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I believe it was in 2010 when Facebook rolled out emails to all of us Facebook users. The email is based on our Facebook username. Anyone who actually knew that email address could use it from any non-Facebook email account, like gmail, yahoo, official work email, etc.

Facebook has now made the Facebook email assigned to each of us the email that shows in our Contact Information area on our Facebook profiles. Oh, how exciting that Facebook yet again makes a change without telling us about it. ...
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During wildfires one of the most requested items is a map. A map is sometimes the only line residents have to their homes during a wildfire. Infrared photos of the fire are taken from the air to give the most precise mapping of fire movement.

Infrared mapping isn't the only mapping option, though. Interactive maps can give people a deeper understanding of what's happening.

Based off of geographic information systems (GIS) sets of data can be layered on a map to help understand and visualize ...

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You may have heard that last week Facebook started allowing posts on pages to be scheduled through Facebook itself, instead of a 3rd party app like Hootsuite. Here's a quick look at how, and why to use Facebook instead of a 3rd party app.

1. Create your post - status update or photo/video like you normally would. Instead of clicking "Post" click on the clock icon in the lower left hand corner of the post. This is the same procedure as if you've adding milestones or posts to your Timeline. Inst...
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I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Lorraine Smith at TEDxPoynter. She’s a 75 year old woman who came to the event at the Poynter Institute because she thinks journalism today should be better. “Well, I feel I’m not getting all the facts and am surprised at the lack of reporting, so I thought I should start writing and so I did. I’m here to learn. I have to start a blog and a twitter,” she said.

I admire her gumption! She is writing columns for local newspapers. She knows ...
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How often do you check your Facebook profile, not your wall, but your profile?

My husband can’t remember the last time he checked his profile. This evening he clicked on it and found he had Timeline. It was already public, which means he missed his 7-days grace period to edit and curate his Timeline.

He didn’t mind. He sat there and went through his Timeline laughing at posts and pictures. Memories he had forgotten came flashing back.

He found posts and tags from friends with whom he’s n...
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Last time I wrote and published a blog it was right after Facebook changed… again. The changes again had to do with how your newsfeed looks to you. This change drastically hurt pages at the time and for a good week because your newsfeed is now built on your interactions with your friends, groups and pages and your own ranking of posts as “Top Stories” or not.

Since that first week the ranking of pages improved to where the pages to which I am an administrator had the normal amount of t...
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Within minutes of seeing the roll-out of the new Facebook news feed on Wednesday I knew the changes would hurt pages.  FB is taking all of your past use of FB to decide the order the posts you see on your FB news feed.  It seems FB is ranking Profiles over Pages.  

I noticed right away that if a Page I've liked has posted within a short amount of time before I logged in, that Page's post showed up towards the top in "Recent Stories."  Then I noticed I had to scroll way down on my news fee...

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Almost three months have passed since I last wrote and announced my decision to leave CBS4 News after 10 1/2 years On the News Desk.

I’ve been waiting for my feet to find steady ground.  I’ve been finding my new place and how exactly I fit.  I’ve been too exhausted at the end of the day to write.

I have composed many blogs in my mind and seriously need to start recording my thoughts so they aren’t lost!

My personal blog has been just as neglected, which is truly sad because I had pla...

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When I started this blog it was to distinguish social media from the day to day activities of the newsroom.  At the time the newsroom was in its infancy in understanding social media from how to use it to its impact on reporting the news.  Just over a year later it's hard for me to distinguish between the two roles anymore as I have fully incorporated both assignment editor and journalist using social media into one role.  

I am proud to say this is a success!  I admit us journalists will alwa...
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Hand in hand with my previous blog goes this post. Just as you need to be aware of what’s being said about you/your name/brand/company, you should know what’s being said about your competition and what your competition is saying. At the very least you should know how your competition is using the same social networks as you are so you can improve your own use, or expand to another network.

I’m a journalist so my competition is other journalists, traditional and citizen, and media outlets...
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Whether you’re using social networks for personal or for professional reasons you need to be monitoring what’s being said about you on the Internet. I can understand why someone who is only chatting with friends and who doesn’t talk about business wouldn’t think it’s necessary to do so. If that person is you, I ask, “don’t you want to know if you’re name is out there?” A comment you leave on any public forum, or even a forum you think is completely protected, can and will be...
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Media organizations have partnered for as long as I can remember. CBS4 News used to partner with The Rocky Mountain News before it closed. Now the station partners with The Denver Business Journal. KUSA and KMGH also partner with local print organizations. There are various partnerships with local radio stations as well. These partnerships will continue but need to go beyond media organization to media organization.

