Al's Morning Meeting

A couple of weeks ago, I taught a workshop at WGAL-TV in Lancaster, Pa. My job was to help the newsroom think about how to make the station's Web site, and the entire news operation, more interactive with the audience.

I trained the staff how to use lots of online sites, including CoveritLive.com, a Web site that makes it easy to hold a live online chat with anyone. That's when WGAL photographer Greg Berkey chimed in with something like, "We should invite viewers to join us live in our morning meeting and pitch story ideas to the newsroom." 

The idea took off like wildfire around the room. (I would just like to underscore the fact that it was a photojournalist who came up with the idea. Too often we exclude photojournalists from newsroom training and especially from morning editorial meetings.)

WGAL launched the idea this week. From 9:30 until 10:15 a.m. EST, the station's Web site features a live chat that the public can follow to find out about the station's morning meeting. I asked News Director Dan O'Donnell how it's going. His edited responses are below.

Al Tompkins: Why open your morning meeting to the public?

Dan O'Donnell: It's an extension of what we've done for years ... bringing the viewers into our decision making process. We host about a dozen town meetings each year around our market getting viewer feedback and collecting story ideas. This is really just a natural extension of that. It's like having one of our town meetings every day. 
 
What useful ideas have you gotten from the public?

O'Donnell: We've only been doing this for a couple of days, but each day we've done it we've gotten ideas that turned into broadcast stories. The first day people were chatting about the economy and a woman who runs a skills training program we had never heard of was in the chat room and invited us over. It was a good story. The second day we were working on a story about the ways people are still enjoying "luxury" at a lower cost. The chatters tossed out a whole bunch of ideas that we can work into our story.
We've also collected a half-dozen ideas that will take some work but look promising. We're getting a lot of requests for follow-ups on stories we had long forgotten about.
 
Don't you just get bogged down with gadflies?

O'Donnell: We've had roughly 80 people in the chat each day. Most just watch. On the first day we had some random chat room "rants." On the second day we politely guided people toward story discussion and that seemed to control it. We expect there will be some "frequent fliers" but I think that could be good. This is an experiment. In two days it's been very productive. If it stops being productive and becomes a gimmick, we'll make changes or adjust.
 
What about concerns that morning meetings already drag on too long?

O'Donnell: Our biggest concern about this was that it would be disruptive. We considered doing it before the meeting but decided the interaction was what we were looking for. We have one person who runs the chat. That person sends out notes about the stories we're discussing and fosters the ideas that come up among the chatters. We go around the table just like we always did and then the moderator shares the ideas and feedback from the chatters. It hasn't added to the length of the meeting at all.
 
How will you let people know that you took their ideas seriously?

O'Donnell: When we do the stories on-air, we are giving the chat audience credit for bringing them to our attention. We're also collecting contact information in a private message to the chatters so we can follow up with them to get more information or let them know how the story is turning out. I doubt we'll be able to get back to everyone, but we'll try. This is the same thing we do with stories that come out of our town meetings.
 
If this is successful, won't your competitors just log into your morning meeting and cherry-pick the best ideas?

O'Donnell: I guess that's a possibility. I have some good competitors. I'm sure they don't need my chat room to come up with story ideas. It's not really a concern.
I wasn't sure what we would get in trying this, but I've been impressed with the ideas we've received and the perspective we've gained. I wouldn't do it to grow page views. It's about growing the journalism, then letting all the information you collect find it's way onto the appropriate platform for the viewers and users.
O'Donnell shared some background information on the story ideas and questions that viewers/online users pitched this week:

• We were doing a story on people using cheaper alternatives for luxury -- like spa services. The chat gave us lots of ideas about what people are doing. We'll probably build a Web element around them and start a running discussion about the ways people are saving but still enjoying things they like.
• A local school bus driver still working even after having many complaints filed against him.
• Are there any local companies that grew out of the Great Depression?
• With President Barack Obama mentioning solar power in his stimulus package, are there any local solar suppliers and/or manufacturers?
• One person suggested we follow up on the Mount Joy train accident from a few years back when a kid was struck and killed while listening to his iPod. She said nothing has really been done at the railroad crossing, despite being told there would be safety improvements.