As a newcomer to the world of journalism, I have been learning the basics of reporting over the past few weeks and how a real-life newsroom works.

Check out our design team in action in this short slideshow created by Phil (music: Kevin MacLeod).

  

Here at Powering a Nation we have an integrated newsroom, where reporters, designers and developers are working together on our site. In fact, many members of our newsoom are playing more than one of these roles, as we are each assigned to several teams for stories, designing, editing and PR.

I have also learned that this approach follows a trend seen over the past decade with major news institutions such as the Financial Times and The New York Times merging their print and online departments into an integrated model.

Late last week I interviewed members of our team to find out why they think this approach will work for us. Here are the top five reasons why Powering a Nation will benefit from an integrated newsroom:

1. We can choose the right tool for the job

As our Executive Producer Laura explained to me, all types of storytelling are available to us when we’re working on web-presented information. In an integrated newsroom, we have the skills and expertise to make decisions about the tool that serves the user in the best way possible for each of the stories we’re telling.

This principle was at work in the development of our introductory video piece, which originated as a piece written by our editor-in-chief, Sara. When Melissa heard the ideas behind the piece explained, the concepts inspired the thought of a motion graphic piece and voila, our introductory video was born. (It’s still in gestation, but will be ready soon!)

2. We can dream big

Ashley, one of our talented designers, explained to me the benefits of being able to brainstorm big ideas for our stories with the people in the room who will actually make it happen. Without this mix of skills, we would need to develop and research ideas, then hand them off to others who we hope share our vision.

Our multimedia developer, Zach, agreed. Zach has been programming our video player, which features an innovative search function that came out of a group discussion about how our video player might be used by our audience. With designers, programmers and reporters in the room, the team was able to come up with a great concept that we hope will best help our users access the content we are all working so hard on.

3. We can save time (as well as blood, sweat and tears)

Our producer, Don, explained to me what can go wrong when you bring your developers and designers in at the end of the planning process, rather than at the beginning. It’s important, he told me, to make sure all the angles of a piece are discussed from the beginning, before it’s too late and time has run out to go back and change the concept.

With a multi-skilled team, Don tells me “you can get more complex things done quickly.” And with his experience, I believe him.

4. We can help each other see the bigger picture

One of our photojournalists, Nacho, told me that working in an integrated team means that our work will be more stylistically consistent, because we will be running our ideas constantly through everyone else.

Even better, Nacho said, is the fact that different perspectives on working teams means you will get an honest appraisal of your work from another point of view. “Photos you take are like your babies,” he told me. Working in teams where people are always raising questions “helps you kill your babies” when you’re having trouble letting go of a bad idea.

5. We can take our readers on a journey

My newsroom colleague and roommate Jenn told me that her master’s project research has shown online users are seeking more and more variety in the way they get their information. She told me that you never know for sure what kind of storytelling is going to ‘stick’ with a particular reader, but if you provide a variety of experiences you can take people on a journey through your site with links, connections and a broad theme.

With reporters, designers and developers working closely together, we should be able to offer a variety of different entry points to our site and create an online environment where our users can move and explore what interests them.