Though it sounds like a new drug trend, twittering is the newest thing journalists like.
Journalists like to play catch up
stay current on new technology trends, so when newsrooms heard about
twitter, editors, who some didn’t quite understand what twitter is,
sent reporters to twitter events like campaign speeches, city hall
meetings and funerals. In retrospect, that last one probably wasn’t a good idea.
As fewer and fewer people read actual newspapers, journalists are desperate
eager to find new ways to reach readers (even if it’s a handful of
them). Journalists and newspapers have tried blogs, podcasts, RSS
feeds, email updates and almost everything else – save from producing
actually better journalism – to try to boost readership. And since
twitter doesn’t cost much, newspapers are more than eager to jump on
the bandwagon.
For journalists, it’s another attempt
chance to be cool, hip and relate to non-newspaper reading readers.
Twittering opens up an entire new world to journalists, a world where
the conventional lede and inverted pyramid are thrown out the window
for nut graphs and buzz words.
Seeing their work, be it ever so brief, releases that chemical in
every journalist’s brain that ensures them they are ahead of 99 percent
of the world when it comes to reporting on the presidential debate,
hurricane or community bake sale.
Journalists like to think that their readers want to know what is
happening NOW, not then. So instead of reading a fully thought out
analysis on the a speech, readers get to read postings in 140 characters or less. For example:
Biden speech: Biden: two straight forward goals – restore middle class and reclaim the world’s respect.
Palin speech: Crowd chanting “USA.”
OMG! US Prez awarded Nobel Peace Prize! 
So in addition to taking photos, taking notes and blogging at
events, journalists can add twittering to their list of duties at an
assignment.
“The Daily Show’s” take on journalists using Twitter, which is eerily similar to SJL’s.
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Topics:
journalists like twitter
I do not mind incorporating Twitter into my everyday reporting duties compared to the other “flavour of the month” tools some publishers or editors try and force upon us…i.e. if i wanted to shoot video, i would have went into broadcast journalism etc.
Twitter is an easy and amazing networking tool and costs nothing to do, either financially or time-wise. Also, it is addictive like coffee as deadline approaches.
Robitusin with codeine.
Cocaine with codeine. Tylenol 3 codeine. Buy 222 codeine. Codeine. Codeine dose. Brain and codeine.