How to «Live»

International best practices for live content  



 

 & Boston.com

The Boston Globe 

Pulitzer-prize winning journalism

Huge number of visitors



Total Unique Visitors to boston.com liveblogs

75 million


Total UEMs on boston.com liveblogs

662 million

They weren’t the only ones covering the bombings. 

 

 Link

 WCVB

 

 Link

Run
Blog
Run

 

So what made
Boston.com
different? 

  • Were trained and prepared

  • Invested in a “live” strategy

  • Connected to a worldwide network


 

Know the tools

You wouldn’t go into a press conference without a pen and paper or recorder. Don’t find yourself
in a breaking news situation not knowing
how to use the technology.

Boston.com


  • Journalists, editors trained on social tools

  • Practiced ScribbleLive, made connections

  • Reporters knew the workflow

 

Digital First Media

The hunt for Christopher Dorner

 

Trained
on social



 

Knew
ScribbleLive

Workflow


More information


Daily Freeman coverage: Link
LA Daily News coverage: Embed link

Invest in «live»


Put your money where your mouth is. 

Invest in your real-time online strategy.

Before the bombings

The Boston Globe and Boston.com had a number of reporters on scene
ready to cover the finish line with ScribbleLive and social channels

 

Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag

Orkan Xaver

Investing in «live»

Xaver was forecasted to rage for up to three days. 
shz.de organized day and night shifts to report.

More than 50 hours

of non-stop, up-to-date storm coverage

Hundreds

reader questions

157,000 

unique visitors



More information

shz.de's coverage: Link

ScribbleLive Spotlight on shz.de: Link

For more, ask for ScribbleLive's case study of
shz.de's coverage of Cyclone Xaver
 

Network around 

the world

Connect to organizations worldwide. Push content to them and increase your reach. Pull in authoritative content from the source. 

 Flood relief liveblog

MDR


Regional syndication

MDR—part of the state-owned broadcaster ARD—gave their event to the local Sächsische Zeitung who, in turn, enabled their readers to contribute to the effort.

During the first days of the natural disaster, “Hilfe suchen – Hilfe anbieten“ was used primarily to co-ordinate people to secure dams and levees. After the flood, the live blog was centralized around  connecting people and communities to manage the aftermath.

The liveblog ran 

24/7 for 12 days.

of comments were left by users.

Thousands 

User traffic for MDR.de increased

tenfold.


More information

MDR's event: Link

ScribbleLive Spotlight on MDR: Link

MDR/ScribbleLive case study: Link


Boston.com syndication

During the US elections, they put all their coverage of the
debates and election day in the Scribble Market. 


  • Became a trusted, authoritative source
  • Increased SEO from increased reach
  • Built a network around the world



They became the go-to 

organization for real-time 

coverage of the bombings. 


Syndicators of their coverage

  • Le Soir (Belgium), ABC.es (Spain), La Stampa (Italy), Rappler (Philippines), Mediehuset Nettavisen, MSN International: Singapore, Berlingske (Denmark)
  • Chicago Sun-Times, Seattle Times, WEWS-TV, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NPR
  • Winnipeg Sun, Toronto Star, Yahoo Canada
  • Lee Enterprises: The Citizen, Pantagraph, Casper Star-Tribune, Quad City Times, The Citizen, Billings Gazette, Sioux City Journal, Daily Herald, Bismarck Tribune

Just to name a few.

Total: 114

Total syndicated UEMs: 360 million

Since then...

Boston.com has been offered content partnerships with organizations they otherwise would not have been able to access.

More information

Scribble Chat: How media covered the Boston Marathon
bombings in real-time

Boston.com/ScribbleLive case study

Blog post: Boston Marathon explosions, told in real time

Quotes from Boston.com & Boston Globe reporters

Catherine Cloutier, online producer at Boston.com

In times like the bombings and manhunt, it's important to deliver verified information as it comes in. I saw the live blog as a service to the community. Details like closed schools, transit systems or the "shelter in place" order needed to be conveyed immediately.

Cloutier (cont'd)

Friends told me after the fact that they sat with eyes glued to that feed for days. It was a really important resource, as was the Globe's comprehensive, long-form coverage of the events.

Adrienne Lavidor-Berman, social media editor for Boston.com/The Boston Globe. 

A former editor here referred to "real-time" reporting as allowing readers to see the "making of the sausage." It can be messy - and we try to avoid the mess by only reporting verified information - but we do issue corrections as we discussed earlier. I heard from many, many people who refreshed our twitter feeds and live blogs all throughout our coverage.

Martine Powers, transportation reporter, Boston Globe

In terms of advice, I'd say: Make sure that Twitter/social media are a non-negotiable part of your daily workflow ... that way, when something huge and incredible happens like this, those practices are second nature to you.

How to «Live»

By allendria

How to «Live»

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