Geoffrey M. GraybealGeorgia Scholastic Press Association

Sept. 22-23, 2010

PhD Student & Journalism instructor, Grady College

Teach news writing and news editing

Teach and research aspects of social media

Use social media for work and play (@graybs13 on Twitter)

Taught a “Media and Message: Communicating in the Digital Age” course to high school students

Former professional reporter, high school and college newspaper editor

73% of wired U.S. teens use SNS*

Twitter, a microblogging service, is used by 19% of online Americans, according to 2010 Pew report

140-character updates, known as “tweets” Teens do not use in large numbers

◦ 8% of 12-17 year olds◦ Older teens use more (10% ages 14-17; 5% ages

12-13)◦ H.S. girls use more than h.s. boys (13% vs. 7%)◦ One-third of 18-29 year-olds use Twitter◦ Twouble with Twitter

@msnbc_breaking MSNBC

@GaFrontPage Georgia News

@Cnnbrk CNN

@ABH2GO Athens Banner-Herald

@AJC Atlanta Journal-Constitution

@RedandBlack UGA newspaper

@nprpolitics NPR

@Washingtonpost Washington Post

@nytimes New York Times

Find story ideas and sources

Report

Distribute

Promote

“Follow” (on Twitter):◦ Groups/Organizations at your school

◦ Readers/Potential Sources/Classmates

◦ Other media outlets

◦ Media scholars and journalism organizations (Poynter’s Al Tompkins, AEJMC, HSJ.org)

“Friend” (on Facebook):◦ Classmates at your school

◦ Group pages

◦ Event listings

@atompkins What’s the Point of Cheerleading? It is the #1 cause of female injuries in High school and college - WSJ.com http://ow.ly/pRjE

@Dailytarheel A DTH reporter needs to talk to an '09 grad taking time off - not in school or looking for jobs. know anyone? email azirulnick@gmail.com

@nytimes Driven to Distraction: Doubts About Scare Tactics on Drivers Who Text http://bit.ly/1dbFDT

@Scullyke12 Athens folks: For more information on local & organic meat, produce and products, check out http://athens.locallygrown....

RT @BeccaHolton SO PUMPED!!!! http://bit.ly/J6VLM (Harry Potter theme park)

Free Earthfare food next week! Great cause! RT @crobcary I wanna see some Gradiescome down to South Campus! http://twitpic.com/huy7h

Use hashtags to denote a topic

Can cover and report on speeches, happenings at conferences, events

Can text updates from your cell phone 40404

Can use for breaking news events◦ Example 2009’s #atlflood

◦ #iran

NEWS BREAKS ON TWITTER NOW (Discovery, Johns Hopkins shootings within last month)

“Unnecessary quotes” blogger speaks to Grady students

“Ginny from the Blog” talks to Duke TIPsters

DTH live “tweets” during National Championship; Red & Black during Georgia Theatre fire

Can use social media to supplement reporting

Alternative Story Formats (graphics, sidebars)

Engage your readers, have them contribute to the story

Washington Post #wherewereyou 9/11 an excellent example

Still need to verify, confirm

Be skeptical

Make sure the source you follow is authentic

Accuracy is important

You don’t want this to happen

Almost like a real-time RSS feed. Send links to articles on your website.

@nytimes Census Data Show Recession-Driven Changes http://bit.ly/4ltTO6

@ajc Gov. Perdue issues state of emergency for 17 Georgia counties. http://bit.ly/MNDtW#atlflood

Use of social media in your core product (Follow us on Twitter, See our Facebookpage”)

Promote news about your product to your followers (“Look for the new issue of the school paper on Oct. 1”)

Promote articles (Look for an in-depth interview w/ Coach Dawg in the next issue)

Create a page or group on FB or MySpace

Engage in conversation with readers

You must decide. Levels of censorship and control vary at schools.

Advisors

Editors

Reporters

One “organizational” account versus multiple twitterers

@Eastsideonline: Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill, N.J.

@HiLite_news: Carmel (IN) High School

@aThEENs: Athens teen publication

@Odysseynewsmag: Clarke Central High School, Athens

@Youthjournalism: HSJ.ORG’s Twitter page

A revolution is taking place!

For more information, feel free to contact me:

Email: graybs@uga.edu

@graybs13 on Twitter

#GSPA hashtag

Additional links on Geoffreygraybeal.com