Colorado & Denver News

Written for cbs4denver.com by Tara Meyer
DENVER (CBS4) ― CBS4 has become a leader in delivering news and engaging in conversations with people on Twitter. Learn more about CBS4's efforts below and get some tips on how you can enhance your Twitter experience.

Twitter Defined (For The Newbies)

Twitter is a social media platform or micro-blogging site where people can "tweet" all day long in order to share and receive information. Twitter is a forum for the exchange of ideas and social interaction and allows for constant "status updates" to let others know what you think. You can follow other Twitter users' updates and others can follow you. The information you can find seems limitless: everything from how your friends are feeling to the dinner specials at your favorite restaurant.

How Does CBS4 News Use Twitter?

One of CBS4's main goals with Twitter (@cbs4denver) is to let viewers "join the conversation" and help shape the decisions that get made in the newsroom.

With regards to our coverage on Twitter we are dedicated to interacting with followers who have an interest in our news product.

Dozens of CBS4 newsroom staff spend time on Twitter breaking news stories, checking followers' tweets to see what is on people's minds and constantly finding new people to follow from the Colorado community.

CBS4 gets story ideas, interview subjects and collects data from our followers on Twitter who tweet with us. That might include photos from Twitterers or interesting comments CBS4 anchors read during newscasts.

CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland created the Twitter account in September 2008. He originally assigned eight newsroom producers to be a part of the CBS4 Twitter team, and now nearly everyone in the newsroom participates.

"We are now on Twitter having a conversation with viewers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," Wieland said.

The weekday morning and afternoon editorial meetings are tweeted as we develop the day's newscasts and the conversations continue throughout the day and night.

"We now use Twitter daily to find news stories," Wieland said. "We either identify the story through Twitter or we go through Twitter to find people to use in our stories."

Since starting the Twitter account, CBS4 has made more than 6,000 tweets to bring you the latest, but what is most important to the CBS4 team is getting Coloradans involved in our newsgathering process.

"We use it to provide helpful information but most importantly we use it to have a conversation with our followers," Wieland said. "We find out what they want to know about the big stories of the day and to allow them to be involved with our product and to interact with the news. It offers the people in Colorado the opportunity to be directly involved in the daily news coverage."

Mixing Professionalism, Personality

CBS4 Assignment Editor Misty Montano is one of many CBS4 employees who has found a passion for Twitter, but she's doing things a little differently, using it to bolster her work experience.

Mixing professionalism with personality, Montano uses Twitter (@MistyMontano) to create relationships with her followers while still sharing news and getting people involved with CBS4's process. She has picked up more than 2,000 followers along the way.

"If you are going to be on these platforms in any professional capacity you have to still be a professional," Montano said. "But, people want to know that you are a real person and be able to connect with you."

Montano will tweet about her daily activities, life as a stepmom, and also about what is happening at the news assignment desk.

The relationships she has with her thousands of followers helps CBS4 to develop daily news stories.

"Within three days of my first account, I had my first story... I arranged it, shot it, and it aired in two newscasts," Montano said.

Montano says she's dedicated to her followers and to finding out what is important to them.

"A lot of the time mainstream media just pushes the message and refuses to accept feedback or if they do it is feedback that is never really discussed or commented on," Montano said. "And on these social media platforms, you are able to respond."

The CBS4 Twitter team and Montano make a point of responding to every direct message, reply, and re-tweet that is posted to the two Twitter accounts. All feedback from our followers, whether it is positive or negative, is taken very seriously.

"If we are called out on something, we will address it. If it is a mistake on our part we will get it changed and make sure people know we've changed it," Montano said. "So we open up a two-way communication. And it really makes people feel that they can trust us."

Recent CBS4 Twitter Stories Of Note

Twitter is fast becoming more than a way to simply chat over the Internet. In April at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's, Twitter was used to educate, inform and offer some comfort to a family. CBS4 Medical Editor Dr. Dave Hnida played the role of "Twitter Moderator" as CBS4 teamed up with the hospital to Twitter during a pediatric surgery. (Full Story: Twitter & Surgery Experiment A Success In Denver)

The Colorado State Patrol recently joined the ranks of the growing Twitter emergency response population in hopes of using the social media Web site to help troopers reach out to the public. (Full Story: Colorado State Patrol Starts Using Twitter)

The explosion in social networking and new media technologies is starting to make its way deeper into the inner workings of government and politics as some representatives and senators in Colorado share their own personal perspectives on hearings, meetings and votes with the world through Twitter. (Full Story: Some In Congress All A 'Twitter' With New Media)

CBS4 Stories Developed Using Twitter

There are many examples of stories where CBS4 found subjects for news stories through Twitter.

-- In February a Colorado certified financial counselor talked about how she's helping engaged couples and newlyweds "beat the recession." (Full Story: Colorado Money Expert Asks For Financial Secrets)

-- A 6-year-old girl thought quickly after seeing a funnel cloud in Broomfield in early June and snapped a few pictures with her Fisher-Price camera. (Watch: Young Photographer Snaps Picture of Funnel Cloud)

-- In post-election protests in Iran in June some Coloradans with Iranian ties were following the chaos on social media sites. (Video: Local Iranian Talks About Iran's Digital Crackdown)

Read On

What does the future look like for CBS4 and Twitter? Get a sense for CBS4's strategy when it comes to having a role in new social media platforms. (Full Story)

What kinds of perks can you get if you start really getting into Twitter? In what ways can following CBS4 on Twitter provide a benefit? (Full Story)

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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