#uknewscamp: an event for the news

If you are half-way interested in news and how the internet is changing the way people are consuming it you'll like this free London unconference. 

by Lizzy Bell

Remember the first time you saw TV news that used pictures from people’s phones? Or when everyone decided that paywall would kill The Times in a year?

News has come a long way since the noughties. News organisations have completely transformed the way they work and the content they produce. Are we still playing catch-up in the public sector?

Come to #uknewscamp on 12 November at the National Audit Office in London, and talk about digital news, social, video, bloggers, campaigns…whatever you fancy.

What I want to talk about is:

When most news traffic happens around the breakfast / drivetime / evening peaks, why do we bother to put any news out during the working day, and do we all have to work 24/7?

Are embargoes relevant in a world where @tomorrowspaperstoday tweets the front pages at 10pm?

New York Times lost 80m visitors to its homepage in the last two years; Reuters Institute found people are increasingly sharing direct links via social. If what people see on our websites is just content, not context, is it up to snuff?

Does the rise of the ‘dark social’ web – direct links shared via private messaging apps – mean that tracking clicks and shares is getting a bit pointless?

The mobile is now UK internet users' device of choice, and has overtaken the laptop (says Ofcom). How can we think mobile first instead of digital first? 

But who cares what I think? Newscamp is an unconference. That means you can talk about what you want, when you want.

We’ll have some speakers in the morning and unconference-style sessions in the afternoon.

Sign up, tell your friends, and try and bring any less digitally-savvy colleagues. Or follow the event on Twitter at #uknewscamp and @uknewscamp.

Register here: ow.ly/TTxi9 and let @mslizzybell or @nickmhalliday know if you'd like to speak or nominate someone else to speak in the morning. 

Lizzy Bell is deputy head of communications at Ofsted.

Picture credit.