How to Live Blog the Election

How to Live-Blog (Chat, Tweet…) the

Election

October 11, 2012

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Erica RyanDigital Editor, Elections UnitNPR @EricaLRyan

Brady CarlsonHost, ATC, Social MediaNew Hampshire Public Radio@BradyCarlson

Guests:

Submit questions and share

live blog/chat/social media

examples on the right

Or email: [email protected]

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Erica Ryan NPR

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Erica Ryan NPR

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1. Live Chat

Three kinds of live blogs

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1. Live Chat

2. River of News Live Blog

Three kinds of live blogs

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1. Live Chat

2. River of News Live Blog

3. “Lazy River” of News Live Blog

Three kinds of live blogs

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What do I need to run a live blog?

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1.A host or lead blogger

2.Guests (if doing a live chat)

3.Backup!

4.An audience

What do I need to run a live blog?

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What can be prepared ahead of time?

Photo via CC, Roger H. Goun

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Advance notice:

1. Solicit questions from audience

2. Prepare basic background information

3. Gather source links together

4. Set up social media and news feeds you’ll follow

What can be prepared ahead of time?

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Breaking news:

Make sure you know how to use your tools

Go for it

What can be prepared ahead of time?

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Our goal:Share what we learn,

as we learn it

Live

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Bring our audiences into the center of the news

Represent the broader social media conversation

Promote information sharing and discussion

Helps us work toward our mission:“to create a more informed public”

NHPR Live Events: What do we do?

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Ongoing preproduction meetings, to coordinate on-air, online and technical teams

Give your online coverage a focus

• Website: live results, blog posts from the field

• Social media: aggregating real time coverage and conversation

Define digital roles

• Social media host

• Web manager

• Photo editor

• Blog editor

How do you prepare for live online coverage?

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Engage audiences BEFORE election night starts

• Promote on air and online

• Voter experiences

How do you prepare for live online coverage?

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Coordinate on-air and online

• Internal chat between hosts, reporters, producers, digital staff

• Work out language about hashtags and platforms

How do you prepare for live online coverage?

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Be the host of your social media channel

• Share what we know as it comes in, from the basics…

• …to news from the field

During the live event: best practices

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Inform…

But also engage:

During the live event: best practices

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During the live event: best practices

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As you wrap up, offer space for audience to keep talking:

During the live event: best practices

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Still learning what to measure:

• Pageviews?

• Live stream connections?

• New followers?

• New posts?

• Retweets?

• Emails or comments from listeners?

• Intangibles?

Measurement and feedback

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1. We can be where people are and serve them.

2. We can collaborate with listeners/followers and help each other become better informed.

3. It’s a lot of fun.*

*almost always

Is it worth it? Totally.

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Questions?

Live