Contemporary Editing

Exercises

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Editing 2.0 Exercises: The case for Twitter

Module 10.1

Questions

1. Twitter has been used to mobilize protest in places like Tahir Square in Cairo, Egypt and in Myanmar. It has also been used by authoritarian governments to monitor protest and opposition; Iran is one example. In balance, then, is Twitter a net gain for democracy or does it in fact represent a threat to democracy?
2. Who in news is using Twitter in particularly beneficial or effective ways? How are these journalists using Twitter? Tactically? To establish a source network? To send traffic to their coverage? To communicate their distinctive personalities and humanity? What works especially well, and what is less effective?

Activities

1. Use Twitter to do background research on a topic, story or research question. Subscribe to relevant feeds. Use at least two Twitter search tools to find your sources.
2. Track one breaking news story using your Twitter account by subscribing to a handful of news feeds. What strengths and weaknesses are intrinsic to this method of keeping up with the news?

Quiz

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Editor’s Bookshelf—Additional Reading Suggestions

Working with writers: Editing features

Franklin, Jon. Structuring stories for meaning. Nieman Narrative Journalism Conference, spring 2002.

 

Clark, Roy Peter. Reviving the feature story. Poynter.org, June 30, 2004.