Herbert Lowe | Telling Stories One Tale At A Time
  • SHORT STORIES
  • MY STORY
  • CURRICULUM VITAE
  • #LOWECLASS
  • RESOURCES

Using Twitter for Journalism Mightily

12/30/2011

11 Comments

 
Picture
Click the image for a sampling of my students' live tweeting of the presidential inauguration – or view the slideshow below.
As 2011 ends, please allow me to revisit my proudest moment as a journalism faculty member with a new Storify.

In late September, my digital journalism students at Marquette University made the most of an extraordinary campus opportunity – a presidential inauguration – that offered trial-by-fire experience and demonstrated the power of social media as a tool for journalism. Instead of the typical reporting and writing exercise, in which the students would each produce a 500-word story that just I would read – sigh! – they used Twitter to report on the inauguration. Their tweeting allowed countless Marquette alumni and supporters across the world to witness the ceremony live.

Tim Cigelske, a MU communication specialist and the campus social media guru, lauded the students' efforts. "I never thought we would surpass Sweet Sixteen," Cigelske said of the Twitter explosion following the men's basketball team's success last spring. Not only did their inauguration tweeting do so, it also netted the top eight trending topics in Milwaukee that day – "which is huge," he said. (My Storify includes just a sampling from that day.)

The inauguration exercise also readied my students to use Twitter to cover events as reporters through the term. Indeed, live tweeting was only half of the inauguration assignment. Each student also had to create a Storify about the coverage. (The Poynter Institute offers five types of stories that make good Storifys.)
_
No one knew what to expect beforehand. Those among my students who had tweeted regularly had mostly offered youthful banter. I stressed for class-related tweets using complete sentences, abiding AP style and correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, and no long or uncomplimentary hashtags such as #onmywaytowalgreenstobuylicorice and #icouldrantbutiwont. Both classes practiced with the Princess Diana eulogy before the ceremony. Each student then had to produce at least 12 tweets with their class hashtag and #muprez among the 140 characters.

After live tweeting beyond my wildest dreams, the next generation of professional scribes acted like true journalists – they went searching for food, assessed their own performance and found reasons to complain or blame their editor, that is, professor. That's OK. So gratifying when my students' work matters. Cigelske, formerly of The Associated Press, put it best when he told them during his class visit: "It was like you were all Associated Press reporters. You provided the color and the personality of being right there. You pretty much covered the spectrum – from breaking news to context to archival coverage. This is great training for ... your journalism careers, wherever it takes you."
11 Comments
Brynne Ramella
1/17/2012 01:07:43 pm

The storifies were my favorite assignment of last semester. It is such a great way to present a news story. I plan to utilize it beyond class.

Reply
Olivia Morrissey
1/17/2012 11:03:26 pm

I have never used Storify before, but after reading the inauguration story, I am excited to start. I like how the JOUR 1550 tweets are placed in the story; although they are like quotes, the fact that they were "in the moment" makes the reader feel more engaged in the story.

Reply
Carlie Campbell
1/18/2012 02:37:22 am

The inauguration was such a wonderful event and Storify seems a great way to capture such events journalistically. I can't wait to start exploring the possibilities of this new medium.

Reply
Alex Rydin
1/18/2012 08:39:05 am

I'm starting to see Storify used more and more around the web. A tech website I've read for years has started using it to curate the publics reaction to things like SOPA. I feel like, thanks to Herb, we got the chance to be some of the pioneers of Storify.

Reply
Shoshauna Schmidt
1/18/2012 10:54:25 am

As I was reading, it felt as though I was listening to the event on the radio, with a correspondent narrating, and live quotes from those in attendance. Before this, I have never heard of Storify, but I thoroughly enjoyed this method of journalism.

Reply
Tess Quinlan
1/18/2012 11:07:13 am

As I read through the Storify, I felt as though my friends were telling me about this great event they had attended. Storify is a tremendous online resource where journalists can share their stories in a casual and organized manner. I am genuinely excited to use it in JOUR 1550.

Reply
Rebecca Hixson
1/18/2012 01:20:58 pm

I never thought Storify would catch on after we did the inauguration one, but I also didn't think Twitter would catch on...It is a great way to deliver a message to a technological generation.

Reply
Rebecca Hixson
1/18/2012 02:14:34 pm

The Storify slideshow is just what the platform needed to perfect its goal.

Reply
Joe Kvartunas
1/18/2012 03:25:45 pm

This was a fun event to cover and Storify is definitely a very interesting way of covering an event. More and more i find myself looking to Storify to find different perspectives on an event, (i.e. what somebody thought of the debate who was there)

Reply
Melanie Lawder
1/25/2012 02:04:21 pm

That day, I had never tweeted so much in my life. I may have doubled the number of tweets. But it caught all of my followers attention - I got questions about the inauguration all day.

At first, I wasn't so sure about Storify. But now I love it. That and live-tweeting are definitely going to be the next tools of journalism. After seeing some great Storifys on the Occupy Wall Street, I'm convinced that Storify is going to blow up into some huge phenomena.

Reply
free twitter followers link
10/7/2012 06:48:14 pm

Inauguration is really nice event.I am waiting for it. Thanks for sharing.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Welcome

    My journalism DNA remains strong as I learn and teach new ways to tell and present stories, especially via digital and social media. This blog is where I share what happens in my classroom and my life and, from time to time, offer my views on current events. I appreciate your feedback – either as comments herein or in an email to herbert.lowe [at] marquette [dot] edu.

    Tweets by @herbertlowe

    Archives

    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010

    Categories

    All
    Branding
    Digital Divide
    Digital Storytelling
    Emerging Media
    Graduate School
    Journalism
    Journalism Education
    Journalism Education
    Live Tweeting
    Marquette
    NABJ
    NewsU
    NNS
    Poynter
    Sports
    Storify

    RSS Feed

© Copyright 2017 Aim High Media | All Rights Reserved | Site Design by Aim High Media