I recently heard that local TV news departments are using Twitter, Facebook, etc to find stories. Well, let me rephrase it, the local morning newscasts have dedicated a few assignment desk editors to look for "trends" online, so they can assign stories on what some people are posting. Not a bad idea, but what makes news these days? Ok, if a video of a cat playing the piano is suddenly popular on line, should it make it to the local newscast? Most news reporters that I talked to are not happy about it. And it's not because they think they're above that, it's because we are becoming more like TMZ (no disrespect, Josh) and not what we were created for. Suddenly, we want to become "cool", web centric. We are TV local news. We're not cool. So, instead of embracing the technology to improve our product, we are embracing the products that have been highlighted by the new technology (specially here in LA, any content that has to do with Hollywood and Paris Hilton). I'm currently reading, "The Revolution Will not be Televised.." by Joe Trippi. Trippi makes the argument that Howard Dean's campaign for the 2004 election was the result of our current social media tools. Dean's staff was able to raise a huge amount of money through small on line donations. At the end, we all know how Howard Dean ended, but the seeds for a new way to finance campaigns were planted. Trippi also argues that the conventional media really disliked Dean, in part because his staff circumvented them. Now the same conventional media seems to be trying to become a mirror image of the online space. How sad. Now we see all these anchors preaching "follow me on Twitter" or "talk to me on Twitter". Don't believe the hype. Most of them won't talk to you, not even in person if they had the chance. Ok. May be you can talk to them on Twitter, but that doesn't mean they will talk to you.Monday, March 8, 2010
Local Stations Searching Twitter, Facebook for News?
I recently heard that local TV news departments are using Twitter, Facebook, etc to find stories. Well, let me rephrase it, the local morning newscasts have dedicated a few assignment desk editors to look for "trends" online, so they can assign stories on what some people are posting. Not a bad idea, but what makes news these days? Ok, if a video of a cat playing the piano is suddenly popular on line, should it make it to the local newscast? Most news reporters that I talked to are not happy about it. And it's not because they think they're above that, it's because we are becoming more like TMZ (no disrespect, Josh) and not what we were created for. Suddenly, we want to become "cool", web centric. We are TV local news. We're not cool. So, instead of embracing the technology to improve our product, we are embracing the products that have been highlighted by the new technology (specially here in LA, any content that has to do with Hollywood and Paris Hilton). I'm currently reading, "The Revolution Will not be Televised.." by Joe Trippi. Trippi makes the argument that Howard Dean's campaign for the 2004 election was the result of our current social media tools. Dean's staff was able to raise a huge amount of money through small on line donations. At the end, we all know how Howard Dean ended, but the seeds for a new way to finance campaigns were planted. Trippi also argues that the conventional media really disliked Dean, in part because his staff circumvented them. Now the same conventional media seems to be trying to become a mirror image of the online space. How sad. Now we see all these anchors preaching "follow me on Twitter" or "talk to me on Twitter". Don't believe the hype. Most of them won't talk to you, not even in person if they had the chance. Ok. May be you can talk to them on Twitter, but that doesn't mean they will talk to you.
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Soon enough, the local newscast will likely disappear, along with the decline of print journalism. By the time stories appear on the local news, they are likely outdated. If local stations need to turn to the Internet for finding stories, that sounds like a sure deathknell to me. Plus, TV broadcasting is antiquated anyway. I can't handle the scripted witty banter between newscasters. They've always seemed like actors to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Roberto. Local television stations aren't being very smart about how they are covering social media and how their are using their Facebook and Twitter pages. Most of them are posting the same stories and links on Twitter and Facebook that they are covering in their broadcasts and on their websites. Not a very smart strategy in the social media world! People don't care about watching most of these stories on television let alone getting them in a Tweet on Twitter! I think that local television news teams should follow online trends and find out what people are talking about online. They they should produce relevant stories on those topics and post links to them on their Twitter and Facebook pages. If they would do this consistently over a period of time, then, I think they would have a better chance of gaining a strong online following.
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