Likeable Journalists: Who’s Doing It Right on Social?

By Allie Herzog

I studied journalism in college more years ago than I’d like to admit and even then, I remember hearing the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” when referring to old-school journalists’ struggle to evolve in this ever-changing “new media” world.  Amidst the current social media revolution, journalists have no choice but to adapt and utlize new tools to gather and share news.  Journalists today must Tweet, Blog, Facebook, Instagram and more IN ADDITION TO reporting the news on TV, in the newspaper or wherever else their day job requires them to.  My own “old school” sports reporter dad recently started blogging and tweeting and I’ve been both fascinated and proud as he’s brought local high school sports to the community through hyper-local blogging and live tweets from the sidelines.  But all nepotism aside, here are three very different journalists using social media to change the way we get our news.

1) Andy Carvin (@acarvin) – Dubbed by many as one of the most influential Twitter users ever, Carvin has used Twitter to share and spread real-time news from across the Middle East.  An NPR employee, Carvin has been integral in reporting on global uprisings from Tunisia to Israel to Libya. Carvin not only reports on the news but also curates content from his wide network of Twitter followers and contacts to give live, on-the-ground, reports of what’s really going on as opposed to an often one-sided skewed report we sometimes get from major news networks. Because of Carvin, user generated content and citizen journalism will continue to bring a voice to those that are not as lucky as ourselves.