We often talk about the old guard media outlets having trouble adapting to “new media”, I think we pushed old media into such a corner that they either just crawled into the walls or came out swinging. MSNBC seems to be doing the later with the news that MSNBC scooped up the Breaking News Twitter account.
Breaking News has done a superior job at reporting news since it started, what only a year or two ago? Earlier this year they announced plans for paid/premium offerings and from the BBC article, it sounds like that is how the teenage creator of Breaking News is going to proceed—with MSNBC as his first customer.
MSNBC adapting to the real-time web through a well-established brand is a key innovation step. No, they aren’t the first, but I think they are one of the first to acquire the tools to do it.
Being in the news media now myself (scary huh) with my Vancouver Observer column Techplanations I’m looking at all the media trailblazers for inspiration how I can build my audience and make the media outlet (it’s not just a “paper” or “website” is it?) successful. Yes, I’ve got things in place for a Hootsuite-powered Twitter account (I’ll tweet it out when I post my column later today) and I’m certainly going to use all my social media skills, but this is also a new area for me. Lots to learn. Lots to do.
Tris Hussey is a writer, teacher, blogger, and speaker on all facets of Internet life, WordPress, and social media. He is the author of Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Blogging Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro and Using WordPress.
