Thread by @heyproto

It's Saturday morning and we're kicking off a #bootcamp: journalism and content planning. #HeyMediaProgramming

Participants begin by mapping a niche they want to focus on, around which they will spend the day planning content #HeyMediaProgramming

The next step: reflecting on existing outlets that do a good job of covering their niche.

What is your niche?

Community lead @ameyann says hers would be cats. But is that really a niche?

#HeyMediaProgramming

Many of us want to focus on rural development. And @PARINetwork seems to be on everyone's radar. @Shalininess gave us a beautiful insight into their work at one of our early meetups. #HeyMediaProgramming #HeyMediaMission

And now, once we've found our niches, we start to drill down on the objects of their envy. What are other people doing? What are they doing well? What are the areas they focus on? What are the patterns that repeat on those websites? #HeyMediaProgramming #Research

Someone's studying @_TCglobal #HeyMediaProgramming

.@jatingandhi points out that with newspapers, you chose one that had a good mix of content, because it would be the only source. Now, consumption has changed: we can look for specific things from specific sites because we can access so many. #HeyMediaProgramming

People return to a site because they consistently do something right. @sruthinlal thinks @_TCglobal combines journalism and academics very well. @kunran82 feels @gaonconnection's strength is how they highlight positive rural stories. #HeyMediaProgramming

As a consumer of media, what do you keep going back to regularly?

For @umesharya it's ZeeNews.com, Bhaskar.com and InShorts.

@ameyann always reads @broadsheet_in and @afreedma's @axios science newsletter.

#HeyMediaProgramming

.@islandexpress goes back to @bonappetit's test kitchen.

For @aayushsoni it's @thewire_in's Arfa ka India, anchored by @khanumarfa: bit.ly/2W33IhC

@smritishesh is another fan of @GaonConnection

#HeyMediaProgramming

It's time to map audiences! All the rural development people are now sitting together, all the health people are sitting together, all the financial inclusion people are sitting together. If it wasn't cliquey earlier, it will be now... #HeyMediaProgramming

Now, in your niche, think of writers who are consistently producing good work in your area. They can be journalists or publishers but have to be active on Twitter, because that's how we can access them. #HeyMediaProgramming

The next step, think of people who are experts, people that your writers would use as authorities and sources. Think academics, lawyers, researchers, students, and think tanks, but try to aim for people over organisations. #HeyMediaProgramming

This exercise helps to build a listening grid, which allows you to learn about a topic by finding the right people to listen to. That's why we need them to be active on twitter, so we can see what they say. #HeyMediaProgramming

We’re solving for the right mix of people to listen to, so they should be from across the board. The people we choose must regularly have incisive and relevant things to say for them it to work. #HeyMediaProgramming

Here is facilitator @nasrhadi explaining what a listening grid is and why we're leaning about them today. #HeyMediaProgramming

Next up! Microinfluencers. These are fairly influential bloggers and commentators whose enthusiasm about a particular niche has grown into a following. A good example: @dhruv_rathee #HeyMediaProgramming

And after that come the macroinfluencers. It's a kinda subjective distinction, but an important one. A macroinfluencer is someone who does not speak about your niche very regularly, or even very insightfully, but when they do, it is amplified manifold. #HeyMediaProgramming

Why is a listening grid important especially when you're starting to plan your programming? #HeyMediaProgramming

Before you develop a content strategy, you must understand who you are developing that content for. That's why it is important to develop a listening grid. #HeyMediaProgramming

Now let's list the brands (products/services) who are already listening to and trying to advertise to the people you have listed, both your target audience and your lists of involved people so far. #HeyMediaProgramming

And finally, we look at global people and institutions relevant to your niche--while they may not say anything relevant to you, it may be good to get them to react to developments that are relevant to you. #HeyMediaProgramming

Before we move into setting up @TweetDeck, one final reminder of the importance of a listening grid. #HeyMediaProgramming

Build your lists into @TweetDeck and keep building them. A list has value when it has at least 30-40 names. When you add people, remember that they will look at the other people in the list. #HeyMediaProgramming

People don't tweet about only one thing. Refine your list by adding keywords to the list so that it only collates tweets from those people that are relevant to your interest. #HeyMediaProgramming

It's time to look at aggregation. How do you do it well? What are some things you shouldn't do? For a case study on good aggregation, check out mediagazer.com. #HeyMediaProgramming

They do several things right. For one, they hyperlink the source, which lets you read at the source if you wish. They also hyperlink the author so you can read their other work. #HeyMediaProgramming

Our next exercise is to find 5 major stories from the listening grid. Then supplement them with other stories, comments and conversations around them. Remember to find an organisation to link to as well against each story. #HeyMediaProgramming

.@kunran82 is trawling his tweetdeck lists to find stories and supplementary articles. #HeyMediaProgramming

Get in the habit of approaching aggregation like a checklist: a story, an alternative perspective, a response, some commentary, etc. That's a good way to keep overlapping to a minimum and have your aggregation be as exhaustive as possible. #HeyMediaProgramming

As we move on from aggregation, we leave you with this final thought. #HeyMediaProgramming

When you think of what a regular non-niche daily broadcaster or publisher, their stores l stories teens to fall into one of these categories. #HeyMediaProgramming

When planning your calendar, you need to sort your content by type. Every angle to a story works best in a certain format, and you should use that format to do it. #HeyMediaProgramming

Some of those categories are: news, listicle, explainer, review, interview, opinion, analysis and research. And each of these can be text, audio, video, data-based, graphics or some combination of the above. #HeyMediaProgramming

Keeping the calendar full and the pipeline steady will depend on who your output is for and how many people are on your team. If you don't have people you can't create content, and if you use formats your audience isn't interested in then you can't use them. #HeyMediaProgramming

The word to remember when you're planning your content is intersection. Intersections are where your chosen topic intersects with another one. If your topic is health, it could intersect with public policy, environment and gender. #HeyMediaProgramming

Why use intersections?

1. They offer readers ways to eliminate unwanted information. Remove the clutter for them.

#HeyMediaProgramming

2. Too many choices cause information anxiety, making it difficult to filter the signal from the noise. Segmentation makes it easier for the reader to discover and navigate content.

#HeyMediaProgramming

3. The human brain registers information in patterns and classifies it in mental categories called schemas. Structuring content facilitates assimilation and catalyses processing.

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4. Audiences that are invested deeply in specific aspects of a theme, gradually become a loyal audience when the slices you offer are clear, well-defined and robust.

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5. Offering routine, combined with the knowledge of audience preferences helps define editorial programming calendars and creates reader expectations.

#HeyMediaProgramming

6. Cataloguing and labelling facilitates better discovery of content on online searches, enables better SEO. Tracking usage analytics leads to creation of content better received by the audience.

#HeyMediaProgramming

7. Covering different aspects of a theme in depth and offering content with a shelf life, you become a go-to resource on a subject. Eventually, you are building a body of work and creating better brand recall.

#HeyMediaProgramming

8. Over time, become a convening point for the invested community by curating events, meetups etc that meet community expectations and drive conversations.

#HeyMediaProgramming

When you make your plan, you have to think strategically. How many people are on your team? What are their skills? How much can you do in advance? #HeyMediaProgramming

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