Journalists live-tweet from the courthouse

Objective

Journalist Jim Armstrong (@JimArmstrongWBZ) wanted to find an alternate way to provide real-time updates from the trial of Whitey Bulger so he live-tweeted during the hearings and verdict.

Strategy

Armstrong reported from in front of the camera during breaks in the trial, but throughout the trial he used Twitter to send live updates to a curious public.

Armstrong says reporting this trial was one of the most intense experiences of his career.

“Had the trial been televised, viewers could have seen for themselves what was going on minute-by-minute. So to compensate for the lack of TV coverage in the court, I tweeted minute-by-minute (or at least it felt like it was that frequent on some days!) to describe the courtroom and everything going on.”

Jim Armstrong
WBZ journalist

Armstrong’s Tweets gave a glimpse of what it was like to witness the conviction of a mobster. 

“I tweeted out earlier that afternoon that I was going to do the whole verdict on Twitter, but with 32 counts — one of which had 33 acts underneath it — it was a monster of an indictment … When the clerk started reading the verdict form, I was sending Tweets like mad, keeping track of the verdicts on my own form, and double-checking to make sure I got everything right.”

Jim Armstrong

To bring the news from Twitter back to the CBS Boston (@cbsboston) website, the WBZ team created a Twitter list of its reporters at the trial and embedded their Tweets directly on their site. Twitter lists can include one account or thousands. This one included just two journalists: Armstrong and newsradio reporter Lana Jones (@lanaWBZ). It was a simple way for the CBS team to embed Tweets from inside the courtroom in a single feed for online readers. Tweets from the feed were also shown on-air during breaking news segments.

“Interaction with followers has been the best aspect of live-tweeting this trial. People are so appreciative of the work that goes into live-tweeting; it’s so gratifying to get a Tweet or a DM from someone who says thank you or lets you know that they’re getting something of value out of my coverage. Even better, people can tweet me questions in real time, and I can answer them during court. So if something was unclear — either in the proceedings or in my explanations of them — I can address that right away. That real-time feedback is amazing. Some people are frequent commenters and I talk to them every day; there are others who will only write once. I think most people are surprised that I try to respond to every Tweet I get — but for me, that’s the only way Twitter works. It’s a two-way street.”

Jim Armstrong

Key takeaways

1. Use Twitter to broadcast information from places cameras aren’t permitted.
2. Integrate Twitter with an existing news source by embedding Tweets into your broadcast.
3. Create a Twitter list that makes it easier for users to find and follow the conversation.