Newspapers Realizing The News Is Really Interactive
from the it's-about-time dept
For quite some time, we've been pointing out that newspapers that are struggling to figure out how to survive on the internet need to get past the idea that they're delivering a final product, "news," and that's it. Internet savvy folks see themselves as a larger part of the news process -- whether it means contributing to the story or spreading the story. Unfortunately, too many newspapers seem to think that "interactivity" just means adding comments to the stories they've posted on the web. But that doesn't actually engage an audience and bring them into the process.However, some newspapers are figuring this out. Check out this great story of how the Chicago Tribune interacted with some folks on Twitter to both get alerted to a story, report on it, and then spread the news. There's been plenty of talk about how breaking news often first appears on Twitter, but it's often mentioned in a way that suggests that Twitter and news organizations are somehow "competing." But that's not what happened with the Tribune.
Someone on Twitter in downtown Chicago noticed a bunch of scared people running out of Daley Center, claiming their lives were in danger -- so he Twittered about it, asking if anyone knew what was going on. Others started asking about it, and one user alerted the Chicago Tribune's twitter account. Then, the folks at the Tribune did what good professional reporters should do: checked out the story and twittered the details, while alsoposting a full article on the Tribune website about a bomb scare at Daley Center. And, following that, a bunch of folks who had originally helped alert the Tribune to the story, Twittered the Tribune's story as well.
It's a much more interactive role, where the Tribune relied on the community to help alert it to a story, and then did what it should be able to do better: professionally gather the details and report on the situation -- and then let the community share and discuss the story as well. Slowly, but surely, it looks like some news organizations are figuring this stuff out.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: interaction, news, twitter
Companies: chicago tribune, twitter
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Neat!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
You mean, Twitter was up? ;-)
(I jest... I love Twitter and make use of it a lot. Hell, I got TwitKit in Firefox just so I can watch whenever any of my friends update. Still, that uptime issue has yet to be resolved.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Twittering
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Professionalism...
BTW, the "Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now." hyperlink seems to lead to a 404 Page Not Found (at least, on FF3 w/ NoScript installed, it does).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Professionalism...
Because, you know, that never happens with traditional media...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Professionalism...
[ link to this | view in thread ]