Adrian Ma and Lindsay Hanna

ABSTRACT

How to create a virtual newsroom

An essential dimension of the journalism school experience is the hands-on training that takes place in studio courses and workshops. Learning to troubleshoot and adapt in real-time situations is as important as gaining experience with industry-standard equipment. As useful as video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet have been for some forms of remote teaching, they are not ideal solutions to replicate the collaborative experiential learning that happens in our campus newsrooms and broadcast studios. Through much exploration and experimentation with different digital platforms, instructors and technical staff at the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Journalism were able to continue leading live TV and radio news courses and real-time training workshops while our campus largely remained shuttered from Spring 2020 and into 2021. We sought out tools that were agile, accessible and as user-friendly as possible. Many of these tools have proven to be so effective and versatile that we continue to use them even as students return to classrooms, offering more hybrid approaches to broadcast journalism education. In this commentary, we discuss some of these tools and show how they work in short videos, with the goal of supporting other journalism or media instructors building collaborative virtual newsrooms and studios simply and quickly.

Keywords: technology, teaching, virtual, remote, broadcast, journalism, multimedia, newsroom, news

Comment créer une salle de rédaction virtuelle 

Une dimension essentielle de l’expérience des études en journalisme est la formation pratique qui a lieu dans les cours et les ateliers en studio. Apprendre à résoudre des problèmes et à s’adapter à des situations en temps réel est aussi important que d’acquérir de l’expérience avec les équipements standard de l’industrie. Aussi utiles que soient les plateformes de visioconférence telles que Zoom et Google Meet pour certaines formes d’enseignement à distance, elles ne constituent pas des solutions idéales pour reproduire l’apprentissage expérimental collaboratif qui se déroule dans les salles de rédaction et les studios de radiodiffusion de nos campus. Grâce à de nombreuses explorations et expérimentations avec différentes plateformes numériques, les instructeurs et le personnel technique de l’école de journalisme de l’Université métropolitaine de Toronto ont pu continuer à diriger des cours de nouvelles télévisées et radiophoniques en direct et des ateliers de formation en temps réel alors que notre campus est resté en grande partie fermé à partir du printemps 2020 et jusqu’à la fin de l’année 2021. Nous avons cherché des outils réactifs, accessibles et aussi conviviaux que possible. Nombre de ces outils se sont révélés si efficaces et polyvalents que nous continuons à les utiliser même lorsque les étudiants sont retournés dans les salles de classe, offrant des approches plus hybrides de l’enseignement du journalisme de radiodiffusion. Dans ce commentaire, nous discutons de certains de ces outils et montrons comment ils fonctionnent dans de courtes vidéos, dans le but d’aider d’autres formateurs en journalisme ou en médias à créer des salles de rédaction et des studios virtuels collaboratifs de manière simple et rapide. 

Mots clés : technologie, enseignement, virtuel, à distance, journalisme, radiodiffusion, multimédia, salle de rédaction, actualités 

How to create a virtual newsroom

Adrian Ma and Lindsay Hanna

An essential dimension of journalism education has been the hands-on training and experiential learning that takes place in broadcast studios and campus newsrooms. By using industry-standard equipment and producing multi-platform stories in a newsroom environment, students gain critical technical skills, but also the valuable experience of collaborating in teams, troubleshooting unexpected issues and responding to sudden shifts in editorial direction, which happens often in daily news reporting (Finberg, 2014). These experiences can significantly improve journalism students’ confidence in their abilities and help them feel more prepared to step into the workforce (Burns, 2017).

When the pandemic forced us to shut down our studios and meeting spaces in Spring 2020, we pivoted to video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. But as useful as they may have been for some forms of remote teaching, they were not ideal solutions to replicate a real-life newsroom experience.

In preparation for the online-only Fall 2020 semester, our technical staff and instructors identified several agile, accessible and user-friendly platforms that helped them continue to lead live news broadcasts and real-time studio training workshops. These programs have proven to be so serviceable that we continue to use them as integral parts of our teaching and production even An essential dimension of journalism education has been the hands-on training and experiential learning that takes place in broadcast studios and campus newsrooms. By using industry-standard equipment and producing multi-platform stories in a newsroom environment, students gain critical technical skills, but also the valuable experience of collaborating in teams, troubleshooting unexpected issues and responding to sudden shifts in editorial direction, which happens often in daily news reporting (Finberg, 2014). These experiences can significantly improve journalism students’ confidence in their abilities and help them feel more prepared to step into the workforce (Burns, 2017).as we have returned on-campus. Both instructors and students have found these platforms to have minimal learning curves, as they effectively replicate familiar aspects of in-person studio and newsroom experiences. 

In this list below, we highlight four platforms we have used to create an effective virtual broadcast newsroom, along with tips on how to achieve the most optimal results. The accompanying video clips will also provide a visual walkthrough of the programs’ user interfaces and outputs. Please note that any references to subscription costs are in Canadian dollars and were up-to-date as of the submission of this article in 2023.

