App-a-palooza: The Latest Tools for your Digital Toolkit

By Benét J. Wilson

I first did this presentation at the 2018 NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair in Detroit as part of the Innovation Bubble. These are all digital tools and resources you can use in your newsroom that help you work smarter and better. Those of you attending #NABJNAHJ22 in Las Vegas may have either missed my presentation or I went too fast and you missed some tools of interest.

I thank Innovation Bubble leader Michelle Johnson for inviting me to present my “black bag” of what I use. Click here to see my Prezi presentation with all the tools I shared. Please feel free to add your favorites in the comments or reach out to me if you have any questions!

My Tools & Apps for Digital Journalists

By Benét J. Wilson

I first did this presentation at the 2018 NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair in Detroit as part of the Innovation Bubble. They are really cool one-hour sessions where you can learn about digital tools and resources you can use in your newsroom that help you work smarter and better.

I was asked to do a session on all the digital tools, apps and resources that I use in my job every day. I thank VP-Digital Amir Vera for inviting me to present my “black bag” of what I use. The goal of my presentation is to show you things you could use tomorrow in your newsroom.

Click here to see my Prezi presentation with all the tools I shared. Please feel free to add your favorites in the comments or reach out to me if you have any questions!

My Tools & Apps for Digital Journalists: What You Missed at #NABJ18

By Benét J. Wilson

One of my new favorite features at the NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair is the Innovation Bubble. These are one-hour sessions where you can learn about digital tools and resources you can use in your newsroom that help you work smarter and better.

I was delighted when I was asked to do a session on all the digital tools, apps and resources that I use in my job every day. The room was packed, and it went pretty quickly, so I promised that I’d share the presentation, along with other tools recommended by the audience. My goal was to show you things you could use as soon as you returned to your newsrooms on the Monday after convention.

Click here to see my Prezi presentation with all the tools I shared. But I also got input from the audience on other tools and tech you may want to consider. Please feel free to add your favorites in the comments!

1. EasyGif: Use this tool to make your own gifs.
2. Atlas: From the publishers of Quartz, this tool to create your own charts that you can embed into stories.
3. Pixlr: This desktop and mobile app is that is a Swiss army knife for those who work with photos, including photo editors, a screen recorder and a photo-sharing service.
4. Google Scholar: Looking for experts to add to your story? This website serves as a repository of professors, scholars and lawyers who can help. Type in your topic and watch the magic!
5. Hootsuite: This free tool allows you to schedule your social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube.
6. Buffer: The free and paid versions of this web and mobile app also allows you to schedule social media posts. The paid version gives you great analytics about your posts.
7. Over: Take your photos to the next level by using this tool to add captions, change fonts and play with filters. It comes with more than 4,000 editable templates, millions of commercial-free stock images and 20,000+ graphics.
8.  Tape-A-Call: This app allows you to record calls that convert into MP3s that can be easily shared. Make sure to check your state’s laws on recording phone calls.
9. Google Translate: This desktop tool and mobile app (iOS or Google Play) can translate more than 100 languages. It isn’t perfect, but it does a good job for basic things. You can type, speak or write words or short phrases. You can hold your smartphone camera up to a sign and have it instantly translated. You can download any language and use all these functions even if you don’t have Wi-Fi or cellular access on your phone.
10. Knightlab tools: One I recommended in my presentation was Timeline JS. But Knightlab has three other tools designed to help you tell your stories. Juxtapose allows you to compare two photos taken at different times. Soundcite allows you add short audio clips to your story right under any text you choose. Storymaps allows you to create maps and add text that helps illustrate a story.
11. Ground: This new app, created by a journalist, uses artificial intelligence to help users verify news events happening around them.
12. Nappy: Looking for free African-American stock photos? This website has wonderful pictures of our people at work and at play.
13. Snapz Pro X: Use this tool to record your screen or save it as a QuickTime movie or screenshot that can be e-mailed or shared on the web.
14. Snagit: This is another tool that allows you to record your screen for videos and photos.
15. EasyPrompter: This web-based app turns your computer, tablet or smartphone into a teleprompter.
16. Hunter: Looking for the email of someone who works at an organization? This tool scours the web to find their name and email address.
17. Whentogram: Let this app tell you the best times to post to Instagram.
18. Unum: Use this app to craft layouts, create and tailor grid, save posts to drafts and plan the perfect Instagram feed.
19. TilePic: Turn your photos into tiled banners that can be posted on Instagram.
20. Google Keep: This tool allows you to take notes, lists, photos, and audio to keep up with your life.
21. Quertime — 15 Online Tools to Create E-Magazines, eBooks and Digital Newspapers
22. Quertime — 15 Online Tools to Create Impressive Resumes

Benét J. Wilson is the travel + rewards associate editor for MagnifyMoney.com and CompareCards.com. She is also owner/editor-in-chief of Aviation Queen LLC, a freelance writing and consulting business.

