What newsrooms can do to get the most out of Facebook Live

by Rachel Wise
Oct 30, 2018 in Social Media

This week we look at how news organizations can make the most of Facebook Live. Journalists from Mashable and KXLY-TV in Spokane, Washington, share a few ways they have been experimenting with broadcasting live on social media.

Reporting by Haley Reed and Rachel Wise.

For more information:

  • Earlier this year, Facebook announced it had tweaked its News Feed algorithm to give preference to Facebook Live videos. And according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Facebook has also partnered with about 140 media companies and celebrities to offer more than $50 million as incentive for producing Live content.
     
  • But for many publishers, the reward for using Facebook Live “comes not in cash but in the form of increased user reach,” which Poynter put to the test.
     
  • Facebook offers tips for using Live — encouraging users to engage in conversations with followers, write compelling descriptions, have a strong WiFi connection and broadcast often.
     
  • After two months of using Facebook Live regularly, NPR’s Scott Montgomery, head of digital news, shares four lessons he and his team have learned.
     
  • As more news organizations experiment with Facebook Live, concerns regarding ethics and logistics continue to emerge. Poynter’s Al Tompkins outlines 10 questions journalists should ask themselves before going live.”

Rachel Wise is a senior editor at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and editor and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.

The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos. You can also sign up to receive email notifications of each new episode.

Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via stekelbes.