Twitter and Nightline

The ABC News television program, Nightline, recently instituted a weekly, online show that integrates Twitter into its reporting. According to their Web site, its purpose is to provide "a forum for viewers to simultaneously discuss and debate the news of the day through the prism of Twitter." The new series, dubbed "NightTline", with the capital "T" represented in the Twitter typeface, premiered on May 13th and can also be seen on ABC News Now, the network's 24-hour digital channel.

Nightline correspondent John Donvan using the interactive touchscreen.

The format for the first three episodes was the same: a topic is introduced with any necessary exposition followed by expert analysis from guests with opposing viewpoints. This is all interspersed with questions and comments from those following along on Twitter.

The first episode suffered a minor technical glitch at the start when Terry Moran, the anchorperson, had issues with the the interactive video display. This device, described by ABC News as the "unique visualization of Twitter using Pixel touchscreen technology," is central to the program. The whole episode is conducted via the touchscreen including the guest interviews and the Twitter stream that is prominently displayed.

Overall, the program succeeds in its stated goals. By asking viewers to "join our discussion in real time," Mr. Moran was able to integrate their tweets into the conversation throughout. The inherent lack of visual interest of an anchorperson reading viewer comments is mitigated somewhat by the interactive technology -- when a tweet is highlighted on the screen, it animates as it zooms forward into focus.

The bigger issue as to whether the program succeeds as an example of online journalism depends on one's viewpoint. Quite simply, does input from those on Twitter actually add anything substantive to the dialogue? Or is it a gimmick designed to invite user interaction when it is not needed? The answer may depend on the skills of the anchorperson handling the episode. If he or she asks insightful questions and conducts the interviews with penetrating analysis, then commentary from those on Twitter may, at best, be a distraction contributing little to the discourse.

Another issue has to do with the tweets shown on the touchscreen -- they are not presented as an active stream as one might expect. For those that are displayed, however, there is no mention of any selection process or the criteria used. Should it then be assumed that the displayed tweets are a representative subset of the opinions of those following along? Most likely, profanity is censored, but what about commentary that may be considered politically incorrect? Any limits on which tweets are highlighted can inherently limit the intellectual breadth of the debate.

In any event, the highlight from the first episode was not any enlightenment gained from the moderated discussion, but rather a comment from a Twitter contributor. It wasn't what he wrote that was notable; it was his photo that stole the show. Displayed prominently, it showed him chugging what looks like a beer from a paper bag. In the world of Twitter and Nightline, his insight is worth as much as anyone else's.

Comments

[reader]

good blog. pls consider changing to a lighter background color. handsome as it is, one is blinded leaving your web site for the next destination...