Social Awareness – Page 3 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Mayhem Blogger

The story is a great read.

And for journalists – true, capital-J-on-your-chest, I-can-recite-the-SPJ-Code-of-Ethics journalists – this is also terribly disheartening.

This is what we’re up against.

For better or worse, we can get our “news” from sources that go beyond the traditional (or “legacy,” as I like to call them) media outlets.

I am not ashamed to admit, I love me some Daily Show with John Stewart and what was the Colbert Report. First of all, their archive and research department is insane. As a former investigative and data reporter, the number of clips they dig up that add context and show patterns of (in)consistency makes me drool. Second, under the guise of satire, there’s a whole heck of a lot of fact. The hosts (“anchors”) and correspondents (“reporters”) can add perspectives (opinions?) true by-the-book unbiased journalists can’t.

But when, as in the case of Charles C. Johnson, news consumers are treated to false information, and flat-out lies – without correction, without remorse – all for clicks and notoriety, to say it’s frustrating is an understatement.

I don’t know of any newsroom that is not asking its journalists to do more with less. All while multiple deadlines across platforms with diminishing resources (and salaries) loom daily.

For longevity, it’s not longer sufficient to simply do a darn good job – you must “build a brand.”

Who is to blame? Technology – for giving us more outlets from which to get information? Consumers – who don’t take the time to check the credibility of their “media” outlets? Managers – who demand clicks and name recognition over enterprise and solid reporting? Media companies – bleeding money, desperately seeking revenue? “Journalists” – who’d rather take selfies on scene and post flashy hashtags than report?

None, some and all are probably the correct answers. And here is where I channel my inner cheerleader: to you true journalists, don’t let this stop you from doing your due diligence!
Persevere! Credibility is key. Journalism isn’t just a job – it’s a calling.

This blogger – and others more interested in exposing their brand and notoriety – may become recognizable. And eventually, so will his factual errors and seemingly callous attitude towards the damage they’ve caused.

If you wanna be famous – go on reality tv. Hire an agent. Hire a stylist. Hire a good plastic surgeon and make up artist. Marry – divorce – someone famous.

And I beg of you, please stay out of the way of us JOURNALISTS so we can continue to hold the powerful accountable. Give voice to the voiceless. Inform, enlighten and compel viewers, surfers, and readers.

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Victoria Lim is a multi-platform journalism pioneer, newsroom trainer and educator; Frappacino fan and chocoholic. You can reach her @VictoriaLim on Twitter.
Facebook: Facebook.com/VictoriaLimReports
Website: www.victorialim.com

How To Have An Edge On Twitter Without Ruining Credibility

Last week’s episode of HBO’s “The Newsroom” (titled: “Run”) tried to make a statement about journalists use of Twitter. In fact, it appears that TV journalists use of social media is going to be a theme this season.

In “Run” the character Hallie sends out a late night tweet from ACN’s account saying “Boston Marathon: Republicans rejoice that there’s finally a national tragedy that doesn’t involve guns.” When asked what made her even think of a tweet like that, the answer is “retweets.”

Ok, so we all know this is hypothetical and some might even say “All journalists know better than a posting a politically charged tweet like that one.” But just within the last several days a real TV network was called out for an insensitive tweet.

http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2014/11/18/its-always-a-great-show-when

And if you read FTVLive or Huffington Post, then you have likely seen the site point out examples of countless insensitive tweets and inappropriate exchanges on the local level. Here are three recent examples:

http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2014/11/11/everyone-smile-and-say-torture

http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2014/11/11/this-is-not-how-to-use-social media

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/kansas-city-royals-kctv-world-series-tweet-baseball_n_6028090.html

Bottom line, journalists and industry leaders are struggling to have an edge on Twitter and other social media. Make fun of “The Newsroom” bringing up retweets all you like, but there’s truth in the not so thinly veiled critique. Journalists are getting a lot of pressure from their bosses to get lots of retweets, followers and influence on social media. So let’s talk about ways to get an edge without ending up embarrassed.

Let’s get something straight first. Journalists are tempted to go too far for two reasons. The influence of so called “citizen journalists” and pressure from above to be influential on social media. So let’s break those ideas down a bit.

