Tonight, a small town’s local media types got together and had a frank discussion about how real-world journalists are incorporating social media in the newsroom.
The conversation wasn’t high tech, but it was stone-cold realistic. Here are a few videos from that panel; you’ll hear on-air NBC affiliate reporters talk about how they’ve incorporated Twitter and Facebook to engage audiences and get leads on new stories, and you’ll hear local bloggers talk about how they fit into the scheme of things.
First, a local NBC reporter spoke on starting a Twitter account when the network had no social media policy in place.
He inspired a fellow reporter, Rachel DePompa, to start her own Twitter account. Here, she shares how that affected her reporting:
A local lifestyle mag shared how social media affected site traffic:
The conversation turned back to the first NBC reporter, who talked about how social media gave his audience more personal insight and a deeper connection with him:
The panel had some interesting comments on on-air tweets during newscasts:
And finally, the editor for RVAMag told an interesting story about a truly hardcore monetized Twitter account:
All in all, we learned tonight how traditional media are slowly but surely incorporating social media in their reporting, using it both for broadcast and discovery as well as personal interaction. Best of all, this conversation took place within the Social Media Club environment. All parties involved were intent on “getting it right” as all forms of media evolve.
