World Have Your Say & Twitter
January 19, 2010 at 10:03 pm Jason E. 1 comment
BBC World Have Your Say (WHYS) is an international radio discussion programme, broadcast live everyday from Bush House in London. The show directly connects the BBC World Service with its global audience, whilst also allowing its listeners to set the daily conversation agenda.
The main news headline for the past week has been the devastating earthquake in Haiti. I received a text message via WHYS’s Twitter account which demonstrated the increasingly reliance on social media.
Nuala (a member of the programme’s production team) said: “Calling a lot of numbers of aid workers in Haiti but difficult to get through. Email, Skype and Twitter all in full force”.
Using the traditional newsgathering methods, particular in a country ravaged with the destruction of the earthquake, would appear perplexing and difficult. Yet connecting through social media outlets, WHYS has the ability to reach a wider audience, both victims and aid agencies, quicker and easier. Twitter, Facebook, etc are all available on mobile phones and can be instantly replied to by text message. Followers can be contacted at the touch of a button, wherever they are in the world. Social media (including Skype) have made a jouranalist’s job easier to contact people on the ground and at the scene; in this case, the scene of the Haiti earthquake.
You can follow BBC World Have Your Say on Twitter here.
Jason
Entry filed under: Discussion, Ideas. Tags: BBC World Service, Facebook, social media, twitter, World Have Your Say.
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smilejames | March 21, 2010 at 8:52 am
Some of us know from our own experiences on the show that this really couldn’t happen without social media. When I was researching guests, social media was invaluable.
I came across a blog that had strong opinions on the subject we were looking to discuss. I saw that the lady involved had a Twitter account and sent off a message asking for her contact details, she gave me her email address and so I was able to get her phone number. So from blog to phone number in 3 easy steps!