The toolkit for online journalists has moved to a new home with the Society for News Design.
Shortly after Chris Amico launched Tools for News in late December, a few of us at SND got in contact with him to see if he’d want to bring his fledgling project, an online database of the new tools journalists need to work online, to the Society’s site. Chris agreed.
We’re happy Chris’s personal project, just a way to keep track of everything he was using, has grown into a small but thriving community. And we’re hoping SND members will help it grow even more. You’re a global group with the knowledge and skill to make the new site a richer resource.
Anyone can browse this site and subscribe to our RSS feeds. Registering allows you to add new tools, add links to existing tools and bookmark tools, which will be saved on your contributor page.
The site is in public beta for now.
It’s also the first step in a larger effort to rethink and rebuild the SND site in ways that better serve members’ changing needs. We’re working with Chris to build a more robust visual language for toolkit — and we’re updating our jobs and portfolios areas as part of a growing network of apps and sites under SND’s banner.
We had our first hackathon in January, here in Washington at the Medill offices. Journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, National Geographic, and NewsHour pitched in. Thanks to Chrys Wu from washingtonpost.com for blogging it.
Chris Amico, Tyson Evans, Wesley Lindamood and William Couch work on comping new features for the SND sites at a hackathon in January. (Photo by Chrys Wu)
A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS FOR CHRIS AMICO
We asked Chris, who recently joined Online NewsHour at PBS, to explain Tools for News a little more for SND members, who might just be hearing about it.
What made you decide to start the toolkit?
It really started as a personal project, something I was going to throw on my blog so I could keep track of some of the tools a few friends and I were using. Around the time I started sketching out the database schema, I mentioned over Twitter to Ryan Sholin, who (along with Zac Echola) encouraged me to actually build the thing. I had them and a few of my old Dalian friends alpha test it and went from there.
Now that SND is hosting the site, you’ll start connecting with an even bigger global design audience. How can they help? Anything the site needs right away from contributors?
Add tools. Add links and comments. Add stuff you use. Flesh out the site. Right now, there are a lot of tools, but not many have much depth, really. Part of the driving idea behind this is that each tool pulls together tutorials, examples and other resources (including comments) that help make it useful.
Also, when you add tools, the more info the better. I try to add details when new stuff is added, if I can, but most of what gets added is totally new to me. This whole thing is sort of outsourced memory; it works better if there’s enough detail to remember why a tool is useful.
Feature requests are always welcome, too. Send them through the contact form on the site. The next thing I add might be a more organized way to ask for stuff on the site, either from me or other users.
One last thing: Can you tell us a little about yourself so SND members can get to know you?
I’m a reporter and web developer, just recently relocated to Washington, DC. I’ve spent most of my (short) career at local newspapers, with some occasional freelancing for magazines. I have also lived and reported from China. My new gig, with Online NewsHour at PBS, is web-centric with ties to a broadcast, so it’s a big shift.
Matt Mansfield is president of the Society and an associate professor for the Medill School of Journalism.
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