The Irish Times
Project: Digital communications consultancy involving online content creation, digital media and social media strategy and skills training.
“Athena Media designed and implemented a social media training programme specifically tailored for Irish Times journalists, covering everything from the practical details of setting up and running Twitter accounts to the business rationale and professional implications of social platforms for media companies such as ourselves.
To date, almost 100 Irish Times journalists have participated in this bespoke programme, which has resulted in a measurable increase in digital skills, output and engagement across our editorial team.
As we continue the process of positioning our company to meet the digital challenges which lie ahead, Athena’s expertise and training skills have been essential, and we hope to continue working with them into the future ”
Client: Hugh Linehan, Online Editor 2011-2012, Irish Times
As digital innovators and path-finders we have worked with several traditional media organisations, both broadcasting and print, to help them navigate the digital transformation.
In February 2011 we pitched camp in The Irish Times for a month during the 2011 General Election and effectively worked as an embed unit to help the newspaper think digital content and begin to create audio and video stories. We set up a daily podcast channel produced from the heart of the newsroom and began The Irish Times journey into podcasting.
After the embed month we handed back processes and procedures to the newsroom to help it move forward and begin crafting its own online content. In 2012 Helen Shaw was invited back by the new editor of the newspaper, Kevin O’Sullivan to mentor the editorial staff on using social media, particularly twitter, as a journalistic tool.
Across six months journalists, sub-editors, photographers and administrators worked with Helen in a series of workshops designed to help the newsroom create social media guidelines, strategy and to manage the disruptive wave of digital. Our aim was to help the newspaper realise its strengths in the digital environment and to empower its journalists to use social media as part of their daily routine both to find things out and to share information.