How To Use This Guide
The objective of this guide is to provide practical, efficient, information about the tools and platforms that have the greatest value for journalism creation, distribution, and engagement. While we have striven to compile information that is both timely and accurate, change in this industry happens fast. Likewise, while we have attempted to highlight the most salient features of each tool and offer illustrative examples in order to facilitate decision-making and basic use, we have intentionally favored concision over comprehensiveness. Where available, we have included links to additional resources that may be useful for further learning and more advanced use.
This guide is divided into three sections:
- Website Creation: These tools are primarily applicable standalone content destinations, though many have connections to or also serve as social networks.
- Distribution: These are primarily tools for reaching audiences where they are and connect them to content, either through social media links that drive them to a Website, through content posted directly on the platform itself. These are further subdivided according to format: audio, video, text and image.
- Content curation and story design: These tools facilitate the collection and composition of mixed-media content, as well as design tools for putting stories together.
Within each section, tools are divided into Recommended and Additional. These reflect a combination of factors such as audience size, ease-of-use, flexibility and access to metrics. We do, however, encourage you to experiment!
Because of the variety of functionalities many tools possess, some may appear in multiple sections. If you would like to learn more about a particular tool, please refer to the Index for all of the sections in which a particular tools appears.
Difficulty Rating Scale
Tools are also rated for ease of use on a scale from one (█) to five (█████). A breakdown of the classifications is as follows:
| Description | Rating |
|---|---|
| Very intuitive, less than half an hour to set up an account and begin | █ |
| Easy to use, but it could be helpful to spend half an hour toan hour to consult a tutorial for extra help. | ██ |
| Slightly more complicated and could require a few hours ofan online tutorial or having someone walk you through setup and use. | ███ |
| Using this tool may require learning a new technical skill. You may want to consult a longer Lynda tutorial (free to Columbia students and faculty) or sit in on a class before use. | ████ |
| This tool is technically complex, and generally not recommended unless you have significant experience in the area or an available student or adjunct to assist. | █████ |