Journalists use Twitter in many ways and the platform has evolved into a vital publishing tool especially in breaking news situations. Twitter is especially useful in trial coverage. In this case, the Pike County (Ohio) court is asking each witness if they want to opt in or opt out of having their testimony broadcast, including audio and video.
That means for those interested in following the trial coverage, and many who can not attend in person, they often will turn to Twitter to follow witness testimony — especially when witnesses opt out of both visual and audio broadcasting.
One way to keep track of what is going on in a coverage area or topic (think: beats) is to create a Twitter list to narrow the "noise" of Twitter and to follow trusted/verified users. I set up a Twitter list of the trial here.
Several reporters are Tweeting their coverage here, here and here. My feed is not as robust as I am not yet there and am hindered by my inability to watch, record and take notes when witnesses ask for a full opt out.
As a reminder: I will be in the courtroom and writing (I hope) daily beginning Tuesday.
Questions for students:
Read the Tweets from at least two reporters linked above and answer: Who did a good job of tweeting? Why?
What surprised you about how reporters use Twitter to cover news? Be specific.
How might you use Twitter in your beats? Be specific.
I read through James Pilcher and Angenette Levy's tweets. I thought they both did a good job live tweeting but I enjoyed looking through Angenette's more because she included pictures and links plus she made use of threads to make her tweets more organized and easier to read.
It surprised me how short and quick to the point they are. All they do is quickly state what is happening, it is not too fancy or complicated.
If there is an event happening at a club or if there is an important speech or forum a club is hosting I can live tweet any information they tell us.
Read the Tweets from at least two reporters linked above and answer: Who did a good job of tweeting? Why?
I thought Evan Millward did a good job of tweeting. I liked how he started his tweets with "PIKE COUNTY TRIAL" because it differentiated his tweets about the George Wagner trial from his breaking update tweets. This seems like a logical, helpful way to organize his feed. Angenette Levy did not use this method, so I was confused by which of her tweets were about what and had to scroll around to find information. I also liked how Millward broke up the text in his tweets with returns, because this made his tweets look short and easy to read. Finally,…
Yes. Covering an ongoing event is a great use of Twitter. I use it as a version of my notes!
1. With just what I've seen on Twitter, I noticed that Angenette Levy has been posting very frequent updates which is fantastic. Especially with the large following she has on her account. She's used a great number of hashtags such as #GeorgeWagnerIV and #Rhoden. It looks like she also tags the law and crime network that she works for which is a great way for her to get even more traffic to her account. By looking at Pilcher's tweets, they're short and sweet and get right to the point. It looks like he also tags the network he works for which is a good way to get traffic to his account. I noticed he also does a good job of…
Read the Tweets from at least two reporters linked above and answer: Who did a good job of tweeting? Why?
I read Evan Millward and Angenette Levy's most recent tweets on the case - both used hashtags to support their tweets on the case and are sharing photos of evidence and the courtroom from the live stream of the case. They are sharing some different facts of the case but both are doing pretty good in different ways. Levy is sharing facts as well as why they're going back to some things in statements but Millward I think I prefer because of how he thinks back to opening statements and referring to a statement said as to why a part…