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Baylor Health Care System's online newsroom sports two standout features: required registrations for journalists to download content, and a "basket" content checkout system a la Amazon.Image courtesy of Baylor Healthcare Systems
Journalists now get their information from a wide variety of sources, including Twitter, so you might be inclined to think "woe is the online newsroom." Indeed, the idea of such a destination on an organization's Web site now seems a bit quaint. Not so fast, however: A 2011 TekGroup International study found that 83% of journalists think it's important for organizations to have online newsrooms to source information.
TIRED NEWSROOM
Unfortunately for Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System, an organization that offers a full range of medical services through 27 owned, leased or affiliated hospitals, its antiquated online newsroom wasn't a destination reporters flocked to. Back in 2008, the BHCS newsroom (media.baylorhealth.com/) was bare-bones, says Nikki Mitchell, director of media relations. "It had old press releases and contact information," she says. "We wanted something more robust."
Interviews with health reporters that BHCS worked closely with indicated that they couldn't find hospital statistics and other information they were looking for. "Because we were so large, reporters wanted to find out just who we were," says Mitchell. "I thought if they can't find online answers to such a simple question, we're not doing our job."
So BHCS began to consider a different tack for its newsroom: Why not make it not just a feed of press releases, but more of tool the media could use to enhance their jobs? The goal, says Mitchell, was to make the online newsroom user-friendly and easily accessible while offering relevant and timely content.
In November 2009, planning began for a new newsroom with the overall objectives of:
- Easily accessible facts and information, downloadable photos and videos.
- Elevating BHCS to one of the top five healthcare systems in the country. "We wanted to build something that would be on par with Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic," says Mitchell.
- At the...