Marlena Chertock
APRIL 11, 2011
These are in no particular order, but they are all people or news organizations who I find Tweet useful and important information about journalism, media, the future of journalism, social media and other updates or trends in journalism.
1. The Washington Post-The Washington Post has multiple twitter feeds that offer articles, data and information about events in D.C. and the world. The Post often has articles about Twitter and social media and its impacts.
This article is a response to an essay by Malcolm Gladwell, who believed Twitter and other social media is the downfall of revolutions and protests. Social media makes people lazier and feel like they’re active and involved in something, but they are merely talking about it, Gladwell said. But ddd believed that Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites share events and information to people. Social media sites are often used to organize gatherings and events, which goes against Gladwell’s essay.
2. The Atlantic-The Atlantic magazine offers longer, in-depth stories. It tweets much longer articles that I can spend a lot of time reading and thinking about. The Atlantic has featured many articles about Twitter and social media in the past few years. These articles not only give information about the sites themselves but how people are using them and their potential.
3. The New York Times-The New York Times has numerous twitter feeds for various interests and sections: news, arts, books, science, style, business, Home and Garden, opinion and more. The New York Times tweets and has articles and information about important updates in the world that journalists and the public should be aware of.
4. Committee to Protect Journalists-CPJ tweets mostly about reporters in danger across the world. CPJ creates and disseminates petitions calling for the governments to protect and release these journalists. CPJ tweets about journalists who have been attacked, captured and ranks the countries that are the worst in terms of press freedom. The CPJ website lists clearly how many journalists are in prison worldwide, 145, how many have been murdered with impunity since 1992, 545 as well as other data.
The CPJ website offers a journalist safety guide, with tips on how to remain safe while covering in dangerous areas or areas of conflict.
5. Emily Sweeney-I first learned about Emily Sweeney and her passion for journalism last summer when I was interning at the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). She writes for The Boston Globe, is the president of the New England SPJ chapter and often tweets about Society of Professional Journalist happenings and updates. She has her own website, where she posts journalism tips about video, multimedia, blogging. She also writes about not letting your resume get lost in the pile or cyber-shuffle. Sweeney writes a lot about social networking and journalism in the 21st century. It’s great to keep up with her, her tips and updates in the world of journalism.
6. Pew Research Center-PEW often tweets about polls, surveys and other data on a variety of topics. But it also compiles data about journalism, trends in journalism and how people gather their news. This is extremely important information for journalists. It can help news organizations reach audiences better and help them see how readers get information best. Journalists can ask PEW or the experts a question and PEW will respond. Visit the PEW website here.
7. SPJDC-I follow SPJ D.C. because I am from Maryland and plan to work in the Maryland, D.C. area once I graduate from J-school. SPJDC and the other SPJ Twitter pages tweet about conferences and how to find out more about the SPJ conferences, how to improve your social media usage, what is and isn’t news, (From @The_CopyEditor: If a story presents problems, it’s news. If it offers solutions, it’s opinion. Interesting viewpoint) and other events and journalistic information. The website offers countless tips, tricks and information on journalism, the changing world of journalism, how to write for the Web, how to tweet, the insight one can gather from the SPJ website or Twitter feed is endless.
Here’s an extensive list of online resources on many topics from SPJ.
8. Journalist’s Toolbox-The Journalist’s Toolbox tweets extremely valuable information for journalists and news media. It offers links, resources and information for reporters, editors and anyone interested in news media and journalism. Some topics it covers are ethics, the future of journalism and tips for journalists. Here’s the website, which is presented by SPJ.
9. Poynter-Poynter tweets about happenings in the media, publishers, editors and where they are going or coming from, being fired from or hired from. It also tweets about social media, updates about social media and other journalistic tools. Visit the Poynter website here. The website offers more in-depth information on happenings in the news media, the future of news and how-to’s on various topics, such as how to make your news site profitable or how to turn the office into a fun and inviting place.
10. Nieman Lab-The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University tweets about the future of news. Its tweets are diverse. Some are about press freedom in the U.S. and other countries, others are about media consumption or how Twitter can stop disinformation.
An example of a Nieman article is this story on Photoshop and how to spot pictures that have been manipulated or altered.
11. SPJ Generation J-SPJ Generation J is another twitter account of the Society of Professional Journalists. SPJ Generation J offers tweets about conferences and training opportunities for journalists. Generation J is a project by SPJ where “future newsroom leaders can collaborate to build newsrooms of the future,” according to the Twitter page.
12. Knight Foundation-This Twitter feed focuses on projects that promote informed, engaged communities and lead to change. The foundation tweets about resources for journalists and media organizations. They also offer liveblogging sessions for journalists. It offers a lot of information on the business of journalism. Visit the Knight Foundation website here.
13. Sustain Journalism-This is the Center for Sustainable Journalism twitter feed. The Center for Sustainable Journalism promotes ideas, research and projects that are aimed at producing high quality and ethical journalism. They offer conferences, a blog, internships and information to journalists.
14. Open Government-Open Government is the twitter account of the White House Open Government Initiative. Open Government tweets to keep the government transparent to journalists, news organizations and the public. Tweets are about Sunshine laws for open government, data and informational graphics, laws and government proceedings.
15. NC Open Government-This is the Open Government twitter feed for North Carolina, which operates out of Elon University. The tweets are more focused on NC government and NC governmental proceedings.
16. Creative Commons-Creative Commons tweets about creative property, intellectual property and how to share work and ideas. This is important information for journalists and media organizations because news shares information with the public, so being familiar with the laws of sharing and knowing what can and can’t be shared is essential.
17. Montgomery County MD-This is the twitter feed for the Montgomery County Maryland Office of Public Information. It offers information about government proceedings in Montgomery County, where I am from, arrests, police reports, transportation updates and other information. Montgomery County MD also tweets times when organization directors or government officials will be available to chat online with the public.
18. AP Stylebook-The good, old stylebook. The so-called bible of journalist’s. The stylebook and its twitter feed offers the correct way for journalists and media organizations to refer to and write about organizations, people, places and more.
19. Steve Buttry–Buttry is the director of Community Engagement at TBD, a local news organization that covers Washington, D.C. He tweets about digital tools, social media and technology. These topics are becoming increasingly more important for journalists and the media.
20. Mashable Media-Mashable Media offers news and tweets about media, music, film and TV and how they interact and change with social media and technology. Various other twitter accounts, Mashable Video, Mashable Tech, Mashable Design, which offers updates and trends on Web design and development, Mashable Mobile, which offers news about mobile phones and others.Visit the website here.
