I think of Twitter as a massive, buzzing newsroom, where journalists converse, share breaking news, and joke around. Most of the people I follow on Twitter are reporters and news stations, the majority of them stretching up and down the west coast, with a few sprinkled in from the east. I also believe most of the people who follow me back are reporters as well. Out of all my friends and family, only one person is on Twitter, making me wonder, do normal people “Tweet?”
Whenever there’s breaking news, forget the TV stations or websites, I go straight to Twitter. Last night, when the earthquake struck in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, journalists started tweeting like crazy. And we didn’t pause to write our own web stories first and link back to our pages for the clicks, we sent out Tweets including USGS earthquake information, links to NOAA and the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, links to information directly from the source. Using my own and Twitter’s resources, I was quickly able to Tweet breaking news from the FOX40 account as well as my own, and write up a web story that I sent to The Tribune Company, which in turn posted my story on Tribune websites across the country. Reporters re-tweeting each other and various news stations, all of our collective heads buzzing with this breaking news and the best way to share it.
Aside from breaking news, Twitter is a great way for journalists to make connections and mingle with other like-minded neurotics. For example, I was conversing with the two reporters who broke the “Whitey” Bulger story from the L.A. Times. For me, the ability to praise these two investigative journalists and have them respond back was like writing to celebrities, and getting @ replies from their accounts. Yes, I’m that big of a geek:
View “Tweets with L.A. Times reporters” on Storify
I also got an @reply from CNN’s Don Lemon, which was equally thrilling.
Another favorite part of being a journalist on Twitter are the weekly journalist chats. Every Monday, I participate in #journchat, and every Wednesday, I stick my nose in #wjchat. The second chat is my favorite because it specifically targets web journalists and some of the challenges we face. I love interacting with such talented journalists and brainstorming ideas. I’ve met new Twitter friends through #wjchat and learned about Storify and Crowdsourcing. I haven’t quite figured out Crowdsourcing but I know other journalists have found it useful.
Another way Twitter is wildly successful is with public relations/news alerts. At FOX40, we often find out about breaking news through Tweets by local law enforcement, firefighting agencies. They can keep us posted through Tweets rather than constantly fielding calls from dozens of reporters at news stations across town. They tweet locations and details I can include in a web story. They tell reporters where to meet up with them. And through public relations or public affairs, I often find story ideas on Twitter, and links to press releases and resources.
So, I think Twitter is one of the best inventions for journalists. I often wonder what other groups are huge on Twitter. I know people in the writing/publishing industry use it constantly, as well as “mommy bloggers.” Who else uses Twitter? And if you use Twitter, what about it do you find the most useful?
All truths. Thanks for the blog post, Kristin!
I started using twitter when planning a hiking vacation in Glacier National Park, two years ago. GNP is very active on twitter and FB but I found that twitter is the most useful because it gives me the latest happenings and the tweets are sent to my cell phone. So, even though I live in Georgia, I know what is happening and how it might effect my plans for this year.
I make use of a lot of lists of other groups like food-bloggers, cycling, organizational guru’s, artists, general outdoor interests, weather (very big here in the SE), technical stuff, to name a few. Oddly enough I really don’t follow news or journalists but have been thinking of adding a list; and you are on my social list because I wasn’t sure where you should go at the time, so you might be the first on the news list.
Honestly, I get more than I give on Twitter. Like you, almost none of my friends and family are on twitter, they prefer FB, but I wish they would use Twitter also. I find FB to be too bloated to be really useful. I think I need to make a real effort to build more of a network on twitter and I like the idea of “chats”. I know of several but just have never been a regular.
Regards
Rand
What is your Twitter username? I’ll follow you, too!