How Our Broadcast Program Uses Twitter

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By Johanna Warshaw

In a changing world filled with new technology and innovations to get the news out faster, everyone is trying to keep up. As high school journalists, we have an advantage in knowing what the youngest generation of social media users will look to when they want the latest news. And the answer, at least for my class, has been Twitter. Even though we are a broadcast journalism program, we use Twitter regularly to keep our viewers updated on local news and what our staff is working on. As a student who uses twitter every day, I’ve found it to be fast, extremely easy to use, and beneficial for our news program.

Why use Twitter?

  • It’s efficient. Our reporters tweet real time events as they unfold, which keeps our audience updated and allows them to tweet us back if they know more information about the story.
  • Collaboration and networking. Our reporters are followed by major news organizations and other professional reporters, who see what we tweet and sometimes retweet or reply. It gives our news credibility and holds people to a high standard because they know we have a large audience who care about what we tweet.
  • Promote what you do. Tweeting when your next show is set to air or what new project your school is working on is a great way to keep your audience informed and make sure they tune in.

How the Mustang Morning News uses Twitter:

We have an account for our entire program (@miracostanews) and an account for each staff member, where they are required to tweet 3 times a week. All of our staff’s twitters are put into a “list” on Twitter, where our social media producer can retweet or gather more information for The Mustang Morning News’s official twitter page.

Our reporters tweet news local to our high school and community, and include the key facts, a link, tag someone, or use a hashtag so our tweets will show up in more than one place.

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This is a good example of a tweet because it’s breaking news, tags our school board, includes a quote, and promotes our next show.

We tweet sports game updates at the half and end, that include information on one key play, the scores, and what is next for the team depending on how they did in the game.

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This tweet was timely, and included the score, who scored the goals, and gives us info about the next game.

 

For a basic primer on  how to use twitter, check out this website with video tutorials.

 

Johanna Warshaw is a Junior at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, CA.  She is the Social Media Producer for the Mustang Morning News, a four-time Broadcast Pacemaker finalist .

Michael Hernandez

Michael has taught Film/Video Production and Broadcast Journalism since 1999, and advises the Pacemaker-winning Mustang Morning News. He regularly presents seminars on journalism, video and technology-related topics, and is a former JEA National Broadcast Adviser of the Year. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @cinehead

Michael Hernandez has 52 posts and counting. See all posts by Michael Hernandez

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