Wikinews:Reporters' Workshop/London August 2012/Presentation notes

Planning to trial prezi.com – if can build most of the presentation within it.

1. Introduction to Wikinews

   When founded, the 'grand idea'

   Project mission, early days, rise of original reporting

   1. Using a wiki for news

      MediaWiki sub-optimal for news, standardisation of article format, avoiding inline citations

   2. Social media integration

      Share the stories, copying from the BBC, 'push'

   3. How Flagged Revisions got us into Google News

      "Why aren't my articles available via Google news?", previously lost listing, anyone can publish?, publication policy and independence

2. Article style

   insert-witty-quote-here

   1. The inverse-pyramid and active voice

      Don't bury the important bits, what do people best-remember? Origin of the style/terminology

   2. "Facts don't cease to be facts, ..."

      News is new, people don't buy stale bread

3. Content guide

   "Learn the rules before you break them"

   1. How fair use/fair dealing differs from Wikipedia

      never from competing agencies, not constrained to "wait until someone is dead" to claim FU

      credit, always credit

   2. Video and audio

      Conversion a pain (but we're working on that)

4. Original reporting

   "digging up the dirt"

   1. The policy in a nutshell

      ?

   2. On-the-ground

      photographs (and the photo-essay), talking to J. Random Public, dealing with those in authority (eg emergency services), getting your name and face known

   3. Interviews

      Email (brief, in-depth, drawbacks), in-person, phone/skype, IRC, preparing questions (and discarding sensibly)