Social Awareness – Page 5 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Tweeting About WX Coverage: How To Stand Out

With spring storm season here, I was eager to watch the locals show off their meteorologists and storm coverage during a recent tornado warning. It was a weekend. A nationally televised sporting event was happening in town, one channel had a NASCAR race running and March Madness was cooking too. These obviously add a lot of pressure to the weekend crews. I could write an article on how obvious it was which stations planned ahead for this possible scenario and which obviously left weekend crews high and dry. (The threat of storms was forecast days in advance.) But frankly, talking about how bad that is to do to a weekend crew is just too obvious. So let’s talk about something interesting I really noticed during this Sunday after storm. Reporters and meteorologists were tweeting from home, with compelling elements to really “own “ station coverage online.

Two stations really stood out for this. Anchors, reporters and meteorologist hopped on Twitter and talked about what the storms were doing at their location despite clearly having the day off. They asked for descriptions from Twitter followers. They added information beyond the studio crew.

My favorite highlights: a weekday meteorologist who was off, started sending out information about areas that were about to see rain bands and wind. A weekday news anchor (also off that day) started describing what the weather was like and showed images too. Reporters started conversations with followers about what the skies looked like overhead, whether they were ducking for cover and even how the kids were reacting to the wind and rain bands. The tweets were real, appropriate and created tangible connections with the community they served. Very cool!

When tweeting about the weather keep in mind that it is an incredible instant connection to people directly impacted by what you are covering. Allow discussion. It can create amazing moments and connections that will help supplement your station’s on-air coverage. In my case, I had switched to another station to watch when tweets started coming in from a competitor that explained what was happening so well, I switched again. I knew that was the station that was giving the best explanation of what to expect. The bases were truly covered by a dedicated staff that contributed any way they could, willingly. These journalists wanted to be watchdogs for their community, even when it was their day off. A big win for sure.

Hurling insults. How to cope with social media attacks.

When a morning anchor in Wisconsin delivered an editorial as a response to a Facebook comment about her weight, I watched journalists speak overwhelmingly in support of her and her station’s decision. Now, a meteorologist in Louisiana has been fired for her responses to Facebook comments about her hairstyle. Once again journalists started buzzing on Twitter about how hard it is to take viewer insults, especially on social media.

No doubt this is a very difficult part of the job. During the shootings in Aurora, I read a local reporter’s Twitter feed daily for updates. I noticed a viewer scold the reporter for sending out tweets asking for hook ups with families of someone in the theater at the time of the shooting. The viewer said the timing seemed harsh (this was during the first day after the shooting). The reporter replied, that he/she was just doing their job and the viewer did not have to follow the feed. I also saw a viewer call out a morning anchor for too many inside jokes on Twitter with other morning anchors. This anchor replied, too bad, if you don’t like it don’t read and stop trying to ruin the fun. And that there are other options in town, take one.

I understand that viewers can sometimes be out of line. I also understand you may get insults by the dozens at times. But I have to say, reading these responses can really undermine people’s view of you. The burden is on the journalist to take the high road. Keep in mind, by virtue of simply being on TV, you are a local celebrity and are held to a different standard than someone who is not.

So what do you do? The simple answer, thank the viewer for the input and decide if there is any merit to their comments. If there isn’t, let it go. If there is, be grateful someone made you aware. But remember the viewer is the customer, and attacking a customer, in any kind of public setting, is just bad business. If the insult is very personal and offensive, let management know. You should have a running dialogue with your ND on how the station handles these things. In some cases, the station takes care of the response.

The fact that these insults happened on social media, takes the discussion to another level. It is one thing to call a person back, on the phone, and have a moment of weakness by saying something you should not. It is quite another to do it in a social media forum where it is public and you cannot take it back. That response, even if you delete it, is essentially forever findable. Bottom line it is in writing and therefore more permanent. Not the place for a moment of weakness. That’s why you need to communicate regularly with a manager about these responses. If your management team will not discuss options with you, send only “Thanks for the suggestion.” then let it go online. Viewers and potential employers can only take the comments at face value. Make sure whatever yoiur response is, it’s the representation you want to follow you throughout your career.

Wanted a new job: Will your social media account help or hurt your search?

