Four Prominent Chicagoans Discuss Social Media and Mainstream News

Four Prominent Chicagoans Discuss 
Social Media and Mainstream News

Dr. Michele Kerulis

#BeScene #SMWthisjustin #Chicago #Socialmediaweek #socialmedia #journalism

As a Chicago Scene editor I had the chance to attend Social Media Week Chicago (#SMWChicago) which featured 200 speakers and thrilled eager social media enthusiasts with outstanding programming. A Thursday afternoon panel addressed ways that journalists and news outlets have been impacted by social media. This Just In: How The Media Uses Social Media to Get the News was hosted by Jon Kaplan, President of Publicity Club of Chicago, and featured four prominent Chicagoans:

Pam Oliver, News Planning Editor, NBC Chicago

Susanna Negovan, Splash Editor, Chicago Sun-Times

Scott Kleinberg, Social Media Editor, Chicago Sun-Times

Julie Mann, Managing Editor, WBBM Newsradio

This is my account of the panel with questions from Kaplan and responses from the panelists. The panelists’ enthusiasm for their careers was clear as they were engaged and excited to share their experiences with the audience.

Kaplan (JK) opened the discussion by stating that about 30% of the population gets their daily news from Facebook, according to Pew Research Center. He asked the panel members to describe their favorite social media platforms for personal use and for professional use. Each panelist stated that their personal and professional use of social media can blend at times and they enjoy using platforms for work and for fun.

Pam Oliver (PO): Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for personal and professional use.  

Susanna Negovan (SuN): Facebook

Scott Kleinberg (ScK): Instagram and Twitter

Julie Mann (JM): Facebook and Twitter

JK: How large of a role dose social media play in mainstream traditional news?

PO: Social media is extremely important to see where viewers are or are not. Many young people are not watching the news. We want to understand the best way to reach them and to drive them back to news. Many people are getting their news from Twitter. We want readers to click on our Twitter links that lead to our website and excite them to follow up with upcoming on-air stories.

SuN: People don’t go to home pages anymore. Most traffic is fed through shared stories that direct people to the website. We use social networks to roll out news. My team looks to see what people are talking about. Sometimes people want to be featured in Splash so we look at certain types of stories to see if the interested individuals have a social media presence and high levels of engagement.

ScK: People are not looking to homepages. The best thing you can do is Tweet and post your own stories on Facebook. I let writers know posting this way will drive people to their sites. Use Instagram for general engagement. Themes each week on Instagram, tag photos on their page. 50K photos tagged this year.

JM: Social media is important in radio. Our listeners know they can tune into Traffic and Weather Together on the 8s and also rely on our social media to learn about our on-air content. I have a team who helps run our websites and text blasts. We have a lot of traffic on our website, which includes WBBM, CBS 2, and the Score, because we screen TV and radio on the web. We have a lot of Facebook engagement – I think pictures grab people’s attention first.  

JK: What comes first in the thinking of news management?

PO:  I believe media first. People send in pictures and videos that can be included in our stories. We will do a broadcasting cut-in if it is a strong story.

JM: We can utilize media and stories simultaneously. We have the luxury of being a 24/7 new source. Accuracy is priority number one. We fact check then post and announce the story.

SuK: Splash is driven by beautiful visuals and features and is printed two times per month. We go to press on Wednesdays and release on Sundays. We have a short news cycle and people tend to have a shorter attention span. Nowadays people multitask and gather news and entertainment from TVs, phones, laptops, and tablets all at the same time. I predict the future of magazines will include format change that will continue to incorporate esthetically pleasing layouts.

ScK:  Print is very important to the Chicago Sun-Times. Nothing is more important than accuracy. Our editors harness the power of social media and the power of digital. The paper is the product of the digital content.

JK: How were you able to use social media to localize the tragedy in Paris for a Chicago audience?

PO:  We received information from people who had family and friends in Paris. People called the station and e mailed us to tell us. In order to fact check we examine photos, e mail interviews, and phone interviews. It is important for people to reach out on social media to obtain real world accounts of what happened. One Chicafo young woman documented her time in Paris with joyful photos and did not expect her dream trip to be invaded by terrorist attacks.  After the attacks she reached out to her friends and family on Facebook with two words, “I’m OK.” We welcomed people to share their pictures with us to share their individual stories. We were also able to utilize the network to gain updates and stories.

