A guide on how you can use social media to find sources, break news and attract attention.

1. Using Social Media
to Find Sources,
Break News
and Attract Attention
David Sheets
President, St. Louis Chapter
Society of Professional Journalists

2. First, a clarification:

3. First, a clarification:
Journalism
is not dead

4. First, a clarification:
Journalism
is not dead
It’s just very, very badly injured

5. But do not fear.

6. But do not fear.
There is no better time
to become a journalist

7. Now, perhaps more than ever,
journalists are crucial to the future
of this republic

8. Journalists must:

9. Journalists must:
• Find facts

10. Journalists must:
• Find facts
• Recognize bias

11. Journalists must:
• Find facts
• Recognize bias
• Distinguish news from opinion

12. Journalists must:
• Find facts
• Recognize bias
• Distinguish news from opinion
• Do all of this ‘without fear or favor’

13. What does that mean?

14. What does that mean?
• Seek facts without personal gain

15. What does that mean?
• Seek facts without personal gain
• Question authority, respectfully

16. What does that mean?
• Seek facts without personal gain
• Question authority, respectfully
• Ignore personal, emotional criticism

17. What does that mean?
• Seek facts without personal gain
• Question authority, respectfully
• Ignore personal, emotional criticism
• Look past the obvious

18. What does that mean?
• Seek facts without personal gain
• Question authority, respectfully
• Ignore personal, emotional criticism
• Look past the obvious
• Understand that your first obligation is to
inform the public

19. Commit yourself to these facts
and readers, listeners, viewers
become better citizens.

20. Commit yourself to these facts
and readers, listeners, viewers
become better citizens.
And you become a better
journalist

21. So, how do you do that?

22. These used to be a reporter’s
primary tools:

23. These used to be a reporter’s
primary tools:

24. These used to be a reporter’s
primary tools:

25. These used to be a reporter’s
primary tools:

26. Today, we use ...

27. Today, we use ...

28. But how do you use these
tools for gathering news?

29. But how do you use these
tools for gathering news?
Here are five ways ...

30. 1) Watching for trends

31. Example: MutinyRadio.org

32. Example: MutinyRadio.org
DJ Aaron Lazenby was
scanning Twitter one night
last year and saw
#iranelection trending.

33. Example: MutinyRadio.org
DJ Aaron Lazenby was
scanning Twitter one night
last year and saw
#iranelection trending.
He stayed up all night
discussing the subject and
connected with sources he
used for a broadcast via Skype.

34. The interviews he compiled were picked up
by CNN’s iReport, a Web venue for citizen
journalism, and went viral.

35. The interviews he compiled were picked up
by CNN’s iReport, a Web venue for citizen
journalism, and went viral.
Lazenby said his interactions on Twitter made
the sources comfortable in dealing with him.

36. The interviews he compiled were picked up
by CNN’s iReport, a Web venue for citizen
journalism, and went viral.
Lazenby said his interactions on Twitter made
the sources comfortable in dealing with him.
‘Reading through tweet histories really can give
you a good idea if the person is for real or not,’
he said

37. Example: USA Today

38. Example: USA Today
Correspondent Kitty
Yancey wrote about
price gouging at some
hotels and also used
Twitter as a resource.

39. Example: USA Today
Correspondent Kitty
Yancey wrote about
price gouging at some
hotels and also used
Twitter as a resource.
She noticed complaints following a snow storm
in the Northeast. She typed ‘snow’ and ‘hotel’
into search. Numerous tweets revealed hotels
doubling their prices for snowbound guests

40. Example: Student reporting

41. Example: Student reporting
Elliot Volkman learned through
Facebook that a student had
fallen partially through the
floor of her living room in an
apartment building near
campus.

42. Example: Student reporting
Elliot Volkman learned through
Facebook that a student had
fallen partially through the
floor of her living room in an
apartment building near
campus.
He made connections with people who lived in
the building and learned it had been cited
several times for being run down

43. Residents and employees sent Volkman photos
and information — information he used for a
story that won him a Georgia College Press
Association Award.

44. Residents and employees sent Volkman photos
and information — information he used for a
story that won him a Georgia College Press
Association Award.
The building’s owners were forced to make
tens of thousands of dollars in improvements

45. ‘I did a lot of my information-gathering via
social networking sites,’ Volkman said.
‘I would not have been able to (get the story)
without them.’

46. Keep in mind, you can’t do all
of your reporting this way.

47. Keep in mind, you can’t do all
of your reporting this way.
One old-fashioned tool
remains the best available
for gathering information:

49. That’s right ...

50. That’s right ...
... your shoes

51. 2) Establishing sources

52. The Yellow Pages of today:

53. The Yellow Pages of today:

54. The Yellow Pages of today:
Contains more than 900 million members
searchable by name, occupation and network,
among other topics

55. Example: RedEye

56. Example: RedEye
Tracy Swartz, transit writer for
the pop culture tabloid, used
Facebook to keep in contact
with bus drivers so they can
communicate without leaving
an email trail from work.

