Online Journalism News

Chicago Tribune: Bringing news innovators on board; drawing the audience in

When Journalism.co.uk learned that former journalism-programming student at US university Medill, Brian Boyer, had joined the Chicago Tribune in the newly created role of news apps editor our ears pricked up.

When we subsequently found out that Craig Kanalley founder of breaking news service BreakingTweets had also signed up with the title's owner on a summer internship our interest heightened.

The Tribune and its owner Chicago Tribune Media Group's legacy products have suffered in recent months, but with the recruitment of innovators like Boyer and Kanalley and the official launch of new blog network ChicagoNow scheduled for August, digital development at the group has not been stifled.

Journalism.co.uk caught up with the team behind some of the latest developments at the Tribune to find out more.

ChicagoNow
In a crossover of the hyperlocal and user-generated trends being picked up on by many publishers both in and outside the US, ChicagoNow began development in December last year.

Since its beta launch in May this year the network now features more than 60 blogs, Tracy S. Schmidt, editorial director of ChicagoNow, tells Journalism.co.uk.

"The Tribune wanted to create a flanker brand to reach new, local audiences online quickly. We weren't going to reach those audiences with ChicagoTribune.com, so we created a site that will appeal to a variety of local readers. We think that our range of bloggers has something for everyone in Chicagoland," she explains.

The range of contributors comes from existing Chicago-based bloggers contacted by the Tribune; local celebrities 'who we taught to become bloggers'; and Tribune readers who offered to participate. Other news organisations are being asked to host their blogs on ChicagoNow too - all part of building the most authentic voice for the area, she adds.

Within the next month another 20 blogs will be added and plans are in place to introduce more extensive user profiles. It is also hoped that contributors will soon be able to post directly to the blogs, says Schmidt.

The group is experimenting with how to cross-promote the blogs via its other outlets, including local TV and radio station WGN and local cable news station CLTV.

The aim is two-fold: to reach new audiences online and provide existing readers with more web content, explains Schmidt.

But a commercial goal is also a feature: each blogger is paid and is given their own blogging coach.

In addition the title's advertising department is local at new ways to monetise the site, including by offering local businesses 'adverblogs' on ChicagoNow and by tying it into a local e-commerce site being developed in-house, explains Schmidt.

"We've been asked many times if there is any other kind of site like ChicagoNow. Our answer is not that we know of. Many media companies have tested out the concepts behind ChicagoNow, but none have integrated them all like we plan to do," she says.

"Will ChicagoNow be a success? It already is. For July, we are on track to receive one million page views for the month. This is less than two months after rolling out our beta site and before we've done any formal marketing. We've got a lot of work to do in the months ahead, but we couldn't have had a better start."

Working with BreakingTweets
The Tribune is not alone in its hyperlocal focus: last August political news site and aggregator the Huffington Post announced it would debut its local coverage with a Chicago site.

Breaking Tweets also considered launching a local version concentrating on the windy city. But as its founder is a graduate student of Schmidt, who also teaches at DePaul University, she approached Kanalley with the idea of Breaking Tweets Chicago.

With the Tribune's own Twitter persona, Colonel Tribune, who at at time of writing has 310,311 followers, being offered as a suggested follower to new Twitter registrants, there is clearly an appetite for the Tribune's content on the microblogging network and a community around it, which Breaking Tweets Chicago can tap into.

"The blog has been a phenomenal success, particularly during breaking news stories. This is because when a story breaks in Chicago and we need contest fast for ChicagoNow, we can turn to Craig and his team to give us a quick post on what local twitter users are saying," says Schmidt, adding that the service has offered expanded coverage of local events in particular.

"Through Breaking Tweets Chicago, we have a network of citizen journalists at the ready."

News applications
While the development of ChicagoNow shows the Tribune's use of the web to strengthen its relationship with its audience, the title is also investing in its traditional watchdog role with the creation of the new News Applications Department - featuring two of Medill's journalist-programmer graduates, Boyer and Ryan Mark.

Boyer and Mark will team up with Joe Germuska, described by Boyer as having 'a passion for open government data', and computer-assisted reporting expert Darnell Little.

"They will sit right in the middle of the newsroom with reporters and the web staff and try to be as much a part of the editorial process as possible," Bill Adee, digital editor, in an email to Journalism.co.uk.

The first application has already been launched: Clout Schools, which makes data on student applications to the University of Illinois searchable for tracking what special considerations are given to candidates based on political connections.

The data is feeding directly into an ongoing investigation into the university's admissions system - which is being detailed on the Tribune's watchdog page.

"Our editor, Gerry Kern, made it clear he wanted the Tribune to serve as a watchdog in government and consumer affairs. To do so, he made it a priority to increase our capacity to tell stories through data and make that data available to our online users," explains Adee.



"The goal of telling stories through data is to allow readers to further engage with a story by being able to personalize it: 'Elevators are a problem in Chicago. How's my elevator?'"

But again much like the plans for ChicagoNow, the News Applications Team is hoping its work will reach new audiences and bring print and online readers closer together. Just as blog contributors will be given greater control over what they post, readers will be able to dig into investigations themselves as the news applications team open up data.

"This is also a great way for our print and online platforms to complement each other," says Adee. "If we got half of our print readers to use our website, we would really have something. I think this is our best shot to do that."

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
chicago tribune | brian boyer | breaking tweets | craig kanalley | data journalism | ryan mark | bill adee | tracy schmidt |

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