Over the last few days at Daily Kos we've had several debates over editorial content and control as well as guidelines that writers follow. As a site that lives as a peer-reviewed source, Daily Kos like many others like it relies heavily on users auditing and monitoring each other to make sure that diaries can be widely spread without fear of significant error.
There are two parts to this: the proof of content, but also the desire for that content to draw attention.
In light of most of the debate, I thought I would offer a few tips.
(1) Strong Titles Do Matter. With so many articles going by in a day at DailyKos, part of getting attention is having a title that quickly summarizes what is happening or encourages the reader to see a title and want to read the story. This has become a source of debate in regards to some writers, where people have noted that article titles are overly incendiary. I would argue as long as it has basis in fact, there is no such thing; the goal is to draw attention to the content, and a factually based title which can be incendiary helps spread the content much faster in comparison to bland titles/etc.
(2) Use Pictures - Even if your diary doesn't seem prone to use pictures, try to have one to head up every article, at the very top. There are several reasons for this.. when your story is shared via facebook or twitter, potential readers will see a photo that quickly identifies the nature of the content and provides them an insight into what your article is about. New readers are far more likely to respond to content if they see a photo with it and can make the snap decision that your content is worth reading.
(3) Back up what you say with evidence, links. - This is one of the most important elements. Anything that I write on Daily Kos that is news oriented, I make sure that either I have direct personal sources or printed sources. There are several reasons for this, but most importantly is a matter of integrity. If you intend what you write to be shared broadly, you have a responsibility to make sure that you back up what you say with factual content. The more people that read you, and come to understand that you do this, the more credibility you have as you make arguments. This slowly grows as time goes by, but is very important. There are times where you will have personal or direct sources; either your own experiences or the experiences of others. Cite them and make clear where your information is coming from so that the reader understands you are paying attention. CITE YOUR SOURCES or provide them references if you did the legwork. Last fall, I published a story in regards to internal email from a university - in order to make this story valid, I needed to cite the original source, the email itself in full context in order to verify the claim. When I cite a news source, I will always put a direct link to their website followed by a block quote segment.
If you are taking direct quotes or thought from an editorial, newspaper or magazine you need to attribute their work to make sure you are not committing plagiarism. Now, I have had authors ask to be listed by name rather than just a link to their story.. and I attribute. While many news stories are staff or catchalls, as Meteor Blades pointed out in the comment, those authors deserve to have their name credited if you have it. At a minimum, provide a link to their original content.
Providing evidence, linkage, and context are important to gain credibility not just for the article you write today, but for anything you write going forward.
(4) Who, Where, What, Why, When Anyone who has taken a journalism or English course should know the five questions. When you write a diary, make sure you clearly articulate who it involves, where it happened, what happened, why the audience should care about it. Read back through your diary at least once and ask yourself if you have addressed these issues or if some questions are self-explained.
(5) Be prepared to take criticism Part of being a peer reviewed site is that you may make an error and someone may spot it. In other cases, you may find that people want more detail than you have originally provided. Try to respond to criticism that is fair with a reasoned tone.. flamewars don't really go over here, and the ability to respond to your commenters helps readers feel that you have a personal investment in your content. You SHOULD have a personal investment in your content, it is the result of your work product, and it represents you to thousands and thousands of readers.
(6) A Diary doesn't have to be Rec-List/Spotlight to be important - One of the issues I see many run into is the assumption that if a diary isn't Rec List or Spotlight that it isn't important or the community didn't view it as important. Realize, many diaries do not go on the Rec List or Spotlight but can receive wide distribution to their intended audience. There are quite a few diaries I've written that were not rec/spotlight with hundreds of facebook shares or twitter distribution, largely because they addressed a specific audience.
What you write has value beyond just the day it is written, these diaries also stand as something you can refer to later as a marker of progress on legislation, recruitment, advocacy or procedure.
(7) Write what you care about first - When you write a diary, try to write something you personally care about. For people who follow what I write, you'll see a lot of Kansas & Missouri, as well as disability related issues. These are because I personally care about those things and so I can write them from that point of view.
It is tempting to write about the hot national story of the day, but realize there are hundreds of news outlets around the internet writing about the hot story of the day. A news story about an outrage in North Dakota? That is something that a Daily Kos member who is present in that area can write with a perspective that won't come from elsewhere and will stand out.
One of the most powerful tools of Daily Kos is allowing us to provide direct, on the ground assessments of areas and issues that do not get wide distribution in the press. Don't think of DailyKos as a place to tell the national story that everyone has, think of it as the place to relay the news and information in a way that lets you provide a unique insight.
(8) We have all made mistakes. Own them.
Everyone makes a mistake - even major press makes mistakes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with revising a diary and saying: this was in error. Provide an update alerting those who commented that you have corrected and thank those who point out the error. Being courteous to your commenters means you likely keep someone who will value what you write. If you receive commentary that is not helpful or simply an attack, ignore it. There is a longstanding rule on Daily Kos that writers do not HR people within their own diaries. There are some exceptions to this but it's better to simply respond with a comment "this is inappropriate".
Many of the people who will offer you advice or corrections are trying to be helpful and want you to achieve your goals. Catching grammar errors is something I run into and I am thankful for commenters to catch.
(9) Involve Facebook, Twitter, Social Media As I said above, not every diary needs to be rec list. But you likely want what you write to be read. After you have published, link your diary via facebook & twitter for diaries if you want them to be distributed widely. Interaction with social media is a way to involve an audience who are not registered users of Daily Kos but people who read the stories only as they are shared.
(10) Have fun. Finally, when you write a diary, write something that you feel energized about discussing. If you write a diary and you don't want to continue the discussion, it won't do much to attract readers and won't provide many opportunities for you to connect with readers.
Keep these things in mind when you write here and generally you'll do OK. When we talk about other writers or complain about other writers, think first how you can contribute the content you think is missing and what you would do to help your content succeed.
DailyKos can be a powerful platform that can gain attention for issues, causes, candidates and events that are important to you.
9:24 AM PT: Updated with corrections
This diary has been corrected per Jen Hayden's advice on segmenting Daily Kos. If you see other errors, comment and I will try to respond. Thanks!
9:29 AM PT: One more great piece of advice Which appears in the comments, courtesy of Denise Oliver Velez here: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Use tags. Tags, which come at the bottom of your article can help people find you later and sort out what they are interested in. Tags will be even more important in DK5, I understand, so get in a habit of using them and making sure your diary lists the appropriate tags. Good examples are some of the five Ws, especially: Who & Where for tags.. example for me: "Sam Brownback, Kansas"; "Jay Nixon, St. Louis County" etc.
Minor revisions a few minor revisions thanks to comments below. Thanks all.