Tools and resources every journalist should experiment with
- 1. Tools and resources every journalist should experiment with Journalism - Information Gathering Resources
- 2. Tools have always come from the need to carry out a specific task more effectively. It's one of the main differences between human beings and the rest of the animal kingdom. We may still be slaves to the same old evolutionary urges but we sure know how to eat noodles in style. In journalism, an abstract tool for uncovering the most interesting and insightful information about society, we can generally boil the workflow down to four stages: finding, reporting, producing and distributing stories. So with that in mind, here are a range of tools which will – hopefully – help you carry out your journalism tasks more effectively
- 3. Advanced Google Search • A somewhat simplistic start to the list, maybe, but Google has many tricks that every self-respecting journalist should be taking advantage of. While it is very good for a spot of online shopping, journalists need to learn a few tweaks and tips to improve their searching with the use of search operators. • The site search function (e.g. "site:journalism.co.uk tools") is probably the most powerful here, especially when combined with other search operators like filetype: or inurl: to find information that might be locked deep in the rabbit's nest of a government website. Check out 25 Killer Combos for Google's Site: Operator (6 with "inurl") – Moz for some detailed examples and think how they could apply to your work, and check also some Google search operators from GoogleGuide.com
- 4. If This Then That • If This Then That - or if - is a fantastic tool and one all journalists should try. It allows you to connect different platforms and accounts. For example, you can create a 'recipe' which sends you a text when your editor emails you, you can create one to download a photo to Dropbox when you are tagged in a picture on Facebook, or you can use Siri to add text to reminders in Evernote. There is a list of ifttt recipes for journalists here. • ‘If this then that’: ten recipes for journalists | Editors Blog | Journalism.co.uk • It was written some time ago but is still useful. Here are a couple of ideas which could work for newsgathering: If an Instagram picture is tagged with a specific hashtag, send me an email. Another example is an existing recipe someone else has shared. It sends a text when a large earthquake hits California by connecting the RSS feed of an earthquake monitoring site to a chosen SMS service. Here's a recipe for UK earthquake alerts. •You can also connect the feed to autopost on Facebook or Twitter Receive notifications of specific events.
- 5. Storyful Multisearch • As the first social newswire, Storyful has the inside track on finding stories around the world through social media, largely by building its own software similar to Tweetdeck but with automated alerts for keywords. • There's a lot more involved in the full, paid- for service used by news organisations worldwide, but the Multisearch browser extension is a quick way to search for keywords across a handful of social networks.
- 6. Echosec • Echosec is one of a whole range of sites and services that have sprung up in recent years to help people search for geolocated posts on social media. • In short, the free service lets you draw a shape around a certain area on a map and the software will return all the tweets posted to that location within a specified time period. Add the 'premium' service and Echosec opens up other social networks like YouTube, Sina Weibo and more. GramFeed is a good alternative option for freely searching Instagram, while the mobile app Banjo relaunched recently with a slicker interface, although its new focus on events may limit its relevance for quickly finding social media posts around you. Finally, if you have the budget, services like Geofeedia are used by news organizations all over the world for a really powerful geolocated search.
- 7. TinEye • Unfortunately for reporters, one of the internet's favorite pastimes is making up rumors and faking photos. • Are you 100 percent sure that image posted on Twitter is really of the flooding in Texas? Or the picture on Facebook shows people suffering in the heatwaves in India? Whole books have been written on various verification tools and techniques, but the first port of call should always be TinEye, which scours the web for the first time an image was used online. Check out Google's reverse image search as well, just as a back up, as some recent anecdotal grumblings allege TinEye isn't always as reliable as it once was
- 8. DataPortals.org and Google Public Data • The vast amount of public and private data available in the 21st century is inescapable, and can hold the key to an immeasurable number of news stories and sources. DataPortals is essentially a global database of databases, with more than 400 sources of data from every corner of the earth. • However, not every country has strong open data laws, so don't expect full access everywhere. Google Public Data is also worth exploring as a quick way to access specific datasets from large global institutions as well.
- 9. Mention • The first is a powerful tool called Mention. Unlike Google Alerts, this tool finds mentions of your keywords or phrases on social platforms, such as Facebook, plus it scans blogs, forums, videos and images. You can download a desktop version (Mac, PC or Linux), or choose to use one of the web or mobile apps. You then set up your keywords or phrases and Mention will run in the background. You can click on the alerts in the app and see the source. If you prefer, you can take an RSS feed of the search term. • This app offers a great user experience and will be useful to journalists covering all beats. If you are researching a niche topic or tracking a business, place or person, it is particularly valuable. There is a free 30-day trial and payment plans start at $6.99. • Monitoring and Social Media Management | Manage your Brand Online (mention.com)
- 10. TalkWalker • If you like the idea of a Google Alerts alternative go for TalkWalker. TalkWalker offers a paid-for platform for monitoring social media but has a free email alerts option. • Google Alerts alternative. The best and free alerts service with Twitter results - Talkwalker
- 11. ChangeDetection • This free and very simple service sends you an email every time a change is made to a specified web page. You add a URL and the tool will then send email alerts to notify you when text is added or removed from a particular page. • Visualping: #1 Website change detection, monitoring and alerts
- 12. Newsle Discover when new data is release By connecting your LinkedIn account, Facebook account and Gmail or other email to Newsle, you find out when one of your contacts gets a new job, an award, or makes the news. You can see when your contacts are quoted or included in an article and you can also track 'friends of friends'.
