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Sky News realises news breaks first on Twitter, not TV – Creates a Twitter Correspondent

Mike Butcher

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Mike Butcher is the European Editor for TechCrunch. A former grunge rock drummer, he became a long time journalist, and has since written for UK national newspapers and magazines including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The New Statesman. Mike is also a co-founder and shareholder of TechHub, a co-working space/service/community with several locations... → Learn More

Thursday, March 5th, 2009
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TechCrunch has been saying for a long time – at least since November last year – that Twitter is an emerging source of news. Recent tragic events have only served to emphasise this.

As a result, this fact is now gaining traction amongst major news outlets and they are now paying special attention to Twitter. The latest example is the below leaked memo to Sky News staff in the UK, circulated to all staff yesterday.

We already know plenty of journalists are on Twitter and use it to hunt down stories. Hell, I’ve been doing it since 2006.

But the fact that a major news organisation like Sky News has now recognised it needs a dedicated person – Ruth Barnett is now their “Twitter correspondent”, possibly the first for by a 24hr TV news channel – to scour Twitter for potentially breaking news stories, speaks volumes. It also serves as a warning to those who might think that what they say on Twitter “in the clear” (in public) will go unnoticed by the wider world.

But it also raises interesting issues. The mainstream news media is watching us on Twitter. We in turn are watching them. But unlike the old days, you can block people on Twitter. Will Twitter users start to block journalists they don’t want to be followed by? Will news outlets start to not declare their Twitter profiles, in order to avoid this?

However, in their favour it’s great to see Sky News actually getting into Twitter. And at least they can now co-ordinate tea-runs via their tweets. Maybe Twitter’s useful for something after all?

This story will run and run…

=====================

THE POWER OF TWITTER: The Twitter phenomenon continues to explode. A phono with an eyewitness in Lahore yesterday came to us through Twitter. Last night’s breaking story on the death of a Briton in the Alps came to us from Twitter. The first phone on the Buffalo plane crash came from Twitter. The first photo of the Hudson River rescue came from Twitter. Convinced?

The Online team is using Ruth Barnett as a “Twitter correspondent” – scouring Twitter for stories and feeding back, giving Sky News a presence in the Twittersphere. If you don’t understand Twitter and would like a demonstration of its power as a newsgathering tool, the Grand Master of Twitter, Jon Gripton, is running a session in Meeting Room 5 next Tuesday at 1400.

======================

UPDATE:

Sky News has now got in touch to officially confirm my story that they’ve appointed a ‘Twitter Correspondent’. Ruth Barnett will take up her new role from Monday 16 March 2009. Although their original memo says she was pretty much already doing this, right? [Update: SkyNews.com Editor @JonGrip calls it an "appointment" with an obvious nod and a wink].

Does she get a pay rise? I somehow doubt it. Curiously they released a picture of her in front of YouTube. Did anyone check that? More importantly they claim Sky News “has been using Twitter as a valuable medium for newsgathering since July 2007. If that’s the case then it took them a hell of a long time – until October 21st in fact – to get a SkyNews account on Twitter. According to comments below they have indeed had this account since July 2007.

Meanwhile, “Sky” on Twitter is a Mr Sukij, possibly in the USA. Valuable account that…

  • Jules Morgan

    Not a real job.

  • hughpoo

    “TechCrunch has been saying for a long time – at least since November last year – that Twitter is an emerging source of news….As a result, this fact is now gaining traction amongst major news outlets”

    Was it just before or after the Mumbai Terror Attacks that you made this seer-like prediction, therefore alerting the world media to your brilliant conclusion?

  • http://uk.techcrunch.com Mike Butcher

    Er, *Read the link*. We said it way before that. That was just a story to re-iterate the fact.

  • Jason

    Jules, she already works for Sky News you muppet.

  • http://dolarstock.com wil

    Shouldn’t we be getting paid then?
    Alrighty then.

