Notices by gbhnews (gbhnews@mastodon.social), page 2

@TexasObserver

We think the story of the week HAS to be: @TexasObserver saving itself. #WeGotUs! International coverage: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/29/texas-observer-closing-gofundme

See how the effort to put the TO on a new footing is going: https://www.gofundme.com/f/laid-off-texas-observer-journalists-and-staff

Just goes to show: the future of journalism is about news organizations directly supported by the people they serve. ?

Congrats to the @TexasObserver ! #newstodon

Since a lot of new folks are here, I thought it might be time for a fresh #introduction.

@gbhnews is a PBS/NPR newsroom in #Boston, #Massachusetts.

We start the day with a greeting, the weather, a news roundup, and a poll.

We're interested your cats, your dogs, democracy, journalism, our neighborhood, our world, and what matters to you.

@nikkiana Having each of these CMS instances support ActivityPub would be a major advance in a number of ways, but in my opinion, this is the big one: it would allow very easy sharing of articles BETWEEN NPR affiliates.

Right now, most NPR affiliates' websites get an automated feed of NPR articles via NPR's API.

But it's still hub-and-spoke; here in Boston I have automatic access to NPR articles but not, say, to the work of an affiliate in San Antonio. 3/x

@nikkiana ...but now ~200 stations will be moving to a CMS from a company called Brightspot (a little background on that: https://current.org/2019/11/public-media-looks-to-new-cms-for-systemwide-boost-to-web-offerings/) 2/x

@dl Yes! I work in public media, so we're not as relentlessly numbers-focused as commercial media is. But we do try to be good stewards of the resources that our members give us via supporting us. I mean, even one server is a whole lotta tote bags! (Sorry, had to get an NPR joke in there somewhere).

I feel like I signed up to get on the waiting list for some Mastodon analytics app...shucks, now I forget the name. It will come to me.

@sarae aw thank you it does help!

Also we do share some stories that aren't from Massachusetts. If you see a good one let me know!

@sarae I grew up with it too! Our logo has changed some, but the sound, called a "sting," is one we still use all these years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-vp3Ynzlc

@FindingHobbes You're the best. ⭐️

And I do think engagement is deeper/more genuine here. For now, since Mastodon doesn't have the kind of analytics other social platforms do, follower count is the only hard number I can share with peers in other newsrooms or people here at GBH.

Numbers aren't everything, especially in public media, thank goodness. But when we make decisions about limited resources they are *a* factor.

Here's what I gave to the reporters in my newsroom: https://lisawilliams.github.io/lisa/tech/2022/11/28/mastodon-101-for-journalists.html

It's a little tough to make the argument just on numbers, at least for now. Mastodon has about ~9M users; Twitter has ~240M, and FB and YT have billions.

@fishidwardrobe interesting. We have separated more serious updates from the more lighthearted poll already. Let me think it through...

So it's not just the cost of setting up/running a server (which people tell me here could be quite minimal). It's the man-hours of prep, setup, and ongoing maintenance for things like moderation, tech support, etc. that come into the equation.

And the other half of that equation is the assessment the people involved make of the opportunity. Math is a big part of that. How many users are on that network, and how many of those people are likely to see or engage? 2/2

@mem_somerville Yes. It's just that some people seem to think that the only cost is the cost to set up a server. for a station or a network a lot more goes into it.

Not totally sure why my link is not working but here's the commentary I shared before:

NOTE: as I mentioned to @FediFollows and @hermitary earlier today, it's important to understand the barriers that face stations or networks that want to set up a server. I summarize those here: https://mastodon.social/@gbhnews/110186548799130656

No one should expect anything to happen instantly.

I think it's worth understanding what the barriers are to stations or networks establishing their own servers.

As the social editor, if I see a new platform and think, "oh, that's interesting," I have the power to open an account there.

Setting up a server for a station or a network would involve the cooperation of IT, marketing, and legal folks. Big stations and big networks have to do a fair amount of prep and due diligence before they make a move like that. 1/x

@jsit ooh good point thank you

? Hello #fediverse! I'm going into a meeting at 4ET to talk about our newsroom's social media options.

If you think our station and other #NPR stations should have a Mastodon server and a broader presence in the #fediverse, pls boost this post. If you have thoughts, please reply, I want to hear them!

@mattl Tell me more!

hey #fediverse

so I’ve been thinking about this for a long time

at some point yr humble fediverse servant is going to get called into a meeting to justify how I am spending my time over here

& I suspect saying “listen this is the most fun I’ve had on social media since early Tumblr” is not the move

This is all to say: if you want local #news here, follow us ?.

If we get this working I think other news orgs. will follow.

2022 #News Of The Weird: A Thread

O #Fediverse friends, hear ye the tale of 2022. O, our #Boston - area life: The Orange Line was on fire, a 251 square foot house in Newton listed for $450k, and candidates began to line up to be governor of our fair Commonwealth, #Massachusetts .

It is a commonwealth, not a state, btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLJju_AVx_E