OLD Media Moves

The importance of social media for a business journalist

Frank Chaparro

Frank Chaparro, director of news for the Block, which covers crypto, talked with Forefront Communications about the importance of social media in his job.

Here is an excerpt:

How do you feel about social media and how important it is to your personal brand?

I think the unique thing about The Block is the way we’ve been able to leverage social media in a way that no other serious media entity has been able to. We joke, we meme, and we engage with our audience. By doing that, we’re able to really become a part of their lives and tap into what their needs and wants and desires are and then deliver content that reflects that. Social media is a huge part of connecting with your audience today. We think if you don’t develop that brand, no one’s going to pay attention to you.

But what about for those people working in the communication, marketing or PR space?

It’s essential. For us, we were zero impressions on the page a year ago in August. Maybe 10,000 a month in September to nearly a million today. Without social media, Twitter specifically, we would have never gotten there — full stop.

Some of the most effective PR people that I engage with in the space have fun Twitter accounts. For communications professionals having a social media presence, makes you stand out.

It makes you relatable and you’re not just another email in the journalist’s inbox.

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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