We have invited law enforcement officers and community members to come to the station to watch our story on Distracted Drivers BEFORE it airs tonight. After they watch the story the panel will review and discuss the story amongst themselves and on their personal social networks. The discussion will be broadcast live on Ustream allowing more participation from those who watch.

This is one of the news collaboration projects of which I’ve been writing. Those on the panel will become supplemental resources to the story, from the personal stories that are shared to those that know the law. They have each agreed to turn to their social networks to discuss the story. They will be resources to all of their followers. I will refer viewers to them.

No, we will not show the story during the Ustream broadcast. We do share our promo videos of the story so those who are joining the conversation outside of the panelists will have an understanding of the story. The conversation that will happen becomes the word of mouth advertising we hope will influence someone to turn on the news to watch the story that created all the chatter.

The conversation has already started as several of the participants have started talking about it on a blog, Twitter and facebook. Even if we don’t get any viewers out of this, our brand is reaching people that we may not ever turn to us, or have turned away from us. Consistent collaborative efforts like this will connect our brand in the long-term.

Such a panel and live broadcast make sense as Distracted Driving is state and national issue. Even Oprah has taken the issue to task. Families in Colorado have been tragically affected by accidents caused by distracted drivers. The issue lends itself to conversation.

The way the story is done and the resources we used are not things we need to keep hidden from the competition. The promotion for the story started to run yesterday. We know other stations have already produced stories along the same lines because it is such a big issue. We do want to make ourselves stand out from the competition though, and this live panel discussion is one way we can do this.

Other stories don't lend themselves to such extensive efforts. I've discussed Dr. Robert Forto's collaboration with us on a story last week. A large panel discussion on canine dementia, or overall pet health concerns, wouldn't have worked. We didn't rely just on Robert's efforts though. During the afternoon newscasts we hosted an Interactive HelpCenter with two veterinarians who discussed pet concerns on the air with Reporter Suzanne McCarroll, as well as answered questions from viewers live or through our web chat, facebook and Twitter.

There are many ways news collaborations can take shape. One model is not the answer. Flexibility is the answer. You should think of what the story incorporates and which of your audience members will relate to it the most. Then decide what methods are best to reach that audience. Don't be surprised if the answer has nothing to do with social media. Sometimes traditional promotional efforts are the best.

We have two more collaborations for stories next week. Each is different. One involves pure review and reaction of an investigative story where the two people we've asked to join us will take their opinions to their social networks, including a Ustream show. The other incorporates a panel and Interactive HelpCenter rolled into one to provide tips and resources on the most complained about industry in the state.

When I say news collaboration out loud in the newsroom I get looks of confusion, uncertainty, and doubt as the response. When I say news collaboration through social media the looks tell me I’m crazy. Recently I’ve been trying a new tactic.

I’ve found it easier to explain why I chose to work with social media as a journalist by discussing it in marketing terms. I’m not sure why this is. I’ve said it before; rarely do we in the newsroom get in on the marketing plans for the station. We don’t get involved in ad campaigns. Beyond understanding budgets have changed over the years we don’t talk money.

We do know our station identity and the goals we want to achieve with our stories. We know how we’ll try to tell our story differently than the competition. Promotion producers work with news producers to come up with the tease writing for the ads you see throughout the day promoting upcoming stories.

We know we need to reach viewers and find new viewers to turn on our newscasts. This is the business model. When we think of this it often comes down to our individual talents and efforts as a journalist to make those connections. We think end product and leave the rest up to the other departments.

Somehow though, when I talk about connecting our brand to potential viewers by using social media, the looks become more understanding. There’s still doubt of course, but not as much. The doubt that is there is the questioning of whether or not social media users turn on the TV at all for local news.

I don’t have that answer. Through my personal experience of sharing breaking news via Twitter I know some of those following me or the station have turned to CBS4 News instead of other networks. These people have told me so and others have emailed the station claiming the same.

According to Nielsen, 57% of Internet consumers use TV and Internet simultaneously at home. Is this during the news? Maybe not, but Time reports that social media is helping old media.

“Social media have turned the world into one big living room. The future belongs to those who pull up a chair.”

The question becomes how do we use social media to help the news like it helps some Primetime shows?

My current answer is news collaboration. This is why I’ve been doing a series of posts about collaborating with those using social media to review our stories, talk about us, and to be the supplemental resources that we in the newsroom can’t be. The key to this though is to collaborate BEFORE the story is on the air.

It’s at this point in the conversation that I lose some people. Others click with me immediately seeing how social media can be used as a form of advertising. It is word of mouth advertising.

If you’re only willing to talk about a story after it airs, you’ve lost any potential viewers who may have watched if they had found out about it earlier. They didn’t know so they didn’t watch. (When I say talk I mean actual discussion and participation. Posting a headline and link only isn’t talking. Asking a question about a story and letting comments generate but not participating in the conversation, isn’t talking.)

