Again on the fourth Saturday of April, a whole lotta journalists, developers, and "future of news" types will gather at Temple University for BarCamp News Innovation. During one day, people collaborate and gripe in unconference sessions and hack and brainstorm in a hackathon (this year deemed a "start-athon").
Since there will be a ton of smart folks in one place, it seemed like a great time to talk about that most vexing of questions: impact. Brian Abelson, the Knight-Mozilla Fellow at the New York Times is spending 10-months working to answer Greg Linch's question, "So, what if we measured journalism by its impact?" Greg and Brian will both be in Philly, and they kicked off a Google Group to gather ideas in advance of the Saturday morning unconference session. Brian also put together a great recommended reading list. It's pretty easy for the conversations around impact to go in circles, but the aim is for this discussion to be more focused. Greg suggested an "impact-a-thon" format where folks share case studies, discuss them in small groups, and then report back on the findings.
Do you have any case studies of stories you've worked on? Analytics and/or anecdotes to share of impact of the stories? Think back to those awards application cover letters, what did you describe for why your story should be honored?
The session, rather than theory, will focus on implementation. How have organizations monitored impact, and what are some specific examples of things they can do for future stories? We look forward to an insightful, action-oriented discussion, and want your help in designing the session. Please email the Google Group, share your thoughts, and join us Saturday morning.