Nathan Bomey was the lead reporter on Detroit’s bankruptcy for the Detroit Free Press. His book, “Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back,” was published in 2016.
He now works for the Money Section,
where his beat includes autos, energy and breaking business news. Tis story caught Bomey while he was in Los Angeles promoting his new book, “Detroit Resurrected,” which chronicles the city’s bankruptcy and subsequent grand bargain bailout. “When I was at Te Echo, we had a
website, Facebook was just starting and Twitter didn’t exist,” Bomey recalls. “Te Web was not a priority. To go from that to an industry in which digital comes first is a significant change. It requires you to be extremely adaptable, willing to try new things and not be married to any old perception of what journalism should be.” For Bomey, that means immediately
communicating breaking news and analysis to his many followers on Twitter, along with coordinating with the USA TODAY social media team to ensure they’re on top of the story as well. “Social media allows you to reach out and grab readers’ attention,” Bomey says.
24 | SUMMER 2016 | EASTERN MAGAZINE
“Newspapers expected readers to come to them, and that routine has been shattered by the Internet. Now, you have to be imbedded in peoples’ digital lives with a personal brand that represents breaking news and good journalism.” While Twitter represents an avenue for
reporting news, it also serves as a way to interact, gather information, and develop sources, Bomey says, noting that even the high-speed newswires such as the Associated Press are now slower than social media. Te challenge, of course, is that the online
world never sleeps. Journalists can constantly be updating stories; Bomey is now pushing aggressively into using Snapchat, an app described as “texting on steroids.” Bomey also uses a tool called Dataminr, which many news organizations employ to monitor topics trending on social media. Te tool uses an algorithm that assesses who’s retweeting items, alerting reporters to surprise industry announcements or meaningful statements by key players. Such a tool “helps and hurts,” Bomey says.
“You don’t have to be on your Twitter feed all day, but you have to verify (the buzz). It’s really no different than getting a news tip on the phone in the old days. Tis is the philosophy that you have to have.” For major news events such as the
New York Auto Show this past March, Bomey focused on doing as much advance preparation as possible and then seamlessly switching among various platforms. Tat meant gathering background
material for a press conference and then live video streaming that event on a new app that Twitter developed called Periscope. Along with that came live tweets and posts on Snapchat and Instagram. He also helped manage the USA TODAY
Cars section Instagram account, along with other newspaper feeds. “It’s tough to manage, no doubt about it,”
Bomey says. “You ask yourself, ‘When does the day ever end?’ Social media never stops. Tat’s the challenge. You just have to be as vigilant as you can to set aside some time for yourself.”
PHOTO MELANIE MAXWELL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48