Q: How do you use social media at your publication? Which platforms do you like best?
“We use social media quite a bit here at the Anchorage Daily News. Maybe not as much individually, but definitely as a company. The main @adndotcom Twitter feed and our Facebook page are great ways to update folks on breaking news or, really, any big stories. We don’t usually tweet or Facebook things before we have a story to link to on our site, but sometimes we’ll send a quick update to a story and say ‘story coming soon.’ And the voice is different than a typical headline. Often, we’ll post stuff to Twitter and Facebook with a more conversational tone or a question like, ‘So, what do you think of this?’
A lot of good tips come in via Twitter and Facebook, too. Our readers have alerted us to breaking news events (sometimes scenes with lots of cop cars, or, on occasion, planes that appear to have crashed, etc.), which helps our coverage. Maybe half of the reporters actively tweet stories, but I’d say everybody is using Twitter to keep on top of local and state news and to cultivate sources. Sometimes when I’m unable to reach someone by phone or email, as is more often the case with more people having only unlisted cell phones, getting in touch with them on Facebook (Twitter to a lesser extent) is the only way.”
Casey Grove, reporter
Anchorage Daily News
(907) 257-4589
casey.grove(at)adn.com
Twitter: @kcgrove
@Facebook
www.adn.com
