Get wired to win.
Paul Balcerak's Groups
-
Gear Recommendations
80 members
-
Tools you can use
270 members
Paul Balcerak | Web editor
Profile Information
- What news organization do you work for?
- Sound Publishing
- Which of these best describes your day job?
- Web Developer
- About Me:
- Assistant editor in Sound Publishing's New Media department. We're working on going hyper-local on the Web in our coverage areas (Kitsap peninsula, San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island and the rest of Puget Sound minus Seattle).
- Website:
- http://www.pnwlocalnews.com
- Twitter:
- http://www.twitter.com/paulbalcerak
Latest Activity
My employer, Sound Publishing, has me on a kind of fact finding/info hunting mission as we look for ways to improve our community newsbrands and their Web sites. We want to know what other sites (traditional news sites, blogs, etc.) are doing to b...
We use Twitter to post news from ourselves and others and to just share interesting/funny/etc. links that we find. Our Tweets go into a pool of local news feeds on seattlepi.com, which brings us some traffic occasionally.
We've also used Twitter ...
That's one hell of a shrewd move. I can't confess to (personally) being a huge fan of separating comments from stories on two different pages, but I also can't argue with what's working for you and your readers.
Town of 50,000? I think that answe...
Good points, especially the one about libel discouraging bloggers.
Couple (nitpicky) things I disagree with: "short-term, we're going to see a big drop in news coverage, and medium-term, we'll probably see a lot of deterioration in news coverage ...
I just started blogging a whole lot and asking questions/observing things, which led to a lot of interaction with other members. More content = more chances for interaction.
You're right—the news, and even newspaper, business isn't exactly dead. But old news print companies have gotten themselves into quite a lot of debt, which is why a lot of them are flailing or folding.
I agree that journalism students need encour...
You bet it will Paul. I'm glad they're confident and they do their thing despite all else. They have a real model.
Just posted some of my thoughts on '09 grads who maybe aren't quite ready for the real journalism world. My best advice: Don't freak out; there's still time to learn.
Paul Balcerak's Blog
Growing online community—looking for feedback
My employer, Sound Publishing, has me on a kind of fact finding/info hunting mission as we look for ways to improve our community newsbrands and their Web sites. We want to know what other sites (traditional news sites, blogs, etc.) are doing to build communities around their brands.
I'm hoping some of you won't mind sharing answers to a few of these questions (and please feel free to send me a priv… Continue
I'm hoping some of you won't mind sharing answers to a few of these questions (and please feel free to send me a priv… Continue
Posted on June 10, 2009 at 11:27am —
Advice for '09 journalism grads
Just posted some of my thoughts on '09 grads who maybe aren't quite ready for the real journalism world. My best advice: Don't freak out; there's still time to learn.
Posted on March 24, 2009 at 9:25pm —
Investigative journalists: Take credit!
Forgot to post a link to my newest post the other day, where I implore investigative journalists to make their hard work more obvious.
Essentially, I think that with so much "you'll miss us when we're gone" talk from old school print journalists, they need to drop the humility act and start yelling in the form of page banners and logos: "WE WORKED OUR ASSES OFF ON THIS HUGE INVESTIGATIVE PIECE AND WITHOUT US… Continue
Essentially, I think that with so much "you'll miss us when we're gone" talk from old school print journalists, they need to drop the humility act and start yelling in the form of page banners and logos: "WE WORKED OUR ASSES OFF ON THIS HUGE INVESTIGATIVE PIECE AND WITHOUT US… Continue
Posted on March 12, 2009 at 9:26pm —
No News is Bad News mini wrap & link
I've begun the process of moving this blog over to Paul Balcerak on WordPress. I'll still be active here, but my posts won't appear in full anymore. The reason for the move is that I like WordPress's blogging platform a lot better and it makes mobile posting a lot easier.
The No News is Bad News: Seattle as a no newspaper town? panel/forum turned out as I expected (little discussion on busines… Continue
The No News is Bad News: Seattle as a no newspaper town? panel/forum turned out as I expected (little discussion on busines… Continue
Posted on March 3, 2009 at 1:00pm — 2 Comments
Comment Wall (15 comments)
- At 10:11pm on February 18, 2009,
Cassandra Gallagher said… - You mentioned you're going hyper-local in your coverage areas...have you heard of Serra Media? (Or is that what you're talking about already?)
