News On and Off the Air
News comes in many forms, whether that's print, photography, radio, or television. So, it's important as producers to not only be aware of that fact but also utilize as many of those formats as possible during the day. At ATVN, we utilize social media (Twitter and Facebook), our website and our newscast to let our viewers know what's happening in the most comprehensive way possible.
I served as lead producer of this Wednesday's broadcast. Although this position doesn't put me directly in charge of assigning all of these aspects, it's still something to be cognizant about during the day, especially in the morning meeting when we're developing story ideas. For the newscast, we definitely use each of the platforms to not only distribute news but also gather information. We used Twitter today for a variety of stories – such as Hawaii legalizing gay marriage and organizations donating to Typhoon Haiyan relief – to get student reaction or tips on people to talk to. Facebook is a great way for us to let our audience know a preview of what we'll have in our newscast.
Recently, we've been pushing mobile reporting with our MJs and reporters, where they use social media or email to send cell phone video and/or pictures back to the newsroom while they're out reporting. For instance, we had an MJ tweet us a picture of the city leaders speaking out against California Senator Ron Calderon. Some of these mobile reporting aspects also make it in web stories. In terms of web stories, we put up mostly stories with video that we shoot locally; an example is the piece on Jennifer Hudson getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
USC Annenberg is trying to increase this convergence of all media formats with its new program called Annenberg Media Mashup. This program combines the efforts of ATVN, Annenberg Radio News and Neon Tommy to cover stories. Reporters from each medium take a different angle and approach to a story, with ATVN focusing more on video (for the web and newscast), ARN on sound, and Neon Tommy on in-depth pieces. This initiative will definitely be something we strive to improve upon in the future to better USC's overall news coverage.
