1 From Toy to Tool: Using Twitter to Study the NewsThe University of Findlay Teaching Symposium March 15, 2015 Diana Montague, Ph.D.
2 The University of Findlay Teaching SymposiumFrom to Tools: Using to Study the News The University of Findlay Teaching Symposium March 15, 2015 Diana Montague, Ph.D.
3 How has technology changed the world of journalism?
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5 A lot
6 Changing the news in the digital cycloneThe digital cyclone is swirling up change in the old newsroom Changing the news in the digital cyclone
7 Tools are different:
8 Tools are different:
9 Tools are different:
10 Tools are different:
11 Definition of deadline is differentRolling deadlines needed for 24/7 news
12 Audience expectationsPeople want information NOW, (and they don’t want to pay for it).
13 Social media evolution2004
14 Social media evolution2006
15 Social media evolutionMedia outlets now pump out “breaking” news 140 characters at a time, sometimes as a story develops. 2006
16 More information sources from which to choose
17 Feedback process is differentAudience response/interaction is more immediate, more complex
18 Who are purveyors of “news”?Audience can’t distinguish professional news organizations from anyone with a webpage; falsehoods can go viral as quickly (if not more so) than the truth.
19 With all these challenges and distractions, how do we teach “news” and develop media literacy skills?
20 Set up Twitter account, follow news feeds (COMM170)Associated Press @AP CNN @CNN CNN International @cnni Telegraph News @TelegraphNews Reuters Top News @Reuters ProPublica @ProPublica Breaking News @BreakingNews NPR The New York
21 Set up Twitter account, follow news feedsAssociated Press @AP CNN @CNN CNN International @cnni Telegraph News @TelegraphNews Reuters Top News @Reuters ProPublica @ProPublica Breaking News @BreakingNews NPR The New York CBS The Findlay Doug Washington Al Jazeera Drudge Asia News The UF
22 “What’s in the news?” each class
23 “What’s in the news?” each classThe results: Discussions about news content and coverage strategies are robust.
24 “What’s in the news?” each classOften students compete to see who can offer the best “breaking” news of the moment.
25 Importance vs. popularityStudents who had no clue about some domestic and international issues now follow higher-profile current events and ask questions about the logistics of the political/cultural situations themselves.
26 Questions evolve from “What is ISIS?” to Questions evolve from “What is ISIS?” to
28 Assessment Class discussions
29 Assessment Class discussions Weekly news summary
30 Assessment Class discussions Weekly news summaryFinal exam question: Choose news story that changed over the semester; trace coverage development.
31 Assessment Class discussions Weekly news summaryFinal exam question: choose news story that changed over the semester; trace coverage development. Students can use compiled news summaries to develop this essay so the daily Twitter following has a cumulative effect on their ability to develop media literacy skills.
32 Social Media Law
33 Digital Media Law
34 BUT
35 Is anything still the same in Journalism?
36 Things that remain We have a responsibility to keep citizens informed
37 Things that remain We still have to be accurate, fair, truthful.
38 Things that remain We still have to do our research—even more so now. (Thank you, Internet!)
39 Things that remain WE have to be good story tellers, and we have to write quickly
40 Things that remain We have to be trustworthy
41 Things that remain Spelling, grammar, punctuation and AP Style are critical for credibility.
42 Things that remain WE still have to talk to people. (We have additional ways to communicate, but we still have to do some interviews face to face.)
43 Things that remain WE have to consider our audience when deciding what is news and deciding how to write and visualize the story
44 It’s very easy to lose your audience
45
46 What The Ledger is doingUsing data analytics to determine which stories to post higher on the website and when to post them
47 What The Ledger is doingUsing data analytics to determine which stories to post higher on the website and when to post them Omniture measures how many people are viewing which stories and when. (Data on the half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year)
48 Online traffic is best on Monday mornings They had about 800,000 unique users each month.
49 Online traffic is best on Monday mornings They had about 800,000 unique users each month.More and more traffic is coming from mobile aps (10 percent). In February 2013, about 20 percent of mobile devices and iPads were accessing the actual website, not through the aps.
50 What The Ledger is doingChecking data to move stories higher on web page
51 What The Ledger is doingChecking data to move stories higher on web page Data Central (most valued employee!)
52 What The Ledger is doingChecking data to move stories higher on web page Data Central Blogs
53 What The Ledger is doingEditors and reporters have Facebook and twitter accounts; story links are posted with reader questions throughout the day.
54 What The Ledger is doingEditors and reporters have Facebook and twitter accounts; story links are posted with reader questions throughout the day. Reporters have to tweet and post a certain number of items per month (in addition to writing a certain number of stories).
55 Productivity tools: Workflowy (“to do” list with hierarchy, ability to split work/personal work needs) Evernote (clipping tool)
56 Coolest stuff I did at The LedgerSat in on meeting to discuss paywall strategy
57 Coolest stuff I did at The LedgerSat in on meeting to discuss paywall strategy Worked with entertainment and web editors
58 Coolest stuff I did at The LedgerSat in on meeting to discuss paywall strategy Worked with entertainment and web editors Sat in on “Newspaper With a Heart” meeting to distribute donated funds
59 Coolest stuff I did at The LedgerPaul Beasley Johnson penalty hearing
60 Coolest stuff I did at The LedgerFHSAA girls state basketball finals
61 Organizations for media peoplePoynter Institute Neiman journalism lab
62 Webinars offered insight
63 Digital Tools Document Cloud Runs documents through Open Calais
64 Digital Tools Overview automatically organizes a large set of documents by topic
65 Digital Tools Overview automatically organizes a large set of documents by topic Displays them in an interactive visualization for exploration, tagging, and reporting.
66 Digital Tools Overview automatically organizes a large set of documents by topic Displays them in an interactive visualization for exploration, tagging, and reporting. Can help search for patterns and “smoking guns”
67 Digital Tools Spundge curates content, helps research stories and assists in sharing with colleagues more effectively.
68 Digital Tools Spundge curates content, helps research stories and assists in sharing with colleagues more effectively. Tracks RSS and social media feeds
69 Digital Tools Spundge curates content, helps research stories and assists in sharing with colleagues more effectively. Tracks RSS and social media feeds helps newsroom communication, collaboration
70 Digital Tools Spundge curates content, helps research stories and assists in sharing with colleagues more effectively. Tracks RSS and social media feeds helps newsroom communication, collaboration In Beta stage; free version and “premium” paid version
71 Searching beyond simple googlingPower searching with Google
72 Searching beyond simple googlingUSA.gov reference shelf
73 Searching beyond simple googlingVideos on using government databases
74 Searching beyond simple googlingUsing search platforms in social media to find sources, communities already talking about the issues. You can save these searches for future reference.
75 Searching beyond simple googlingUsing search platforms in social media to find sources, communities already talking about the issues. You can save these searches for future reference. Twitter [hashtags],
76 Searching beyond simple googlingUsing search platforms in social media to find sources, communities already talking about the issues. You can save these searches for future reference. Twitter [hashtags], Facebook [search graph]
77 Searching beyond simple googlingUsing search platforms in social media to find sources, communities already talking about the issues. You can save these searches for future reference. Twitter [hashtags], Facebook [search graph] LinkedIn [groups where people are discussing issues, not just one-off sources]
78 Stuff you can find UF’s 990 from 2010 (open on Explorer)Hancock County public record search Hancock County probate court records Hancock County property search
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80 Storm trackers, unite!
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