All:
Please take a moment to review the work underway at americanobserver.net. Several in our cohort took part in coverage of the Homeless Walkathon. I am asking them to share experiences and "learnings" here once the main story, sidebars, liveblogs and tweets are all in. But I want anyone and everyone, particularly as readers, to discuss what are the best ways to present feature stories, or breaking news stories like these. A combination of all? Just a liveblog with video? Just a video story? A main story?
Also, we started considering issues. Should we edit blogs to update them for typos? Would you consider that for Twitter?
Please weigh in.
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4 comments:
Just checked out the coverage on American Observer -- great job, everyone! I really liked the Twitter entries and live blog. It made you feel like you're really there. The video pieces that accompanied the blog was a great benefit, too. Jackie and I are submitting the main story, shortly.
Let me start by saying that tweeting live events rocks! Aside from the cold, my thumbs feeling like they were about to fall off, and my poor cell phone which clearly couldn't handle the workload (The battery began to die after the first 10 tweets)... I thought tweeting was a great platform for covering the Homeless Walk. As my editor explained to me, when tweeting, you want to keep answering the question, "What's going on?" Because there was action constantly taking place all around me, trying to answer that question wasn't hard. The only drawback I noticed was that my tweets did not post in chronological order, which I hope didn't confuse readers. I'm assuming that's because I was texting the messages from my cell phone. Perhaps, posting directly to the Web is better.
As far as the other platforms used... I thoroughly enjoyed Michael's blog. I was especially impressed by his courage to take it one step further and add video! Maybe it's the TV person in me, but I'm always a fan of audiovisuals. And, coupled with his live commentary... that was awesome!
I'll comment specifically on the others (main story, side bar, etc.) once they're all in... but, as a whole, I would encourage a combination of all when it comes to covering feature stories or breaking news. Each adds a different dimension to the story, providing readers with a complete view of what took place. Depending on the story, some may be more useful than others, but I think all have something to contribute.
And finally, because I am a "perfectionist," I would consider editing blogs and tweets for typos... but that's just me. I have not totally succumbed to the raw and transparent nature of the Web (not yet, at least). So, when I see spelling errors and typos, there's something in me that still cringes.
I also thought the Tweeting was a lot of fun, despite the fact that I think I lost feeling in my fingers after about an hour. There was a lot going on--dancing, stretching, etc.--and a lot of color that I could provide.
However, I'm not sure if I think Tweeting was the best platform for covering the event. I found myself often wanting to provide more substance but because of the limited number of characters you can use on Twitter, I couldn't.
In regards to the other coverage, the story and sidebar haven't been filed yet, but I loved Michael's live blog. The video was a great touch! (And Michael, I totally felt for you when you said your fingers were so cold that your mousepad didn't recognize them.)
I think a combination of formats are best when covering breaking news and features--I particularly like the idea of a blog like Michael's that accompanies a story since that gives more of a first-person perspective. I think the tweets are probably best used in a breaking news situation rather than a feature such as the Homeless Walk.
I also think I would go back and edit the blogs and tweets for typos because I think they're distracting to readers.
I'd certainly clean up copy for punctuation, since I find typos to be annoying. I wouldn't change anything to the style - broken/incomplete sentences sometimes gives it a real time feel.
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