WHEN NEWS BREAKS: REPORTING AS A COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONKirsty Groff

JOUR470

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to: Visualize the effect members of a community have on

each other, particularly when news breaks Get a sense for the communities college media have

created Learn how local and national media outlets work and how

they create communities, as well as niche and global media.

REPORTING AS A COMMUNITY COLLABORATION Historically, communities gather around each other in

confusing times in order to make sense of a situation. This could occur when news is good, but most often this happens in hard times - a tough economic climate, a natural disaster, the death of a beloved public figure.

Online media have allowed communities to form in times of celebration as well as disappointment. One social media site that has proven useful to researchers tracking the use of community during these times is Twitter, whose "trending topics" measure what is being talked about at any given time.

TRENDING TOPICS CASE STUDY: OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH One recent instance where breaking news has been

disseminated through a community and enhanced that very community was the death of Osama bin Laden. The entire world was united.

TRENDING TOPICS CASE STUDY: OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH This is the traffic from the day of Osama bin Laden's death, which set a

record at the time of more that 5000 tweets per second being sent. This record has since been passed, following the earthquake in Japan, Beyonce Knowles' pregnancy announcement, and the death of Steve Jobs.

TRENDING TOPICS CASE STUDY: OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH

At this Phillies' game, video was captured of the crowd reacting to bin Laden's death, most likely through finding out on the Internet on their phones.

Although everyone was at a local event, social media brought the world to the spectators. News was disseminated through the crowd through smartphones.

TRENDING TOPICS CASE STUDY: OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH On a global level, Twitter helped the world express their

reactions to the news. One man actually Tweeted the raid on bin Laden’s Pakistan compound without realizing what was actually happening.

Read the story here: http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/05/02/heres-the-guy-who-unwittingly-live-tweeted-the-raid-on-bin-laden/

TRENDING TOPICS: TWITTER ASSIGNMENT The world became a community locally and globally when

bin Laden was killed. But everyday events also bring people together, especially through Twitter.

Who can you follow on Twitter? Search for your favorite celebrities, government representatives, authors, etc. and see how they interact with their followers.

Trending Topics emerge when news breaks – monitor the Trending Topics for your area. What are people saying about them? Is there any interaction between users present?

LOCAL/NICHE AND NATIONAL MEDIA Today's media consist of a variety of sources for

people to get news: print newspapers, news magazines, television, radio, and online are the big sources. While they all report on the news, though, each tackles current events and issues in a different way. In addition, differences can vary between the regions covered - especially local versus national.

Complete the survey about types of media you follow on the lesson module page

LOCAL MEDIA

Local media sources can provide readers with somewhat individualized news. These papers/sites/television programs, etc. may not be of the best quality due to budget constraints and talent available. However, the news covers a smaller area, providing a community with information specific to them, therefore bringing them together with a neighborhood feel.

LOCAL MEDIA

LOCAL MEDIA The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Fairbanks, AL Covers Alaska and local– News, Opinion, Sports Has an entire community section for members to upload

media

LOCAL MEDIA WTMJ 620AM Newsradio – Milwaukee, WI Covers Milwaukee news, sports, weather Has blogs and a listener’s club

LOCAL MEDIA KING5 TV – Seattle, WA Covers news, weather, traffic, health, sports,

entertainment, etc. Has section for stories in the local area at the top

NICHE MEDIA

Similar to local media, niche news sources provide communities with news specific to them as well; however, these communities tend to be based on interest as opposed to location. These communities could be through hobbies (Creative Knitting, Toy Collector Magazine), pop culture and celebrity news (People, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly), and professional interests (Folio, Business Week).

NATIONAL MEDIA

National newspapers and sites tend to focus on big-picture issues that affect an area as a whole. News topics such as politics and legislation, world affairs, tragedies and abnormal crimes, sports and popular culture items are typically covered, along with big scientific and health developments. Local news sources are less likely to cover these issues that affect the nation as a whole – and if they do, it will be reported with a local spin. The national media will cover the NBA and Congress, for example, while the local will cover high school sports and town hall meetings.

Visit these websites to get a sense of some national news sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ http://www.nytimes.com FOX, CNN, ABC, MSNBC

NATIONAL MEDIA