CJ&N's Steve Schwaid: Help for All Your Digital Platforms

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

From CJ&N Vice President of Digital Strategy Steve Schwaid:

Many of us in the business work and live in a newsroom. I often say we work inside a bubble, with several TVs blaring what others are reporting, constant access to wires providing us info before most people are even aware, and constantly cruising digital platforms like websites, Facebook pages, YouTube and Twitter looking  for “new” news.

But do our newsrooms fully understand the type of digital content our “viewers” actually want on each platform?  Take Twitter, for example. We say we get it, but sometimes I worry if our staffs really do. 

I always look to my wife as my unofficial “focus group.”   

I remember the “good old days” when I would be with my family and get a call or email from the desk about a breaking story. My wife and kids would ask me what was going on, and the kids would even chime in with their coverage suggestions. (Often they were right.)

Well, here’s the new reality of news consumption from my wife’s perspective.

A year ago she got an iPhone.  I had to nudge her to get it. Now it’s become an indispensable tool – not for the dial tone but for social media, news access and a couple of word games.

She recently signed up for Twitter. She wants news and info when she wants it, no matter where she is. I am no longer her source.  

I grew up in NYC where we had an all-news radio station: “Give us 22 minutes and we will give you the world.” Today, we offer 140 characters, and need to give audiences the “world.”

How many of you have a Twitter account?  Do you follow news organizations, including your own station?  Do you check your feed regularly?  If you answer "no" to any of these,  you may want to make some changes. You watch and critique your newscasts. Why wouldn’t you monitor your digital feeds?

In my role as VP of Digital Strategies for CJ&N, I’ll be leading our efforts to help CJ&N's clients excel on all digital platforms. This includes helping organizations with the right content, improving newsroom workflow, maximizing digital metrics and helping to grow digital revenue opportunities and explore new opportunities. (And that means strong traditional television products, too.) 

I’m really looking forward to working with our clients. And as some of you already know, I’m always online – OK, maybe not always between midnight and 6 a.m.

Here’s the new email:  sschwaid@cjni.com.   Feel free to write anytime.  I can’t wait to get started!   

You can follow me on Twitter @Schwaid, on Facebook at Facebook.com/sschwaid and Pinterest at Pinterest.com/Schwaid.