Media trainer, consultant and prolific tweeter (@rayjoe), Raymond Joseph, is running a course at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) to help journalists harness the power of the 140-character microblogging medium.
Twitter for Journalists dispels the myth that Twitter is a waste of time. Joseph will teach journalists how, used correctly, Twitter can be “one of the most powerful tools that any journalist, politician, communications officer, activist, PR or publicist, can deploy in their armoury”.
Joseph says that despite being a great aggregator, Twitter is an excellent way to break stories and keep abreast of the news. It’s a constant source of great story ideas; it’s a powerful, cost effective communications tool and an effective way to find sources and experts; you can use it to crowdsource ideas and ask for help or information; it’s an effective way to market goods, ideas, policies and programmes, and to build your brand and market your blog, Facebook page or website. It’s also powerful search engine that taps into both the news and what people – from the powerful to the rich and famous to the ordinary man and woman – are thinking and saying.
By the end of the IAJ course, journalists will be able to use Twitter to:
· Generate great ideas for stories;
· Find sources and experts and grow your contact base;
· Use Twitter to bring news and information you’re interested in, directly to you;
· Use your follower base to crowdsource ideas and information;
· Understand the power of hash tags, and use Twitter as a powerful search engine;
· Keep up to date with breaking news, big stories and trends;
· Build your personal brand and market yourself and your work;
· Use lists so you can filter your followers according to their importance;
· Write tight, effective tweets of 140 characters or less;
· Promote your blog, FB page or website.
The course is taking place on 23 July. To book, email Maki Mathe: print@iaj.org.za
