Online Newsrooms: Control the Narrative

Today, I’ll be discussing my views on the importance of maintaining an online newsroom. As online media gains momentum in the world of communications and journalism, no company or organization should be without an online newsroom resource.

The idea behind an online newsroom is to generate a one stop shop location for all interested journalists, stakeholders, and customers.

An online newsroom, like the American Red Cross Newsroom, is a treasure chest of prepackaged information that is easy to use. The ARC ‘s newsroom is different from their website. Their website contains training information, event information, and how to volunteer. Their newsroom is almost strictly used for must need information on the most current crisis they are aiding.

The online newsroom has news releases; facts on the current disaster, interviews, photos of the disaster, media contact points for local, regional, and national levels, broadcast quality b-roll, and completed news stories ready for print.

If you are a journalist covering and disaster, the Red Cross now has you completely taken care of in a one stop shop. You can grab a completed story which are ready for print, or download the b-roll; ready for broadcast.

Here is a perfect break down of the intent of their newsroom:

http://newsroom.redcross.org/

• Items in the left hand column are in chronological order. Pick the information as quickly as you find it, and help us spread the word.

• Items in the right hand column are in “summary” style. If you are on a deadline and just need a quick list of statistics or services, you can grab them from the category links on the right.

• “Announcements” are essentially housekeeping messages to the media. If we add a section of information, or want to designate an after-hours on-call contact, that will fall under “Announcements.”

• “Alerts” are items that we’d like shared with the public as quickly as you can. Broadcasters, or even newspapers with websites can pull this information as often as they’d like (and we’d be pleased if you did!)

• “News Releases” are traditional news releases, ready for you to clip and run with as much or little editing as you’d like.

The importance of this site to journalists cannot be down played. The American Red Cross now has, from a PR and journalistic standpoint, made themselves the ultimate resource. This means they now control the content.

The Red Cross is in the business of Crisis management, so there is a lot to be learned for those PR practioners who work for businesses who will experience a crisis (that is everyone!)

An online newsroom is something a company should have in the waiting. When a crisis hits, you can fill the newsroom with all your information. From pictures, interviews, complete stories, press releases, and b-roll.

If journalists only need to visit you for what they need, then you have the power to control the narrative. You can feed them what you like.

The idea is genius.

Control the narrative.