CAUGHT IN THE CROSS-HAIRS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Thursday October 20, 2011.

So I turned on the tube about 7:30am CST, and there it was…not exactly the Mo’s most flattering close up….but the one he’ll be remembered for.
My first reaction, this is good….one less bad guy to deal with…my second…UGC gets the scoop again….the images and videos leading all the cable news channels that morning were captured on cell phones, not by professional journalists.

Watching MSM’s dependence on UGC to visualize this historic moment provided a graphic validation of the fact that Breaking News coverage, especially in the minutes and hours after a big story breaks, has becoming increasingly dependent on the timely Acquisition, Management and Display of Social Media.

As the day went on, the amount of content coming into the news networks increased. Video as well as pictures were being broadcast and a second editorial storyline began to emerge.
Some of this stuff is really, really graphic. Where’s the line?

By mid afternoon the challenge was no longer getting stuff…Acquisition, the challenge had become the ability to moderate what was appropriate for mass audiences as opposed to the disturbing unedited clips that looked more like scenes from a snuff flick than a newscast.
One would like to think that somebody…say perhaps a professional journalist, actually approves this stuff before it goes on the air. Depending on which station you’re watching, you might be surprised to know how few people see UGC before it goes to air and how little time is spent evaluating content.

When dramatic spikes in content acquisition occur, having fast, easy to use content management tools is critical. This includes moderation, curation, and display features that save producers valuable time which allows them to spend more time on editorial decisions like what content is appropriate for air and strategic decisions about multi platform distribution to the Internet, mobile and digital sub-channels.

We’ve got plenty of stuff; now let’s make sure we use it intelligently.