SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR NEWS: COVERING THE CENTRAL TEXAS WILDFIRES

Maira GarciaAustin American-Statesman

Where the public gets their news

• 66 percent say they get most of their news from television • 43 percent get their news from the Internet • About a quarter (27%) of adults say they regularly or

sometimes get news or news headlines through Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites. 

• For people under 30, it's 38 percent.     Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. (2011). Views of the News Media: 1985-2011- Press Widely Criticized, But Trusted More than Other Information Sources.

Social media at the Statesman

How we use social media:•Share news, breaking updates•Answer questions•News tips•Follow trends, see what interests readers

Central Texas wildfires

• Wildfires began Sept. 4• Fires in Leander, Steiner Ranch, Spicewood, Bastrop

complex fire (two fires)

Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Twitter• First fire began in

Pflugerville• Aside from posting

blogs on the fires, we began asking for photos from the public.

• Hashtag #centraltxfires started by City of Austin officials, asked us to jump on

Facebook

• Several organizations began using Facebook as a means to communicate with residents looking for fire updates.

• Utilized our page as way to spread and receive information on the fires.

Tumblr• Very new tool for us• Had not utilized as much

since we were experimenting with how to use it

• Photos had the most draw• Went from roughly 250

followers to more than a thousand

• Highlighted tags from Tumblr propelled post views, reblogs and likes

Verifying information on the fires• Rumors circulating via

social media about fires• Made sure to use

credible sources• Verified information with

authorities• Checked with charitable

organizations like the Red Cross, United Way and other groups about donations

Photos from readers

@calebthefox@RobbieCooper

Susan HalgrenSara Kranz

Putting it all together• Continuous updates on social media• In some cases, social media was the only place for

those affected to get breaking news• Reporters and photographers took on more roles -

reporters shot photos, photographers shot video• Reporters, multimedia producers and editors were

vital to contributing information via social media• Main accounts aggregated information from everyone

working fire coverage, agencies providing information

Statesman.com

• Record number of visits• Photo was out there the

same day, galleries received millions of views

• Videos of wildfire aftermath• Map of destroyed homes

Bastrop County releases destroyed homes maps

Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Ralph Barrera AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Continuing coverage• Coverage of a similar

community in California• Damage estimates• FEMA assistance• Pets rescued from the

wildfires• Wildfire page

California wildfire recovery efforts

Wildfire rescues at the Austin Humane Society

Response from social media on our coverage of the wildfires

QUESTIONS