volunteer roles available for local news site editors and publishers
As I reported recently, the 10 Melbourne local news sites I have established are all now receiving regular contributions from diverse sources. Each site receives sufficient content to be considered a viable project. It’s now time for the next planned stage of the project. From their inception I have planned to find collaborators to work on the sites as editors, curators and publishers as well as content creators. In time I hope I can find volunteer editors and publishers for each of the sites so they can receive further development from a dedicated member of the community.
I realise that the role will not appeal to most people; it requires a combination of local knowledge and technical skill. I do think however that there may be a few people in Melbourne for whom the role of editor and publisher is as appealing as the role of author and photographer, which is the role undertaken by most local content creators. Curating information is an important part of the role of a publication; determining what is relevant and what is not, and what has quality and what does not, requires particular skills and experience.
The role of the editor and publisher is required because new content sources are regularly being created, and their authors need to be encouraged to add suburb metadata to enable their content to be included in the local news sites. Furthermore, because the sites are built with free open source software and make use of third party plugins, they are relatively fragile and are prone to breaking. They need regular maintenance.
The plugin that does the RSS syndication is prone to failing, so the editor needs to check regularly that it is updating the site. There are several common errors that cause it to fail, such as a memory error or trying to syndicate a feed that no longer exists. It then needs to be run manually to reset it.
Beginner editor role
Tasks
- view site often (preferably daily) to check that it is running correctly and is receiving updates
- log in to the site to check if it has not updated in 2-3 days
- run update manually if not
- maintain site, eg run WordPress updates and plugin updates
- identify new content sources, eg blogs of new shops in area, or geocoded data from big sources, eg ABC, Twitter, Flickr etc
- format feeds for new sources
- add new sources to site
- contact publishers of sites added to inform them their content is being used
- remove source if requested
- maintain spreadsheet of sources (shared Google docs spreadsheet)
Requirements
- medium to advanced WordPress skills, or beginner skills and ability to learn more
- computer and broadband internet access
- time to manage site
- on the ground local knowledge to identify potential new content sources, eg new shops and galleries etc
- commitment to maintaining the site as non-commercial, free from advertising, and freely accessible
- commitment to treating all sources equally and not leveraging influence to gain favours or freebies
Advanced editor and publisher role
Additional tasks
- design new features, such as those enabled by new plugins
- install new plugins and build new features
- improve graphic design of site, alter stylesheet, design masthead etc
- move site to dedicated hosting (may incur costs)
- create brand and identity for site including domain name (will incur costs)
Additional requirements
- experience installing and updating WordPress
- experience managing domain hosting
- graphic design skills
- CSS skills
- HTML skills
We’re at the beginning of a fundamental shift in local news. No longer does it need to be created by corporations and delivered to us full of advertising and irrelevent information. Now local news can be written, published and shared by local communities and audiences for the benefit of the community without any need for commercial mediation. You are invited to contribute to the development of community oriented news in your local area through the 10 Melbourne local news sites.
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Other posts you may find relevant and interesting
- an update on the 10 Melbourne local news sites, 16 October 2009
- new local content about Carlton and Fitzroy, 2 February 2009
- the best Melbourne local news and citizen journalism, 14 April 2009
- the local newspapers of the future, 17 March 2009
- WordPress plugins for Mozilla Geode and Google Gears Geolocation would enable location awareness, 17 November 2008