How business journalists can use — and should use — social media

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Business journalists needs to use social media to find stories and sources, accordig to a group of reporters and editors who spoke Friday in New York.

“There [are] four aspects to social media when using it professionally,” said Tiffany Black, a former producer with Inc.com. “One is to listen. Two is to share. Three is to find stories, and four is to find sources.”

Black said she posts questions on LinkedIn and contacts people through their Twitter feed. She also tracks people in HootSuite.

“I tend to follow CEOs of major companies,” said Black. “And I am following FourSquare and people who work for these companies.”

She said she new when a new product was coming from Apple or Google because employees were staying late to work on the project.

The New York Times discovered that Google had made an acquisition because employees were changing the name of their employer before the news release was given to journalists, added Black.

Black, as well as CNNMoney assistant managing editor Paul LaMonica and Columbia University journalism professor Sree Sreenivasan, spoke during the panel at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers fall conference in New York.

LaMonica, who says he tweets way too much, said he also uses LinkedIn to find sources and Tumblr.

He called Twitter a “wire service gone made,” noting how Twitter posts directed its coverage about the stock market drop the next day away from a President Obama jobs speech and to the resignation of a European leader.

“It was nice to have that heads up so we weren’t lost,” said LaMonica, who said he found Twitter to be the most valuable of the social media platforms. “For every story that shows up on Twitter that are suspect, there are many more that help lead you to what’s the news.”

Sreenivasan recommended that business journalists use LinkedIn on a regular basis, even when not looking for a job. He likes the “follow company” function and “LinkedIn Today.”

“Another part of LinkedIn I like is Signal,” said Sreenivasan. “It shows you what people are talking about within a company.”

He also noted that the LinkedIn search function is underused by journalists in finding who held a previous title.

Sreenivasan added that business journalists can now see material about CEOs and executives of businesses on their Facebook pages by subscribing to them.