I have almost no doubt you have heard plenty of talk about the importance of being social media savvy, especially when job hunting. But is your account truly ready for potential bosses “checking in?” Now that I am also researching and in some cases recruiting journalists for jobs, I am finding that social media accounts are a gold mine of information. A lot of it you may not even realize. Until now.

What prospective employers are looking at.

Your personality
Who your friends are
Who your friends are not
Potential liabilities

Prospective bosses are reading your tweets, FB postings and any other social media sites they can find you on. If they get your name or a resume reel, they immediately hop online to check you out. Count on the fact that they will read what you say from then on, regularly. So if you complain that all the other women in the newsroom hate you, make fun of viewers, or gripe about everything under the sun, you are sending a clear message that you are a pain in the a#! and hiring you should be avoided. I am not saying that every tweet has to be sunshine and roses. You can be real. You just don’t want to come across as bitter, neurotic, high maintenance or just plain difficult. That will hurt you immensely. Also, do not make your twitter account your outlet for your hobby only. This is really meant for major sports buffs. If almost every tweet is about your favorite team, consistently over several weeks, you won’t be taken as seriously. (I am talking to news people here, not sporto’s.) Potential bosses are looking for people who provide thought provoking conversations on a variety of subjects. They are looking to see if you have the ability to network, and how you interact with your “audience.”

Also, you should be aware that potential employers cruise through your list of friends on your social media accounts. They monitor which groups you hashtag with regularly on twitter. The reasons are fascinating. In some cases, they are checking to see if you are already a Twitter pal with people in their own newsroom. Maybe you are buds with another reporter/producer/anchor candidate up for the same job. It is a way to see if you have “friends” in common. Then they know of ways to check you out, besides that reference list you provided.

They also check to see who you are not friends with. Do you tweet with coworkers at all? Do you seem to only talk to fellow Giants or 49er fans? Do you have broad appeal or are you a one subject wonder surrounded by “followers” of the same thinking? By reading your friends list, a manager can figure out a lot about how well you integrate with all types of people.

Finally, they look for potential liabilities. Do you tell off the viewer that balls you out on your Twitter feed? Do you talk about getting drunk last night? Do you use the f-word or make crass comments. (Yes, this includes posts on any personal accounts. Assume they will get access one way or another.) A lot of GM’s and ND’s have interesting Twitter identities you would never guess, just so they can check on unsuspecting employees and/or potential hires.

Now that you know what potential employers are checking out, make sure you give them a clear look at all you have to offer. Show off your personality, networking abilities and interaction with your viewers. Your social media accounts, especially Twitter, are an easy way to really give insight into your worth. Just focus on your strengths, and give yourself an edge over the competition.

Why you must market yourself as a journalist.

Awhile back a news newbie asked me, “Why do we have to market ourselves so much? I didn’t learn how to do that at school.” Dare I say, the reason she didn’t learn that was because many J-schools are still sorting it out themselves. Using social media to market yourself and your work is relatively new. In fact there are still quite a few NDs that are struggling to understand how to market themselves and their stations online.

That’s all the more reason why you need to market yourself. Being among the first to stick your nose out and develop relationships with your community will help make you an asset as your ND or station “comes around.”

The good thing about marketing yourself online is that you not only showcase how you can connect with people in a tangible way, you showcase how you will create community at any future jobs. This can give you an edge in the job market. Lord knows, we all want an edge.

It also can make it harder for your current boss to say you are irrelevant to the news organization if you have thousands of people checking in with you each day. This goes for any job in the newsroom. Producers, directors, assignment editors and photojournalists all provide interesting perspectives viewers want to see, hear and read.

You also want to get comfortable with the lingo and concepts being tested online. No doubt that social media will continue to impact how news is covered. Just look at the daily # trending on Twitter to see the influences. You learn what is happening and how to participate by doing. More and more companies are requiring journalists to get involved online. It is nice not to have to do so “cold turkey.”

Finally, this is the way journalists are networking nowadays to find work. You need to understand how to use it to your benefit in case you need to find a job quickly. You need to see how the networking happens. It also gives you a chance to connect with other journalists and exchange notes. It is another type of job insurance that could be priceless.

So if you are starting out on social media and are trying to figure out what to do, my suggestion is to start with Twitter. Check out #AMNewsers and #Backchannel for starters. Watch how these “communities” work with each other. Before you know it, you can create your own # network and get the bosses singing your praises.