CASE STUDY: Using Twitter to report the recent Taser case in Columbia

On March 18, around 5:30 p.m., a man was shot with a Taser on Ninth Street in Columbia. Here’s the lede from the Columbia Missourian report: Police shocked a man with a Taser after he reportedly assaulted a Columbia police officer during an incident at Lakota Coffee Co. on Ninth Street on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, [...]

Memo to journalists: Don’t steal stuff off the Internet

Just because something’s on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s free. I tell students this all the time, but the story of a man who posted a photo to Twitter, only to have it used by Sky News, is a good cautionary tale for journalists. You can read the whole sad tale here courtesy of OJB, [...]

I found my true Twitter love: Co-Tweet.com

Oh, Co-Tweet, where have you been all my life? I’ve been experimenting with Twitter apps for the last several weeks in the hopes of finding one that would help me manage numerous accounts. Here’s what I need in a Twitter client: The ability to manage four different accounts: my personal account, @CoMissourian, @CoMissourianNow (our live [...]

New Twitter tool for the iPhone

I bought Reportage on the recommendation of a Canadian Web site today. If you haven’t heard of it, Reportage is a Twitter client for the iPhone/iPod Touch. On the face of it, that doesn’t sound too interesting, but Reportage does a couple of cool things that make it worth a look if you’re a journalist: [...]