Good evening,
We conducted our first experiment with reporting via Twitter this week.
This is hardly the first such use of the social networking platform for serious reporting.
I first heard of the idea from Sherry Chisenhall, editor of The Wichita (KS) Eagle. An Eagle reporter had used Twitter to report from a big criminal trial. Since hearing of it from Sherry, I’ve heard of other experiments.
For us the opportunity came with the death sentencing hearing of a despicable child molester and killer n federal court in Boise. Joseph Duncan had already pleaded guilty to molesting and murdering a little boy and kidnapping his sister after bludgeoning to death an older brother, the mother and the mother’s boyfriend. Duncan has since ben linked to other crimes including a child murder in California.
I won’t take space here to describe the particularly horrible nature of his crimes. But it’s fair to say our communities want this man dead.
His death-sentence hearing has turned into a revolting sideshow as Duncan has won approval to represent himself. This last week the jury was chosen, opening arguments heard and testimony begun.
Our Boise reporter, Betsy Russell, is among the best in the business. Even though she cannot leave the courtroom except during recess, she has been able to write stories, update her blog and appear regularly on our radio news shows. Her multi-platform works is a model of the strategy in action. But she can’t communicate with the outside world while in the courtroom.
Hence our Twitter experiment. We sent a second reporter, Meghann Cuniff, to Boise to listen to the proceedings in a media overflow room. She can’t see anything, but she can follow the testimony.
Using Twitter, she covered the opening arguments in short 140-word bursts. For those following, it was addictive, enormously compelling. On day one 60-some people were “following,” in Twitter parlance. But we nearly tripled that by Friday. Now that isn’t much. But I’ve heard from many, including an FBI agent involved in the initial investigations, that the Twitter reporting was more than interesting, it was insightful, contextual.
We pulled Meghann from Boise last night. Leaving her there for three or four weeks is impossibly expensive, especially in service to only 180 people. But we’ll likely send her back for the closing arguments and verdict.
I now believe that with the right story, one that is less disgusting and personally upsetting, the Twitter audience could be significant.
But, how do we monetize the Twitter work? Any ideas out there are more than welcome.
steve
Tags: editor, journalism, newspaperman, newspapers, reporting, Twitter
August 18th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I’m a native of Kellogg, Idaho living in Eugene, OR. Duncan’s murders occurred before I got myself wired into the SR world of blogs, particularly HBO. I comment at HBO regularly now and find it an indispensable source for keeping abreast with what is happening in the CdA/Silver Valley/Spokane area.
That said, I was glued to Meaghann’s tweets. I found her work absorbing, artful, and raw. I came to believe that your reporters, Betsy and Meaghann, offered curious readers unparalleled information written in immediate, succinct, and graceful prose.
Today, I missed Meaghann’s work. I very much enjoyed and, as always, admired Betsy’s work. But, I missed the raw and immediate tweets.
I have a sense of Meaghann’s age, given when she graduated from the U of O, and my guess is she’s been a part of the Web 2.0 world from the start.
I wondered if her training and experience as a reporter and her experience (I’m assuming) with chat rooms, instant messaging, commenting on myspace/facebook pages, etc., didn’t combine to make Meghann the perfect person for the Twitter experience.
Maybe that observation/speculation is off base. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder if young people like Meaghann and others might be of great help as the SR and other news outlets transition into this multi platform world of news delivery where you are working as a pioneer.
Keep up the good work.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:00 am
You do understand that most people were reading the posts directly from http://twitter.com/spokesmanreview, and that the 180 people “following” the tweets were the ones signed up to recieve the texts their mobile devices, right?
August 21st, 2008 at 10:27 am
Bjorn,
Yes, I do understand that. But that really doesn’t address the Twitter issue. Our primary reporter, Betsy Russell can’t do a Twitter-style play-by-play. But she has really done an outstanding job keeping our website and her blog constantly updated. Our web traffic would not be significantly diminshed if there was no Twitter play-by-play. But the Twitter followers would be gone.
The cost issue here is strictly related to the fact the trial is taking place in Boise and we’re in Spokane. Keeping our Twitter reporter in Boise is terribly expensive and the returns, off Twitter don’t support that.
If the trial were local (and we have a doozie coming up next month) adding the Twitter feed would be a no brainer.
On the other hand, Meghann Cuniff goes back to Boise today so she can Tweet the closing arguments and verdict in this phase of the three-phase trial.
Thanks for posting.
steve
August 21st, 2008 at 11:23 am
Thanks for the response. In that case, I see exactly what you mean.
I guess using Twitter is a way to keep on the cutting edge.
It really was a cool experiment, and I bragged about it in my IT class (taken as an Internet distance class in a college in Minneapolis).
August 24th, 2008 at 11:59 am
It seems to me that Twitter is a unique technology that directly links you to younger consumers. The same goes for YouTUBE, FaceBook and the use of texting for niche customers. I wonder if you gave Meghann any guidelines on reportage considering the short burst Twitter limits you to. The emotionally disturbing details left open the opportunity for mistakes of considerable proportion. Steve, if you gave her guidance on caution and jugdment…KUDOS. She did an excellent job in choosing a conservative and limited amount of information while still getting us the information we wanted. That was probably very difficult for her to do. I wonder if you had numerous conversations with Meghann. If not, more Kudos to her.
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I have a question for you Steve.
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Which was a more difficult or stressful time ? Jim West or Duncan trial ?
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(for those not in Spokane, Washington…West is the former Mayor here who was caught surfing the internet for gay relationships with very young men(boys/teens). The Spokesman caught him red handed in a “Sting-Operation of sorts, and he was eventually forced out of office by recall vote)
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David Elton
Spokane