57. Example: The Associated Press

58. Example: The Associated Press
Lauren McCullough,
social networking
manager, said Facebook
was key in learning
about the shootings at
Virginia Tech in 2007.

59. Example: The Associated Press
Lauren McCullough,
social networking
manager, said Facebook
was key in learning
about the shootings at
Virginia Tech in 2007.
‘Since then, it has been an important part
of our news-gathering process,’ she said.

60. 3) Crowdsourcing

61. 3) Crowdsourcing
It’s the act of outsourcing tasks,
traditionally performed by an employee
to an undefined, large group of people
or community (a ‘crowd’), through
an open call

62. Many news events were not photographed by
professional photographers but bystanders.
The AP’s McCullough refers to the crash of
US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River.

63. Many news events were not photographed by
professional photographers but bystanders.
The AP’s McCullough refers to the crash of
US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River.

64. The image was attached to this tweet:

65. The image was attached to this tweet:

66. McCullough first noticed rumblings about
the crash on social media.

67. McCullough first noticed rumblings about
the crash on social media.
‘I very quickly was on Twitter and Facebook
and Flickr and YouTube and ... stumbled on Janis
Krum’s iconic photo and began a process to
get in touch with him and to find out where
he was and where he had taken the photo
and whether it was something that
we could distribute,’ she said.

68. Crowdsourcing for journalists:

69. Crowdsourcing for journalists:
Help a Reporter Out:
Where reporters and
sources can connect.
You ask a question,
HARO tries to find
answers from reporters
as well as sources.

70. Crowdsourcing for journalists:
Help a Reporter Out:
Where reporters and
sources can connect.
You ask a question,
HARO tries to find
answers from reporters
as well as sources.
At last check there were about 103,000 sources
and 30,000 journalists listed on the site

71. 4) Sharing and vetting stories

72. Brian Stelter, who did the Media Decoder blog:
‘The best way for me ... is to write a rough
draft of a story, put it on one of our blogs,
tweet about that rough draft, ask people
for feedback ... questions and comments,
and then improve my story based on what
they say before it gets into print.’

73. Stelter broke the story in 2011that ‘The Daily
Show’ and the ‘Colbert Report’
were leaving Hulu.
He posted a draft of his story online and was
able to gather enough reader opinion
to include a couple paragraphs at the end
about what people thought.

74. ‘It would be hard to survey random readers
about that information in the hour that I had to
improve the story,’ Stelter said. ‘But thanks to
Twitter and Facebook and other websites, I
was able to tap into reader opinions and I was
able to ... improve the story.’
‘The Daily Show’ and ‘Colbert Report’
have since returned to Hulu.

75. Sharing expands your reach:

76. Sharing expands your reach:

77. Sharing expands your reach:
About 200,000 print readers daily

78. Sharing expands your reach:
About 200,000 print readers daily

79. Sharing expands your reach:
About 200,000 print readers daily
About 2 million online readers daily
(not including mobile readers)

80. 5) Branding

81. 5) Branding
Social media is a great way to connect
with communities and establish yourself
as an expert.

82. Evan Benn

83. Evan Benn
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch feature editor has
become the go-to guy for news about brews in
the region. In just two years, he has made the
‘Hip Hops’ blog at STLtoday.com one of the
most read on the site.

84. From that last year,
Benn produced
‘Brew in The Lou,’ a
guide to making and
drinking beer in the
St. Louis area. It is
one of the best-
selling local books
on the market.

85. From that last year,
Benn produced
‘Brew in The Lou,’ a
guide to making and
drinking beer in the
St. Louis area. It is
one of the best-
selling local books
on the market.
And why?

86. Benn studied the market and realized that
nobody was writing about beer in St. Louis
— one of the nation’s beer capitals.

87. Benn studied the market and realized that
nobody was writing about beer in St. Louis
— one of the nation’s beer capitals.
Instead of writing about everything and
anything, as most people do, he identified
a need and became a specialist. Now he’s
considered an expert

88. Debra Bass

89. Debra Bass
Another Post-Dispatch feature writer, she
realized the St. Louis area’s distinguished
history in fashion and textiles wasn’t getting its
due. The city has long ties to the big fashion
industries in New York and Europe.

90. Now, Bass is a regular at fashion shows around
the nation and she does TV and webcast
reports regularly for national media.

91. Derrick Goold

92. Derrick Goold
Writer of all things Cardinals, Goold tweets,
writes two blogs, posts on Facebook, writes
newspaper stories, does TV and radio
interviews and podcasts on St. Louis’ favorite
topic — all on deadline. The job is big, broad
and consumes much of his time.

