Interview: Working in online news during a pandemic

This interview was originally published in April 2020 by Elissa Hill as part of her ‘Commversations’ LinkedIn series.

This week's 'commversation' is with Ruth Barber – Social & Engagement Producer at Network Ten.

What are some guiding principles you’re using to produce social media content during this global pandemic?

Truth, integrity, and empathy.

Truth: Ensuring all content is verified and factually accurate before being posted anywhere – no matter how quickly another outlet is reporting something. I do not post something until it's been verified and confirmed (until I've seen the official media release or spoken to the source first-hand).

Integrity: Media is so much more visible during times of crisis so it only takes one mistake to tarnish the reputation of the outlet. Don't be sensationalist, and just report the straight facts – people can editorialise and make up their own minds. 

Empathy: Remembering everyone is scared right now and doing it tough so I also provide some relief from the uncertainty in the form of hopeful, funny, or happy human interest stories.

With Instagram stories becoming more popular, what advice do you have for organisations who want to start experimenting with stories as well as posting to the grid? 

Stories are a really great way to get super creative and show the more 'raw' or 'unedited' feel of your brand, organisation, or company. I'd recommend doing behind-the-scenes content – getting to know the team and providing that more human element. 

Save similar stories into content bubbles on your profile with distinct themes and a cover icon – these should be the main things you want people to know about who you are and what you do. A good way to get some inspiration is to go to your website and create story bubbles according to how the website is broken down (eg. team, services, products). 

What are some tools and platforms that make your life easier when producing digital media?

Crowdtangle is a great program that shows you how your content performs on social media and also how your competitors' content is going. You can use these stats for story ideas and also to inform your strategy going forward. It’s great for a general content overview and has data visualisation tools for compiling reports. 

Canva is a really simple drag-and-drop graphic design site with ready-made templates. It has essentially the same functions as Photoshop but it's much quicker and easier. A great tool for creating visual communications content. 

Reddit – as its tagline suggests – is 'the front page of the internet'. It's great for sourcing potential stories before other outlets and also great for finding quirky videos and pictures for social media. You can follow really specific niches that are relevant to your brand so it's super helpful.

And finally, what do you enjoy most about working in comms?

Problem-solving: You want people to know some information so: what's the best way to convey it, and what do you want them to do once they know it? Sounds super simple but there's so much involved in this!

Storytelling: Understanding what communication elements work together to engage readers/viewers on a human and emotional level.

Brand strategy: Crafting content and a broader marketing strategy to achieve specific business objectives.