Using Twitter for TV news

The rise of Twitter continues to boggle the “What would I use that for?” crowd. But besides getting numerous updates from your friends about the often routine details of their day, Twitter enthusiasts also know they can use it to stay on top of the thoughts of their favorite bloggers, and to follow breaking news, etc..

The upside of Twitter is huge.

Being a former TV news executive producer, I’ve been thinking about the uses of Twitter in the broadcast newsroom setting, as well as newspapers, radio, Web, etc…

Chris O’Brien at IdeaLab poses a few questions and thoughts about Twitter’s potential in reporting breaking news, both by established media and from everyday people – like the recent earthquake in southern California.

While CNN and the Wall Street Journal have embraced Twitter over the past few months and are using it well, especially in breaking or developing news, I wonder what’s taking so many local TV newsrooms so long to climb on board?

I did a quick check of the four major stations here in Minneapolis/St. Paul and found one of the top two, KARE, does not even appear have a Twitter account. At least not as “kare”, “kare11″ or “kare11news” – the obvious choices if they were. I can only assume they are close to launching it?

KMSP, as MyFox9, has been the most consistent in using Twitter and has a few thousand updates – many with the same headline but link to different updates on their Web site. WCCO, as WCCOBreaking, has far less updates than KMSP but more followers. (A few WCCO reporters also have their own Twitter accounts).

My former employer, KSTP, as KSTPTV, has 15 followers and no posts – All as of 8/1/08. Hmm. I know the big push for KSTP in my day and recently had been in providing text updates to mobile phones, and email alerts about the news of the day (plus, school closings, etc…) so perhaps they’re still weighing the process for how they would post to Twitter.

TV stations around the country can benefit most from Twitter in breaking news situations or major planned events (political conventions, election night, news conferences). How you do it, is a product of how you manage your people and your newsroom according to the unique culture of the station.

Add it to the job duties or reporters, producers, assignment desk staff and delegate who does what so you’re not double-posting the same links. I remember when asking a reporter to write up a couple paragraphs about their story for the station Web site was greeted with a “Go…” you know what. Today, it’s part of the job, isn’t it? Twitter should work the same way.

Of course, you still need editorial review in place before posting some tweets. In some instances, not all. I think you can trust your political reporter to tweet from a  governor’s news conference. But of course, you’ll need some extra eyes on anything tied to a “sensitive” story, like a three-month undercover investigation into a shady city department.

Twitter is one more tool for TV news, and other broadcast or Web journalists, to add to their mix. Keep your email alerts. Keep your news and weather alerts on the cell phone. But add Twitter to that same workstream, and even dedicate a few more people to posting tweets about the stories you’re covering and keep it current. If it’s not current, people who sign up to follow you will wonder where you are.

Just don’t use Twitter in the same way as those stupid four second primetime TV teases: “Something in your kitchen can kill you, we’ll tell you about it tonight at 10!”

I don’t need to read that on my cell phone or on the Web. I’ll be sure to tune you out, not in.