News Leadership in a Socially Connected World

By Jennifer Reading, RTDNA@NAB Editorial Coverage Team

“Facebook is your number one competitor. It’s not the guys with the other mic flags,” said Chip Mahaney, Director of Digital Content for the E.W. Scripps Company.

Social media has become a pervasive part of American culture and Mahaney showed news directors how to harness the power of these potent tools.

2010 social media statistics:

•    Three out of four news consumers now get their news from e-mail or social media.

•    46 percent of Americans get their news from four-six different platforms every day.

•    Facebook now has 400 million users.

•    600 tweets are posted every second.

•    The average American spends 2.7 hours on mobile web devices.

There are a few simple strategies that any news organization can follow to integrate these tools into their coverage.

Rule number one: Don’t plug your newscasts. Instead, Mahaney suggests giving viewers a peek into their local newsrooms.

“Facebook is great for behind-the-scenes,” said Mahaney, “It opens up the curtains a little bit.”



News organizations should weigh the costs and benefits of participating in social media. Don’t be afraid to experiment. These tools are free. He encouraged news leaders not to give up if it hasn’t worked for them in the past.

“The best thing about the web is that if it doesn’t work for you today, you can retool it and try it again tomorrow,” said Mahaney.

News outlets should have fan pages—not “friend” accounts. The capabilities of a fan page are much greater. News directors should be the administrators of their pages. As an admin, you have access to a free analytics application called “Insights.”

“This is even better than your web metrics. It’s a huge opportunity to learn about your audience—about who’s actually reading your posts,” said Mahaney.

Facebook is not the only useful social media tool. Yesterday, Twitter announced that it will have a breaking news channel— media.twiter.com.

“They are getting in the business of helping you do your business,” said Mahaney.