Citizen journalists, are eyewitnesses, often with video or still images of newsworthy events. But they also often have biases. They are untrained in how to interpret situations, so they simply show what they see and then try to insert their OPINIONS on the issue.

Actual trained journalists, first and foremost need to keep their opinions off of their “official” social media accounts. That would have fixed several of the above scenarios as well. Now, I know this has been said before to you, but there’s the temptation to inject opinion because of the influence/retweet factor. With few exceptions the most influential “voices” on social media are full of opinions and very clearly state them. So how can you get that edge, and not follow in those same footsteps?

First and foremost, journalists must define their roles on social media. Just like a newsroom defines its news philosophy for its newscasts. Since many TV stations and companies are not willing or able to give you clear guidelines to define that role, let’s set up a framework for you to start doing it yourself.

What Is A Journalist On Twitter?
Educated Witness
Divulger of Information
Conversation Starter

What if journalists defined their roles with those three simple statements I just listed? Let’s dive in a little more.

As an educated witness, you need to fill up your social media accounts with images you see and characters you have met. You need to provide facts or explain you are searching for specific information as you showcase the images. Standing in front of a crime scene saying “We are first on the scene” is what a citizen journalist would do. They want to show off that they are there. A regular schmo, excited at a chance to be a part of something. You are a witness to many events, and go into those situations with some knowledge and the know how to get more information. See how the temptation to post a tweet like standing in front of a crime scene and saying “Here we are” is less likely to happen with the definition educated witness? I want to make sure you understand, viewers and folks on Twitter EXPECT you to be at the scene. And they expect more out of you than showing you are there. They want you to do something with your social media accounts that they can’t just do themselves.

Which leads to the next part of our definition, divulger of information. As you showcase the images you have (because you want to have an edge/influence and plenty of retweets) add a nugget of information.

“Firefighters fear these flames reach higher than their aerial ladder can go.”
“This accident scene looks awful but everyone walked away safely.”
“This pile of documents could change how your child is tested in school.”

Think extra details. Divulge information. Think how and why. Why does this image I am sending look this way? How will people be impacted by this picture? Why care about a pile of documents? What will firefighters face that a citizen journalist cannot easily notice or explain? These nuggets of information make you credible and valuable to follow. You gain an edge. You gain followers. You gain influence.

Finally, when you look at the most influential people on Twitter they are great at interacting with “their peeps.” They engage in conversation. So start some. You can bring up an issue without inserting your opinion. You can ask questions of your followers. Then retweet some of the reactions you get to engage people into talking more. If they see that you are interested in what they have to say, followers respect you more. They are more willing to bring things up to you. Engaging does not have to mean showing your breakfast donut and talking about how you exercise. If you are in an editorial meeting and thinking, does anyone care that city council is voting on allowing a new development, ask. See if you get hits. I know some of you are saying it tips off the competition if you do these things. But if you want to gain social media trust and influence, you have to start letting your followers in on the news of the day. There is a counter argument that they will let their friends know you are considering this story or that story, and encouraging them to tune in to see it. You need to establish credibility and create an edge. That means being willing to give up some nuggets to get the big prize.

So there you go. Define your role as a journalist on social media. How do you want to come across? How do you want the information you have to share to be viewed? If you focus on the information and allowing viewers to converse and engage you can avoid pitfalls. People retweet when they are interested in the topic. You do not have to be the voice of that topic. You can be the instrument by which the topic is explored, through images, nuggets of information and asking viewers to weigh in. You can have an edge on social media without the posts being about you. Remember, you are an educated witness who has information and knows how to get that information discussed. That will make you edgy, interesting and influential. Win, win and win!

Creating Community: Successfully Build Your Social Media Following

Over the last couple of years I have monitored a lot of stations, hash tag groups and individual journalists who have thousands of followers and big Klout in social media. There is a common thread. These stations, groups and individuals do not use social media for overt promotion. Yep. No bragging. No showing off. No pics of their Emmys on their Instagram accounts. Instead these successful social media entities do something else. They ask for other people’s opinions or they ask for clarification on things they have seen or heard. In short, they create a sense of community.

