Last week, at the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, I managed a track of sessions about skills and mindsets for online media. In the biggest session, on blogs and social media, I explained (among other topics) what Twitter is, and how/why journalists can use it. I mentioned how a year ago San Diego public radio station KPBS made a big splash by integrating Twitter into its coverage of local wildfires — but didn’t have time to offer many other examples.
Not surprisingly, attendees had far more questions than I could answer in the session — or even at the conference. One especially good question, which an SEJ member posted as a comment to my Contentious.com post yesterday on Twitter basics, was this: “[Can you give] some concrete examples of how Twitter can be a tool for environmental reporting (as opposed to reporting on an emergency situation).”
…Which raises the larger issue of how to use Twitter as part of covering any beat. In general, beat reporters can use Twitter on an ongoing basis to give their communities a window into, and opportunity to assist with, reporting projects — as well as spread the word about their work in order to drive online traffic and spur public discussion. That might play out on the environment beat in several ways.
Of course, I asked my Twitter posse for ideas and examples on this front. Here’s what they said:
Blogger Karoli suggested that journalists could use Twitpic or Seesmic (two social media services that distribute visual content through links in Twitter posts) to “document and broadcast” environmental topics. Although I haven’t seen this happening specifically yet with environmental news, it could look like this or this. I think the trick would be to make sure participating Twitter users know to “@reply” the reporter’s username in their post (from either service), so the reporter wouldn’t miss the contribution.
Live event coverage is an increasingly popular way for reporters to use Twitter. In some ways this is similar to covering unfolding emergencies — but live-tweeting also can be a way to take notes in public. Here’s a recent environmental example: Last week, Kiplinger fellows T.C. Brown (formerly Plain Dealer reporter) and Amanda Zamora, live-tweeted the McCormick Climate Change Conference at Ohio State University. (Thanks to Randy Edwards of The Nature Conservancy for the tip.)
Combine with blogging to solicit input. Twitter often works best when combined with other channels. This example isn’t environmental, but on Oct. 20, the popular tech blogger John Battelle posted to Twitter: “Help me figure out what to ask [Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg at Web 2 next month.” That “tweet” included a link to Battelle’s blog post making the same request. As of this writing, the blog post has nine reader comments, all proposing questions. I’ll bet at least some people were spurred to comment on the blog thanks to Battelle’s tweet.
Those are just a few ideas. What other ways do you think Twitter could be used to support beat reporting? Please comment below.
