Using Social Media

For our newscast on Monday, we primarily used social media to find interviews and sources for our stories. For example, we sent tweets out asking if anyone knew someone in Chicago who had been to the Charlie Sheen show or if anyone had received emails from Ralphs. We also used twitter and facebook to generate interest in our newscast by publishing information about the stories we planned on including, such as flight information from Southwest.
Other ways I could imagine using social media in a newscast would be for statements or to gauge opinion on a particular subject. Many celebrities or public figures will take to twitter to make an announcement, so we could use that in a fullscreen for a story. Or if we were interested in seeing how our audience felt about a topic we could ask them to do a survey on twitter or facebook. Also, we could ask our audience what they would like to see in the newscast.
Social media can be an important element in a newscast. It can be used to find interviews, statements and announcements, and gauge opinion.