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Journalists often agonize over how to tweet, and rightly so. For many of us, Twitter is the most personal point of contact with audiences. And there is a good argument to be had over whether the newsroom snark that plays out in broad tweet-light contributes to public skepticism of the press’ collective motives. Authenticity is key for gaining traction on the platform, even if day-to-day reporting requires more restraint.
This issue is often addressed in the context of journalists’ individual accounts. Many a prolific tweeter has been felled by overstepping the traditional bounds of media decorum. But news organizations also grapple with the balancing act of using conversational language without diminishing their institutional reputations.
Enter: ProPublica, a nonprofit with a long pedigree of high-impact journalism. The Trump administration would appear to be a target-rich environment for such an outfit, which boasts a stable of top investigative reporters. But it has also begun distinguishing itself with an aggressive social media presence that openly challenges power without getting bogged down in Twitter’s muck.
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Take Monday’s example. In response to a question about ProPublica’s report that Trump can in fact draw money from his businesses at any time, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred to the nonprofit as a “left-wing blog” (a go-to insult). The ProPublica social media team responded swiftly on Twitter:
1/ So @seanspicer just called us a “left-wing blog.” Since we’re actually in the biz of facts, we figured we’d respond w/ a few…
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
2/ @seanspicer was trying to knock our story that Trump’s trust doc was revised to say he can take $ frm biz anytime https://t.co/xcohyMmoRc
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
3/ @seanspicer said he’s “not aware of any change in the trust.” And he then said this: https://t.co/44Rj2EZxDc pic.twitter.com/lrQpWkZjKh
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
4/ The Trump trust doc was revised & signed Feb. 10. Here you go, @seanspicer: https://t.co/f1SgoNeIJ1 pic.twitter.com/9odXRrFEjV
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
5/ We do no-surprises journalism. We told the Trump Org & WH what we knew and gave them time to explain.They didn’t. https://t.co/pYfcdEp64W pic.twitter.com/paZfZWr4W1
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
6/ What we do is hold people in power accountable, no matter who they are, or what names they call us. We do it with facts. Like…
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
7/ The fact that Tom Price bought drug company stock same day he pushed policy that could help the company. https://t.co/nica3s6oi1
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
8/ The fact that Trump has quietly installed officials across the government to be his eyes and ears: https://t.co/UhSNXaGwBH
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
9/ The fact that Jared Kushner isn’t actually separating himself from his business empire: https://t.co/ZNFNVOkfdL
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
10/ Or the fact that 5 top Trump officials have made false statements to Congress:https://t.co/xQGhQwEWaF
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
11/ And yes, our job always has been and will be holding *all* those in power accountable.
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
12/ So, we wrote about fact that Obama caved to big banks and didn’t deliver on his promises to help homeowners: https://t.co/DnhEUzJIoP
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
13/ We wrote about former Obama officials lobbying to push through a merger that could make flying more miserable: https://t.co/coXWQ7PInF
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
14/ And wrote about how Obama was falling short on his own promises to grant pardons. https://t.co/eYO0xJLcT5
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
15/ So any other facts you’d like to know, @seanspicer?
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 3, 2017
…and for all the new followers who found us today thanks to @seanspicer, do sign up for our fact-based newsletter: https://t.co/8aC8QGlYo6
— ProPublica (@propublica) April 4, 2017
To recap: ProPublica defended its journalism without resorting to pettiness; it elevated its past work in the context of today’s news; and it directed new readers to its products in the process. Each tweet was re-shared thousands of times. Collectively, they served to explain the nonprofit’s motives, and they did so in a conversational language that felt native to Twitter. Not only is that a useful model for other media outlets, but it’s also a reminder that social media is central to news organizations’ missions.
The tête-à-tête also had an upside for ProPublica’s reach: It boosted its Twitter following by 10 percent in just one day, President Richard Tofel noted—in a tweet, of course.
Just yesterday, @ProPublica gained >55,000 new Twitter followers (>10%). Thanks, @seanspicer!
— Richard Tofel (@dicktofel) April 4, 2017
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