The journalist who never sleeps

As social media creeps into our personal lives, it more than willingly helps itself to our professional lives. You're a journalist you say? I'm terribly sorry. After the birth of the internet, text messaging and smart phones, you're chances of ever having a full day off just left the building. But hey, at least you'll never miss the opportunity to bag a great story again.
One useful tip that I've found in my time as both a freelance and student journalist is the value of public opinion that is found on social media. It's sort of a short cut to breaking news. Think about it, almost half of the headlines today are about whatever Donald Trump last tweeted to his captive audience. After looking at that, there's an endless supply of people to talk to just in the comments. Let's not go too deep down that rabbit hole though. As the current news editor for the Daily 49er, I have found an abundance of stories from the outcries that come from the Facebook or Instagram comments found on stories that we post. For example, last week I broke the a story about a chemistry class who tested the drinking fountains at Cal State Long Beach. The class ended up finding unsafe levels of lead in water. Guess where that story came from? An email chain. And guess where the follow story came from? Facebook. Yep, the next day an outpour of staff, students and faculty commented on my article with very little useful information, but a great supply of sources to interview.
One Facebook comment was from the lecturer of the chemistry class that had tested the waters, if you will. She was upset, claiming that the story made the situation seem more dramatic that it seemed. I'm not too sure what isn't dramatic about lead poisoning but that's neither here nor there. From that, I was able to contact her and talk to her, already knowing what questions to ask because of her detailed comment.

So, to say the least, I have mixed feelings about social media and it's hinderance on my ability to leave the virtual newsroom but I have to say, it sure is useful.

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