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By: ,  Source : journalism.co.uk

On March 12 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee first proposed a “distributed information system” at CERN, submitting a document which came to define the World Wide Web in its earliest stage.

Mike Sendall, Berners-Lee’s boss at the time, scrawled “vague, but exciting” at the top of the document and twenty five years later those words remain ironically accurate.

Berners-Lee was knighted for his efforts in 2004. The web has changed the world and journalism with it. To mark today’s anniversary, here are 25 tasks in the modern journalist’s job and a wealth of online tools to help accomplish them. It is not intended to be a comprehensive resource so feel free to contribute in the comments if you have any more tips.


1. Researching stories

When almost every company, government department and public person has a presence online the journalist’s cup overflows with potential sources for stories and information. But where do you start?


Screenshot from WolframAlpha

Wolfram Alpha is another great tool, billed as a “computational knowledge engine”. Rather than search the web Wolfram Alpha does “dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms and methods”, according to the site itself, and returns referenced answers.

2. Searching social media






3. Finding data

The age of ‘big data’ and open knowledge has also uncovered a vast amount of starting points for potential stories.

In the UK, Data.gov.uk, the Office for National Statistics, the NHS’sHealth and Social Care Information Centre, the Environment Agencyand Department for Transport are all good places to start finding data sets.

Knoema Chrome extension



4. Monitoring websites


5. Verifying information

Digital tools have made it easier for propagandists or cheeky chancers to spread misinformation, but it is the journalist’s job to get to the truth.



6. Editing media

It’s rare that you can record audio or video material that is ready to publish immediately, so TwistedWave (audio), WeVideo (video) andPixlr (images) can all be used to edit media online before going to press.

publishing desk
A pre-web publishing desk


7. Publishing text




8. Publishing audio


9. Publishing video



indie game the movie
Screenshot from IndieGameTheMovie.com, which uses VHX for its website and distribution


10. Liveblogging

Liveblogging bridges the gap between reporting and publishing by delivering real-time updates on a story. ScribbleLive, CoveritLive andLiveblog Pro are all platforms worth checking out if you want to get into the immediacy of reporting news to an audience.

11. Visualising data

Presenting stastics in a visual format – be it a chart, graph, timeline or map – is vital in making them understandable and consumable quickly by an audience. Thankfully Google Fusion Tables allow you to do all of the above, as does visualisation tool Tableau, whileDatawrapper is a simpler but equally effective way to make quick charts.

12. Mapping


13. Creating interactives



The Knight Lab’s TimelineJS is also useful, making the construction of timelines with embedded multimedia easy.

In terms of interactive video, KettleCorn, WireWAX, Zentrick, andMeograph all give the option of manipulating video with additional information.

The Wall Street Journal’s interactive video on Obamacare, made with Zentrick

The publication of long-form articles as immersive, media-rich web pages has been a recent phenomenon among some news organisations (update: not a “fad” as previously stated), promptingfurious discussion as to the pros and cons. Larger fonts, parallax scrolling and multimedia embeds can bring a story to life when employed effectively though, a feat that scroll kit enables, soon to be followed by a public offering from Shorthand.

14. Using images

Most publishing platforms offer the option of embedding pictures in a story, which is great if you’ve taken your own photographs, but this has led to widespread copyright infringement on the web as images get used without permission.


15. Curating news



Spundge is also a useful tool, designed to help journalists “gather, curate and publish a lot faster” according to founder Craig Silverman,speaking to Journalism.co.uk at the time of launch.

Social media

16. Managing social media


buffer screenshot
Screenshot from BufferApp.com

Both Buffer and Hootsuite allow their users to write and schedule posts for Facebook, Twitter and other social networks so you don’t have to manually post each update to your accounts.

17. Analysing social media



And as well as letting users save space by shortening links, Bitlyalso shows how many times a link has been clicked on, how many times it’s been shared and geographic distribution. Add a plus sign to the end of a link from another account and it will show you the breakdown of stats there too, as long as the user has made them public.

18. Managing comments

Without a tailor-made commenting facility a lot of organisations useDisqus or Facebook comments for their website, the pros and cons of which were discussed on Journalism.co.uk here.

19. Personal networking


Sharing information relevant to your beat and interests is the best way to build up a network of followers and contacts on any social network, and the following guides to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook andGoogle+ can take things further.


20. Transcribing interviews



21. Learning to code

codecademy screenshot
Screenshot from Codecademy.com

If you’re going to be working on the web it can help to be able to manipulate it in some way to build visualisations and games or just to give your website a tweak. Coding isn’t necessarily for everyone but you never know until you try.


22. Creating and storing information




23. Sharing information



24. Managing information


filing cabinets


25. Aggregating sources


RSS (rich site summary) readers have been around in one form or another for nearly as long as the web itself, our favourite being Feedlyfor ease of use. Search for feeds by URL, title or topic and organise them into topic specific sections to get automatic updates from favoured websites.

Flipboard is also useful as a “social magazine” in presenting stories on specific lists and topics, while News360 is another personalised newsreader that learns your preferences and reading habits the longer you use it and finds sources you might like from around the web.