Collaboration is a term being used more these days to describe a wide variety ...
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Face it.  There are a lot of new faces on TV News in Denver.  Last week I was one of those new faces as I did a live question and answer session with the anchors during the 6pm newscast. The following day I was live in two newscasts talking social media and the station’s Emergency Toy Drive.

The morning I was in the first newscast, and before I knew I was going to be on the news, I spoke to a group of local business leaders about using social networks in the newsroom.  We also discussed ho...

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This week’s Journchat was lively as usual. Question one lead to a good discussion on press releases used as news.  (You can view the Archived Chat.  Question one and the comments start at 7:07pm.)  I answered as soon as I saw the question. 

Last night was a no brainer.  As I’m shouting out to coworkers about an email from Denver Police on a missing grandmother and her two-year old grandson, I’m saving the press release, a PDF file, so I can upload the release to Twitdoc.  I knew t...

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By now I believe my social media mantra is clear. Be smart. If you choose to use social media in any capacity know why, know your purpose and be smart in all you do. I need to extend my “be smart” advice to media that decides to critique social media use.

Saturday morning while curled up under a blanket on the couch and sipping a mug of coffee I scrolled through Twitter on my cell phone.  I saw a Tweet from @DaveWebb that said The Colorado Independent had called out The Denver Post for its...
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I’ve made it obvious that I believe traditional media should use social media. I advocate knowing why you’re using social networks, have goals and have strategies to reach those goals. So I find myself a little surprised at the thoughts that went through my head this afternoon. Is it possible to tweet too much?

If you’re giving away your competitive edge, yes you can tweet too much.

When I share what’s happening for me on the news desk and in the newsroom I am always aware that I have...
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I talked with a reporter last week about social media and the news. She kept asking, “can social media get us another ratings point?” I said that it could by simply connecting our product to new viewers who are using social networks, but that it would be hard to analyze the numbers. Numbers don’t tell us why we get numbers. Could it be our promotions? Could it be our community efforts? Could it be our efforts on social media? The analytics just aren’t there like they are with the Inte...
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I normally don’t like the changes facebook rolls out as it tries to expand and evolve.  No, I don’t fully understand the different feeds in facebook.  Until tonight the two feeds, Live and News, have been bothersome, filled with stuff I just don’t care to see, and items I can’t figure out how to not see (like who friends who.)  Tonight though, I actually saw a benefit of the News Feed. 

Early in my shift On the News Desk I posted a status update that was really a request for Molly H...

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I woke up to snow this week. The forecasts for a fall snow storm had all been right. I settled in for a snow day with my boys and wondered if I’d be called in to work. It was the last day of my vacation time I’d taken to be off with the boys during their fall break. It was a day of pajamas, hot chocolate, games, cartoons, shoveling and running around in the snow.

It’s sometimes hard for me to turn off work, you know that internal switch where you can completely allow yourself to be in th...
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I was sick and at home for almost a full week. Watching the news was one of the last things I wanted to do. I wanted to watch chick flicks, reruns of my favorite shows, and catch up on all the shows episodes that sat for months on the DVR. Yet, I am a bit addicted to the news. I couldn’t stay away from it, but I rarely turned the TV to it. I got almost all the news from Twitter and facebook.

No, I didn’t just read tweets or status updates and take those posts for truths. I let those posts ...
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I don’t really remember not being on facebook or not being on Twitter or not emphatically promoting the use of social media in traditional media.  So it’s very surprising to me to realize I’ve only been at this social media thing for just over a year.  That’s right I only started my personal facebook page just over a year ago, and only joined Twitter 10 months ago.

I do remember years ago my younger friends who had just graduated from college talking about facebook.  I thought, “oh ...

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September 30, 2009 Denver Press Club

We gathered to answer questions of using Social Media in news, as a journalist.  From questions of marketing and branding to verification of sources we answered a wide range of questions.  Those who attended the seminar guided the discussion and shared some of what they are currently experiencing with social media.  We talked for just about two hours.  I encourage you to watch the entire discussion, in bits and pieces as you have time.  I hope you find answ...
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When you have decided to use Twitter or other Social Media tools in your news organization you need to use them as one in your strategic news plan. If you have a lead on a story and are willing to post the new information on your Web site, post it also on all Social Media platforms you are using. Don’t just break the news on only one tool. Even worse don’t fully share the information on one platform, but only tease on another.

On August 12 all media outlets in Denver were following a devel...

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A few months ago I started Misty Montano CBS on facebook because people who were following me on Twitter were finding my personal facebook page and requesting to be my friend.  Even though I find tremendous value in using Social Media as a journalist, I still have the right to maintain separate and personal profiles.

