Web
& Social Media
My approach to online journalism
I get most of my breaking news through social media — not from random strangers online, but from credible news organizations such as The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. All regularly use social media to deliver news.
In a time when nearly everyone carries a cellphone, journalism has adapted to new platforms. Some view social media as negative, pointing at shortening attention spans or desensitizing audiences to violence. While those concerns are valid, social media has also fueled large movements. Discussions surrounding mental health have become more normalized, awareness of government action has spread and journalism has reached wider audiences. These benefits come from the merging of journalism and social media.
Journalism and social media are far from perfect, but they will continue to evolve. This matters because everyone must be prepared to evolve with them. Journalism has always changed in response to audience needs, and today, the audience lives online.
My rule of thumb is, “A good journalist meets their audience around 95 percent of the way.” That’s why I’ve boosted our website and social media coverage over the last two years.
Expanded digital coverage
During my sophomore year, we received multiple critiques about the lack of coverage on our website, Nixajournalism.com. That old team viewed the website as secondary or boring, which led to a reluctance to do web-only articles.
As editor-in-chief, one of my first year goals was to increase the volume and frequency of online stories. I started to address this by personally publishing multiple web-only stories during the first semester. I showed my team that digital platforms allow for more creativity in topic selection.
Recently, my new staff have told me they prefer website stories because of the freedom to pick topics and how quickly they get published.
Despite being a 13-member staff this year and focusing primarily on producing a 30-page magazine, our team now maintains a consistent website publishing schedule, updating it two to three times a week.
Cross-platform story integration
Reporting on a high school lends itself perfectly for integrating social media and journalism. Since I’m constantly monitoring Wingspan and website articles I’ve begun using our Instagram @nhsjournalism to promote our reporting and extend its reach.
For example, when Nixa was building a new sports facility, I photographed and reported the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Instagram while simultaneously working on a Wingspan article that later became the cover story. We use a similar approach with website stories like covering speech and debate students qualifying for state on social media right before they qualify for nationals, which was covered on the website a week or two later, allowing us to gauge audience interest in real time.
I planned this cross-platforming strategy with the head of EagleAir, our broadcast team, last year resulting in increased visibility and engagement for both teams.
Event social media coverage
I love on-site reporting. Going into a community/event for a few hours and then reporting on peoples’ experiences is such a rewarding job. Working with our Social Media Manager, he and I began covering events on @NixaJournalism. Typically, one of us will cover an event and make a post within an hour, allowing our work to be timely and relevant to our audience.
Previously, social media coverage was limited. Most posts were photos submitted by student organizations such as FBLA or Speech and Debate that we’d just post. By shifting to staff-produced coverage, we increased both the consistency and journalistic value of our posts. A few examples of event coverage involve football games, Veterans Day assemblies, a docudrama, a Thanksgiving parade, graduation ceremonies and other major school events.
I treat our social media cover as a more concise version of our normal reporting. Through this mindset I’ve strengthened our coverage of school events while maintaining journalistic standards of accuracy and context.
New positions
Website manager
Getting the website up and going meant we needed someone on staff who knows the ins and outs of the website. In the first few weeks last year, I spotted a detail oriented student who kept tight calendars. I proposed and created a new role, Website Manager, for him..
Our website manager runs a calendar with a set of stories due every two weeks, which are published slowly throughout the following weeks. This additional role and organization dramatically increased the amount of web content we produced.
The Wingspan website deadline board right after winter break.
Social media manager
We revamped our social media manager position to focus on on-site reporting of special events like sporting events or assemblies.
We also expanded the position to two people, one from Wingspan and another from EagleAir. This expansion allows us to cover more events. Also, staff wanting more on-site experience will tag along with the social media managers during event coverage.