Figure out the Twittersphere
I recently read a couple articles that pertain to gathering information in some way. Hopefully they will help you out in future journalistic endeavors.
The first one was How do you find useful Twitter accounts? 5 tips for journalists from the Online Journalism Blog. This article talks about how to find useful accounts on twitter to help you find information on potential stories. One of the main points it talks about is finding and following lists. Lists are made by others who may be interested in the same things you are. If you follow that list, there will constantly be information and stories flowing in that you can investigate. I think this is a great article for all journalists to read, especially up and coming ones, because twitter can help you out tremendously. It will be one of your best tools to get your information out to people as well as get it from others. If you look at most TV News reporters twitter accounts, they are constantly posting pictures and updates from their assigned stories.
Here is a short video on how journalists can better use twitter in their professional lives.
Know how to Dig
The other article I read is called How to investigate a university (the right way) from Poynter. With all of the college scandals and sex crimes going on in the news today, it’s good to know how to approach getting information from the colleges. This article goes over specific ways to make sure you get the information you need. One of the best points the article makes is knowing what information you are entitled too. Too often, institutions will ignore requests for documents or make up bogus excuses for not handing them over. This is when it is very important for you to know what kind of documents you are legally allowed to access and how you go about doing so. Another great point mentioned was to make allies. The more people you know around the campus, the more chances you have at getting information about the story you are after.
Wrapping up Super Semester
Well after what seems like an eternity, Super Semester comes to a screeching halt tomorrow afternoon. Weeks of blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into making the news at LUTV and it has been an awesome experience. Coming into this semester I knew a lot about video production and what it takes to make quality productions in the real world, but I didn’t know a lot about news. Now, it seems, my brain is on news overload, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. At this point and time I really don’t have a huge interest to get into the news industry, but I feel that having that experience can only help me when it comes to finding a job to start my career. I’m extremely thankful for the great professors I had to point me in the right direction all semester and look forward to watching the next super semester group get started.
twalker67 