After reading the post entitled "Can Twitter be a real news platform?" on TwiTip, I wanted to offer up my own thoughts based on previous readings, past personal experiences, and what I've noticed in regards to news coverage of Twitter and big news events.
President-elect Barack Obama became known for how his campaign used social media and other digital means to reach and mobilize Americans. Twitter had a #election so that you could see any tweets tagged by #election in real-time allowing twitterers to read immediate reactio to presidential debates and other campaign announcements. The New York Times wrote an article called "Campaign reporting in under 140 taps" that addressed how news reporting is changing the ways journalists disseminate information. We no longer have to wait for a journalist to type up his/her article and submit it to their editor and then wait for it to be printed or published online. Now in just a few seconds, journalists can make quick announcements or even link to recently uploaded articles or blog posts.
During the Mumbai attacks, we saw twitterers spring to action to spread news and important information like the need to donate blood in areas surrounding the attacks. While not all of the tweets were accurate in nature, these tweets helped describe the scene and what was going on before we could read articles online or for some of us even see live video feed of Mumbai. The New York Times and CNN took notice and wrote how Twitter was a news platform and helped connect people wanting information about the attacks from around the world.
Do I believe that Twitter will be one of THE top news platforms that people turn to? Perhaps in the time of a crisis, but when it comes to in-depth coverage Twitter is not where people will turn to. When people want to see what is happening, they will likely turn on the TV. Twitter is just an avenue or news platform when people can't access the TV or need information so immediate that an online newspaper won't have that information up on the website just yet.
While Twitter has yet to truly catch on with the mass population, it has become quite the popular tool among journalists and PR practitioners. These PR professionals have already created blog posts with lists of journalists on Twitter to make it even easier for others to find these journalists. From BusinessWeek to the New York Times, there are plenty of journalists to uncover on Twitter and they aren't just your techy group of these publications either. I was surprised to see BusinessWeek actually advertise their twittering journalists on their own website encouraging readers to submit their own story ideas to their publication. These journalists will promote their own stories or other articles in their publication, but they sometimes will ask for tips on a topic or share their interests and activities. While you wouldn't want to pitch to a reporter via Twitter, a PR practitioner can follow a journalist on Twitter and be able to better cater a pitch to the individual.
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Christy,
ReplyDeleteTwitter reminds me of a new form of the headlines that the Associated Press used to run when there was no Twitter. But the headlines from the AP were fact-checked and verified before they were sent out. Do you think that verification--or the knowledge that journalists were verifying their Twitter information--would help make it more useful to journalists? Or would that destroy the immediacy of the tool?
Interesting post. I'd be intrigued to see how pr professionals are using Twitter?
Fara,
ReplyDeleteVery few PR professionals actually use Twitter to pitch something. It's not really the right medium to do something like that. Rather, I think they use Twitter to follow journalists and see what they are tweeting about - what topics interest them, what other articles do they pass along to their followers, etc. That way should the PR professional hope to pitch a story, it can be much more catered to that individual journalist. It could also help with building a relationship with the journalist in a manner that's not really expecting anything from them in return on that medium. You can share interesting links, retweet other great tweets, and use it as a medium where you can generate the conversation and engage the journalist without ever asking for something from them in return at least through that medium.
I think that verification will always make something more useful no matter what it is. I think the biggest dilemma with journalists would be in emergency situations like the Mumbai attacks or the US Airways situation. If a journalist tried to retweet someone else's comment or tweeted something theirself that had not been verified and it turned out to be inaccurate, that tweet could easily spread throughout Twitter as fact and then when it was found to be wrong, it could be damaging to the journalist's reputation. Still, if a journalist experienced the event firsthand or could quickly verify the information, Twitter can be a wonderful medium to get the message out.