These are slides for a workshop for The Gazette in Montreal on using social media and other engagement tools and techniques in reporting. For links relating to this workshop, check my blog: http://wp.me/poqp6-1Yd

1. Engagement
in reporting
Steve Buttry
The Gazette
March 19, 2012
#gaztrain

2. Read more about it
• stevebuttry.wordpress.com
• slideshare.net/stevebuttry
• @stevebuttry
• zombiejournalism.com
• https://www.newsu.org/introduction-to-
reporting
• stephenbuttry@gmail.com

3. Do some live-tweeting
• Take notes for this workshop on
Twitter #gaztrain

4. What engagement is
Community engagement = News orgs make
top priority to listen, to join, lead & enable
conversation to elevate journalism.

5. What engagement isn’t
• Promotion (though it has promotional
value)
• Distribution of content (though you
should)
• Purely a digital pursuit (it uses digital
tools along w/ traditional ones)

6. What engagement is
Community engagement = News orgs
make top priority to listen, to join,
lead & enable conversation to elevate
journalism.

7. Avenues of Engagement
• Social media • Content submissions
• Blogs • Interactive content
• Crowdsourcing • Voting, contests
• Breaking news • Comments
• Stories • Schools, groups
• Events • Feedback
• Curation • Print
• Aggregation • Face to face

8. Engagement in reporting
• Social media • Content submissions
• Blogs • Interactive content
• Crowdsourcing • Voting, contests
• Breaking news • Comments
• Stories • Schools, groups
• Events • Feedback
• Curation • Print
• Aggregation • Face to face

9. • Many more users • Great for breaking
• Much info private news
• Tougher to search • Great real-time
• Not as immediate search
(less frequent • Engagement not as
updates) intrusive
• Engage, don’t • Hashtags help w/
intrude search, conversation

10. Why to use
• It can save you time
• It extends your reach
• It’s an engaging, conversational tool
• It’s great for connecting with
eyewitnesses
• Powerful real-time search

11. How to use
• Follow officials & agencies on beat
• Twitter Search (advanced)
• Hashtags (regular & spontaneous)
• Follow community conversation
• Breaking news
• Crowdsourcing
• Live-tweeting

20. Bookmark this page
https://twitter.com/#!/search-advanced

21. Vetting tweeps, verifying info
• Check full Twitter stream, profile
• Connect on phone, in person
• Check location (not 100% reliable)
• Others verifying? Clusters, not echos
• Photos?
• Other sources, other tweeps
• Ask, “How do you know that?”

22. More on verification
Craig Silverman tips:
http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/eight_sim
ple_rules_for_doing_a.php
Mandy Jenkins tips:
http://zombiejournalism.com/2011/09/b-s-
detection-for-journalists/

23. Say what you don’t know

26. Why use hashtags?
• Find other sources
• Expand your audience
• Organize content (for feeds & contacting)
• Follow the discussion

27. Hashtag tips
• Use re-usable hashtags (#okstorm)
• Search for hashtag(s) already in use
• If a hashtag is already in use, adopt it
• If not, choose one that’s simple & unique
• Geographic abbreviation helps (#ctirene)
• Geographic better than branded
(#copreps better than #dppreps)

28. Connecting w/ community
• Use Advanced Twitter Search to find &
check local tweeps
• Search terms & location to find people
tweeting about your beat
• Check followers of newsroom account
• See who tweeps are conversing with
• Who follows agencies, people on beat?

29. Twitter helps your site
Content: Traffic:
• Feed liveblog • Your tweets
(CoverItLive, • Retweets
ScribbleLive) • Reach audience not
• Widgets visiting site
• Curate social media
(Storify, Storyful)
• Stories

30. Time management
• Saves time in breaking news &
crowdsourcing
• Mobile apps let you tweet & read on the
go
• 140 characters doesn’t take long to write
or read
• TweetDeck, HootSuite, lists, search

31. • Connect w/ sources (balance,
disclosure?)
• Check pages of agencies, people on beat
• Crowdsourcing
• Look for people in the news
• Ask for permission to use photos

32. Options for journalists:
• Use personal FB account, all or most
public
• Enable subscriptions (decide which
updates are public)
• Journalist page

33. Use other social tools, too

34. What is curation?
Museum curator: Journalism curator:
• Studies topic • Studies topic
• Chooses relevant • Chooses relevant
content (other content (social
sources & museum media, blogs, staff)
collection) • Authenticates
• Authenticates • Groups related items
• Groups related items • Provides context
• Provides context • Presents collected
• Presents exhibit content

35. Authenticate & attribute
• Ask: “How do you know that?”
• Ask careful questions of crowd to help
you vet & verify
• Check links, tweets & information on
sources
• Link to original source
• Attribute

37. Why crowdsource?
• It saves time
• Connecting with sources has always been
one of a journalist’s most important jobs
• You bring more voices to your news
reports
• The crowd knows more than we do
• You engage the community

38. Crowdsource

39. Crowdsource

40. Crowdsource

45. Read more about it
• stevebuttry.wordpress.com
• slideshare.net/stevebuttry
• @stevebuttry
• zombiejournalism.com
• https://www.newsu.org/introduction-to-
reporting
• stephenbuttry@gmail.com