Terri Thornton on Social Media

OurBlook interview with Terri Thornton, owner of Thornton Communications in Atlanta

What are the advantages of social media for journalists?

TT: I was in news for 20 years before starting my own PR firm about a dozen years ago. I’m enthralled by how easily social media transmit information. Last year, I mentioned to a social media person from a daily paper that I thought Twitter could become a really good news delivery system. He said he didn’t really think it had the depth for that. But just a few weeks later, Twitter and YouTube showed the world the protests in the streets of Iran. As a matter of fact, most of the news I got about Iran came from searching Twitter with the #Iran hash tag. Josh Levs at CNN did a great job of finding and airing some of the best images over that weekend; of course Rick Sanchez is also known for using social media well. And of course CNN has iReport, and FOX News and MySpace have uReport, which are both news-gathering tools and communities. It will be interesting to see how these evolve.

It’s an incredible tool for breaking news. Viewers or readers don’t even have to pick up the phone to send a news tip ... they can just post online. It’s hard to recall a big story where it hasn’t played a part. Images posted online have wound up on the front page or in the lead story over and over again. During last year’s floods in Atlanta, posts about which roads were flooding probably saved lives. After the Haiti earthquake, reporters used texting and social media to connect with their newsrooms, friends and families.

Another example ... Atlanta goes nuts for snow; even the smallest amount means team coverage and big TV ratings. Many years ago, when I was a news producer, snow was forecast. A manager said, “Send one crew north on I-75 and one north on I-85 and tell them not to come back till they find snow.” What an incredible amount of resources that tied up! Now you can search Twitter and see for yourself where flakes are falling, where they’re sticking, where it’s icing over, where kids are sledding, etc. and get your crew on the road in the right direction. I wouldn’t be surprised if monitoring social media becomes a routine task for the assignment desk, just like listening to the scanner.

It’s also a good way to find sources for a story. If you post a query on Twitter you’re probably tipping off your competitors; but you may be able to connect with trusted people on LinkedIn and post a status update or send an e-mail when you need analysis or an interview. One national reporter asks people to post their viewpoints on her blog so she can decide who to follow up with.

Also I love social media’s brevity. Challenging yourself to fit the most information possible into the fewest words is a great way to become a better writer.

What are the drawbacks?

TT: Attribution and transparency are big considerations. You can find some great stuff online, but you won’t be able to verify everything. There are a lot of hoaxes. Social media is a great tool for PR people to get the word out about what their clients are doing. In many cases, they can reach an intended audience without the news media. But we have to be honest about who we represent; given the limited number of characters in many social media outlets, there’s no easy way to do it. I include some of my clients’ names in my Twitter bio and LinkedIn profile. Some PR people post weekly or monthly disclaimers so reporters can consider the source. Others just put things out there with no caveats ... it’s a new world and the rules are evolving.

Social media can also be a great tool for investigative reporters, but it can also raise privacy issues for the general public who may not realize reporters read what they post. And news people have to be careful, too ... everyone’s allowed to have an opinion, but expressing opinions publicly can lead to allegations of bias. One of the Washington Post’s top editors closed his Twitter account because of concerns that his posts could be interpreted as taking sides on healthcare reform. And newsroom humor can come across pretty harshly if you’re not careful.

Think before you tweet. You don’t have that manager or editor checking the copy. Once you make a mistake, you can’t take it back. It can go far and wide immediately, and there’s no reasonable way to correct it. And of course, regardless of which platform you use, make sure you’re familiar with the privacy settings. I also advise people to assume that anything you post online could eventually become public.

Another thing people have to work through is whether to “friend” or connect with potential sources. You may want to stay in touch with people who are valuable to you, but you don’t want people to assume that one of your connections may be a confidential source. Different news organizations have different policies, and some have no policy at all.

Will social media play even more of a role in the future of journalism, or do you see this trend slacking off?

TT: More of a role ... absolutely ... both as a newsgathering tool and a distribution and promotional outlet. It’s hard to find a news organization that isn’t using it to broadcast headlines and bring in new viewers/readers. If I were in a promotions department, I’d consider social media a godsend.

For journalists who are reluctant to embrace it: even if you think you’re not on social media, you probably are on social media. If you search your name or the name of your news outlet, people may already be talking about you.

Many more journalists in the years ahead may be free-lancers or contract employees instead of staff writers. Do you see any differences in the uses of social media for them as opposed to staffers?

TT: I see a lot of freelancers using social media to promote their blogs. I think it could help them troll for pitchable ideas and engage in high-value conversations. It can also keep them in front of the people who do the hiring in a positive, non-pushy way.

While social media may improve the quantity aspect of a journalist's story, how do they impact the quality if time that normally would go into more reporting is devoted instead to social media requirements?

TT: Good point. Social media take time to learn, which is one reason many people shy away from them. And once you’re fluent, you can disappear down a rabbit hole unless you’re careful. I monitor specific media outlets or stories at a glance by setting up search columns in Tweetdeck. LinkedIn moves more slowly since it’s mainly for building contacts, so you can update that weekly instead of every day. I generally use Facebook after hours, so that’s not as big a deal.

You have written that your theory of the news business "is that news is emotion. What shocks, angers or delights the most people in a geographic or demographic area, and makes them want to come back for more, is what gets airtime and column inches." Can social media deliver emotion in a way that conventional print or broadcast media can't?

TT: Yes ... this is one reason they have become such a phenomenon. They can deliver a real punch. Remember the video of millions of people marching through the streets of Tehran, and the raw video of the Iranian protestor Neda dying in the street? That video had incredible power to show what the traditional media were barred from reporting.

And you can find video and information that’s too specialized or too detailed for the general media, which have to be everything to everyone. Instead of 25 seconds of flood video in a jam-packed newscast, you may find longer pieces from your part of town. A quick search can tell you what your favorite celebrity’s up to, while your neighbor can find what they’re passionate about, such as an obscure new industry regulation, that would put you to sleep.

Social media’s speed is amazing. I was in California on spring break when an earthquake hit. Everybody started tweeting about it right away; but it takes another minute or two for a journalist to get someone on the phone to verify it, get the right figures, and get a bulletin out. But social media can also transmit rumors, hoaxes and viruses; it’s not the be-all and end-all.

Do you see any one form of social media as being more important to journalists than others?

TT: Twitter’s incredible for breaking news. LinkedIn is good for building and maintaining industry contacts. YouTube, iReport and uReport are good for viewing video. I use Facebook more for family and friends than work, but I’ll probably eventually give in and start a company page. But things are always changing. There may be completely new platforms a year or so from now, while others could drop off the radar.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about social media and journalism?

TT: Two things:

1. I don’t think social media or citizen journalism can or should replace good journalism. But the possibilities are endless. If you sit back and say, “Gee, I wish I knew more about this or could find that person ...” social media just might give you the tools to do that.

2. At a joint National Press Club/Atlanta Press Club event a while back, I asked this question of the panel: in the future, how will people know what is a journalistic story and what is a paid, biased or fictitious post? I said I was concerned that young people may not know the difference. The panelists’ answer was to encourage journalistic literacy programs, which is a good idea. But the most telling moment came when a journalism student approached me afterward and said young people can tell the difference; he’s more worried about people in the older generation like his mother, who can’t tell a scam e-mail from the real thing.

(Media relations/social media consultant and former journalist Terri Thornton founded Thornton Communications in 1998. She spent two decades as a TV and radio reporter and producer ... while at WAGA-TV in Atlanta, she launched "Good Day Atlanta," the nation’s highest-rated local morning show. Follow her on Twitter.)

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