The document summarizes PBS's social media strategy for their broadcast "America After Charleston." Key elements included: - Producing assets for different social media platforms to engage audiences and drive discussion on topics from the broadcast. - Integrating relevant social media posts and conversations into the broadcast using new software. This created a unified discussion across television and online. - Coordinating participation and promotion across PBS, affiliated stations, and partner organizations to maximize reach and participation in the discussion under the #AfterCharlestonPBS hashtag. - Hosting related events and continuing the conversation on social media and other PBS platforms in the days following the broadcast.

1. America After Charleston
Social Media Integration
September 20, 2015

2. Social impact snapshot
• Broadcast integration
• Seeding the conversation to impact
editorial outcome
• Providing a standalone “second screen”
conversation
• Facilitating data and assets from key
partners
• Creating assets for distributed content
platforms
• Cross promotion and collaboration
• Providing a forum to continue the
conversation
Key elements around #AfterCharlestonPBS

3. Broadcast & digital content distributed on social
We translated assets
produced for the broadcast
and the website into assets
that made sense on
different social media
platforms, such short
videos featuring an
important point or graphics
like the one to the right
which we converted into
GIF format. We also
produced 21 assets
exclusively for social media,
including question graphics,
audiograms and short form
video shot outside the
town hall taping.

4. Providing a forum for conversation
We used a strong call to action to
drive engagement and responses on
the Friday and Saturday before the
taping, and incorporated these into
Gwen’s questions.

5. Thinking social while taping
We asked audience members to weigh in on
the questions we were tackling in the town
hall, which we edited into short form videos
for PBS’ Instagram.
We also distributed flyers to town hall
audience members, telling them how to join
the conversation the following Monday.

6. Informal partnership with Facebook
We broadcast exclusive data from
Facebook about the conversation after the
Charleston shootings, including the fact
that in the week after the Charleston
shootings, 22 million people engaged in
the conversation around the tragic events
on Facebook. We were able to distribute
this information on social media through
an animation, GIFs and graphics.

7. On-screen integration: Wayin
Our technology team
worked tirelessly to
bring on new software
that integrated social
media posts seamlessly
into the broadcast.
Kevin Dando from PBS
worked in partnership
with Denise DiIanni of
WGBH to filter and
select the best live
tweets to surface
during the broadcast.

8. The broadcast experience
Using Wayin, our team surfaced
45 tweets that were shown
during the 9pm ET broadcast.
We also encouraged our viewers
to follow the accounts of our
featured speakers and panelists.

9. The social experience
The PBS Twitter handle led the discussion around the #AfterCharlestonPBS hashtag,
asking questions as they were reflected in the broadcast. This coordinated roll-out
brought a true integration of the conversation from what audiences were experiencing
both on their televisions and on their screens.

10. The digital experience
The After Charleston website live-streamed the broadcast, and
featured exclusive videos that dug in deeper to issues mentioned
during the town hall. The website also utilized Wayin to feature the
social conversation around the #AfterCharlestonPBS hashtag, and
offered topic-based polls, educational resources, and a Twitter map.

11. The live tweet
We reached out to participants in the town hall
and the organizations they represent, as well as
other interested media organizations, to join our
Monday night live tweet.
Joining PBS, WGBH, NewsHour, WETA and SCeTV
on Twitter were organizations such as the
NAACP, NBPC, The Conversation US and other
public media stations like TPT and PBS SoCaL.

12. Participation from panelists, audience members and talent
Led by host Gwen Ifill,
participants and panelists
from Saturday’s taping also
joined the Twitter
conversation. These
participants included Cornell
William Brooks, Arielle
Newton, Andra Gillespie,
Shaun Harper and Michelle
Mapp.

13. WGBH Broadcast Party
WGBH hosted a space for employees to join
the #AfterCharlestonPBS Live Tweet, with
pizza and a live-stream of the program on the
big screen. Led by the Forum Network’s Annie
Shreffler, WGBHers added context and
perspectives from their own productions to
the digital discussion.

14. WGBH Broadcast Party
WGBH rallied around the After
Charleston Show, contributing
their own content to a shared
Google doc that allowed
participants to pick and choose
what was helpful for each
production’s audience on social
media.
WGBH participants included:
• Annie Shreffler (Forum
Network)
• Dave Beard (PRI’s The World)
• Chris Hastings (World
Channel)
• Katie Duffy (American
Experience)
• Chiquita Paschal (WGBH
News)
• Tina Martin (WGBH News)

15. WGBH Broadcast Party
In a moment of synergy, a comment from Dr. Cleveland Sellers during the
broadcast about Emmett Till led to an informative historical tweet from
American Experience to be featured on screen.

16. Honest conversations
The #AfterCharlestonPBS broadcast led to
many honest and open conversations on
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram about
racial issues in America today.
Over the course of the evening, over 6,400
tweets were sent using the hashtag, with
a reach of 126,000. According to Nielsen,
America After Charleston was the #1 most
social TV program in its category on
Monday night.

17. Broadening the conversation
Social media also provided us immediate,
helpful feedback as to what was missing
from the show and how to improve both
the format and the impact of the America
After series.

18. Twitter shows its thanks for the forum

19. Twitter shows its thanks for the forum

20. Continuing the conversation
NewsHour provided a forum to continue
the conversations begun with the
#AfterCharlestonPBS hashtag, through a
Twitter chat that occurred on the
Thursday after broadcast. Joining the
chat were America After Charleston
panelists Andra Gillespie, Arielle Newton,
Michelle Mapp and Bakari Sellers.

21. Questions?
Kevin Dando
Senior Director, Social Media Strategy & Digital Communications, PBS
kdando@pbs.org
Tory Starr
Director of Social Media for National Programming
tory_starr@wgbh.org