By: Brittany Nicole La Hue
I attended Social Media Week Los Angeles, a week-long event of panels, classes and networking events focused on the ways that social media is impacting every industry. My favorite panel was presented by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), entitled “From Headlines to Hashtags: How Social Media is Transforming Mainstream News Coverage.” Panelists KTLA anchor Chris Schauble, Los Angeles Times social media editor Stacey Leasca and KPFK producer/host Michael Slate gave many useful insights on how social media affects their day-to-day responsibilities.
Through this discussion, I was able to glean 6 important trends that are changing the way you and I consume content, learn about breaking news and even interact with the news.
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It’s a race to break news – and accuracy, not the source, is what’s important
KTLA’s Chris Schauble noted that “countless stories are broken on Twitter every day.” Was there a school shooting? A celebrity death? An important piece of legislation passed? Chances are you found out via a posting on Twitter or Facebook before you saw it on the news. That’s because writing or producing a story takes time, and the conversation is already happening online. News outlets do not want to miss out on the important conversation.
Schauble added that people don’t care who broke the news. The consumer doesn’t care if the story source is Twitter, TMZ or the Wall Street Journal – they just want the information. Accuracy is key here, though. As The Los Angeles Times’ Stacey Leasca noted, media would rather be right than be first for breaking news. The LA Times’ policy is to fact-check every tip that comes in before so much as tweeting about it.
The Earthquake Face moment! Photo courtesy Independent.Co.Uk
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You can either face the social media tidal wave or run from it – but it will win.
No one knows this better than KTLA’s Chris Schauble, who is better known as Chris “Earthquake Face” Schauble. Yes, he’s the news anchor who famously freaked out during a medium-sized SoCal earthquake, looking around in horror and then eventually ducking under his desk. The clip of this freakout immediately went viral, and people all over the country who had never even heard of Schauble were making fun of him on social media.
Luckily, Schauble was really smart and strategic about the affair. He knew that the clip would go viral the second a friend from the newsroom posted it online. He worried that his kids would come home from school that day embarrassed of their dad and his reaction. So rather than hide or apologize, Schauble embraced the incident. He instantly changed his Twitter profile picture to his horrified earthquake face, and his kids came home from school thinking he was “the coolest” for being able to laugh at himself. Moral of the story – with the way information travels these days, there is no hiding an embarrassment or a scandal. Stand up and face the issue, don’t run, and you’ll be respected.
Even the panel was interactive: The screen showed live tweets from the audience in real time.
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News reporting is now interactive
Schauble said that Twitter has changed the mainstream news game. He often gets viewers to tweet tips to him WHILE he’s on the air! People tweet about fires, shootings, helicopters above their house, etc. in real time. Of course, everything that’s reported has to be fact-checked, so Schauble doesn’t read these tweets live on the air. But he does pass these tips off to the newsroom, who are then able to research and then break the news much quicker. Schauble calls Twitter a “mini assignment desk” where everyone is allowed to participate. He also says that many times people record videos of live breaking news on their smartphones and submit them. A more democratic news system has never existed!
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News is actually reported
Without going too deep into politics, Michael Slate’s important points about Twitter and news must be addressed. He asked the audience “If it weren’t for Twitter, how would people know what happened in Egypt?” He added that “Most news isn’t reported, and when it is, it gets slanted.” Sometimes station and network politics prevent news from being shared. But Twitter is the universal democratic site where anyone can break news, post photos and video or share personal experiences. The world is united on one site that is fast-moving.
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Engagement is the key to success
“Engagement” may be the biggest buzzword in social media, but it is that way for a reason. Everything works better when the consumer is involved and can play an active role. Stacey Leasca of the Los Angeles Times says that the newspaper has over 50 Twitter handles, one for each topic that the paper covers. That way, people can go right to the feed that they are interested in, without having to scroll through the main Twitter feed or read news they aren’t interested in. This makes people more engaged with the newspaper, as does the Times’ strategy of asking questions to followers and posting users’ photos.
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140 Characters Does Not a Story Make
Michael Slate loves the democratic aspect of anyone being able to break news on Twitter. But he warns against stopping there. “The story is more than 140 characters,” he said. “People need to dig further into what’s going on.” Twitter and Facebook are great because the headlines catch readers’ attention, give them a quick overview and provide them with an easy link to more information. Chris Schauble says that KTLA’s 3-pronged approach to journalism was created to acknowledge the 140 characters limitation – individuals driving traffic to the website to learn more is one of the biggest moves KTLA makes.
How has social media influenced how you consume news, or how you interact with journalists? Let me know in the comments!
Who to Follow:
@PressKitchenSF
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@SMWLA
@SocialMediaWeek
@PRSALA
@ChrisKTLA
@Sleasca
@MichaelSlate195
Press Kitchener Brittany Nicole learns and networks!