undecided voters lost.

If you came into this debate hoping to find a civil discussion of the issues and the differences between the two candidates, you were likely disappointed. The bulk of the debate was Biden and Ryan slamming one another for not telling the truth or being misinformed. This constant bickering is part of what independents don’t like about party politics. It’s easy to imagine they turned off the debate early— if they were watching it at all.

Aunt Anne’s Place Coming to Downtown Raleigh’s Warehouse District

Assignment: Write a social media press release.

Note: For the purposes of this exercise, I co-opted some photos and other images from the Web to lend a more realistic look to the interactive press release for my fictional restaurant opening.

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Aunt Anne’s Place Coming to Downtown Raleigh’s Warehouse District

After Several Delays, the Long-Awaited Neighborhood Joint Will Open Its Doors on October 16.

For release: Oct. 12, 2011

The long wait will finally come to an end this week and Aunt Anne’s Place will finally open its doors for dinner in the Downtown Raleigh Warehouse District on Tuesday, October 16.

315 Hargett Street, new home of Aunt Anne's Place. (photo from newraleigh.com)

Aunt Anne’s Place is a fabulous American restaurant fueled by locally grown ingredients and owned by Anne Sutton, former marketing executive turned chef/owner. AAP is open for dinner, 6 days a week and hopes to take advantage of the burgeoning growth of Raleigh’s Warehouse District and the surrounding neighborhoods by hiring “neighborhoodies,” talented locals who love to cook but aren’t necessarily licensed chefs.

The menu at Aunt Anne’s Place changes monthly; consists of only 10-12 items made primarily from local seasonal items. This neighborhood joint is furnished with tables and chairs bought at auction, yard sales and/or estate sales. AAP has an open kitchen and a waiting area that feels like home complete with a sofa, stuffed armchairs, and coffee table with magazines.

According to the owner/chef, Anne Sutton, “The idea behind Aunt Anne’s Place is to truly become a part of the neighborhood by providing locals with delicious food at reasonable prices served in a comfortable setting. The Warehouse District is the perfect backdrop for this restaurant, given the tremendous growth of the area and its proximity to local government, employers and universities.”

Giving Back

Hiring “neighborhoodies” isn’t the only novel approach taken by Aunt Anne’s Place, though. Rather than get a liquor license, AAP has opted instead to secure a Brown Bagging Permit and will encourage all patrons to bring their own wine and beer, which the restaurant will happily keep chilled in their cooler. In line with her mission to support the Warehouse District neighborhood, Sutton plans to run a “Submit your Best Seasonal Recipe” promotion giving aspiring cooks a chance to have that recipe added to AAP’s menu. Sutton also hopes to encourage budding designers by offering them the opportunity to exhibit their work on the walls of the restaurant and plans to run promotions with chances to paint a mural on the outside of the restaurant or to redesign the AAP website or menu in the offing. Ideally the restaurant will continually find ways to further integrate into the neighborhood and community by giving back and lending a helping hand to its patrons. Sutton even has plans to create an annual scholarship that helps send a local kid to cooking school.

Raleigh’s Warehouse District: Neighborhood on the Rise

Aunt Anne’s Place is just one of many new establishments to open in the Warehouse District in the last three months, along with Tasty Beverage, Boylan Bridge Brewpub, and Jibarra’s new location in The Depot. With Citrix new headquarters and the new Saturday Market, things are really looking up for one of the neighborhoods in downtown Raleigh with great potential.

Raleigh Warehouse District, Aunt Anne's Place marked with blue triangle  

Go here to view AAP’s menu.

DINNER: 

Monday: closed
Tues – Thurs 5:00 – 10:00
Fri & Sat 5:00 – 11:00
Sun 5:00 – 9:00 

Related Links

State of the Warehouse District, the Raleigh Connoisseur

Downtown Raleigh Events Calendar

About Aunt Anne’s Place

Aunt Anne’s Place is the brainchild of Anne Sutton, formerly Director of Sales and Marketing Strategy for CBS Interactive. A 1998 graduate of the Art Institute’s Culinary Institute in Fort Lauderdale, she developed her love of cooking in her mother’s kitchen in North Carolina.

Aunt Anne’s Place on Facebook

Aunt Anne’s Place on Twitter

Aunt Anne’s Place media contact: For more information on Aunt Anne's Place, contact Anne Sutton, chef/owner (919) 321-5224, annersutton@gmail.com.

Tagged: Downtown Raleigh, Raleigh’s Warehouse District, American restaurants, locally sourced restaurants, BYOB restaurants, neighborhoodies