Inviting Campus Coverage

Panelists
Howard LaFranchi, Christian Sciencd Monitor
Mark Stencel, NPR
Will McGuinness, Huffington Post

Mark spent his time talking about the ways that the audience for NPR has changed and how the organization has had to rethink how it delivers stories and news. Talked to him quickly after the presentation. There was a long line!

About HuffPost college, Will talked about:

Creating sub communities within Huffpost college

Using a wide variety of content...something serious next to something lighter to let readers choose what they want to read. (Huffpost college receives 6.6 million visits per day)

Stories should't feel like required reading even ones covering student debt or value of a liberal arts education

New ideas for community building sub sections include:

Profs, prezzes and pitchfork

The thesis project (publishing student theses for smaller community group)

Quarter life crisis (featuring people in early 20s who do or experience something that drastically changes the course of their lives)

The college debate society (real debate around real issues, Huffpost teaming up switch largest college debate society in the world)

Howard talked about how his job has changed at the Christian Science Monitor No surprises...where he once wrote two to three stories a week, he is now writing the same amount each day. "Reporters need a lot more people, more often and need faster responses," he said.

He mentioned great work by a Notre Dame media relations person who proactively sent him information on an expert available on a topic she felt would be hot in in the news soon (anticipating news). When the news broke, she sent a follow up email with a quote from the professor to show his angle. She provided a cell phone number and the expert was available. Howard uses this professor regularly in his stories because they have a direct relationship.

"Cell phone numbers are golden," he said.

What irritates? Yep...pitching an expert, the reporter calls to make contact and the expert isn't available.

In our media training, in might be good to talk about different kinds of reporters and why being willing to respond quickly and provide a cell phone number is critical to making national news. Or have Ananda teach that part!