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In the last few weeks I’ve seen a surge of journalists throughout the metro area creating Twitter accounts.  Some are using the accounts.  Some are letting them sit stagnant.  To my fellow journalists who have now decided to at least take a look at Twitter:  Welcome.  This post is not meant to be a lecture, but more of a friendly, “here are some tips.” 

I don’t know why the sudden surge from several media outlets from newspaper to TV (broadcast, public and cable), to radio, has been h...

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In the past three weeks I’ve found myself giving social media 101 lessons to coworkers.  Two thoughts simultaneously crashed in my mind.  “Aren’t we beyond 101?” SLAMS into “W00t! We’re here!”  Working with social media has become such a part of my daily life and work, that I forget that others are still testing the waters.

This is something I can’t forget.  As a journalist working to progressively move news beyond the traditional I can’t move forward independently whil...
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I can't resist posting this xtra normal episode by spexorama: I Am An Assignment Editor.  It so nicely describes what I do on the news desk.  The frustration I sometimes feel when I try to explain my job shows eloquently.  Of course I know how important the position of the assignment editor is in the newsroom, and in trying to explain/show that importance, I admit a tiny bit of embellishment may be added.  There are certainly days where I feel like a glorified telephone operator, or intern!

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It’s really been quite hard for me to maintain a train of thought these last few months of pregnancy.  That’s obvious by my lack of blogging, and the fact that I’ve mentioned this before!  To handle family, home, work and the rest of life I didn’t force myself to write other than necessary tasks.  I did, however, need to write out the below Social Media Outline for any Journalist.

This need was for myself as I needed to formalize a basic goal plan of what I want to achieve in my o...
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So very much happens on the news desk that sometimes the little, usual steps are forgotten.  I’m guilty of this.  I work so hard on so many different tasks that I overlook a simple step that would have gotten me everything I needed.  Last week though the simple routine  helped us get an exclusive interview with Timothy Masters, a man who spent 10-years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

In the middle of the afternoon we received a short release from Masters’ attorney saying the Cit...
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Monday night (Nov. 2) after 6 p.m. I heard a call to respond to a stabbing in Jefferson County. Several agencies were called to send crews, including K-9, set up a perimeter to search for suspects. Immediately my new antennas went up and I was on alert. I had few crews – let me rephrase – NO crews, available to send to just check out the scene. I needed information and I needed logistic plans A – D.

I waited a few minutes to give dispatchers enough time to do their jobs before I bothered...

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I understand how difficult it is to be a PIO or PR rep during breaking news or a developing situation.  (For rest of post I will use PIO-Public Information Officer-to refer to all media reps.)  I relate to your job as I compare it to that of my own as an assignment editor.  I only know what is happening by what I’m told by news crews on scene, witnesses or PIOs; or by what I hear on the scanners. 

Producers, writers, editors, managers, reporters, photographers constantly ask me for more det...

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I started this blog over a week ago and every time I sit down to write it, I can't seem to get out what I want to say. This block has left me feeling like there's nothing else I can blog about until I get this out. So please, if ramble and take tangents, remember it's my way of trying to connect the dots. I'd love your feedback and ideas.

I agree Lacey, it's been too long since I blogged.

Last week was a horrible week for journalism in Denver. The Rocky Mountain News closed. There were lay offs...
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Thursday, January 29, 2009