How Journalists Use Twitter

How Journalists Use Twitter: The Changing Landscape of U.S. Newsrooms shows how leading reporters and editors at four major metropolitan newspapers are embracing Twitter as a key tool in their daily routines and how the social media platform influences coverage. This book builds on social media research by analyzing newsroom work through the lens of four different communications theories—diffusion of innovation, boundary, social capital and agenda-setting theories. This book will be of interest to scholars of communication, journalism, and new media.

. . . . Swasy keeps the promise of its title and guarantees readers, whether informed or not, a better understanding of the journalism- Twitter. [Translated from original French], Swasy applies her professional insights as a career journalist as well as her academic insights from a recently completed PhD. at prestigious Missouri School of Journalism to give readers an accessible and detailed look at how four major metropolitan newspapers encountered, erred, and eventually adopted Twitter into their news operations... Swasy expertly translates the core theoretical and empirical concepts from her research into an easy-to-read format and style. At times, one wonders if the monograph would have been better suited as a journal article, but Swasy balances this concern by sacrificing the rigidity of academic writing for a more casual and relatable tone. The volume serves as an excellent introductory read to understanding the modern social media newsroom, useful both prospectively and retrospectively for rising media and journalism students as well as those "in the trenches" looking for a discussion of communication technology grounded in scholarship. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through professionals., Alecia Swasy has been there and done that—walked the halls of academia and spent decades in some of America’s finest newsrooms—and it shows. Her latest work, How Journalists Use Twitter: The Changing Landscape of U.S. Newsrooms, serves as a compelling primer on one of the world’s dominant social media platforms, and in doing so, provides a timely look at the changing news media landscape. Focusing on four major American news organizations, Swasy reports from the field, chronicling a moment of inflection in an industry in transformation. Written with verve and style, the book will serve as both a management text and a technological history., Alecia Swasy has taken a deep dive into Twitter use by some of the best U.S. newsrooms. What she came up with is not only a primer on how Twitter helps and hurts great journalism, but a thought-provoking journey exploring how academics and practitioners must think much more about the ultimate impact of social media. How Journalists Use Twitter is a good read, grounded in what we already know while reaching toward what we must find out. Swasy's work is important  for anyone who cares about journalism and what it means in an ever-more complex information landscape.

Alecia Swasy is the Donald W. Reynolds Chair in Business Journalism at Washington & Lee University.