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Helpful Hints from Huffington Post on Citizen Journalism Coverage of Tea Party Rallies

by | 8:14 am, April 15, 2009 | Comments Off

Some helpful hints for citizen journalists covering the Tea Party rallies — from, of all places, the Huffington Post (of course, don’t send your links and materials to them — if you cover a rally, post your material online and post your links, one per comment, in the comments thread for this post):

Tax Day is upon us and with it comes hundreds of anti-tax Tea Parties.  With over two thousand people signed up to report, we will provide unparalleled breadth of coverage.

If you don’t yet know the location of the Tea Party nearest you, check out this site (click on your state listed on the right side of the page).  Before you go, make sure to read our updated reporting guidelines to make it easier for us to publish your work.  And keep an eye on our Tea Party big news page for up-to-date coverage of today’s events.

Below is a reminder of the various way to contribute. Take note that each medium has its own guidelines for submitting your work.

1) Pen and Pad Reporting: Each protest presents a unique story.  We definitely want to know the basics: how many people were in attendance?  Where there any prominent speakers, and what did they say?  Which slogans did the crowds chant, and what did they paint on their signs?  We’re also interested in understanding what kind of people showed up and why–so feel free to ask them if you feel comfortable doing so.

We are asking for dispatches of no more than 600 words.  Email your report to submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com by noon on April 16th.  (Check out our reporting standards for further guidance.)

2) Picture the Protest: Take your camera and capture the best images from the gathering.  Protest signs and banners make for good photographs, as do families and establishing shots of the entire crowd.  For inspiration check out the slide show from the G-20 Protest in London.  Email your pics to photos@huffingtonpost.com.  Incude your name, city, and state in the subject line and a brief description of each photo in the body of your email. 

3) Film the Show: Some HuffPosters have already shown interest in filming their local Tea Party.  We don’t have specific guidelines on video production, however we suggest that you edit your footage to less than five minutes in length and that you identify all interviewees.  You can publish your video to YouTube and email us the link, or send your mpeg file to submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com using YouSendIt.

4) Twitter the Facts:  It’s impossible to give an exhaustive report in 140 characters, but Twitter’s short form is great for quickly getting across basic facts and observations. Using your cell phone or mobile device, you can “tweet” the approximate attendance or a choice quote. IMPORTANT: We’ll only see your tweets if you include #huff in ALL of your messages. Also, remember to include your city and state so that we know where you are. (Sign up for an account with Twitter here.) 

If you have any questions, email submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com. 

Good luck,

Matt

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