How Tweet It Is

By Jackson DeMos on August 24, 2009 8:18 AM

Incoming first-year graduate journalism student reporters spent a recent day busing, walking and “tweeting” around various sections of Los Angeles — from Skid Row to the La Brea Tar Pits to Watts — as part of an orientation assignment at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Groups of about 10 students split up into eight groups to get a feel for the city and become familiar with using the social networking Web site Twitter as a reporting tool. They tweeted about what they saw and how they enjoyed the experience during a six-hour span. Their first assignment: Write an online news story due in four days.

“I hope our students got a sense of the vibrancy and rich diversity of Los Angeles,” said Geneva Overholser, director of the School of Journalism. “Even for long-time Angelenos, this great city offers an unparalleled range of experiences.”

Elizabeth Geli (M.A. Specialized Journalism ’10, Twitter: @elizgeli), who sent out 12 tweets from the La Brea Tar Pits, said she is a huge believer in the power of Twitter and enjoyed being able to share her experiences with her future classmates.

“When I returned from the tour, Geneva Overholser already knew about my experience and discussed with me a specific quote that I had tweeted,” Geli said. “That is a kind of amazing communication that would never have happened without Twitter. It connects people in new and positive ways.”

Said Overholser: “It was thrilling to see the tweets, full of interesting and engaging observations. All of us in the journalism school office were exclaiming to one another, laughing and shouting with delight: ‘Did you see this video? Did you see that twitpic?’ I’m so grateful to our colleagues who put these terrific experiences together.”

Students also were able to instantaneously see their peers’ updates from Skid Row, downtown Los Angeles, the La Brea Tar Pits, Watts, gang rehabilitation and the job-training group Homeboy Industries, Little Ethiopia, L.A. Live and a tour of various stops on the city’s transit systems.

“We exposed grad students to some of the top issues and personalities in Los Angeles,” said journalism professor Alan Mittelstaedt, who led his group around Los Angeles and Hollywood during a tour of the transit system. “Like the rest of us, they came back amazed in most cases and shocked in others.”

LeTania Kirkland (M.A. Print Journalism ’11 @letaniakirkland) said she always wanted to know more about Homeboy Industries, and this was her opportunity to do just that with its director, Father Gregory Boyle.

“It was a great experience,” Kirkland said. “Father Boyle had lots of interesting things to say in regard to gang intervention and what works and what helps. He’s interested in helping former gang members find jobs and get their lives back on track.”

Piya Sinha-Roy (M.A. Print Journalism ’11 @PiyaSRoy) said exploring Little Ethiopia was the perfect way to cap her first week in the United States after moving from England.

“The last couple of days have been spent listening to lectures at orientation,” Sinha-Roy said. “All of us students are in the same boat. We got to know each other, but also did our own reporting. We all enjoyed ourselves and got out of our comfort zones. We were initially nervous about exploring an unknown area, but within a half-hour, we were settled and comfortable.”

She also said she was surprised by the easy usability of buses in Los Angeles.

“It is no different from London’s buses,” she said. “I was stunned by the preconceptions everyone has about Los Angeles public transportation.”

Evan Pondel (M.A. Specialized Journalism ’10 @epondel), who explored the Watts area, said he had never been to the area even though he grew up in Los Angeles.

“You always hear about Watts as being a dangerous place with lots of gang activity,” said Pondel, who is still wary about diving into the world of Twitter. “It was such a pleasant day. It was hard to imagine any gang activity there. It was such a contradiction to the way it’s portrayed in movies.”

He also said he is inspired to go back and learn more and report on what he sees.

“I now have a sense of the geography and will feel comfortable going there,” he said. “The trip showed us as reporters how much interesting material there is. It’s an area ripe with stories.”

Janine Rayford (M.A. Print Journalism ’11 @JanineRayford) shared Pondel’s uneasiness about Twitter and excitement for learning more about Watts.

“People from the community were speaking so positively about their neighborhoods,” Rayford said. “These people live there and are the real experts on their area. I loved learning from them. The area has challenges to deal with that many don’t know about.”

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