Welcome to the CCJ
Within the local division of Gannett’s USA TODAY Network, the Center for Community Journalism is a nationwide leadership, editing and planning structure supporting small and mid-sized newsrooms. The CCJ organizes newsrooms to focus on high-impact stories local readers value, helping them achieve the subscription growth that will secure the future of community journalism.
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Network social media strategy
Instagram (and TikTok) have seen news consumption increase over the past three years. Users of these social platforms also tend to be younger, more diverse and more closely align with our target audiences.
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Curate newsletters that win with readers
Newsletters are a powerful tool to move readers down the subscriber funnel. Here’s how to master them.
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Develop an audience plan for a big winner in the making
Audience plans are an outline of social, alert, boost and publish plans for a story we expect to be a big win.
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Unlock the value in evergreen stories
Re-sharing allows us to grow subscribers through bringing forward interesting stories that retain enduring value.
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The art of “goosing” to extend the value of our best content
We can improve premium stories that underperformed to help “goose” the story to get it out of the underperforming category and to assess what we could have done better.
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Packaging, proofing and design center workflows for the CCJ
Making it all come together is a complex orchestra.
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How to move searchers through the subscriber funnel
Using your unique content to turn visitors into subscribers.
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How to use heat maps
Heat maps are a great resource to help determine the best times for publishing a story.
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Digital strategies and best practices
Readers in our growth audience segments tell us these are key parts of the day when they’re seeking to engage in news.
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Digital optimization 101
A playbook for getting the best readership performance from our content.
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A quick guide to digital 1As
As digital planners, one of the easiest and clearest ways to think about content is in terms of a Digital 1A. Like our print 1As, our digital 1As are where we put our best content.
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Your handy guide to Presto in production
The updated figures are below. The grand total is $242K, or $20K per period. It works out to $101 per paycheck for those involved.
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Digital and print planning basics in the CCJ
Planners manage multi-platform content calendars that reflect tactics based on our audience strategies to deliver maximum impact for our newsrooms’ content.
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Overview of the roles and interactions of audience and other teams in the CCJ
The audience team will be on the frontline for Network content sharing – statewide, within the CCJ, with the regional teams and to USA TODAY – which will help local reporters’ work reach a wider audience and also supplement local production with relevant, interesting stories from other markets.
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Data visualization: Canva and Venngage 201
Students will use a set of data points and data sets to build static and interactive graphics. We also will show how Flourish interfaces with Canva, since Canva now owns it.
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How to tell a story in 60 seconds or less on vertical video
Learn how to easily tell a story for audiences on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. Led by Wisconsin DOT Manager Lainey Seyler and producer Brooke Eberle, the session give tips on planning, creating and writing a script for vertical videos.
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Instagram for journalists
What are all these Instagram terms I hear and why do they matter to my work? Get a crash course on the basics of Instagram and how the platform can help your stories reach a different audience in this one-hour course led by Des Moines Register Audience Strategist Brian Smith.
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Canva 101
The Florida-Georgia DOT shows some of the best tips and tricks for using Canva, including Background Remover, Positioning, Text Spacing and Text Effects.
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Public Safety Guidance
Transform your coverage to repair relationships and earn trust with communities of color.