We hear a lot about using newsrooms to connect the community/make a difference and about how engagement should be an integral part of journalism… but often think of it on a really complicated, trickle-down level. Here’s a concrete example of a journalist who made a simple request for a local viewer via social media, and brought the community together quickly to find a solution.
Alex Rozier, an anchor/reporter at KHQ, the NBC affiliate in Spokane, posted the following message on his Facebook page after receiving a message from a man in the community that could not afford a heavy winter coat in a hard-to-find size:
Soon after, one Facebook friend posted that they had the coat, but weren’t sure how to get it to the man… another posted that they could drop it off at their office and they would get to him… and as the conversation progressed, people living in the area realized that this man’s problem was perhaps one affecting a larger fraction of the area that they’d thought… it seems like it may even grow to something bigger. Whether it does or does not, it shows how one simple message from someone with a platform to post it can make a difference and connect people to solve a problem. Pretty cool.
You can view the whole thread here.
(I should mention that I do know Alex from the University of Missouri where we worked together at KOMU. He’s a great person and a fantastic journalist.)
Now this is a powerpoint presentation.
Bunnies, (Ingrid Michaelson’s You & I snazzed up this summer by Greg) because it screams spring and in light of his newest project, a mash-up that says something (that someone wittier than I will probably remark) about 2010… Waiting for him to send me the MP3 which I’ll post, but check out the YouTube version now.
Now don’t get me wrong- I’ll admit that I think the Instagr.am’s photo filters make photos look pretty adorable and as if they came out of my parents’ college photo album, and I 100% plan to use and probably abuse the instagr.am iPhone app photo privilege… But let’s be real. You made fun of that girl from high school who now has 3 children and a dog but still has time to add filters to her photos…but now you are guilty of the same crime. Yeah, yeah- Picnik took genuine time and effort (I used it for the first time to create this masterpiece, so I know this for a fact) and instagr.am takes about a second and a half, and makes it much easier to share, etc etc etc, but let’s be real…
Picnik : Facebook :: Instagram : Tumblr.
And that’s that.
