What online news producers can learn from American Idol’s David Cook
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If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been excited about American Idol contestant David Cook’s performances. I can’t help it. The guy is the most unique singer I’ve ever seen on the show.
But outside of his singing, Cook also has given some valuable lessons for online news producers during his run. Take a look!
Lesson 1 - Look, listen, watch, explore, and learn
Before singing for the judges in his initial American Idol appearance, David Cook said he studied the audition tape of fellow rocker Chris Daughtry to learn how he succeeded in the A.I. environment. The same strategy can be applied to becoming a successful producer.
Take time to learn about what strategies made for successful online news features on your site. Study competitor’s websites and dissect what has made their sites noteworthy. This step alone can help you jump ahead quickly.
Lesson 2 - Roll with the punches
After Cook’s Hollywood audition, American Idol judge Simon Cowell gave him a big thumbs down.
Face it. Not everyone is going to like what you do. Learn to take criticism and use it to improve the projects you’re working on. Brood over criticism and you’ll likely give yourself an ulcer.
Lesson 3 - Forget being a one-trick pony
A great act is more than singing. “It’s charisma and it’s performance and it’s all these extra things that come along with being a good singer,” Cook says.
A good producer must diversify his or her skills. At many sites, a producer will be called upon to write teases, record podcasts, edit video and photos, write script and be everything a news site needs. Have a passion to expand your skill set and you’ll be more likely to be rewarded with advancement, pay or a new job. Rest on the one thing you do exceptionally, and you’ll likely stay where you are.
Lesson 4 - Bring a fresh perspective
Lionel Richie’s “Hello” is a great song! But how relevant is it today? Cook breathed new life into the song, adapting it to a more modern style.
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Although a feature may be working for your site, it still can be improved or tweaked to appeal to different audiences. Take a moment to analyze the projects your working on. Do your projects need to be done the same way they’ve always been done? Could anything be improved or updated to integrate new tools?
Lesson 5 - B+ effort won’t cut it. Be on your game
If you’re going to play the Beatles, you’d better play well. Butcher the song, and a singer may get blasted by the audience.
Think of your publication like a Beatles song. If you don’t put your heart into it, your site users will notice and leave you for another site. Take ownership of your site and sections - making them a reflection of you.
Lesson 6 - Take risks
Who would think that slowing down Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and singing it over guitar is a good idea? Take a look!
Experiment, Experiment, Experiment! In the online world, risks are part of the game. Try out new features, and if they don’t work, just scrap them and try something else. Playing overly-conservative will give opportunities to other sites look for ways to innovate online storytelling and take your users.
What else can this season’s American Idol teach online producers?
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March 27th, 2008 at 9:10 am
“Hello” is a great song?
Also, apparently he lifted the Billie Jean version from another, lesser known performer
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20186355,00.html
So, going with your theme, I think online producers should steal from the lesser known sites and take credit for the work. Now THAT’S how you get ahead.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Ha, thanks Bill. Great point. Stealing ideas works! ;p - Just kidding everyone.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
[…] Smith just wrote a great post. He’s spot-on with his […]
March 27th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
In the early days of online publishing, when suddenly we commit all sorts of mayhem in print, another editor and I had a catchphrase for anything we wanted to throw at the page : “Let’s try it, and if it doesn’t work we’ll never do it again.” Worked then, suspect it may work now.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:09 am
[…] What online news producers can learn from American Idol’s David Cook. I’m not an Idol fan, but I’m glad Shawn Smith is, and that he can draw some interesting lessons from the performances of one of the contestants. There’s stuff in here that can be applied to all aspects of journalism. […]
March 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I think you’re right Mark. But producers have to pay attention to what hasn’t worked at other sites and think about why it didn’t work - then you can step ahead of the game in tweaking the feature to improve its chances of being successful. I think too many news sites run with things that have failed miserably at other places because they want to blaze a trail rather than learning from others mistakes. That said, experimenting is a huge part of the job
March 28th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
[…] 27 March 2008, by logan When I got into the office, my boss asked if I had watched, and that David Cook really rose above the rest with his cover of Billie Jean. I hopped right on Youtube and watched it. And, wow. I was impressed. Then I came across this post … [edit] What online news producers can learn from American Idol’s David Cook […]
March 31st, 2008 at 10:29 am
I don’t think I’d call Chris Cornell a lesser known artist.
Doing covers of covers that other people have already covered (Daytripper sounded like a guy trying to sound like David Coverdale trying to sound like Paul McCartney, which is exactly what it was) is not really something I would view as an inspirational strategy, unless you can be fairly sure that your audience is going to be roughly as ignorant as the IA audience.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
[…] reading another blog today, I found this link to Shawn Smith’s New Media […]
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
An interesting analogy. David Cook has the potential to be a very big star. Let’s hope he gets a lot of creative freedom when he gets his record deal.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:10 am
I’ve got a lot of visitors from Asia like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and India on my David Cook Fan Page. I think he has absolute the potential to become a “world” star. If he gets enough time to produce a new record, he will be more than a “one-hit wonder” - I think.