1. WHEN NEWS
BREAKS:
REPORTING AS A
COMMUNITY
COLLABORATION
Kirsty Groff
JOUR470

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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/

8. 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?

9. 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

10. 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.

11. LOCAL MEDIA

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. 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).

16. 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

17. NATIONAL MEDIA