The fear is that if we let people watch our stories first and talk about them that we’re losing editorial control. True. Not only are people able to judge our stories before they air, they can discuss them in any way they’d like. We can’t control the message like we can in a radio or television ad.

The fear is that if we start the conversation early and the competition figures out what we’ve done and will try to get a similar story on the air to compete. Yes, this could happen. But, it already does happen. We see it quite often that a story we’ve been working for days, or even weeks, all of a sudden shows up on a competing newscast. It’s obvious the story hasn’t had nearly as much production as ours. Traditional advertisement, or a tip from someone, has alerted the competition. I admit we’ve done the same. We’ve jumped on a story because we see the competition is going to do it.

Absolutely there are some stories and sources we need to protect before it airs. To this I say Be Smart. If social media involvement early doesn’t work for a story don’t use it. If you force it or try to control it to protect the story, it will become a disaster.

When it’s right though, you can gain so much: brand connection, viewers, sources, resources, and loyalty.

Friday Dr. Robert Forto posted a blog that shared his thoughts, insight and personal story in reaction to watching a story that aired tonight. We invited him to come to the station the day before the story was on the news. We asked him take the story to his social networks, website, and/or blog in any way he felt appropriate. We did not ask for any editorial control in any way he chose to share his reaction and opinion on the story.

Robert's blog: Forget Me (Not) Canine Dementia and CBS4 Denver

Suzanne McCarroll's story: Pet Dementia Becoming More Common Among Dogs

Robert watched the story with the photojournalist that shot and edited it. We encouraged him to ask the photojournalist any question about the story he'd like. If he rather talk to Suzanne, she was on standby to take a phone call from him. (In a perfect world she would have been here at the time, but was unexpectedly doing her job of covering a news story!) He met Kristine Strain, Assistant News Director, who offered to answer any questions he had about the story or why we'd asked him to collaborate with us.

Our goal was that whatever he did would help generate conversation about the upcoming story. Our immediate hope was for this conversation lead to some people turning on the news to watch the story. Will we know if this was the result? No. There are no metrics to measure that. Our long-term hope is this collaboration would be the first of many collaborations that would connect us and our brand to new audiences.

Beyond the numbers, I feel strongly that we in the newsroom cannot, and should not, be the main resource for some of the stories we report. This story lends itself to outside experts. Robert is a resource to whom I can refer viewer questions.

I think it's safe to say that Robert was as excited about this collaboration as we were. He was eager to be another resource for this story and, as it turns out, has his own personal story with his beloved Ineka to add it. He had only one question after the story, "why did we do the story." Kristine answered that because the story was her idea as she thought of her own experience with an aging pet.

He told us up front what his plan was. He was going to write a blog that explained his collaboration with us, shared his story, provided extra information pet owners can use, and encouraged people to watch the story during the news. I kept saying that we didn't need to know this as we didn't want to have any editorial control in his process. His response was simple. He said this was a collaboration and a true collaboration would work this way.

In fact he decided to also share his blog with us before it was posted. Again, I told him this wasn't necessary. Kristine explained that beyond fact checking we wouldn't give the same courtesy to someone involved in a story we're doing.

Within hours of his visit to the station I received a copy of his blog post. He asked for my opinion. Knowing that he was going to share his blog, I had already decided that I would only request a change if there was a factual error. There was not. I did read it with excitement as I thought about how the collaboration would work out for us and him.

This was my response to him:
"Robert - I cannot thank you enough for collaborating with us. I think you're post is the supplement to the segment that the public can relate to and truly use. I love that you're going to follow through with this on your radio show and are asking people to share their own stories on your site. This is exactly what I imagined happening in this project. I also appreciate that you're willing to share Ineka's story."

Robert saw a great deal more traffic than normal for his post, up over 1,300 more hits in one day than normal. He's planning a Canine Dementia on his radio show May 22. He is the expert, the extra resource, to the story that we at the station just can't be. This is exactly what I envisioned.

News collaboration is a business model

CBS4 News is not new to using social media. The station has been at it for well over a year. (Hey it’s longer than some, shorter than others, but more aggressive than other local media outlets.) I think though that I’m the only one who uses the actual term “news collaboration.”

Collaboration is exactly what we've been doing. From the surgery shared live through Twitter to the Join the Conversation campaign to the Interactive HelpCenter we’re collaborating with the public in our news coverage. However, all this has been done live at the moments news is happening, or reactionary after it’s begun.

Yesterday this changed. We invited Dr. Robert Forto to watch a story the day before it airs. We asked him to take the story to his social networks, website, and/or blog in any way he felt appropriate. We did not ask for any editorial control in any way he chose to handle this.

I specifically asked Robert to do this because of his expertise and background with dogs as the story deals with the increasing health issue of dementia in pets, specifically dogs. I believed that by responding to the story he would become a supplemental resource to it. I was thrilled when he accepted the invitation.

