News Media Workshop Project
Online and Social Media
Use of Social Media
San Diego CW 6 uses social media to share content, both to generate more traffic to the website and spread awareness about events. These posts show the channel's personality and encourages readers to watch their show to keep up with important events. They are currently active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. The news station is working on content management systems. In this industry, it is crucial to stay active on multiple social networks because it takes time for different audiences to adapt to these channels. There is no way to predict what social website will be the next "big thing" so businesses improve their awareness levels by spreading their content on many resources.
Appealing to an Audience
San Diego CW 6's target audience on social media is as broad as any person living in San Diego. Because the average age of their viewers is about 50 years old, they use social media in hopes of bringing in younger viewers. The majority of viewers reside in San Diego, however there are also a notable amount of viewers from the Philippines and Brazil. Most posts on their Facebook account include a striking and interesting photo to attract attention. Brooke Ruth sometimes writes the stories, but often receives the stories from another source like the Wire, Associated Press, or City News Service - a San Diego specific feed.
The Facebook page uses photos and videos alongside a short (but usually impactful caption) that entices readers to learn more. The links lead straight to the story on San Diego 6's official website. This method of marketing is used to bring viewers to the website where they will hopefully explore and generate more traffic on their site.
The Instagram site has a more casual tone, emphasizing less on breaking news and more on giveaways from local businesses. There are photos of employees and special guests eating and promoting various products. Instagram would not be the right form of social media to share controversial, hard hitting news.
Serving the Community
Although both local and state news are presented on social media outlets, San Diego 6 focuses on local news. This information gives San Diegans the information to make better decisions and know what's going on in their direct area.
Competition Online with Other Stations
According to San Diego 6's web producer, Brooke Ruth, "We are last place on Facebook in terms of traffic and number of followers, compared with other TV stations. Our channel has success in newspaper but are trying to catch up with competitors like CBS Channel 8 on social media". San Diego 6 has over 47,000 subscribers while CBS 8 has just under 64,000. CBS 8 also seems to be generating more "likes" and people are sharing their posts more often. To catch up to the competition, this news channel can try to implement more contests through Facebook that require users to like the page before entering.
Negatives & Weaknesses in Using Social Media for News
- Promotional posts and other departments posting content that is not straight news can disappoint more people
- Reporters are on a different level with social media, some people use it regularly and have an idea of what to share socially while others are unfamiliar with it
- The priority of sharing news is the TV channel, while online media falls after that. When asked if she thought the priority would change, Brooke responded “I definitely think the priority will change. The world is becoming more Internet focused so we do expect a transition in the near future. For now, we have a morning and night show that’s always the number one goal and the website is a second thought.”
- Angela Dao