I'm a student up at Western Washington University and we're one of many schools Mark Briggs has been working with to experiment for the hyper-local newsgarden website. (Mostly because we can post things for the Bellingham Herald website).
I think this idea of hyper-local is really interesting. Especially the idea that as the web gets bigger we are finding ways to still keep it close to home and local.
- At 11:06am on January 23, 2009,
Marqise Allen said… - Hey Paul. How goes it? I'm doing pretty good. I've got a job, so I can't complain. What have you been up to lately? Well just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing. If you're ever in the Centralia-Chehalis area, be sure to let me know. Take care.
- At 6:15am on January 13, 2009,
tammy leytham said… - Paul,
Thanks for the comment! I'm stepping in slowly, but I do enjoy hearing from others who have been involved in blogging for a while. With every click I learn about someone new.
Take care!
- At 2:51pm on July 21, 2008,
Will Sommer said… - Guess I misread the part about having a bigger circulation than some metros. Hope all's well with your site!
- At 4:23pm on July 17, 2008, Will Sommer said…
- Thanks for the link, Paul! Useful stuff. I liked how that writer talked about how randomly the internet decides what posts will be popular and which will go unnoticed.
I see your site has more visitors than the metro papers--nice!
- At 5:24pm on July 10, 2008,
amy.nickelson said… - Hey Paul,
I'm in the exact same spot you are with Facebook. We're still unpublished and I'm thinking, "Well, what good is this gonna do if no one friends us?"
Initial ideas include adding a "Find us on Facebook" link on our paper's Web site and to all of the email signatures for reporters and editors. And putting something similar in the print edition, maybe A1 teasers for a while. (As my editor spews his lunch over the idea.)
I'm toying with the idea of some kind of contest too, like the first 20 people to friend us on our our Facebook page get a summer swag bag. That would be relatively cheap for us to put together and might get the ball rolling.
I think part of the key to keep people coming back to the Facebook page will be highlighting content that is a bit different than what the paper's site offers. Maybe some video clips, photos that didn't make the cut on the paper's Web site, etc. Sort of like a "behind the scenes" look at how we operate. Ten million dollar question is how to keep this fresh along with the regular site management duties.
You got any promotion plans?
Let me know how you do with digg. I Farked for my first time yesterday. Put up a story about a local cop who started a bar brawl. I checked on it 5 minutes after posting, and it was already buried on Page 32 of incoming story links and only had two hits. Hmmm. Yeah. Not so much help. But forging ahead nonetheless.
Let me know how it goes for you.
- At 1:08pm on July 10, 2008,
Jonathan Weiss said… - You're very welcome, and of course feel free to email me any questions you come across!
- At 12:46pm on July 9, 2008,
Jason Molinet said…
- Hey Paul:
I'm a former Newsday reporter who started his own online media company. Buildnclick.com is one of my offerings. We specialize in Internet solutions for small businesses. And that includes SEO. As a publisher myself I understand your needs better than most. If I can help, let me know.
Jason Molinet
- At 4:47pm on July 8, 2008,
Megan Hansen said… - Life's pretty good. Just when things start to get boring it throws a curve ball. There was a massive house fire last night. I was there to capture all the action.
Where are you living these days? Did you ever end up out on the peninsula?
- At 10:01am on July 3, 2008, Megan Hansen said…
- Hey Paul!
I see you're not at the Central Kitsap Reporter anymore. When did that change take place? Are you liking your new job? Next week will be my one year anniversary with the NVN! It doesn't seem like it's been a year since graduation!
About
Where credit is due
Howard Owens and Zac Echola are the co-founders of Wired Journalists, sharing all the credit and blame with Ryan Sholin.
Patrick Thornton is around here somewhere, as well.
Contact any of us with questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Thanks!
Patrick Thornton is around here somewhere, as well.
Contact any of us with questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Thanks!
© 2009 Created by Ryan Sholin on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
