A tale of two scandals.

ladouceur78 / Flickr alex-s / Flickr

Watergate Enronv.

The press won its stripes covering a story where

information was scarce.

Today’s scandals happen in an environment where

information is plentiful.

Your first goal:

Master the conversation.

Gueorgui Tcherednitchenko / Flickr

THE ANDREW SULLIVAN LEDE

[Proper noun] [verb]:

[Blockquote]

- Basic Sullivan lede formula

The Daily Dish

Matthew Yglesias

Boing Boing

XX Factor: The modified Sully.

The Well: Sully lite.

Around Argo

Andrew Sullivan didn’t invent the Sully lede.

Velocity did.

blogging’s adaptation on the

inverted pyramid

It’s quick.

It suggests ubiquity.

It demands listening first.

It evokes a conversation.

It triggers awareness.

I have so many fascinating things to tell you.

I must hurry.

the energy you send into the world

will be returned to youTHREE TIMES OVER

- The Wiccan “Rule of Three”

FIND THE CONVERSATION.

Who do you want to reach?Where do they gather?

Then find their people.Use lists, blogrolls, mentions, you-name-it.

Who are the leading voices?

QWhen have I found my people?

AWhen your beat feels this hopping...

Ben Smith’s pre-11.a.m. posting, 10/20/10

If your world doesn’t feel big enough,

WIDEN YOUR LENS.

not a series of dispatches:

A STREAM.

feed > post

subscriber > visitor

Be there.[auro] / Flickr

Don’t Ask, Don’t TellAnti-gay bullying

Major LGBT stories, 10/20/10

HuffingtonPost.com10/20/10

BigGayNews.com10/20/10

StarTribune.com military blog10/20/10

TNR.com environment blog10/20/10

NURTURE THE CONVERSATION.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates, cont’d.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The beginning.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: First thaw.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Sullivan ledes.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Asked...

Ta-Nehisi Coates: ... Answered.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Knock knock.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Warmer.

April ’08

May ’08

June ’08

Ta-Nehisi Coates: To the Atlantic.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Tipping point.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Check-cashing.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is what success looks like.

COMMENTS ARE CONTENT.

It gets assigned.

It gets curated.

It gets promoted.

It gets edited.

The true test of anONLINE COMMUNITY

Conversation ...

... or graffiti?

TURN SOURCES INTO COMMENTERS.

N.Y. Times op-ed9/20/10

CommonHealth link roundup9/21/10

CommonHealth follow-up9/27/10

CommonHealth follow-up9/28/10

Kudos from KSJ Tracker9/30/10

Conversation continues...10/7/10

... even at the N.Y. Times.10/19/10

The best interviewers are the best listeners.

The best bloggers are the best readers.

You have to go where the conversation is

before you can go

where it isn’t.

The column that felled EnronFORTUNE, 3/5/01

Imagine an alternate history.

Start with the conversation.Proceed from there.