- 13. NewsWhip • NewsWhip is a tool that we have written about before. It allows you to monitor and filter news shared across social networks in one platform. You can find out what is trending in different parts of the world, or in a particular niche. A new feature called Spike Alerts launched, which sends an email alert of the news stories in any niche which are getting the most traction on social media. Check this link: Social Media Analytics | NewsWhip
- 14. Advanced Twitter search • As with Google, every journalist should have some basic understanding of the merits of Twitter for finding tips and stories, but there are some power tools out there that can do the hard work for you. Chief among them? Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck's main strength comes in being able to watch a large number of customised Twitter feeds, based on lists or searches. You can create your own lists of Twitter accounts around specific beats if you so wish, or follow those created by others and have them displayed together side-by-side to track the Twitter chat. Twitter has a Google-style list of search operators as well, which can be combined to find niche corners of the 6,000 Tweets per second that could be the start of your next story. • Note: Twitter search operators, from Twitter.com
- 15. To search anything on Facebook, all you need to do is type the keyword (one word or a group of words) in the search bar and select what are you looking for from the drop-down list. Hit Look up. However, before doing all this, do not forget to login to your Facebook account first using the same browser you are using for our website. Facebook advanced research For example, if you are looking a friend, type then name in the search bar and select people from the drop-down menu. And, click on Look up. Once you do that, the results will start populating on the screen. Similarly, you can search for groups, pages, videos, photos, events, apps etc. Whatever you want to search for, just type the keyword for it using this Facebook stalker. Select the right place to look for the keywords (people, posts, groups etc) and we will get you the closest result at the top of the list.
- 16. YouTube Like a Pro Using Advanced Search Operators • Using YouTube's Filter Options • Much of the time, you can use YouTube's built-in filters to help narrow your search results. • To access them, first run a search on YouTube. Next, click the Filter button and you'll see several filter options. You can choose just one of them or combine several for deeper searches. • Note that some combinations won't work, however. For example, if you filter by upload date, you can't also filter by channels.
- 17. Social Media Tools for journalists
- 19. • Social Media Resources • Twitter - communicate in 140 characters or less • Pinterest - social bookmarking/pinning site • Reddit - post and vote on top posted stories • Stumbleupon - recommends sites based on interests • Buzzfeed - shared stories based on interest topics • Delicious - social bookmarking site • Friendfeed - “..discover and discuss the interesting stuff your friends find on the web.” • Technorati - collects, highlights, and distributes online global conversation • Digg - aggregates stories on the Internet • FARK - online news aggregator and social media site • Storify - helps its users tell stories by curating social media • Talkwheel - a conversation wheel that lets you see where most people are commenting and a sidebar of topics good for a quick scan of the dialogue •SocialBro - time-saving tool for Twitter aficionados •Commun.it - breaks down relationships with Twitter followers into categories such as influencers, supporters and engaged members •Storyful - get the most popular social media stories of the day when you’re on the go •Tumblr - A feature rich and free blog hosting platform offering professional and fully customizable templates, bookmarks, photos, mobile apps, and social network •Google Trends - compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics •Google Reader - checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content •Google Docs - allows you to create and share work online •Google + Hangouts - video chat with multiple people at one time •Spundge - collaboratively curate the web and create relevant, influential content •Tout - enables the creation of 15 second videos on your phone
- 20. • Blogging Tools • Cover it live - live blogging tool • Wordpress - free website and blog tool • Blogs • KISSmetrics - 40 Advanced and Alternative Search Engines • Poynter Digital Tools Catalog • Online Journalism Review - (OJR) from the Knight Digital Media Center • Visualize.tumblr.com - a blog about visualization
- 21. • Aggregated Data • Google Data Set Search • Quandl • Website Data and Statistics • CrunchBase offers insight into your favorite online brands and companies. Listings will tell you people who are associated with a company, contact information, related videos, screenshots, and more. • Quantcast allows you to search for website profiles based on topic or specific domains • BuiltWith allows you to search for domains and see the technology they use, including analytics, content management systems, coding, and widgets.
- 22. • Data Visualization Tools • Try These Data Visualization Tools: • Computer World's 30+Free Tools for Data Visualization and Analysis • Google Chart Tools • Google Maps API • Infogr.am • Chartio • Datawrapper • Modest Maps • Polymaps • OpenLayers • Kartograph
- 23. • Image and Audio Editing Tools • Try These Image and Auditing Tools : • Instagram • Audacity • YouTube • Livestream • Image Editors: • Photoshop express • Fotoflexer
- 24. • Survey, Wiki, QR Code, URL Shorteners... • Survey Resources • Qualtrics (MU's Portal - sign in with your Paw Print) • PollDaddy • Survey Monkey • Zoomerang • Wiki stuff • Mediawiki • DoKuWiki • PmWiki • WikkaWiki • TWiki • Xwiki • Assorted Digital Tools • Wordle • Alphabetizer • Online dictionary/thesaurus/encyclopedia