Updating ASNE leaders’ Twitter use
August 2, 2011 by Steve Buttry
Most leaders of the American Society of News Editors are not active Twitter users.
When the American Society of Newspaper Editors canceled its 2009 convention (it changed the N to News in a vote that year), I called for a virtual convention and eventually led a webinar for that convention, Leading Your Staff into the Twitterverse. In advance of that convention, I studied use of Twitter by top newsroom editors on the boards of ASNE and Associated Press Managing Editors. Few editors had strong, if any, Twitter presence.
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I”ll be helping ASNE”s virtual convention
Updated to add @carolynwashburn to list of Twittering editors. I’m pleased that the American Society of Newspaper Editors is proceeding with a virtual convention. I suggested such an alternative in a post I wrote Feb. 27, the day ASNE canceled its Chicago convention scheduled for late April.
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I mentioned earlier this year that I should update my survey of ASNE leaders. So yesterday I looked for the Twitter profiles of the
22 officers and directors of ASNE. I looked by the names listed on the ASNE site, as well as by obvious nicknames. Ten of the 22 had public Twitter profiles that identified them by name and title. In the interests of being positive, I won’t name the slackers, but will credit those who are engaging at some level on Twitter and show you ther most recent tweet (as of Monday evening). If I have missed one somehow, please call the error to my attention.
I wasn’t at all surprised to find that my Journal Register (and former TBD) colleague Jim Brady is the most active ASNE board member on Twitter, with more than 4,000 tweets and more than 5,000 followers. Of course, Jim is a digital journalism leader, rather than leader of a newspaper newsroom.
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Write-up on my wife. Cool! RT @ffxconnection: Great Falls photographer @joanrbrady shares tips on photographing pets. http://bit.ly/okeLV0 |
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ASNE Secretary David Boardman, editor of the Seattle Times, hasn’t tweeted for a week (most recent tweet below), but he tweets often enough that I’m inclined to guess he’s on vacation. With more than 1,400 followers and more than 400 tweets, he’s clearly active on Twitter.
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Casino shooting count now seven injured. |
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George Stanley, managing editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has nearly 700 followers and has tweeted more than 800 times.
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@GenChuckYeager hey, Chuck! Have you hunted pintails in the Central Valley lately? George |
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Anders Gyllenhaal, vice president for news at McClatchy, has more than 800 followers and has tweeted more than 300 times, including this week.
Mizell Stewart III, editor of the Evansville Courier Press, has tweeted more than 400 times and has nearly 300 followers.
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Battle for the 8th District twitterverse is on between @BarackObama and @RepLarryBucshon. Should be a long weekend in Washington. |
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Ken Tingley, editor of the Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., has tweeted nearly 500 times and has more than 250 followers.
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Saw Adirondack Theater Festival’s musical on Saturday night. It was definitely the highlight of the season. |
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Amanda Bennett of Bloomberg News has been active the last month or so, with nearly all of her 48 tweets coming since June 29.
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$209 million to build Virgin Branson’s New Mexico Spaceport. Would you pay $200,000 to fly into space? BLOOMBERG… http://fb.me/DhwifA9D |
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St. Petersburg Times Editor Neil Brown is finally getting his Twitter feet wet, with seven of his 12 tweets coming in July.
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Things are brewing in Raysland folks. Keep up with Topkin @SPTimesRays for the latest |
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Some of the ASNE board’s most active Twitter users are academics, rather than newsroom leaders. Chris Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, has tweeted only three times as @deancallahan, but is the regular voice of @Cronkite_ASU. That account has nearly 6,000 followers and more than 1,000 tweets.
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Friends — Since I’m doing the postings on the Cronkite School Twitter, I’m going to leave this and focus on Cronkite_ASU. @Cronkite_ASU |
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Wonderful column by editor of @rrdailyherald in NC about Cronkite School summer intern Shala Marks. http://bit.ly/r1CeUB |
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Melanie Sill (mentioned earlier in this post), former editor of the Sacramento Bee and now an executive in residence at the University of Southern California, has tweeted more than 900 times and has nearly 600 followers.
ASNE Executive Director Richard Karpel is active on Twitter, with more than 1,100 tweets and nearly 300 followers.
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@HowardKurtz Mr. Market knows #debtceiling is a political problem, not a market problem, which explains his tepid response. |
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I am not updating the Twitter use by APME board members, but I did that last year:
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APME board members still not engaging much on Twitter
January 24, 2010 by Steve Buttry I was delighted to read the news in a tweet from Carole Tarrant this morning: All APME board members are on Twitter now. Tarrant, editor of the Roanoke Times, was tweeting from an APME board meeting and reported: We just surveyed which #apme board members are on Facebook and Twitter.
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Resources for newsroom editors using Twitter:
I have written frequently on my blog with advice for newsroom leaders on using Twitter, and have led webinars and workshops on the topic. The resources below, including one from John Robinson for ASNE members, might be helpful for those editors who know it’s way past time to make the leap. Keep in mind, some of them are from last year or even 2009, so they are a bit dated.
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Leading your staff into the Twitterverse
I’ll be leading a webinar for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Leading your staff into the Twitterverse. This is the tip sheet I will suggest that editors read after the seminar. While this is geared for top newsroom leaders, some of the advice should be helpful to any journalists who are not experienced with Twitter.
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Twitter for newsroom leaders
February 14, 2010 by Steve Buttry Here is the one-page handout I gave newsroom leaders Saturday at a workshop on Twitter for newsroom leaders at the Mid-America Press Institute. I referred participants to my slides for the workshop as well as to my earlier blog posts on leading your staff into the Twitterverse, Twitter time management, Twitter tips for journalists and Twitter’s value in breaking news.
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A quick start guide to Twitter for ASNE members
A quick start guide to Twitter for ASNE members John Robinson, editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C, is a big proponent of Twitter for editors. “(I)f you’re not on Twitter, you’re making your job more difficult,” he says in an introduction to the quick start guide he wrote for fellow ASNE members.
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The Buttry version of social media best practices for editors
May 13, 2011 by Steve Buttry Yesterday I criticized ASNE’s report on best practices in social media. Today I’m going to take a positive approach, suggesting alternatives. Here are my 10 best practices for social media (written for newsroom leaders; the list would vary for other journalists): Update: First suggestions for 10 & beyond, from Angie Muhs on Twitter: I would suggest “Be human” for #10.
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