SuK:  A hard line exists between a tragic situation and reporting the news. The safety fo people is the priority.

ScK: It is important to clarify things for people and explain what is actually going on. I saw two Associated Press alerts that reported explosions in a soccer stadium and in a restaurant. Some people thought the alerts were not correct then realized there were multiple attacks. People then try to make sense of what happened without having the facts. You can’t read something on Twitter and assume it is correct. The Sun-Times seeks clarification first and then we post a story. For example, we might say, “Reports of explosion in Paris, more to come.” We used social media and shared trending hashtags to help keep people informed.  

JM: We are tied closely to our network and our international corresponds covered the story. We updated our Twitter and Facebook as necessary to keep people informed as the story evolved.

JK: According to an Edelman report, 76% of journalists feel pressure to think about how their stories can be shared on social media. How do you verify information before putting it out there?

PO: The priority is to verify facts and accurately report a story. We use an in-house system to prove validity of photos and also verify by calling people back for interviews. In addition, reporters have taken videos from their cell phones and sent the videos to our team. Videos allow the emotion of the story to come through, which makes the story personable to our viewers. We will link videos and photos within our Tweets and ask people to watch the story on TV at a certain time.

JM:  We will reach out to people so we know where they are. For example, find people on social media who post about things that are happening. We will verify via phone calls and checking e mail content.

ScK: I started using social media after 9/11 as a team of one and now the Sun-Times has a team of three. Being careful to verify facts is in our DNA. I don’t worry about being first. The Sun-Times respects that being first is great but accuracy means everything and that it’s okay if it takes time to post a story.  

JK: You must receive pitches on a regular basis. How do you know which recourse will add value to your readers?

SuK:  I pay close attention to who provides us with good information and who does not.  After being in this field for a long time we develop an instinct when someone has a poor agenda. We screen people’s social media to determine who we can and cannot trust. Grandiose behaviors, patting one’s self on the back continuously, and other off-putting behaviors that we see on social media pages that give us an idea of who might have selfish intentions in providing content. The clarity of someone’s pitch helps us understand how easy it will be to tell their story. If we cannot make sense of a pitch in one sentence, our readers cannot either.  

ScK:  We sift through pitches from Public Relations (PR) people and pass information to our reporters. I really appreciate the work that PR people do and try to write back to as many people as possible with useful feedback. My recommendation is to keep pitches to the point in the first sentence. Pitch me via tweet and make a point in 140 characters. E mail pitches are okay but please do not send a pitch with subject line that says “breaking news.”

JK: What are examples of something you saw on social media that turned into a great story?

PO: I noticed a tweet about a meeting with a group of Muslim students who discussed the radicalization of ISIS and the recruitment and issues the community is facing. Know who our reporters are and know their beats.

JM:  We see great stories that people post on Facebook. We have seen more positive stories on official police department pages. We have also seen Facebook pages and groups created during times of emergencies to help people stay connected. We connected with the Facebook group and were able to do stories with people who experienced the events.

JK: If someone wants to pitch to you on social media what is the most effective way to contact you?

PO: Send an e mail to me instead of pitching on social media. I try to send responses to e mails.  Mid-week is the best time to send an e mail and a strong subject line helps e mails stand out. Also follow up with a phone call to let me know you sent an e mail. Mid week is the best time to send an e mail

ScK: Send me Tweets. If you send an e mail don’t assume I’m checking int on the weekends. Don’t worry about trying to be creative in the e mail and tell us what you want with a clear subject line.

SuK:  The best way to contact me is via email at susanna@suntimes.com during business hours (9AM-5PM). I do not feel obligated to respond to pitches when it interrupts my personal time. Subject lines are important – generic subject lines don’t catch my eye. Know our website if you plan to pitch to Splash – we have received stories that do not have anything to do with our content.

JM: E mail is the best way to get in touch. I’ll spend less than a minute to go through each individual e mail so keep it tight, get to the point, and use large font. I will put people into my junk box if their pitches are not clean and to the point.   

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THIS JUST IN: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A PRIMARY NEWS SOURCE

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A CHAT WITH CHICAGO SUN-TIMES SOCIAL MEDIA GURUS SUSANNA NEGOVAN & SCOTT KLEINBERG