This Saturday evening, there was a report of a car bomb in Times Square in Manhattan. The report I saw first on this story was from Twitter, of course. The post on Twitter included a criticism of traditional media outlets for not covering the story right away. The fact is, Twitter can just cover a story quicker than any other outlet. It's instantaneous.
I think news organizations are far too set in their ways to be able to adapt to the new media tools we have at the moment. They have their set schedule, especially on the weekend when there is fewer staff on hand. They are going to stick to that schedule unless, of course, a significant breaking story happens. But the broadcast side of these organizations aren't yet prepared for the constant news (and sometimes breaking news) stream on Twitter, in my opinion.
There usually aren't too many critical breaking news stories that happen on Saturday evenings, but news is certainly on no kind of schedule. Organizations must be aware of this and have staff on hand at all times to break in at important times like this. It's critical, especially in a large population area like Manhattan, that people have information as quickly as possible. Organizations must be able to compete with Twitter and be able to confirm the real story.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Reporting on Podcasts
KOMU caught some heat this week for reporting on an ESPN "Insider" podcast that stated the University of Missouri was going to join the Big Ten Conference. I really think the report was solid, although I would have added to the story on KOMU.com that the source was the podcast. I also still haven't been able to listen to the sourced podcast to confirm what was said because it requires an ESPN subscription.
But today, I checked rockmnation.com again, a site that disputed KOMU's report on Thursday. In this post, they cite a reader who apparently has knowledge of the podcast in the box under "Update 2." This reader reports that ESPN's Bruce Feldman did report that Missouri to the Big Ten is a "done deal." ESPN's Scott Van Pelt read an e-mail from Feldman which had these words, according to this reader.
So, it seems KOMU's report is accurate, as long as the reader of rockmnation.com is accurate. In this case, there is nothing wrong with KOMU's report. In fact, I think this should be investigated further and reported on in more detail.
Some other Web sites attacked KOMU for lack of transparency after this story, but I think the transparency did come out via Twitter. The @KOMUNews account linked to the Insider podcast, which was really all you needed to hear (as long as what was reported as said was said in that podcast).
As long as news organizations have this transparency, then there's no fault to them as long as what they are sourcing is factual. I like the initiative in using these new media tools (podcasts, Web sites) to report the news as long as they are done with the same journalistic principles applied to any other story.
But today, I checked rockmnation.com again, a site that disputed KOMU's report on Thursday. In this post, they cite a reader who apparently has knowledge of the podcast in the box under "Update 2." This reader reports that ESPN's Bruce Feldman did report that Missouri to the Big Ten is a "done deal." ESPN's Scott Van Pelt read an e-mail from Feldman which had these words, according to this reader.
So, it seems KOMU's report is accurate, as long as the reader of rockmnation.com is accurate. In this case, there is nothing wrong with KOMU's report. In fact, I think this should be investigated further and reported on in more detail.
Some other Web sites attacked KOMU for lack of transparency after this story, but I think the transparency did come out via Twitter. The @KOMUNews account linked to the Insider podcast, which was really all you needed to hear (as long as what was reported as said was said in that podcast).
As long as news organizations have this transparency, then there's no fault to them as long as what they are sourcing is factual. I like the initiative in using these new media tools (podcasts, Web sites) to report the news as long as they are done with the same journalistic principles applied to any other story.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Twitter in Mississippi
Last weekend, tornadoes and severe weather was the big story throughout the day on Saturday. Many news outlets reported a tornado had hit Yazoo City, MS in the middle of the day.
I quickly checked for possible photos of the damage on Twitter, but could not find very much. I did a search for "Yazoo City" and only text reports of tornadoes came up. There were a few links to "streaming" video from some storm chaser Web sites, but those didn't seem to load or play very well.
I think this instance highlights the lack of infiltration Twitter has in some areas. While Twitter can be a good source of news in some areas, in others it may take awhile. I wouldn't think Mississippi has the same Internet connection infrastructure as a state like New York or California and this would explain the disparity in Twitter reporting.
While Twitter can usually be counted on in high-population areas, in others, like Mississippi, there may be a longer lag time. I think encouraging the use of Twitter in areas like Mississippi is an even bigger key for news organizations in these kinds of places. I think the local stations should be putting an emphasis on the ability to submit pictures to them via Twitpic and e-mail.
There is a reason some stories are undercovered and part of that may just be the lack of resources to report the news. With dedicated encouragement from the news managers in those places, the stories of the people in these regions could just be able to be told to more people.
I quickly checked for possible photos of the damage on Twitter, but could not find very much. I did a search for "Yazoo City" and only text reports of tornadoes came up. There were a few links to "streaming" video from some storm chaser Web sites, but those didn't seem to load or play very well.