I admit fully television news is not the “be all, end all” of news. We cover what we can. We tell stories we believe are important to the community and share information the viewer can use in his or her daily life. We can’t, however, provide all resources for the stories and often they die within days of airing and being published on the website.

We can only generate so much conversation, even when we utilize social media. We can reach only so many people. We can achieve this though through collaboration with others that can reach a specific target audience, or wider general audience through social media.

We can accept that we don't have the resources on our own to do this. We can be willing to share stories ahead of time and take the chance the competition may find out about it and try to also do the story. We can let go of complete control.
When we do this I believe we will achieve short term and long term goals.

Short Term Goals:

Provide more. We can provide the extra resources and other experts who can actually help those who want it. Often I take calls from viewers who want more information or know what to do next. My answers are limited to what the story has included, which most of the time is sound from people who don't want to be contacted by the public. Website links are usually the only resources I can offer.

Offer differing editorial voices. Yes, I would hope every person we ask to collaborate with us would think our stories as good, but that's not always going to happen. Whether it's an outright opposite and negative opinion, or one that varies slightly, we're providing a different editorial voice and admitting that voice exists.

Gather conversation and momentum. Instead of waiting until after the story airs to ask for opinions and responses, we can start the conversation early. This should lead to interest in the actual story, regardless if people agree with it or not. Perhaps enough chatter and momentum about the story will actually lead someone or many to watch the news to see it. Turning on the TV news is still the ultimate goal as it is still the business model. You watching the news pays my salary. I appreciate that, and so does my family. Thank you.

Reach larger audience. As I said we can reach a target audience, or a wider general audience we wouldn't normally reach because some, or many, never turn on news, or at least the local news. Beyond people preferring other information sources, people are just busy. They never see a TV news promotion to see what great story will be in an upcoming newscast. However, many people are always connected through their mobile devices. We can get their attention and let them know what we're doing through their checking in on their networks through their cell phones.

Long Term Goals:

Connect our brand, ourselves, with many. Through continual efforts, interactions and collaborations we can connect with an audience that never knew us. We can reconnect with those who turned away from TV news in general or from us specifically.

Create trust. Through consistency and transparency in our efforts we can create trust with those that are disenfranchised with media, with us.

Make money. In the end news is a business. I think many journalists forget this. We're here to report the news. We rarely ever do anything with the sales or marketing department, or if we do it's so sneakily disguised we don't realize the money behind it. The money is left up to management, right? I for one thought this way until I dove into social media and started learning about marketing and business strategies. Using social media for news collaboration is a business plan. We want people to turn to our products, right now that's first the newscast and second the website. When we can connect with and create trust with people they will choose to turn to us first instead of the competition. They might not turn to us right now, but eventually they will.

Just like any developing relationship, time, work and effort is needed to cultivate the relationship. I believe news collaborations are part of this cultivation.

News collaboration could cause giant shift in news time continuum

As you probably know I believe in collaborative news projects. News is not dying. People are information hounds who will search out the information they want. The traditional news model is changing because of this. We must find a way to be relevant.

A coworker said today that the one benefit television news still has is the immediacy of live video along with the human contact. Notice she tagged on human contact. Twitter, facebook, YouTube, etc. may beat news crews to the scene and start sharing pictures, video and chatter before any live element hits the airwaves, but still news broadcasts, television or web, combine all those elements and show the human side through the eye witness and even the reporter or anchor. Frankly it all works hand in hand to show a complete story as it unfolds.

A newsroom that knows this and is willing to participate beyond the television broadcast will stay relevant. Will this relevancy ever reach the relevancy of years past? Probably not.

No, I have no supporting documents. This is just my belief – a belief that propels me to continue to step outside of all comfort zone to make it all work together. Often I have the song, “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold,” running through my head non-stop as I work in this way!

When this same coworker asked me two weeks ago to come up with ways to incorporate the social media realm with certain ratings-period stories BEFORE the stories air, I forced to maintain all appropriate business behavior instead of giving into the urge of doing a jig of excitement. Hey, I had to maintain my credibility. This is what I’ve been asking to do and have often seen fear of the unknown, or doubt, or you’re crazy reflections in the eyes of those around me.

I already had several ideas in my head, but the largest aspect of the social media community is being social and not afraid to ask questions. One of the major wrong turns traditional media took was to shout the news and determine how it would all work without thinking to ask the viewers their opinions. I turned to Twitter and facebook to ask people what social media news collaborations they’d like to see. I received good ideas and good caution warnings.

What surprised me though is no one discussed collaborating on a story before the story is on the news. I even said this over and over and still no one chimed in with an idea. Eventually I shared my ideas on this and received support and encouragement. I wondered if traditional media has programmed the whole to not have the ability to even consider such an idea. If done would there be some sort of giant shift in the news time continuum where all we know would change forever?

I don’t know. But, I’m going to try it and let happen what may.

Image source.