Live Reporting & Breaking News
Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins
NorCal Social Training, April 2012
#norcalsoc
Immediacy Tracking a long-term story Traffic Community engagement Saving time writing for various
formats
Why We Go Live
Breaking story Meeting Event (festival, march, concert) Trial Daylong (Election Day, weather) Sporting event Reporting long-term stories
Liveblogging Situations
Get names, titles in advance when possible
Set scene & your role Describe your circumstances,
vantage point: At event, watching on TV, curating tweets
Liveblogging prep
Try It Now:#NorCalSoc
Mix play-by-play with context, background Pass on quotes, who is there, add in
photos Use tweets as your notes for later Note significant pauses and stops Check facts before you hit “tweet” Take questions, respond when possible
Live Tweeting
Why Use #Hashtags?
Group tweets by keyword Find other sources Expand your audience Organize content for display and archiving
Before You Hashtag
Search for hashtag(s) already in use If a hashtag is already in use, adopt it If not, choose one that’s simple &
unique Geographic abbreviation helps
(#ChicoStorm) Geographic better than branded
(#CApolitics better than #CETpolitics)
Feed tweets into your site in place of a breaking story
Serve your audience on social media – and reach a new one
Helps staff communicate Start writing a story in-office from
reporters’ live tweets
What Livetweeting Can Do
Say what you don’t know
Link to fresh content
Updates in (time-stamp, reverse-chron order) in your blog or story template
More Live Reporting Formats
CoveritLive
Livestream/Video Chat
QIK (Mobile LIVE video)
Video/Chat Options
Ustream Livestream Qik Google+ Hangout
Couple it with a liveblog or chat format to take questions or include text
Think Beyond Text
Videos Photos Slides Graphics Social Media
Audio Tweets Source
documents Maps
Short, frequent takes Liveblog becomes notebook for story Promote before, during and replays Curate live tweets to be viewed later
Tips, techniques
Liveblog is notebook: cut, paste, write, edit
Note when you know you’ve written good lead or passage for story
Note questions to pursue later Does summary work for print? Plug “complete coverage” in liveblog
Managing liveblog & story
Live Coverage Team Develop a hashtag (if there isn't one) and
be sure everyone uses it If your staff is tweeting, pull in their tweets
to your site Determine who posts and edits the liveblog Get photogs aboard early
Play-by-play Commentary Live-tweet (#nocalsocial) Find & add links for context Photos and video Moderate questions, comments
Team Liveblog Roles
Standard of completeness changes; commitment to accuracy remains
Attribute, hedge, verify, seek verification Say what you don’t know, too Conversation, not a monologue
Points to remember
CoveritLive/ScribbleLive Your existing blogging platform
Live Chat Tools
Give some questions to guests in advance Panelists need not be in person You approve questions Add in polls, links for background
(prepare in advance) Group related questions together Preview questions coming up
Live Chat Technique
Newsmakers, politicians Host chat w/ community bloggers (dining,
sports, entertainment) Reporters on recent big stories, recurring
issues, topics of expertise
Live Chat Ideas
Set time, promote it to followers long in advance
Take questions in advance Use a hashtag to tie tweets
together Choose questions to answer,
retweet them with order ID. Ex: Q1 Preface answer with corresponding
answer (A1)
Twitter Chats
Mandy Jenkins
@mjenkins
Blog: Zombiejournalism.com
These slides & more at slideshare.net/mandyjenkins
THANKS!
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