Do you remember the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? It spawned a series of other nonsensical titles (moose a muffin, etc.). As silly as the book may be, it tells a wise tale about what can come with the right combination of personality and possibility. In this case we’re talking about citizen journalism in an era when everyone has a camera and internet connection in their pocket.
Hypothesis:
If you Give a Peep (a person) a Camera, they’ll give you what you want… and then some.
Case in Point:
Twenty four hours before a massive storm system bore down on the Twin Cities metro area, forecasters were predicating a whopper. Who knew it would be a massive 1-2 punch spanning a good portion of an entire day. Being the planning/strategizing type of social media producer that I am, I began putting the call out hours before the storm intensified “send pics!”, I even created a branded hashtag for the station.
Nine hours later, battered but not defeated (and free of any personal storm damage to my property), I put the finishing touches on a massive night of social media news gathering. Hundreds of photos and videos poured into the newsroom telling the story of the awe of mother nature. Up to grapefruit size hail, dozens of wall clouds, funnels and a handful of reported tornadoes, strong winds toppling power lines and trees big enough to rebuild the Mayflower… all captured on film. I pushed it all back out to the masses on air and online resulting in thousands of impressions surrounding the news brand.
When the night concluded, the results were clear.
The lesson:
If you ask for it, media consumers will give it to you. In the social media universe our audience interaction was noticed. Friends and followers noticed and thanked our news team for helping them “weather the storm” so to speak. In the end we all weathered the social media storm that once again proved… if you’re in the news business it matters.
Still not convinced? Let me break down
1,000s of impressions pushed across online advertising venues equals bucks in the bank.
1,000s of impressions activated around your media brand building loyalty with viewers in times of concern … priceless (sorry MasterCard, I couldn’t resist)
Check out some of the citizen journalists’ work for yourself.Citizen Journalists
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