Thursday, February 20, 2014

Caution : Local Media Followers and Industry Insiders

My use of Twitter is for entertainment purposes only. While I may attempt to keep people up to date on events happening in the world of local news, this information should not be used as a basis to write news stories. 




If you are an assignment desk worker at a competing news agency, please do not assign your staff to events based solely on my tweets. They may be embellished or written solely for the purpose of entertainment. 

"Embellished" To make (something) more attractive by the addition of decorative details or features.
"blue silk embellished with golden embroidery"



A tweet does not mean I am attending an event. Many tweets are based solely on information garnered from unreliable sources, such as passersby, others twitter users or from radio frequency scanning devices. 


I have received SEVERAL expressions of concern from other members of the media, such as photographers, videographers and reporters, that they are often assigned to stories, based solely on tweets or posts on social media. Please understand I may be tweeting about events that I have no intention of attending, or attempting to confirm the limited information I may have at the time of said tweet. 




As an assignment desk professional or a news producer, you should always assume my tweets are for entertainment only. Please continue to monitor your regular sources for information on breaking news events, such as listening to scanners and calling Police, Fire and EMS dispatchers before crews have arrived on scene or provided any updates back to their superiors. 




Basically, if your getting your news from me on Twitter you're not doing yourself or your employer any favours. Also please feel free to reply back to my tweets, especially those that contain pictures of my lunch or my puppy. Also please feel free to include my @latenightcam twitter handle in your tweets, when you post pictures of your lunch, your puppy or your five cats. 



If you do work at another media outlet and enjoy my tweets, please say hello every now and again online. The nightshift is a lonely existence. I appreciate the company and nobody likes a lurker or a troll. 

If my tweets offend you or leave you feeling uncomfortable in any way, please feel free to use the unfollow button and banish my twisted thoughts from your timeline. 

In closing, if you are not willing to retweet any of my material or have been instructed by management not to retweet material from employees at other media outlets, please do not direct message me and request information regarding breaking news events. With so many layoffs, especially in the newspaper world, you should not be expecting workers at other agencies to make up for your staff shortage or lack of boots on the ground. 

Thank you and have a nice day! 







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