  • http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2009/03/welcome_ruth_barnett_the_sky_news_twitter_correspondent.html Welcome Ruth Barnett, the Sky News Twitter correspondent | Mobile Industry Review

    [...] out Mike Butcher’s post over at TechCrunch UK. Fascinating. Sky News have appointed a Twitter correspondent to hunt for news [...]

  • Joel

    God knows what crazy tweets they’ll be rushing to the news desk

    Sky News – not wrong for long…

  • http://broadstuff.com/archives/1597-Give-us-today-our-Daily-Twitter.html broadstuff

    Give us today our Daily Twitter…

    Seen on Twitter first of course, but Mike Butcher wrote it up here:

    We already know plenty of journalists are on Twitter and use it to hunt down stories. Hell, I’ve been doing it since 2006.

    But the fact that a major news organisation like Sky …

  • http://www.leedsseo.com stuartpturner

    Awesome news. Or is it?

  • http://blog.ad-ition.com/2009/03/05/sky-news-has-a-twitter-correspondent-on-staff/ Sky News has a Twitter Correspondent on Staff??? | What Little I Know…

    [...] As a result, this fact is now gaining traction amongst major news outlets and they are now paying special attention to Twitter. The latest example is the below leaked memo to Sky News staff in the UK, circulated to all staff yesterday. MORE [...]

  • http://www.frontlineclub.com/blogs/frontline Graham

    Can’t see this lasting long. Twitter is just one (hip) part of a large jigsaw. Journalists should be listening across a wide range of sites, not just Twitter.

    In one sense the job brief, as you’ve described it above, is not very ambitious – simply focussing on one service. That said, the journalist kinda has to listen to everything rather than a single beat – which is a lot tougher and very random… but, what with all the trending tools and wotnot that could be pretty easy too.

    What Sky should really be doing is getting all their journalists up to speed on how to listen across a very broad spectrum of media and online tools, not just the hippest one at the moment.

    Some of those journalists might get into Twitter, most probably won’t. That isn’t important. What is important, and from the memo they’ve at least figured this bit out, is the hacks need to learn the listening skills.

    Getting into the culture a bit will help the learning curve, but it’s not essential for doing the journalism.

    IMH-interested-O-as a media trainer ;)

  • http://thenextweb.com/2009/03/05/twitter-correspondents/ Aren’t we all Twitter Correspondents? – The Next Web

    [...] news was discovered by Mike Butcher at Techcrunch UK via a “leaked” memo which can be read at the foot of this post. The journalist [...]

  • http://lbsrambles.typepad.com/lbs_rambles/2009/03/skys-twitter-correspondent.html LB’s Rambles

    Sky’s Twitter Correspondent…

    Journalism is journalism, no matter how it is practiced. In other words, as far as disseminating the news is concerned, journalism can be an essential part of getting the news out, whether it’s done on line, on video camera, on……

  • http://coriburkhert.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/twitter-phenomenon/ Twitter Phenomenon? « Did you know?

    [...] with phenomena.  Read the following article at the Guardian.   Another good reading place is TechCrunch where you realize that news is breaking first on Twitter, NOT TV!  Now that’s amazing! [...]

  • http://racetalkblog.com/2009/03/05/sky-news-introduces-the-worlds-first-ever-twitter-correspondent/ racetalkblog.com » Sky News Introduces the Worlds First Ever Twitter Correspondent

    [...] Twitter Correspondent: @RuthBarnett (AKA Ruth Barnett). [...]

  • http://tvnewsroom.co.uk/blog/ruth-barnett-skys-twitter-correspondent/ Ruth Barnett – Sky’s Twitter Correspondent • TV Newsroom

    [...] Barnett – Sky’s Twitter Correspondent Sky News realises news breaks first on Twitter, not TV – Creates a Twitter Correspondent Posted on Thursday 5th March 2009 at 10:28 pm • Leave a Reply Click here to cancel [...]

  • http://www.skynews.com Joe Braidwood

    Intrigued by the line about when @SkyNews “joined” Twitter. It’s wrong.