 

A mobile radio station: Cleanfeed

When it came to finding a solution for live radio and podcasting, we looked for a platform with a simple, user-friendly interface that would work well for desktop and mobile users while still capturing broadcast quality audio. Cleanfeed really fit the bill. It’s a virtual multitrack recording studio that our staff and students found effective for handling every radio broadcasting scenario we encounter, from a breaking news report that throws to a reporter in the field to a panel discussion with multiple guests calling in from around the world. Producers have access to a cleanly designed mixer layout that allows them to play or loop pre-loaded audio clips, bring in live audio signals and make adjustments to the volume on the fly. Guests can connect using their computers via the internet or dial-in with their phone. Cleanfeed records broadcast quality multitrack audio, allowing producers to make more specific edits after the recording wraps. The platform also integrates with popular video chat programs, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which opens up more recording options and flexibility. There is a limited version of Cleanfeed that is free to use, but unlocking its full features (including the all-important multitrack recording functionality) does require a subscription. We found the annual subscription fee of approximately $360 to be reasonable and a manageable addition to our technology budget.

Key tips

• In working with our students, we saw that having access to a microphone of reasonable quality made a significant difference in audio quality. While Cleanfeed works well with smartphones and mobile devices, having a dedicated microphone they could reposition produced far more optimal results. During the pandemic, students who took on the semester-long roles of radio reporters and producers were sent USB microphones to use. 
• Testing your audio inputs is vital, particularly before a live broadcast. Have your guests connect prior to the broadcast to identify any potential signal problems, issues with their microphone or excessive background noise.
• Cleanfeed is, by design, a minimalist interface where users can focus purely on the audio. However, during an in-person studio interview, the interaction between the interviewer and the producer can make a substantial impact on the quality of the segment itself, particularly in a live context. Producers help to keep track of timing and can offer visual cues to the interviewer. Cleanfeed does not offer that visual connection, making it even more important for the host to be aware of the time and to have a solid script in place prior to the recording. 

 

A virtual TV studio: Stage TEN

Stage TEN is a video content delivery studio for broadcasting and recording live, interactive shows. We were looking for a remote solution to give our students the experience of producing and delivering a variety of TV news formats, including lineup-based daily news shows, current affairs interviews and more lifestyle and entertainment-based programming, in a live environment. Stage TEN impressed us with its versatility. Up to five hosts and guests can simultaneously join the remote studio. Technicians can splice in pre-recorded video packages, voiceovers, live feeds and edit graphic overlays in real-time. Stage TEN is streamable to more than 30 content platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. It also includes audience interaction tools, allowing viewers to comment or add reactions directly on your stream. You can also deploy polls and have viewers interact in real-time. 

Besides Stage TEN’s many high quality production features, we found the platform to be quite user-friendly. Participants simply join by clicking on a link shared by the director and granting the application access to their microphone and camera, keeping the process as simple and familiar as working with Zoom. Similar to a physical TV studio environment, the director has access to a preview builder where they can prepare content before sending it to the live program monitor. It also includes a live chat feature so the director can communicate with hosts and guests privately. Using Stage TEN, our team was able to seamlessly produce daily and weekly news shows with our upper level classes without ever setting foot in our campus studios.

The platform does have an annual subscription fee of $950, but we felt it was fairly reasonable given Stage TEN’s wealth of features. 

Key tips

• The biggest challenge for our students was having access to a strong enough internet connection for seamless video streaming. Being within close proximity to your Wi-Fi source without physical obstructions between you can help, as would sticking with the 5Ghz band. We would also suggest not using proxy servers while running Stage TEN.
• Purchasing a Wi-Fi signal booster can help amplify your internet signal and generally costs less than $50.

 

A remote iNews alternative: Shoflo

Shoflo is a real-time collaborative tool to create rundowns for broadcasts and other live productions. Utilizing industry-standard templates, instructors and students can create lineups and customize them to meet the particular needs of a class or program. The application is browser-based, making it easily accessible on both Mac and PC operating systems. This allows for remote access from any location. The entire class or team is able to work in conjunction to produce and track the show’s rundown from anywhere. 

Rundowns can include columns for start time and duration, graphics, video, audio presenter script and director notes. While items can’t be automatically launched in your broadcasting platform, Shoflo does provide a trackable rundown for your productions. Rundown templates can be created for each course to customize for particular shows and productions. Like the popular news industry iNEWS system, Shoflo rundowns can track item times and show durations. Shoflo also offers a prompter app that can be synced with rundowns and then shared remotely with presenters. All script changes appear in real-time and give the presenter the ability to control the scrolling. 