93. Despite everything on his
plate, he found time to write
a book, too. It’s also one of
the most popular titles in
the region.You’ll find it at
just about any grocery, as
well as local bookstores.

94. Despite everything on his
plate, he found time to write
a book, too. It’s also one of
the most popular titles in
the region.You’ll find it at
just about any grocery, as
well as local bookstores.
Goold proves another key point:
Finding a niche means making a commitment,
one that could take up a lot of your time

95. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:

96. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:
• Watch for trends

97. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:
• Watch for trends
• Establish sources

98. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:
• Watch for trends
• Establish sources
• Crowdsource

99. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:
• Watch for trends
• Establish sources
• Crowdsource
• Share their stories

100. To summarize, journalists
are using social media to:
• Watch for trends
• Establish sources
• Crowdsource
• Share their stories
• Establish a ‘brand’ that calls attention
to their expertise

101. So, how do you get started?

102. So, how do you get started?
• Create an online portfolio. It doesn’t have
to be fancy, but it should represent your
skills. It serves as a destination for people
who find you on search engines

103. • Blog … if you haven’t started already.
It shows you can write or produce
consistently and demonstrates your
commitment to journalism. And it doesn’t
have to be just writing — include whatever
medium is your specialty

104. • Hand out business cards. These help remind
people who you are. Then you can shoot
them an email to set up a meeting later, ask
if they’re hiring, or just chat over coffee.
Re-create the card electronically, too.

105. • Hand out business cards. These help remind DAVID SHEETS
people who you are. Then you can shoot
900?N.?TUCKER?BLVD.?
ST.?LOUIS,?MO?63101-1099
Sports Content Editor
Advertising?Account?Executive-Retail?
900?N.?TUCKER
ST.?LOUIS,?MO
them an email to set up a meeting later, ask
900 N. TUCKER BLVD.
www.STLtoday.com
ST. LOUIS, MO 63101-1099
> PHONE:??314-340-8531
> PHONE: 314-340-8389
FAX:??314-340-3140?or?314-340-3141
CELL: 314-971-0073
900 N. TUCKER BLVD.
www.STLtoday.c
ST. LOUIS, MO 63101-109
TOLL?FREE:??800-365-0820?Ext.?8531
if they’re hiring, or just chat over coffee.
St. Louis Chapter president
E-MAIL: dsheets@post-dispatch.com
PAGER:??314-245-0114
TWITTER:??314-267-1144
CELL: @DKSheets St. Louis Chapter presiden
Re-create the card electronically, too.
Society of Professional Journalists FACEBOOK: david.sheets
E-MAIL:??bcollins@post-dispatch.com Society of Professional Jou
DAVID SHEETS
900?N.?TUCKER?BLVD.? Sports Content Editor 900?N.?TUCKER
ST.?LOUIS,?MO?63101-1099 Advertising?Account?Executive-Retail? ST.?LOUIS,?MO
900 N. TUCKER BLVD. > PHONE:??314-340-8531 900 N. TUCKER BLVD.
> PHONE: 314-340-8389
www.STLtoday.com
ST. LOUIS, MO 63101-1099 FAX:??314-340-3140?or?314-340-3141 www.STLtoday.c
ST. LOUIS, MO 63101-109
CELL: 314-971-0073
TOLL?FREE:??800-365-0820?Ext.?8531
E-MAIL: dsheets@post-dispatch.com
PAGER:??314-245-0114
St. Louis Chapter president TWITTER:??314-267-1144
CELL: @DKSheets St. Louis Chapter presiden
Society of Professional Journalists FACEBOOK: david.sheets
E-MAIL:??bcollins@post-dispatch.com Society of Professional Jou

106. • Get a new wardrobe. T-shirts and flip-flops
won’t cut it.You’ll need a makeover that
says, ‘I'm a professional journalist.’

107. • Get a new wardrobe. T-shirts and flip-flops
won’t cut it.You’ll need a makeover that
says, ‘I'm a professional journalist.’
• Clean up your social networking sites.
Blue language and photos from drinking
parties are no help when it comes to
making a good first impression on your
potential audience, or potential employer

108. • Chat up your professors, instructors.
They may know where jobs are and give
you ideas on blogging topics. At least they
could serve as references.

109. • Chat up your professors, instructors.
They may know where jobs are and give
you ideas on blogging topics. At least they
could serve as references.
• Collaborate. Work with peers on a project
that brings together individual talents and
maybe create a blog, social media network
or marketing plan that gets you started

110. Using Social Media
to Find Sources,
Break News
and Attract Attention
David Sheets
President, St. Louis Chapter
Society of Professional Journalists