New tools are making it easier for viewers to submit video — and transfer rights — to TV stations. Groups like Gray and Tegna say simplified UGC has boosted engagement, and expanded coverage without increasing staff. Above, user-generated content appeared throughout Gray Television’s WECT Wilmington, N.C.’s coverage of the Surf City Fire story last year. (Source: Jacob Robert Younce)
TV stations are arming themselves with software that allows them to slice and dice social media to gauge audience interest in stories, share viewer feedback and even predict what stories will become larger issues in the future. Other software speeds social integration into newscasts.
Snapchat is partnering with four news discovery platforms to help news organizations better comb through the billions of videos and photos posted daily to the platform. The partners are NewsWhip, Storyful, SAM Desk and TagBoard, and news organizations with subscriptions to them will have full access to publicly-available Snaps.
