how to add 100 writers to your staff
TRANSCRIPT
How to Add 100 Writers
to Your News Staff
How to Add 100 Writers
to Your News Staff
Transforming a Classroom into
a Newsroom
Old Game Plan
2013
Staffing
• 3 full time news staff
members
• 1 temporary staff
member working 20
hours per week
• 1 student employee
Output
• 165 stories for state
release
• 51 stories for local
release
• 50 garden radio
programs
2014
Staffing Changes
• Lost 1 temporary employee
• Lost 1 full-time employee to retirement
News Unit 2014
• 2 full time news staff members
• 1 student employee
New Game Plan for 2014
• Drop 10 year old radio
show airing only on
single public radio
station.
• Focus on crafting stories
of state and national
interest
• Increase story
production
• Develop stand alone
news site for Alabama
Extension
The vision—a new story from Alabama Extension
Monday through Friday
Tailored for state, regional and national release
The vision—a new story from Alabama Extension Monday
through Friday
Tailored for state, regional and national release
How are we going to manage this?
What were we thinking?
Partnership with Auburn
University School of
Communication & Journalism
• All Public Relations majors must
take Style & Design in PR
Messages
• Usually two sections per
semester with 15-18 students
per section
• Style & Design in PR
Messages faculty need outlets
for which students can write
• Style & Design students need
content for final class projects
• Extension Communications and
Marketing became a client for
Style & Design students
How It Works
• Develop story idea list
• Visit each section
• Guide students
• Make final edit
• Schedule stories for publication
Goes Live
Oct. 2014
2015 ExtensionDaily.com
Staffing
• 2 Full-time Staff Members
• 1 Temporary Staff Member
• 4 Student Employee Writers
• 93 Student Writers
2015 ExtensionDaily.com
Staffing
• 2 Full-time Staff Members
• 1 Temporary Staff Member
• 4 Student Employee Writers
• 93 Student Writers
Production
323 Stories Published
2015 ExtensionDaily.com
Staffing
• 2 Full-time Staff Members
• 1 Temporary Staff Member
• 4 Student Employee Writers
• 93 Student Writers
Production
323 Stories Published
So What? Is Anybody Reading the Stories?
Visitors To ExtensionDaily.com
• 92.9K visits
• 133K page views
• Average visit lasted 5m 33s per visit & viewed 1.43
pages
Visitors To ExtensionDaily.com
Visitors To ExtensionDaily.com
Where are Visitors Coming From?
Where are Visitors Coming From?
Other Ways Stories Are Used
• 1 to 2 stories per week sent out to media
• Meltwater
• Auburn University
• Some outlets now regularly scraping site for content
• AgFax.com
• Growing America sites
• Farms.com
• Small dailies and weeklies across Alabama
Other Ways Stories Are Used
• 3 to 5 stories featured on Alabama Extension main
page
• Rotating banner
• Agents are submitting to their local papers
• As is
• Scraping for column material
• Alabama county Extension offices
• Websites
• E-newsletters
• Content for Social Media Accounts
Questions?
Maggie Lawrence, News Unit Manager
Communications and Marketing Department
334.844.5687