Liveblogging tips for journalists

Liveblogging as stories unfold Steve Buttry New Haven Register June 9, 2011 [email_address]

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stevebuttry.wordpress.com (2009 entry on liveblogging tips; will update soon)
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@stevebuttry

Team liveblog
Play-by-play
Commentary
Live-tweet (#liveblogtips)
Find & add links
Photos
Moderate questions, comments

Why to liveblog
Immediacy
News value
Storytelling
Traffic
Community engagement, loyalty
Interactivity
Saving time

Liveblog formats
Update (time-stamp, reverse-chron) in blog or story template
Use CoverItLive
Use ScribbleLive
Live-tweet (on Twitter or feeding blog)
Video stream (w/liveblog)
Raw, edited or moderated

Tips, techniques
Short, frequent takes
Space isn’t an issue; engagement is
Liveblog becomes notebook for story
Consider links, polls, photos, audio, video
Promote live & replays
Tweet links to liveblog & replay
OK to step away for question, video, etc.

Managing liveblog & print story
Liveblog is notebook: cut, paste & edit
Note when you know you’ve written good lead or passage for story
Does summary (w/ web plug) work for print?
Plug “complete coverage” in liveblog

Liveblogging situations
Breaking story
Meeting
Festival, event
Trial
Daylong (Election Day, heat wave)
Sporting event
Live chat

Live chat techniques
Give some questions to guests in advance (fewer waits while they type)
Phone conversation w/ guests, giving time to work on questions
Host chat w/ Community Media Lab bloggers (dining, sports, entertainment)
Group related questions
Preview questions coming up

Liveblogging issues
Accuracy (stress verification, ask questions, correct quickly and candidly)
Rough copy
Sports credentials
Multi-tasking
Learning curve

Points to remember
Standard of completeness changes; commitment to accuracy remains
Attribute, hedge, verify, seek verification
Say what you don’t know, too
Conversation, not monologue
Consider tone (is opinion or humor appropriate in this setting, for this blogger?)

Read more about it
stevebuttry.wordpress.com
slideshare.net/stevebuttry
@stevebuttry

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Liveblogging tips for journalists

by Steve Buttry

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