Engaging Communities With the News @ TBD

Jim BradyApril 2, 2011

The TBD Theory…

No news site can be successful in the 21st century by having readers…

The TBD Theory…

No news site can be successful in the 21st century by having readers…

It needs to have engaged participants…

The TBD Theory…

No news site can be successful in the 21st century by having readers…

It needs to have engaged participants…

And they need to be engaged in journalism, not uploading pet photos.

Engagement

• As viewed by many news organizations…

Engagement

• As viewed by many news organizations.

Engagement…

• As it should be viewed by all news organizations...

Engagement…

• As it should be viewed by all news organizations.

How TBD Went About It…

• We built a community network of more than 220 local sites.

How TBD Went About It…

• TBD curated the best content about the DC region, regardless of source.

How TBD Went About It…

• We leveraged our audience to report out stories, both individually and collectively.

How TBD Went About It…

• We drove traffic to the work of our community network members.

How TBD Went About It…

• We delivered curated information about areas our users told us were important.

How TBD Went About It…

• We used Twitter and Facebook to gather news, not just disseminate it.

How TBD Went About It…

• We were conversational in tone in all social media. No Headline-Colon-Link here.

How TBD Went About It…

• We didn’t treat mobile as an add-on; we hired mobile developers and designed apps that appealed to the need of mobile users..

How TBD Went About It…

• We did events with local bloggers and other interested parties.

How TBD Went About It…

• We held public office hours at coffee houses in the region.

How TBD Went About It…

• We offered free training to community members on social media, blogging, SEO, ethics, etc.

The Results…

Unique Visitors• November 2010 -- 715,000

The Results…

Unique Visitors• November 2010 -- 715,000• December 2010 -- 838,000

The Results…

Unique Visitors• November 2010 -- 715,000• December 2010 -- 838,000• January 2011 -- 1,500,000

The Results…

• We had a terrific buzz in DC-region blog community, who viewed us as partners, not rivals.

• When possible, local bloggers naturally linked to TBD vs. other local media.

• Consumers created a hashtag “#HeyTBD” to alert us to potential breaking news stories in the area.

• We were able to leverage the community to produce better journalism than we could have by ourselves.

Since Then?

Since Then?

• Not much has really happened…

Thanks!Hope you enjoyed your stay. Please come again.