How To Make Bite-Sized, Revolutionary Journalism With Doodle The News
DOodle the NEWS (DtN) can help creators build a professional portfolio of art, journalism, entrepreneurship, or all three. This news/educational startup has helped people recognize the value of being more civic-minded while helping them become more engaged in current events and world news.
Follow along these instructions to learn how you can become an effective contributor for DtN, your home for bite-sized, revolutionary journalism:
- Find a news story that interests you: If you have trouble deciding on a topic, use the 17 Sustainable Developmental Goals as a reference. These guiding principles can help you learn more about the world and how to make it a better place!
Official breakdown from UN for those curious: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership -Check out sources on Reddit, starting from a hub like this one, or these subreddits here.
- Form the outline of the newdle (news + doodle): Read your news story and try to give the audience a firm understanding of what’s going on. I typically break it up like so:
TOPIC > NEWS > REACTION > DOODLE > NEWS/QUOTE > SOURCE Feel free to use your own style, but always ensure the newdle is in a vertical layout. It’s the best way our audience can consume DtN content. If the news story is very long and you just want the gist before diving into content creation, use this website to crunch down the article into a few sentences so you can gather what’s going on quicker. But make sure to still use the actual reporting on the website, rewriting everything in your own words.
Always try to find the most original reporting in the article you use. For instance, if an article is talking about a recent study, try to use that study’s source directly for the source section of the newdle.
Example:
Source I found (Forbes) vs. the original reporting (Science) Here’s the outline of the newdle:
TOPIC: Volatile chemicals in atmosphere.
NEWS: The chemicals in cosmetic items like soaps & paints can create harmful pollutants in your home, accounting for 40% of volatile organic compounds in a typical household.
REACTION + DOODLE: Does this mean air pollution is not just an outdoor problem?
QUOTE: “Concentrations [of petroleum-based chemicals] are often ten times higher indoors than outdoors.” – Allen Goldstein, UC Berkeley.
SOURCE: Science.
- Put it all together in your desired digital photo editing software: At Doodle the News, we typically use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to cook up our newdles. Although we recommend Adobe software, we understand if you do not have access to them, as it isn’t cheap. Try free online services like pixlr or canva. Anyway, put it all together into a digestible picture a typical 13-year old would be able to understand. This is what mine looks like (special thanks to zustudio.xyz for the artwork):
Note: The original size of this picture is 800×1924 pixels large. This is very big. We need all pictures on DtN to be made in large formats. Remember, you can always shrink a large picture and it will retain its pixel quality. Enlarging a small picture distorts it, making it blurry. Always avoid this. - Getting published on doodlethenews.com: After being on-boarded and set up with a WordPress account, you will upload your newdle here. Follow the directions in the screenshots below:-Click “Add Media” to upload your newdle.
Always make sure “Full Size” is selected!
Now in the bottom right, add a featured image of your choosing.
Note: To avoid copyright, try to look for pictures on free sources like Pixabay. Or better yet, go to Google Images and put in these settings:
Then set your featured image!
Cool! The art part is out of the way…
- Write some bite-sized, revolutionary journalism! If you are a writer, go ahead and write the complimentary article that provides the audience with a link to the original reporting. Try to have it around 50-400 words long. Make sure the audience gains an understanding about the topic that brings added value to their insight.Some helpful writing tips:
a) Keep paragraphs in 1-4 sentence chunks, taking the reader from Point A to Point B.
b) Try to make clear what the 5 Ws + H are (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?).
c) Be inspired to know you’re trying to help readers understand more about the topic; transfer the most intriguing parts of the news story into your piece.
d) Feel free to link to other sources to help reader understand news (other articles, videos, pictures/graphics, memes, etc). - Tags, SEO, & Categories: Here’s a screenshot of the article from the example newdle provided:
When tagging articles to words, ALWAYS make sure to have it open in a new tab:
After you’re done writing, scroll down to Yoast SEO.
Then add a “Focus Keyword” (the topic typically).
Then on the right, select the categories related to the story.
Make sure to proofread and save the draft! Our editors will take it from there!
Hopefully this provides a means for new newdlers and writers to join the bite-sized revolution of online art journalism. If you have any questions on how to get started, email idoodlenews@gmail.com or visit this website to fill out an application.
We look forward to your contributions! Here are a couple examples some of our newdlers have made for the site!
He has been published across a wide variety of media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, the Cornell Daily Sun, SportTechie, Clutchpoints, Cavs Nation, the Cornell Chronicle, and many more.
Tobe has a plethora of hobbies, including writing, athletics, drawing, acting, and collaborating with others about ideas and startups working in the multimedia space.