    We had an account from early in 2007 as @sky_news and consolidated it to @skynews in summer ’07.

    Did @TechCrunch only join Twitter on March 20th 2008? I doubt it. But if you go to the end of their timeline it would suggest that:
    http://twitter.com/TechCrunch?page=320

    Maybe there’s a difference between getting to the 320th page of someone’s archive and the date their account was formed. I’d say so.

    • http://uk.techcrunch.com Mike Butcher

      All right, all right, you win. However, a feed to Twitter is not the same as using it for new gathering. Enjoy.

      • Jules Morgan

        To be honest I’m a bit confused now Mike.

        You’ve acknowledged that they actually did have an account, yet obviously not quite enough to change the article which says they didn’t. I guess it gets in the way of the story a bit :)

        Also, whilst you’re right that having an account doesn’t prove they’re using Twitter to gather news, you were the one saying that not having one showed that they weren’t. Now that it turns out that they did you’re revising your position to “yeah, well you might not be using it” ?

        For what it’s worth, I’m skeptical that they’ve been using it as a ‘valuable medium’ for that long too – but these types of announcements always extend the truth in some way and it’s not the worst I’ve seen.

        P.S. Still not a real job.

      • http://uk.techcrunch.com Mike Butcher

        Calm down – have updated the post.

  • http://www.denieuwereporter.nl/2009/03/twitter-correspondent-bij-sky/ Twitter-correspondent bij Sky News « De nieuwe reporter

    [...] Zij gaat beroepsmatig bijhouden welke nieuwsontwikkelingen er gemeld worden via Twitter, meldt TechCrunch. Volgens de website is het het eerste grote tv-station dat een journalist belast het het monitoren [...]

  • http://www.supafeed.com/2009-03-05-sky-news-gets-twitter-correspondent.html Sky News gets Twitter correspondent : SupaFeed

    [...] TechCrunch UK picked up, an internal email told Sky News [...]

  • http://garyandrews.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/a-note-of-caution/ A note of caution « Gary Andrews

    [...] Sky News have just announced a Twitter correspondent. Again, on one hand a smart move, on the other, it’s a bit of a niche role even within an industry that has plenty of niche roles. But, on the third hand (we’re talking genetic engineering here) if it gets them an exclusive or two, it’ll be worth it. [...]

  • http://justgiving.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/twitter-justgiving-and-fundraising-an-introduction/ Twitter, Justgiving and fundraising – an introduction « The Justgiving Blog

    [...] to feature it, explain what it is and jump to be part of it. Sky News have even appointed a twitter correspondent, and the Queen is apparently going to be ‘tweeting‘ (as they call [...]

  • http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/03/links-of-the-week-on-twitter/ Links of the Week on Twitter » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism

    [...] the microblogging service. Glorified news tickers might be the wrong approach. Related: Sky News named a Twitter correspondent to scour the site for breaking news and interact with [...]

  • http://undercurrents.tmgstrategies.com/2009/03/06/major-media-is-keeping-an-eye-on-twitter/ Major Media Is Keeping An Eye On Twitter – Undercurrents

    [...] Just this week Sky News (UK) dedicated a full-time staff member to act as the 24-hour news network’s Twitter correspondent. Beginning Monday, March 16, Ruth Barnett’s new role will be to scour Twitter for breaking news stories and respond to viewer feedback. [...]

  • meehaw jelly man

    Lots of nitpicking going on with this news item. Funny isnt’ it?

    Those who are using a free service become the self appointed critics of those who embrace a site.

  • http://www.eduarts.co.cc/is-educations-transformation-just-down-to-the-teachers-251.html Is education’s transformation just down to the teachers? « International Educational Directory

    [...] which we prepare those consultations – by email, forum, over a immobile punctuation of time. Where Sky TV state a Twitter-based reporter, maybe everyone in Government and state contract needs to pay more instance perception to the reams [...]

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