Two-Way One-Oh-One

The day begins with emails, checking websites and looking at my Google Reader feed. ...

... To produce a note to myself of stories or topics I think we'll probably need to deal with.

Once in the office, the first priority is whatever's happened overnight, the hottest news of the moment or the issue that needs to be "set up" for the day.

So, those might include things such as:

-- Prosecution's Choice Of Charge Complicates Case Against Zimmerman

-- Tsunami Watch Canceled In Indian Ocean; Quake Struck Near Indonesia

-- With Wisconsin Win, Romney Moves From 'Likely' To 'Almost Certain'

-- Carnage In Oakland: 'People Started Running, And He Started Shooting'

We follow that with a quick roundup of headlines:

-- Top Stories: Zimmerman Murder Case Is Complicated; Syrian Truce Begins

Then we aim to jump on the things we know are coming:

-- Just 120,000 Jobs Added, But Jobless Rate Dips To 8.2 Percent

Be prepared to jump on the things we could not have predicted:

-- No Fatalities In Va. Fighter Jet Crash, Officials Confirm

And in between be offering a mix of the fun or quirky ...

-- VIDEO: Texting Guy Barely Escapes Bumping Into Bear.

... The just plain fascinating ...

-- LISTEN: Recordings Show How Wife Calmly Took Control To Land Plane

... and the touching:

-- Family, Friends, Fans Bid Farewell To Ben Breedlove, Who Touched Many

Through everything, we try to fold in NPR content when it's appropriate:

-- Tornadoes Touch Down Near Dallas; Widespread Damage Reported

We like to play off what NPR radio is doing, especially when it was our idea:

-- Here's How And Why Bubba Watson Hit The Shot That Won The Masters

And we enjoy working with correspondents who realize that this is a very useful platform, particularly for covering ongoing stories:

-- West Virginia mine disaster.

We're also always looking to show that we don't only post about things we're interested in (or even really understand):

-- Cricket's Tendulkar Gets His 100th 100

Things to bear in mind:

-- It's a great tool for giving readers lots of "added value." Photos. Videos. Audio. Documents. Links to background materials. Links to previous stories. Things that got left out of stories for space.

-- It is not a sign of weakness to point to others' good work. It's a service. And it builds a sense among users that you are working for them, not to promote things. We're "public" newssites.

-- Pull the public into the conversation. Look for their photos, videos, tweets, etc. Engage them in conversations. Quiz them.

-- It's not an "anything goes" world, though. Apply standard journalistic standards. Bear "fair use" in mind. Respect copyrights. Pause before publishing.

sribbled test

Live-blogging

The Evolution

In the beginning, there was On Deadline.

It quickly became a valuable tool for reporting breaking news, digger deeper into ongoing stories, surprising and delighting readers, and showing that we were out there surveying the media landscape to bring them valuable and sometimes just plain fun information.

That approach was brought to NPR in May 2009 with The Two-Way.

It is, first and foremost, a news blog. At the core of its mission is staying on top of what's happening, right now.

So, on days such as last Nov. 5:

We "live-blogged" the news from Fort Hood as it was coming in. That truly was a "river of news" that flowed past readers as quickly -- and accurately -- as we could pass it along. We looked to what our NPR colleagues were reporting, of course, but also to the best sources we could find from anywhere else. Those included the cable news networks, the wires, publications such as Army Times and the Army's Facebook page.

Or, on a much less serious note, on a day such as last Oct. 15, we followed right along as the rest of the nation watched that weather balloon float over Fort Collins -- and our readers chimed right in with some scientific analyses of their own.

The blog has other responsibilities, of course.

-- We want it to be a place where folks can come to get their day started by catching up on what's happened overnight.

-- It should be provocative without being opinionated.

-- It should be fun.

-- And while it certainly should spotlight the best that NPR has to offer, it also needs to be an "honest broker" that readers can come to knowing that we'll point them to important, credible stories no matter who's reporting them. If The Times or The Post or the BBC break something that people will want to know about, we'll tell them that too. They'll come back to us because of the trust we'll build up.

Through it all, I'm thinking about the person who wants timely, professionally reported/edited news and information/links of value -- and who doesn't mind once in a while being surprised/challenged a bit, having some fun, engaging in a conversation and contributing to the discussion.

A few other thoughts about what blogs like this are especially good for:

-- Covering breaking news.

-- Highlighting and expanding on exclusives.

-- Keeping track of ongoing stories.

-- Dealing with controversial subjects.

-- Surveying the media landscape.

-- Fun/touching/news-of-the-weird.

-- Explainers.

-- Interviews.

-- Peeling the onion.

Which all leads me to Surfing St. Louis and how I approached that assignment.

Build Outs

Mystifying:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/nyregion/16polk.html?scp=5&sq=David%20Rohde.&st=cse

Slightly better:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/taliban/index.html?scp=2&sq=%22Held%20by%20the%20Taliban%22&st=cse

Where's the story?

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/20/world/asia/1247465280261/held-by-the-taliban.html

Wonderful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/world/asia/18hostage.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Rohde%20Tahir%20%22Held%20by%20the%20Taliban%22&st=cse

Missed opportunity?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123851564

Underwhelming -- and where's the suspect?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123824057

Where are the links?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/02/haitis_next_big_hurdle_water.html

Perfect:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122522434

More examples of what we do

Monday's shooting in Las Vegas.

And follow-up.

Engage readers with questions (Brit Hume/Tiger Woods).

And quizzes (Olympics history).

Break news from two-ways the shows are doing -- even before they air: Chertoff.

Original reporting (ball/hall of fame).

Material from the reporters and producers (Iran).

Surveillance and keeping readers up-to-speed.

Examples Of What We Do

Live-Blogging The Fort Hood Shootings.

Obama Team Continues Push For Afghan Policy; Fed's Bernanke Gets His Hearing.

Lawyer: Neighbors Saw No Signs Of Family Dispute At Scene Of Tiger's Accident.

Story Debunked About Fort Hood Suspect And Presidential Transition.

White House: Elections Weren't About Obama.

How Deadly Are Rural Roads? It Depends On Your Definition Of Rural.

Holbrooke: Support From Allies On Afghanistan Is Best In His Lifetime.

Record High No. Of Americans Say U.S. Should 'Mind Its Own Business'.

Mega-Media Merger In Works: Comcast Cuts Deal For 51% Of NBC Universal.

In White House Vs. Fox News War Of Words, Who Gets Your Vote?

Fox News / White House Question Sparks Strong Response.