Tony Russell is a reporter for KJRH, a Scripps-owned NBC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A native of St. Louis, he graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2010. He also has worked for KHBS/KHOG-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Russell holds a technician class license and storm spotter training. He recently spoke with reporter Jacqueline Schlick about social media’s impact on how today’s journalists do their jobs.
Q: How has social media shaped journalism within the past decade?
A: I remember when Twitter and Facebook first came out. It was at first unknown what these platforms were going to be like. Now you can’t do a TV story if you don’t also make sure there’s a social media component. Our day-to-day lives as journalists are being carried out on traditional legacy platforms like TV, radio and print, but we’re also walking our viewers through our day and how we do our story. People expect extra angles and information through different social media channels. There is no deadline anymore. As soon as you get information now, your deadline is immediately out.
Q: How do audience members control the story, particularly in their comments on social media?
A: Instantaneous feedback has been a challenge and a blessing. Social media creates a two-way conversation between the viewer and content creator. The more you can be transparent and engage your viewers through social media posts and comments, the better you’re off as a professional reporter because the viewers know they can get to us very quickly now. They can message me on Facebook, tweet at me, share my post and say what they want.
Q: What are some of the positives to that instantaneous feedback from viewers?
A: Social media has helped the news media industry to be a little more empathetic. If people feel like we’re glorifying an incident or a certain issue or sensationalizing something, that two-way conversation lets people say those things. Sometimes that feedback helps us to shape our stories in a good, sensitive, thoughtful way. In difficult stories that hit close to home for people, I watch social media to see if we’re being sensitive and respectful.
Q: What are the dangers of using social media as a place to find information?
A: Is the information being presented to us being vetted properly? Is the source credible? We owe it to our viewers to take the rumor mill circulated on social media and vet it to the highest standard possible before we ever go put it out there. That’s the hardest thing for our industry because you want to be first to get the story out there and getting it right takes time. I think what we need to do as an industry is be even more transparent with our viewers and subscribers and let them know, “This is how we arrived at this conclusion. These are the people we spoke with, and this is how we spoke with them.”
Q: Does social media cut down the time it takes to find sources for your stories?
A: It depends on what kind of sources. A lot of people feel comfortable using social media to tip off reporters to stories because they feel that it is a safe medium. I have worked several investigative exclusive stories through direct messages to my accounts. I’m able to take those stories and then vet them through my sources. I think that’s a win for the First Amendment because it allows more avenues for people to contact journalists and have us hold people accountable.
Q: What is your take on how social media can blur the line between trained journalists and people of the public not authenticating their stories?
A: I stand behind the fact that I work for a major company that’s affiliated with a major network. But beyond that, you have to hope that in interactions with your social media fan base, people know you’re a credible source and you’ve built a brand around that credibility. Be informative, be true and honest, admit to mistakes, present stories in a transparent and traditional fashion and you will be rewarded by people who want the story through social media. I’ve noticed that highly opinionated people who have become big voices on social media are forced to become responsible once they start gathering very large followings. What may start out as a simple blog turns into where their voice matters and the things they say can have real consequences.
Q: What is the biggest change you’ve seen from a pre-social media to a post-social media world?
A: Ninety-five percent of my social media content originates from my own work phones so the phone is like an additional workbook. Every market is different. You need to learn to prioritize what social media platform is the one where people are going to for information. The days of just filing your story, copying and pasting your web link are over. As your day evolves, so does your social media feed. You’re creating a brand of yourself. People want to feel like they can engage with you so you have to show a human element. You have to be an open book on and off air. You have to share your life and day with your viewers because they do the same thing, too. The algorithms in the engagement on a story about what happened in my personal life sometimes exceed any news story I publish on my professional Facebook page. So the way I post has changed over the years.
Q: What are some tips about using social media algorithms?
A: You have to respect the algorithms. You have to do Facebook Lives, engage your viewers with polls and respond to viewer comments. I recommend downloading a free app called Social Rank. It’s a way that journalists, content creators and digital executive producers can see how TV personalities and news stories are doing in a market. You can see who are the highest performers, which stations have the highest engagement. You see them all ranked on a one-to-10 scale.
Jacqueline Schlick is an Orlando native who found her voice in the deep south. She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a creative writing degree and is now pursuing her master’s in journalism. She serves as the Public Relations Director of Ole Miss Bands and as a Lifestyles writer at the Daily Mississippian. Upon graduation, she plans to become a novelist as well as continuing her work in journalism.