 

Just as I saw how Twitter was a great resource I knew facebook would be just as valuable and actually allow more that 140 characters to communicate.  I set up the account and p...

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Recently I was referred to as "oh, the twitter girl" by another journalist.  I was not present during the conversation but a friend who was thought the comment was so funny that I was called right up and told about it.  The conversation was apparently one of those, "hey, how's it going in your shop?" and my name was brought up.  While my friend found the references amusing, I found it disturbing.

I believe in using all tools possible to advance journalism.  The tools at my hands at all times o...
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In this fast viral world we now live in due to so many social media platforms, I have found it bothersome that I can’t share all I want to with those who follow @CBS4Denver and/or @MistyMontano on Twitter or facebook.  Rather, instead of saying can’t, I should say, I don’t have the time to re-write and share the information I receive from press releases.

 

One of my responsibilities as an assignment editor on the news desk for CBS4 News is to sort through, distribute, and file all of th...

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Last week I posted "To my surprise the crazy caller made my day normal" because it had been a nice, easy transition for me back on the news desk after being on medical leave.  Boy, did I speak way too soon, and may have even jinxed the metro area with that post because around 10:20 p.m. a major storm ripped through the metro area.  CBS4 News stayed live on the air until after midnight covering the storm.  This meant I stayed and with a very minimal crew, we covered the second costliest storm ...

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Twice this week I personally have been called out by two separate former followers on Twitter.  Words like sensational and ignorant were used to describe me personally as a member of the media.  In later posts both former followers then made degrading statements regarding media.  Then both quit following me.  A third former follower posted a question that tried to imply I was pushing station policy, when that simply wasn't the case.  I tried to speak to all three to open a dialogue to discuss...
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Since I have asserted it’s time to define how journalism can function in social media, I’d like to offer advice on how to start or how to improve your use of social media.  Let me put forth a suggestion that we not think of social media as “media.”  I know when I think of other media, I think of competition.  Social media is only competition when you choose to let it be.  Social media platforms are tools to utilize to help achieve your news goals. 

 

Social platforms are not just Twi...

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I was surprised at the push-back I received from professional journalists, freelancer photographers, professors and even journalist students regarding the use of social media as a journalist and/or in the newsroom when I presented at the NPPA Convergence.  I faced many questions as to why social media to be used, the ethics of using social media, the verification process, copyright issues and even concerns that using pictures and video shared via social media platforms is taking jobs away fro...

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When the station did the first local reporter packages on the protests and clashes after the Iran election, a reporter asked me to see if I could reach anyone in Iran on Twitter that would be willing to do an interview using Twitter or email, or whatever platform necessary to accomplish the interview.  I was asked to do this around 8:30pm. 

Of course I said I would do it and then asked the reporter and producer how we would verify the source if I got the interview?  Pause.  I'm asked if I thi...

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It’s been over a week since I spoke at NPPA Convergence on using social media in the newsroom.  So much happened I needed time to organize my thoughts before writing out my thoughts.  Sometime before I started speaking on a panel Saturday, June 13 I saw a post on Twitter regarding the Iran Electionsand the protests that were just beginning.  Honestly, my first instinct was that of a journalist, “this is going to be a big story.” 

 

To be even more honest, after the conferenc...

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UPDATE Friday, May 29th:

It's official I will be speaking at a social media seminar during the NPPA Convergence in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Then I will moderate a panel discussion on social media. So I need help/advice. Those who attend are journalists wanting to know how to use social media. Some may already utilize social media, but others may not.

I'm asking you: what do you want from your local journalist or news organization using social media?

This is a whole new field for many of u...
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Today I pitched three stories. Two of the stories came through people contacting me on Twitter and the third was from a caller who actually called a couple weeks ago. I was contacted by the first Twitter story last week and the second was brought to my attention just last night.

I knew when I received a phone call from a gentleman who, along with community members and a public school system had established a community garden, that this was worthy of a story. I wrote it up immediately and filed...
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This week I was a panel speaker at a seminar on PR & Media in a New Media World hosted by Mile High Social Media Club. The panel guests also included Elaine Ellis of Metzger Associates and Jason Kintzler founder and CEO of PitchEngine. The seminar was attended by mostly PR professionals and bloggers who submitted questions for the panel to answer.

I was honestly surprised to hear the public relation field is working to figure out the purpose and uses for social media just as media outlets are ...
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Below is the article I wrote for an upcoming NATAS newsletter. The purpose of the article is to introduce social media to the NATAS member that may be thinking of using social media. Tell me your thoughts.

Social media may not be a necessity. Social media, at this time, may not drastically change viewership numbers. Social media, however, will give you or your organization another voice in a world where turning on the television is not always the first action people take to find news. Social m...
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