The system does come with a heftier annual fee compared to the platforms we mentioned previously — approximately $6,000 for a custom license — which makes it more appropriate for larger programs or schools in which multiple departments could share access. However, it does offer an experience similar to traditional industry rundown applications like iNews that cost more.

Key tips

• Creating templated rundowns for particular classes or shows will save time and help maintain consistency from week to week. This helps set expectations for students in terms of the type of content needed and ensures technical staff have the correct elements and commands to direct a broadcast or production.
• A free alternative to setting broadcast rundowns would be to use Google Docs and Google Sheets, which are easy to share amongst multiple collaborators and allow users to see real-time edits. There are tutorials and templates you can search for online that walk you through the process. This method doesn’t come with the same live technical support or automated features that platforms like Shoflo offer, but it gets the job done. It also provides a back-up plan if your rundown software ever becomes inoperable during a broadcast.

 

An interactive digital newsroom: Gather

One of the most hyped technological developments in recent years has been the metaverse. The concept of people interacting with each other using avatars in integrated, 3D virtual worlds offers many intriguing possibilities for social media, entertainment and education (Kye et al., 2021). However, a misconception about the metaverse is that it necessitates the use of virtual reality headsets and high-end computers. In actuality, metaverses have existed for decades in the form of mass multiplayer video games, including Second Life and Worlds of Warcraft. Metaverses can exist as simple, 2D environments that only require a basic phone or computer to access. When the pandemic closed our campuses, we wanted to see whether we could somehow replicate the experience of working in a newsroom office for our students. While video chat platforms like Zoom and Google Meet offered the solutions of breakout rooms, the interactions didn’t feel very organic. Instead, we experimented with the metaverse platform Gather, which allowed us to build virtual spaces in which people could meet and collaborate. 

The aesthetic of Gather is that of a retro 8-bit video game, like Nintendo in the 1980s. It’s whimsical but also purposeful, as the low-resolution graphics means that people can use the platform with minimal computing power. In Gather, we built a newsroom-style office with designated sections for different content units but also common spaces where people were free to circulate and engage in different conversations. We had virtual TVs in the wall link to YouTube videos if we wanted to screen some specific content or load in a video workshop tutorial. We also added some fun touches like a water cooler, office plants and other familiar trappings of the in-person work experiences we were now denied. In our exploration of Gather, we found the most important feature was the ability to seamlessly move from person-to-person and group-to-group for video chats. Rather than jumping from one breakout room to another, using Gather, one could have more natural-feeling conversations in different parts of the newsroom. It’s extremely easy to get started with Gather as well, as the platform requires no coding knowledge and is built on a straightforward drag and drop user interface, allowing someone to create virtual spaces within minutes of signing up. 

We’re excited to continue exploring the potential of Gather, particularly how we could create and link together multiple virtual spaces, each with its own unique theme or purpose. This could allow us to create virtual spaces for different content units or mastheads, while allowing students to drift freely between each, encouraging more collaboration. Gather is free to use for up to ten users, but will require a monthly subscription (starting at $100 month) to unlock its full array of features. A customized enterprise license for up to 500 users can be arranged by contacting the company.

Key tip

• While Gather’s lo-fi graphics render smoothly on most systems, if you find your computer’s performance lagging or have visual motion sensitivity, switch on the “Reduce Motion” feature. This will limit the amount of animation that is displayed on your screen. 

Conclusion

Although these tools were adopted largely because of our sudden and unexpected shift to entirely virtual teaching, we continue to use them throughout our various courses, workshops and masthead operations. Students have said our approach of combining both in-person and virtual studio experiences has contributed to a more flexible learning environment, allowing them to engage in professional experiences while giving them more optionality to maximize their time and learning preferences. 

These platforms have helped us adapt to the reality that many more people, such as the guest experts we feature in daily news, are working remotely with regularity. There’s far less need now to travel to a physical studio to record a quality interview, and these technologies provide a more polished experience than the standard video conferencing tools. From a teaching perspective, using virtual studio tools has also enabled us to introduce and reinforce the development of broadcast skills in larger, cohort-based classes by offering a digital solution to the physical limitations of in-person studio space. By building a hybrid newsroom, we’ve been able to optimize the production of daily news in more versatile, agile ways, which is something the news media industry itself continuously strives to do.

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Adrian Ma is an assistant professor at the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Journalism specializing in digital news reporting and immersive media.

Lindsay Hanna is the instructional technology and web design specialist for the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Journalism. 

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REFERENCES

Burns, S. (2017). Experiential Learning in the Social and Mobile-first Student Newsroom. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 27(1), 118–137. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X17716707 

Finberg, H. (2014, April 13). Journalism needs the right skills to survive. Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/journalism-needs-the-right-skills-to-survive/ 

Kye, B., Han, N., Kim, E., Park, Y., & Jo, S. (2021). Educational applications of metaverse: possibilities and limitations. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions 18 (32). https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.32