I spent nine years in radio as a reporter, on-air talent and program director. By nature, newsrooms are not the most social media friendly place in the world. Reporters and producers are the gatekeepers of the facts. While social media threatens the perceived balance of powers, some are embracing the opportunity.
The mantra *used to be* to make sure the story is accurate and balanced. That mantra was held as the gold standard by some, and trashed by others. That made me take note of the presentation by Jason Falls which was given at the recent Blog World Expo.
While I wasn’t at BWE, I clearly understand how social media can simultaneously stimulate and poison the news we watch.
Social media integration causes journalists to change how they work. They need to shift from “observe and report” to “observe, report and engage”. Social media is all about engaging users.
How does adding engagement as a success metric change the reporting?
Does the hook have to be sharper? Should it incite a response? Maybe it should be balanced and let the vox populi slug it out?
Whatever we think, the proverbial barn door is open, and let the learning begin. I just hope the media outlets have good web analysts watching the big and small pictures. And let’s hope the CxOs of these companies will listen to the analysts.
