Show the sausage being made. Let people know what you had to do to develop the story. Give a real-time commentary on how you evaluate sources and resources, how you cover a beat. And listen to the community feedback. “The end product will not only be more engaging in an online environment, where conversation is more effective, but it will also help a news organization build a different kind of brand and provide content in a way that’s flexible and more friendly.”

via Technology News: Tech Buzz: Will Newspapers’ Slayer Be Their Savior?.

Look at the information storm around Obama, for example. There is news there, there are important social, political and democratic issues but also commerce, comedy, fun, and music mixed in. The rigid separations of pre-digital disciplines and professions, as well as between play and work are not the same in a digital world. News needs to move into the relevant stream of what people pay attention to. News moguls aren’t dictating anymore. They have to engage, listen, and join in, not dominate, gatekeep, and set the frames.