There’s no shortage of blogs, Facebook groups and conferences that inform journalists on what works and what doesn’t in regards to social media in the newsroom. It’s a lot to keep up with, so how can a journalist avoid being left behind? Hear from experts in managing this at scale explain how newsrooms (and journalists alone) can cut through the noise, find actionable advice and stay on top of the ever-changing state of social.
Panelists: John Colucci, Luis Giraldo, Garrett Mitchell, Alex Morash
JOHN COLUCCI is the social media director for Sinclair Broadcast Group, overseeing social media strategy, education, partnerships, projects and curation and creation of content for all of the company’s TV stations and digital properties. In addition to his leadership role, Colucci is an on-camera personality, appearing as a social media reporter for KOMO-TV in Seattle and other Sinclair stations and previously was a regular contributor to HuffPost Live. He also has spoken at conferences such as SXSW and National Association of Black Journalists. Colucci leaped into the world of social media in 2011 while then in a project management role at Virgin America, and lead numerous creative marketing initiatives for the fledgling airline. He is originally from Edison, New Jersey, and resides in Seattle.
LUIS GIRALDO is an associate producer at “48 Hours” and a digital producer for CBS News. He contributes content to CBSNews.com and leads the promotion strategy on all digital and social platforms for special programming by CBS News such as “Change and Challenge: The Inauguration of Donald Trump” and “Royal Romance: The Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.” Giraldo also produced the “48 Hours” 30th season podcast “The Widow” and is currently developing a new interactive audio program with correspondents Erin Moriarty and Peter Van Sant. Giraldo was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to the U.S. at age 9, where he settled in Fort Myers, Florida. He obtained his degrees in telecommunications, violin performance and Spanish at the University of Florida, where he reported for NPR and PBS affiliates in the region. Giraldo is the guy in the field with a photo camera, a video camera, a microphone and a smile. His hope is to continue to tell the stories on legacy broadcast media outlets of those who until very recently were kept hidden in plain sight by societal norms and restrictive cultures.
GARRETT MITCHELL covers entertainment and events for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. A southern Arizona-bred writer, Mitchell first began his career writing at the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review while studying journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Mitchell has worked at The Republic since 2015 and covered breaking news, crime and courts before joining the features staff in 2017. In his spare time, he enjoys making animated GIFs of delightfully bad ’70s flicks and “Real Housewives,” reading trashy celebrity memoirs and mastering cocktail recipes.
ALEX MORASH is a writer based in Washington, D.C., who occasionally causes trouble on Twitter. Morash started to build a following when he was writing for Media Matters about the economy. He also has bylines in The Advocate, The Washington Blade, Salon, AlterNet and The National Memo. His social media commentary has been picked up by dozens of news outlets including The Washington Post, Time, BET, CNN and Rawstory. He holds a master’s in political science focused on political economy from Northeastern University. Currently, he serves as the spokesperson for the National LGBTQ Task Force.