1.
Newsgathering and
Monitoring on the Social Web
Nadia Goldstar
Dr. Fady Ramzy
Social Media Journalism

2.
“
REGARDLESS OF YOUR BEAT OR AREA OF
FOCUS, UNDERSTANDING HOW TO USE
THE SOCIAL WEB TO DISCOVER,
MONITOR, AND RESEARCH STORIES IS
AN ESSENTIAL SKILL.
”
❏ Find
sources
❏ Monitor
conversations
❏ Track events and
issues that a ect
a community
Page 6, Newsgathering &
Monitoring on the Social Web
{Newsgathering}
Active Search

3.
The feedback loop of keywords and wedge topics and sources from specific platforms First
Draft used to monitor the 2019 European elections. Source; First Draft, p.6
Identifying
sources and
keywords forms
the core of
online
newsgathering.
Platforms, Sources, and Keywords

4.
{Monitoring}
Passive Search
Iterative process that involves
the constant collection of new
information relevant to the
topics, sources and
conversations you are
tracking.

5.
I. Search Engines
Boolean Operators in databases
Always
capitalize
Boolean
search
terms. Narrowing Results in Newsgathering

6.
Return results with the
exact phrase
contained in quote
marks
Groups the terms
contained in
parentheses to clarify
search strings with
multiple operators
Fill in the blank
Search - recruit*
Result - recruiting,
recruiter, recruitment

7.
Additional
Filtering
● Date Search
● Google Scholar + Google Dataset
● Using search engines relevant to location of interest.
○ E.g. Baidu instead of Google for search content in China
● For results not influenced by previous search history, use a search engine
like DuckDuckGo that doesn’t track activities

8.
Search Engines for News Monitoring
● Activating alerts to
stay apprised of
new and relevant
content
● Use Boolean
operators & adv.
search features to
structure alerts
● Power searching
with Google
● Google Search
lessons
● Research Clinic

9.
II. Twitter
a. Twitter Lists
b. Twitter Advanced Search
c. Tweetdeck dashboard
d. Tweet Beaver

10.
a. Twitter Lists
●
● Keywords site:twitter.com/*/lists
○ Subscribe to lists
● Identify a good source then add /memberships to
the URL of a particular user. E.g.:
○ twitter.com/FDNY/memberships
● 3rd Party Tool
○ Scoutzen
○ Narrows search to most popular and relevant
lists by subscriber number and members.

11.
b. Twitter
Advanced Search
An interface to make very specific queries, like only
searching for tweets from or to specific accounts,
during certain time periods, or containing particular
types of content, like videos or links.

12.
c. TweetDeck
● Tailored dashboard displaying an unlimited number of
columns with Twitter lists, search strings and specific
accounts or activity all side-by side, updating in real-time.
● Streamlined
and filtered
feeds
● Customizable
Notifications

13.
d. Tweetbeaver
● Find Common Friends
● Find conversations between
two accounts
● Download a user’s followers
list
● Much more...

14.
I. CrowdTangle
○ Social Media Trends & Engagements by Lists
○ “Weights” feature: Identify post metrics by reactions
○ “Link Checker” Chrome Ext.
■ See where link has been shared online
○ Live Display
■ Track Columns from different columns with advanced filters
○ Custom Notifications

15.
● Filter Search Results
○ Date, Photo, Video,
Location, Livestream
● Google Query
○ For pages:
site:facebook.com/pages
“keywords”
○ For groups:
site:facebook.com/groups
“keywords”

16.
Mashfeed, Iconosquare, etc.
○ 3rd Party Tools
○ Build Instagram Lists
○ Find and monitor viral hashtags and
users
● {Search my Bio}
○ Find relevant people or accounts from
keywords in users’ bios.
● Google Query:
○ inurl:instagram.com/p/ “keyword”

17.
Search Subreddits
● Keywords to identify relevant
communities.
● Set filters and Boolean operators to
narrow search results.
Track Subreddits by linking them to an
RSS feeder or CrowdTangle.

18.
● RSS Feeder
○ Monitor multiple websites in
one aggregated feed by
creating lists
V. Websites
● Klaxon
○ Scans and notifies you of any
website changes on a URL
with each scan
● Wayback Machine “Changes”
feature
○ Pinpoint changes on websites
within given time frame.
● First Draft ToolKit
○ Multi-faceted, all-in-one
resource for news
gathering and
investigation

19.
● Search filters
● Export and categorize
YouTube channels to
RSS for real-time feed
alongside other blogs
and websites you are
tracking

20.
News by Location
map.snapchat.com
❖ Engage with
interactive
visualizations
❖ Explore trends
from users locally
→ globally
https://www.trendsmap.com/

21.
Finding experts in any given topic
● linkedin.com/search/results/people
○ #1 Tool
○ Narrow Search with Keywords to
find professionals in that field
■ e.g. “Business Coach”
● Followerwonk.com
● http://hunter.io

22.
● Consider your own biases
● Comment sections are gold mines
● Think about how people talk online about issues
● 3 Pillars of Newsgathering: Platforms, Sources,
and Keywords

23.
The information presented in this project was derived from:
“First Draft’s Essential Guide to News Gathering and
Monitoring on the Social Web” from October 2019 in
partnership with the Google News Initiative.
“How to find stories by newsgathering and monitoring the
social web | Webinar” by First Draft
Course content from Dr. Fady Ramzy’s Social Media
Journalism class, AUC Spring 2021