I think this instance highlights the lack of infiltration Twitter has in some areas. While Twitter can be a good source of news in some areas, in others it may take awhile. I wouldn't think Mississippi has the same Internet connection infrastructure as a state like New York or California and this would explain the disparity in Twitter reporting.
While Twitter can usually be counted on in high-population areas, in others, like Mississippi, there may be a longer lag time. I think encouraging the use of Twitter in areas like Mississippi is an even bigger key for news organizations in these kinds of places. I think the local stations should be putting an emphasis on the ability to submit pictures to them via Twitpic and e-mail.
There is a reason some stories are undercovered and part of that may just be the lack of resources to report the news. With dedicated encouragement from the news managers in those places, the stories of the people in these regions could just be able to be told to more people.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
How cool is this?
I am a big fan of the first golf major of the year, The Masters at the beautiful Augusta National Golf Club. Over the years, I've watched the coverage closely, including on the tournament's official Web site. This year, the site has taken a major step up.
The 12th hole at Augusta National. Photo courtesy golf.com
The home page of the Web site is full of the beautiful color that makes Augusta National so special. In past years, the background of the index page was a simple green and red matte.
The interactive features are extremely easy to use. The "watch live" tab on the home page has the capability to allow users to choose from five different live feeds during the tournament. Once you select a feed, you can click on the "tools" button on the lower left of the video player to bring up a leaderboard, hole & player status and picture in picture. The picture and picture is an extremely easy feature to use, allowing viewers to switch back and forth between the main and secondary video you're watching.
This is a great job by IBM to develop a site that showcases the beauty of this course and tournament with the help of the some of the best new media available.
The 12th hole at Augusta National. Photo courtesy golf.com
The home page of the Web site is full of the beautiful color that makes Augusta National so special. In past years, the background of the index page was a simple green and red matte.
The interactive features are extremely easy to use. The "watch live" tab on the home page has the capability to allow users to choose from five different live feeds during the tournament. Once you select a feed, you can click on the "tools" button on the lower left of the video player to bring up a leaderboard, hole & player status and picture in picture. The picture and picture is an extremely easy feature to use, allowing viewers to switch back and forth between the main and secondary video you're watching.
This is a great job by IBM to develop a site that showcases the beauty of this course and tournament with the help of the some of the best new media available.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Working Election Night
For me, last night was a completely new experience. I worked an Election Night in the newsroom for the first time. It was pretty exhilarating and fun.
It was good to have KOMU.com director Jen Reeves on hand to help with the organization of our site's reporting of election results.
Jen reminded me to tell reporters to update the scene at area election parties via Twitter and Twitpic. The campaign worked to an extent. At least one more reporter than usual sent in updates. We had a YFrog image from the site of the party for Columbia's newly elected mayor, which was great. We had hoped to create a slideshow of Twitpics from reporters, but we never did get enough in.
As results came in to the newsroom, there was quickly pressure to confirm the results and update them via our @KOMUNews Twitter account. One of the first election result reports we had was a council race that was decided, although we didn't reflect the final count on our Web site yet. The Boone County Web site did have final results and it was determined our Web site was just slow updating, so I posted confirmation of the winner to Twitter.
All of the results from Boone County seemed to finalized at around the same time, around 9:40 p.m. So I was confirming and updating as fast as I could via CoTweet. I didn't know everything would come in essentially at once.
At the end of the night, we updated our Web site with an overall election story, a story about Columbia's new mayor, the Columbia School District bond issue and the downtown camera proposition. I thought the front page looked great at the end of the night. I also linked a separate live interview we did with the new mayor to the mayor story. It served almost like a "Web extra."
This was a really fun night with a lot of important issues and races to report on. I was glad I finally got to be involved in Election Night coverage.
It was good to have KOMU.com director Jen Reeves on hand to help with the organization of our site's reporting of election results.
Jen reminded me to tell reporters to update the scene at area election parties via Twitter and Twitpic. The campaign worked to an extent. At least one more reporter than usual sent in updates. We had a YFrog image from the site of the party for Columbia's newly elected mayor, which was great. We had hoped to create a slideshow of Twitpics from reporters, but we never did get enough in.
As results came in to the newsroom, there was quickly pressure to confirm the results and update them via our @KOMUNews Twitter account. One of the first election result reports we had was a council race that was decided, although we didn't reflect the final count on our Web site yet. The Boone County Web site did have final results and it was determined our Web site was just slow updating, so I posted confirmation of the winner to Twitter.
All of the results from Boone County seemed to finalized at around the same time, around 9:40 p.m. So I was confirming and updating as fast as I could via CoTweet. I didn't know everything would come in essentially at once.
