Liveblogging, Live Tweeting & Chats

Live Reporting & Breaking News

Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins

NorCal Social Training, April 2012

#norcalsoc

Immediacy Tracking a long-term story Traffic Community engagement Saving time writing for various

formats

Why We Go Live

Breaking story Meeting Event (festival, march, concert) Trial Daylong (Election Day, weather) Sporting event Reporting long-term stories

Liveblogging Situations

Get names, titles in advance when possible

Set scene & your role Describe your circumstances,

vantage point: At event, watching on TV, curating tweets

Liveblogging prep

Try It Now:#NorCalSoc

Mix play-by-play with context, background Pass on quotes, who is there, add in

photos Use tweets as your notes for later Note significant pauses and stops Check facts before you hit “tweet” Take questions, respond when possible

Live Tweeting

Why Use #Hashtags?

Group tweets by keyword Find other sources Expand your audience Organize content for display and archiving

Before You Hashtag

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

(#ChicoStorm) Geographic better than branded

(#CApolitics better than #CETpolitics)

Feed tweets into your site in place of a breaking story

Serve your audience on social media – and reach a new one

Helps staff communicate Start writing a story in-office from

reporters’ live tweets

What Livetweeting Can Do

Say what you don’t know

Link to fresh content

Updates in (time-stamp, reverse-chron order) in your blog or story template

More Live Reporting Formats

CoveritLive

CoveritLive

Livestream/Video Chat

QIK (Mobile LIVE video)

Video/Chat Options

Ustream Livestream Qik Google+ Hangout

Couple it with a liveblog or chat format to take questions or include text

Think Beyond Text

Videos Photos Slides Graphics Social Media

Audio Tweets Source

documents Maps

Short, frequent takes Liveblog becomes notebook for story Promote before, during and replays Curate live tweets to be viewed later

Tips, techniques

Liveblog is notebook: cut, paste, write, edit

Note when you know you’ve written good lead or passage for story

Note questions to pursue later Does summary work for print? Plug “complete coverage” in liveblog

Managing liveblog & story

Live Coverage Team Develop a hashtag (if there isn't one) and

be sure everyone uses it If your staff is tweeting, pull in their tweets

to your site Determine who posts and edits the liveblog Get photogs aboard early

Play-by-play Commentary Live-tweet (#nocalsocial) Find & add links for context Photos and video Moderate questions, comments

Team Liveblog Roles

Standard of completeness changes; commitment to accuracy remains

Attribute, hedge, verify, seek verification Say what you don’t know, too Conversation, not a monologue

Points to remember

CoveritLive/ScribbleLive Your existing blogging platform

Twitter

Live Chat Tools

Give some questions to guests in advance Panelists need not be in person You approve questions Add in polls, links for background

(prepare in advance) Group related questions together Preview questions coming up

Live Chat Technique

Newsmakers, politicians Host chat w/ community bloggers (dining,

sports, entertainment) Reporters on recent big stories, recurring

issues, topics of expertise

Live Chat Ideas

Set time, promote it to followers long in advance

Take questions in advance Use a hashtag to tie tweets

together Choose questions to answer,

retweet them with order ID. Ex: Q1 Preface answer with corresponding

answer (A1)

Twitter Chats

Mandy Jenkins

mjenkins@digitalfirstmedia.com

@mjenkins

Blog: Zombiejournalism.com

These slides & more at slideshare.net/mandyjenkins

THANKS!