ISOJ 2011

1. Twitter First
Changing TV News 140 Characters at a Time
by Dale Blasingame, Texas State University-San Marcos

2. “Web First”
 Rallying cry for newspapers
 Also applies to TV news
 This process is admirable, but not good enough anymore

4. “Twitter First”
 Twitter has emerged as go-to tool for journalists
 Twitter is perfectly suited for breaking news coverage
 News happens in real time - not at 5, 6 or 10 pm

5. Gatekeeping
 The decision process that determines why one story
makes air or print and another does not. This study focuses
on the flow of information during a breaking or spot news
story.
Assignment
Desk
Photographer Reporter Producer Anchor Audience

6. “Gatejumping”
 Phrase coined by Brogan and Smith (2010) in relation
to marketing oneself in a new way on the Internet
 Radio stations vs. podcasters
 This study uses the term in a much more literal sense
 Twitter allows traditionally early gatekeepers to jump
gates and deliver news directly to the audience

7. “Gatejumping”
Assignment
Desk
Photographer Reporter Producer Anchor Audience

8. Research Questions
 RQ1. How has Twitter changed the levels of gates and
allowed non-anchor newsroom employees to become de
facto reporters, particularly during breaking or spot news
situations?
 RQ2. What are the main functions of the Twitter accounts
in television newsrooms?

9. Methodology
 San Antonio selected for purposes of this study
 Precedence set by Berkowitz (1990), who used Indianapolis for
his gatekeeping study
 Personal and professional ties
 Good, bad and ugly – other stations/markets may relate
 Qualitative case study approach used for RQ1: coverage of
a triple murder-suicide
 Quantitative analysis used for RQ2: coded 2,293 tweets
from 60 newsroom employee accounts

10. RQ1: Case Study
8:32pm: “SAPD scanners say officers are heading out to the 17000 block of Fawn
Crossing for a multiple shooting scene.” - @KABBDesk
9:04pm: “On scene at shooting in The Woods Of Deerfield subdivision
http://twitpic.com/29l9h6” - @Grace__White

11. RQ1: Case Study
9:20pm: “BREAKING: Shooting at Woods of Deerfield neighborhood.
Location: http://j.mp/9QGaxD http://twitpic.com/29ldij” -
@doublepunching

12. RQ1: Case Study
9:23pm: “What's going on in the Woods of Deerfield
neighborhood off Bitters & Huebner...4 pple said to be
shot” - @SarahLuceroKENS
10:26pm: “Police: children of one of the victims were
playing outside when they heard gunshots. Kids went
indoors and saw shooter with gun.” - @Leila_Walsh

13. RQ1: Case Study
 Illustrates the potential of Twitter as a tool to deliver
breaking news
 News was delivered quickly and effectively by
gatejumpers
 Foolish to suggest this happens on a daily basis

14. RQ2: Quantitative Analysis
Breaking Promotional Chit-Chat Participation Non-
Breaking
KABB 70 134 20 2 32
KENS 24 122 164 2 5
WOAI 11 308 83 2 23
KSAT 219 297 728 11 36
Tweets from ten randomly selected days

15. RQ2: Quantitative Analysis
Breaking Promotional Chit-Chat Participation Non-
Breaking
KABB 26 122* 1 0 1
KENS 1 104* 0 0 0
WOAI 0 296* 0 0 0
KSAT 36 257* 4 2 1
Tweets from ten randomly selected days
*Links from Twitterfeed

16. So What?
 Pew: TV viewership is on the decline, down 10% from 1991-
2010, and online news consumption is up 10% from 2002.
Online is now a more popular source of news than radio or
newspaper
 Stations must go to where the consumers are and give
them reasons to become viewers

17. So What?
“The key is to respect the relationship with users. I like
the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the time you add value,
20% of the time you promote.” – Mark Briggs
 This could be the standard stations use as they
begin to embrace Twitter