Presentation with Kelly Fincham at EIJ13 on curation tools and practices for breaking news.

1. Curation Station
Social media in breaking news
Kelly Fincham, Hofstra U, @kellyfincham
Kim Bui, KPCC, @kimbui
#EIJCuration

2. What’s your plan?
Make your plan BEFORE the news breaks!
Who in your newsroom will do what?
Do you know your policy on breaking
news?
Use Twitter lists for curation

3. What’s already out there?
Search networks before you say
anything
Are you really breaking the news?

4. Tip, not confirmation
“We treat social media networks the
same way we treat wire services,
police reports, and any other form of
news-gathering resource… We use
(these tips) to inform our coverage.”
- Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed

5. Verify, verify, verify
Ask the source
Consider the source
What are others saying?
What are officials saying?
Check your photos
Attribute even if you’re positive
If you’re unsure, WAIT and/or ASK
(we are journalists, aren’t we?)

6. Add to the conversation
Photos
What do you see?
Official statements
Quotes
Who is following up? What is the next step?
What is the reaction?
What are people saying?
(Be careful of rumors, and clearly label them
as such)

7. A picture is worth...
Photos are more shared than
any other content on Facebook
They’re also the only kind that
can be edited after publishing.

8. Getting it right is
always more
important than getting
it first. Always.

9. It’s all a dinner party
Bad dinner party guests:
○ claim stories that aren’t theirs
○ talk about themselves too much
Good dinner party guests:
○ facilitate conversation
○ add context and depth

10. The tools

11. Rebel Mouse

12. Rebel Mouse

13. Rebel Mouse

14. Rebel Mouse

15. Use tools because
they fit the story.
Not because they’
re shiny.

16. When news breaks, social media
can be your ticket to a better
story and a better relationship
with your audience.
More than a megaphone

17. Kim Bui (@kimbui)
Kelly Fincham (@kellyfincham)
Questions?