Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Interview: USA Today social media editor Michelle Kessler on the evolving newsroom, measuring success

Interview: USA Today social media editor Michelle Kessler on the evolving newsroom, measuring success

http://socialmediatoday.com/trevorjonas/264923/interview-usa-today-social-media-editor-michelle-kessler-evolving-newsroom-measur?utm_source=smt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

[excerpt]

The impact of social media on the media and publishing industries has been well documented. Newspapers and magazines are increasing their focus online, which means an investment in social media channels as well as the company website.

I recently asked USA Today's new social media editor,  Michelle Kessler, a few questions about the evolving state of the newsroom and how social media is impacting news gathering and reporting.

Jonas: You recently became social media editor at USA Today. How is the role currently defined and what, specifically, are you responsible for?

Kessler: My job is to help reporters and editors use social media to connect with readers and sources.  That includes everything from training to maintaining feeds to helping sign partnerships.

[...]

Jonas: Generally speaking, how are your reporters and editors using social media to connect with readers and sources? What's the benefit? Or put another way, how are you tracking success?

Kessler: USA TODAY has a large social media presence, including multiple official Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. (Examples are here, here, and here.)  In addition, many of our reporters and editors are extremely active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites.

Social networking is just a new way of talking to people, which is what reporters have always done.  It's often easier to ping someone on Facebook, or make a connection on LinkedIn, than it is to chase someone down over the phone.  Twitter can be an extremely efficient way to share news or ask a question to a large audience.

And these sites also make it easier for readers to talk to us.  For example, we monitor every Twitter comment that mentions  @usatoday, and respond when appropriate. Last night we asked for our readers' take on the State of the Union address, and ran a few of the most interesting comments here.

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