Find your local community online

[Kunal Singh]

Many towns are becoming increasingly connected. There are forums where residents get together to share resources or gripes, the Web site that was put together about the construction happening on Main St., or the social community residents use to talk about local news. These places actually exist. Seek them out and become part of that world. Get involved in these conversations and build up your reputation as someone who listens and reports on the stuff that matters. When you do, you’ll not only already have your sources in place, but you’ll also be increasing your promotional army when you report on something found in their community.
There are so many opportunities for newspapers in SEO and social media that it’s downright frustrating to see them ignoring them and whining that SEO is ruining their creativity. SEO isn’t ruining your ability to be a good journalists, it’s giving you the tools you need to become a better journalist. Nikki ends her article asking whether SEO is really friend or foe for journalists and, in the end, decides that it doesn’t really matter. The best thing, she says, for journalists to do is to figure out how to use SEO more effectively to make journalism better. And that’s the core. Journalists and newspapers can continue to complain that the Web and SEOs are ruining things…or they can evolve and learn how to use these tools to improve what they were doing. You decide how your time is better spent.