TV Stations get the picture: Social Media on the rise

by Brynne Tuggle

Social Media is a powerful tool in the changing world of journalism. We all can say that we know it’s having a big impact now and will continue to have a big impact on both legacy media and the institution of citizen journalism. A new study of television, radio and online media by RTDNA and Hofstra University shows that the use of social media in Television newsrooms is on the rise. 77% of TV newsrooms are now using Twitter, 36% of which admit using the microblogging tool constantly. This is more evidence that the tools of citizen journalism are continually infiltrating the legacy media arena. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are the citizen journalists greatest assets. But now, legacy media organizations are utilizing these tools in greater numbers to as to remain competitive in a world where everyone can contribute to the news process.

It is so common these days to see news outlets crowd sourcing pictures uploaded via Twitter to contribute to their own news coverage about an event, specifically in the case of natural disasters. Such is the case of the meteor shower in Wisconsin last night. WISC harnessed the power of its audience by using pictures its employees were finding on their Twitter feeds. They were posting both pictures and video and the TV station was then turning around and putting the content out through traditional media form (the TV) to its viewers. This is how social media should be used. It’s a tool that can serve to connect these two worlds. This is how digital natives and legacy media types can work together to make an even better product than each could produce himself.

TV stations are catching on. It’s taken a little bit longer for them to get the drift of the changing face of journalism. But slowly but surely, with the rise in the use of social media as this study suggests and with 90% of TV stations admitting they publish text, stills and video to their websites, a real change is coming. The first step is recognition. That’s what utilizing these tools is doing for the industry of broadcast news. Now, it’s about implementing these changes. I’m a firm believe that television will always play a role in distributing the news to the public, but I also believe these TV stations must embrace these new tools like social media to participate in the change that the digital age is bringing to legacy media.