Friday Fast Five + Five: Your Guide To New Media

1. LinkedIn – How to not make newcomer mistakes on LinkedIn
2. JeffBullas.com – 12 Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make on Twitter If You Want More Followers
3. Life Hacker – The Best Extensions to Make Google Maps Even More Awesome
4. Mashable – 12 Best iPhone Apps of 2014
5. IJNET – Analice.me helps journalists automatically analyze thousands of documents

Friday Fast Five + Five: Your Guide To New Media

1. LinkedIn – 15 Twitter Tips That Get More Retweets, Favourites And Clicks [INFOGRAPHIC]
2. Gigaom – 13 Google Chrome extensions you should know about
3. Mashable – 11 Best Video Editing Software Platforms
4. Shout Me Loud – How to Choose Blogging Niche of your New Blog
5. Code Geekz – 20 Free Data Visualization Tools

 

Friday Fast Five + Five – The Mashable Edition: Your Guide To New Media

Mashable has long been one of my go-to websites when it comes to things I can do to improve my digital journalism skills.  So below are great links to 10 Mashable articles that may help you. Enjoy!

1. From creating charts to managing your inbox, the 11 most useful web tools of 2014
2. The Tumblr Starter Kit
3. The 7 Best Uses for Tumblr
4. Persona Wants to Protect Your Online Reputation
5. The Beginner’s Guide to SoundCloud
6. 5 Must-Have Tools for a Killer Presentation
7. 9 Best Free Image Editors
8. 7 Things You Didn’t Know Bitly Could Do
9. How to Optimize Your Profile Photos Across Social Media
10. 9 Best Free Image Editors

10 Things You Can Do NOW To Step Up Your Digital Game

It’s a new year, and it’s not too late to add a work-related resolution — learn new digital skills. Don’t be afraid. We’ve compiled this list of 10 simple things to get you started!

1. Hold and record a Google Hangout.
2. Step up your game on Twitter.
3. Record and upload a story on Soundcloud.
4. Create an embeddable map using Google Fusion Tables.
5. Try your hand at coding – for free!
6. Test out these alternatives to a PowerPoint presentation.
7. Learn how to make infographics.
8. Take a Skillcrush class on becoming a WordPress developer.
9. Whip up an embeddable timeline using Timeline JS.
10. Learn Google Analytics with a free online course.

Webinar TONIGHT – Tech & Tools Journalists Can Use

The NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and the Diverse Social Media Editors and Digital Journalists Facebook group is committed to helping journalists beef up their digital skills and help keep them relevant in ever-changing newsrooms.

Tonight we’re unveiling the first of a free series of digital skills webinars — New Year, New You, Part 2.  At 8:30 p.m. ET, we’re holding our first webinar, “Tech & Tools Journalists Can Use.” Our panelists — Benet Wilson, Emma Carew Grovum, Ingrid Sturgis, Marissa Evans, Jeannine Hunter and Romy Camille — will share and demonstrate their favorite tools, websites, apps and technology. We’ll take your questions and the webinar will be recorded for those who can’t make it. Our media partner for this event is AllDigitocracy.org.  You can still register, here.

Happy New Year! Start Here To Jumpstart Your Career in 2015

It’s 2015, and yes, we’re all making our New Year’s resolutions. One of yours should be to step up your digital journalism skills to keep you relevant in your current newsroom or help you become a star in a new one.

To that end, NABJ’s Digital Journalism Task Force and the Diverse Social Media Editors and Digital Journalists Facebook group will host a free series of webinars — New Year, New You, Part 2 — in January, all designed to boost your digital skills in 2015. Click here to see what we did in 2014.

First up, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. ET, is “Tech & Tools Journalists Can Use,” a free hour-long webinar where panelist will share and demonstrate their favorite tools, websites, apps and technology that help them do their jobs smarter and better. We’ll leave time for questions after the presentation, which will be recorded. Our media partner for this event is AllDigitocracy.org.

Watch this space for other webinars we’ll be holding this month to boost your skills.  And if there are webinars you want to see, let us know.  Here’s to a great 2015!

Friday Fast Five + Five: Your Guide To New Media

It’s the end of the month, and very close to the end of the year. So below are not five, not 10 but 20 hacks, tips and tools you can try out as you work on boosting your digital storytelling skills in 2015. Enjoy, and happy new year!

1. Medium – How they did it — Part 1: Spotting storytelling tools in the wild
2. Knight Blog – New Digital Tools Every Journalist Should Try
3. LinkedIn – The Top 10 Get Sh*t Done Tools
4. PBS – 8 Digital Tools Every Journalist Should Try
5. Gigaom – How to get faster answers to your searches in Google Chrome for Android
6. IJNet – SoundCite makes it easier to add audio clips to text stories
7. Blogging Tips – Top 10 Essential URL Shorteners 
8. Knight Center, University of Texas – Maps, timelines and infographics: 5 tools to build your own interactive visualizations
9. RebelMouse – 7 ways to write better headlines
10. Re/Code – Here’s the Twitter Tracking Tool More People Should Know About
11. PBS – 10 Social Media Tips for a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
12. Mashable – 7 Tips for Surviving The Leap From Employee to Entrepreneur 
13. Buffer Social – The Ideal Length of Everything Online, Backed by Research
14. Gizmodo – 10 tricks to make yourself an Evernote master
15. PBS – 11 Steps to a Better Twitter Stream
16. Knight Digital Media Center – Tools for mobile community engagement
17. Mashable – How I Gained 68,000 Followers by Live-Tweeting
18. Socialbrite – 9 time-saving tips to write more blog posts
19. Blogging Tips – 8 Ways to Use Video the Right Way on Your Blog 
20. MediaBistro – The 7 Elements of an Optimized Twitter Profile [INFOGRAPHIC]