Many journalists are being pressured to come up with innovative ways to engage the audience through social media. If you want to move into management you better have a proven track record, at least through your own social media accounts. When you ask what the stations want, they have the same answer: tonnage. As intimidating as that may seem, there is a simple way to create that volume. Build a sense of community. That means letting the people who “follow” you know that what they have to say is important and engaging. That means you, the hot shot TV star, are not the most important thing. (I say this partly joking, many journalists especially if you are on-air are pressured by your bosses to show off how cool you are. That’s frustrating, confusing and intimidating in its own right.)

So how do you build a sense of community? You have to find subjects that people want to exchange information about. You will have to be brave enough to experiment a bit and when you strike a cord, look for similar subjects. This will take time and effort, but it can be very exhilarating also. When you see two of your followers engaging with each other, keep engaging with them as well. It does not matter who thought of the idea being discussed first. Just run with it and encourage even more input. Make your followers feel more like contributors. Your numbers will explode. Best of all, I guarantee you will find spending time on social media a very rewarding part of your career instead of another chore you need to mark off your to do list each day.

Social TV: Making The Most Of Planned And Unplanned Interactions

Social TV is storytelling. While just 16 percent of Americans are on Twitter, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are on Facebook, according to a recent Pew Study. Social media users are vocal viewers that are likely to influence their friends and family to tune in. We want those viewers to watch and engage in real time and make live TV a different experience than they get reading the news online – which is where interactive TV comes in.

The interaction can be approached two ways — planned, pre-produced segments; and unplanned moments such as breaking news.

The planned:

Social TV sings when it is a produced element of a show. It should be part of the story telling — not tacked on. You can incorporate viewers into a real-time poll, or asking viewers a question to answer, think of how to engage the audience and take your show into the live TV “you snooze you lose” category.

These stories can be mini elements worked into a package with set-up or more involved. One of the more-in-depth interactive stories we’ve done was our story on the bystander effect. We sent our promotions producer outside in various situations — moaning in the cold as a well-dressed person, again in a hoodie and jeans, and then to steal a bike at a transit station (with UTA’s permission). As the package aired, we asked questions to our audience, i.e. “how long will it take someone to help him?” and “how many people will stop the bike theft” and engaged with them in a conversation and showed their comments in real time.

The story was promoted as an interactive over the weekend and generated a ratings lift over our lead-in — and a lot of people buzzing about how they were anxious to see how people reacted. Our Facebook reach numbers jumped during the story as well.

A fantastic example I saw of this was a Today Show #OrangeRoom segment with Tamron Hall. They had talked about electric baby cradles — and Tamron did a live demo with a crying baby (!) to show whether or not they worked. That’s better than any tweet on air — making TV work for its medium.

The unplanned: Social media becomes your friend and your enemy during breaking news. Photos pour in — but no one wants to be the news station that gets punked and puts false information on air. Set a plan in place now that everyone can follow to verify what information is reliable. Once information is verified, and you have permission to use it, take it to air as user generated content. Let it help you tell the story in real time, as it happens. We have done this in breaking news — especially in situations when we want to break in, and we have confirmed information, but our satellite truck or chopper just hasn’t quite reached the scene. It serves as a bridge.

Here are some tips:

1. Learn who you can trust: I’ve made a twitter list of good social citizens — people that tweet us often with real information, or PIOs that I can trust. From there, I can look at the people they follow and interact with. (This works well with national and international events — start every big event with a Twitter list) 2. Use the information that social media gives you. Look at timestamps and to see the genuine intrigue in people’s messages (are they more shocked by what they just witnessed — or do they seem more interested in having their picture be on TV? It should be the former, not the latter). If it comes through Facebook message, get more information. Better yet, if it’s a good picture, get their contact information, and get an interview.

3. If it is a large event, compare photos. In 2012, we had a horrible wildfire season and every time a new wildfire would start, we would get the same picture of a famous Utah landmark with a fiery sunset behind it. With reverse Google Image search, we were able to trace it to a local photographer who had taken it two years previous.

4. Inform your newsroom. Don’t forget that if you discover something is false, to not live in a vacuum. Tell people, so that all of your producers know and the content doesn’t make it on air.

For a great report on verification and breaking news, read this Q&A with Jennifer Preston of the New York Times.

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Natalie Wardel @nataliewardel is the Social Media Director for KSL in Salt Lake City. Tweet her with questions and/or comments.