At the end of the night, we updated our Web site with an overall election story, a story about Columbia's new mayor, the Columbia School District bond issue and the downtown camera proposition. I thought the front page looked great at the end of the night. I also linked a separate live interview we did with the new mayor to the mayor story. It served almost like a "Web extra."
This was a really fun night with a lot of important issues and races to report on. I was glad I finally got to be involved in Election Night coverage.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tiger's Interview
Tiger Woods finally granted interviews to two organizations, ESPN and The Golf Channel. They aired on Sunday.
It must be hard for Woods even in these tightly controlled interview environments. I think though, now, Woods is doing the right thing. He waited it out before he chose to take questions. Maybe too long. But now he's talking.
It was compelling to watch Woods look another man and woman in the face for the first time and answer questions publicly since his "transgressions."
I thought ESPN's Tom Rinaldi and the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman did an excellent job in getting in as many questions possible in the five minutes allotted to them to talk to Woods. The questions were probing and I think a reflection of what the general public wanted to know.
Woods is taking the right steps, in my opinion. In three weeks, the questions will increase at The Masters. But maybe they won't be as hard to answer after he finally broke his silence.
It must be hard for Woods even in these tightly controlled interview environments. I think though, now, Woods is doing the right thing. He waited it out before he chose to take questions. Maybe too long. But now he's talking.
It was compelling to watch Woods look another man and woman in the face for the first time and answer questions publicly since his "transgressions."
I thought ESPN's Tom Rinaldi and the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman did an excellent job in getting in as many questions possible in the five minutes allotted to them to talk to Woods. The questions were probing and I think a reflection of what the general public wanted to know.
Woods is taking the right steps, in my opinion. In three weeks, the questions will increase at The Masters. But maybe they won't be as hard to answer after he finally broke his silence.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Skype to the rescue
There was a good use of Skype in a big, albeit tragic, story over the weekend.
The Chilean earthquake struck early Saturday morning and by mid-afternoon I was trying to gather as much information as I could. There was the aftermath in Chile to report on, but there was also the resulting tsunamis that could have occurred across the Pacific. The most immediate concern for the U.S. TV networks was the possibility of a tsunami hitting Hawaii. I browsed around CNN and Fox News and both seemed to concentrating heavily on the Hawaii aspect of the story, with video from local affiliates being shown. CNN was even simulcasting a direct feed from a local Hawaii station for several minutes.
I watched NBC Nightly News to see how they would handle the story after having a good deal of time to collect information. They had a reporter do a package with video from multiple sources in Chile, it appeared. Then the reporter conducted a Skype interview with a freelance journalist in Chile. This was very insightful. It was probably the most insightful reporting I had seen all day. The freelance reporter described how the sky was changing colors, which helped to paint the picture of what it was like in the moment. Just the fact that the NBC reporter and the freelance reporter were able to connect online was telling. I was impressed that the Internet connection was still in place and she was able to stay in the building (it appeared to be a hotel) she was in. It helped to show that at least there were some buildings that were still safe.
I thought this use of Skype was a good example of the impact of technology in a story like this. NBC wouldn't have been able to get a reporter to Chile by Saturday evening, but they did the next best thing by finding one and showing her via video on Skype. It added a great extra dimension to the story that I didn't find on the cable channels. It was an impressive package on a tight deadline and with limited resources within Chile.
The Chilean earthquake struck early Saturday morning and by mid-afternoon I was trying to gather as much information as I could. There was the aftermath in Chile to report on, but there was also the resulting tsunamis that could have occurred across the Pacific. The most immediate concern for the U.S. TV networks was the possibility of a tsunami hitting Hawaii. I browsed around CNN and Fox News and both seemed to concentrating heavily on the Hawaii aspect of the story, with video from local affiliates being shown. CNN was even simulcasting a direct feed from a local Hawaii station for several minutes.
I watched NBC Nightly News to see how they would handle the story after having a good deal of time to collect information. They had a reporter do a package with video from multiple sources in Chile, it appeared. Then the reporter conducted a Skype interview with a freelance journalist in Chile. This was very insightful. It was probably the most insightful reporting I had seen all day. The freelance reporter described how the sky was changing colors, which helped to paint the picture of what it was like in the moment. Just the fact that the NBC reporter and the freelance reporter were able to connect online was telling. I was impressed that the Internet connection was still in place and she was able to stay in the building (it appeared to be a hotel) she was in. It helped to show that at least there were some buildings that were still safe.
I thought this use of Skype was a good example of the impact of technology in a story like this. NBC wouldn't have been able to get a reporter to Chile by Saturday evening, but they did the next best thing by finding one and showing her via video on Skype. It added a great extra dimension to the story that I didn't find on the cable channels. It was an impressive package on a tight deadline and with limited resources within Chile.
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