How to survive doing a live blog...

It’s US election season folks, and even though we’re ‘Down Under’ it’s hard not to get swept up in the drama and excitment of the world’s biggest marketing campaign. It’s the Presidential Election race of course.

This week was the Democrats (Obama’s party) turn to host their convention and these things aren’t your average weekend get-togethers with mints in the middle of a table. It’s more like a rock concert with politics thrown in. Think Foo-fighters. Think 20,000 screaming people waving signs. Think world-wide coverage. Think George Clooney. Now you’ve got the idea. 

So in the spirit of this week’s lecture on live blogging, I thought I’d have a go at covering the final night of the convention using Twitter. To begin with, it sounded so easy but trust me, the novelty soon wears thin. So this is what I learnt from my first stint as a live blogger – 

1.       Pick a short event – WOW, who would have thought that politicians loved talking so much? If you can choose an event to live blog, pick something quick like a 50 metre swimming event (unless ‘Eric the Eel’ is swimming) instead of an all day event like I foolishly did 

2.       Be prepared – Live blogging is intense and draining. Chances are you won’t want to move from your seat in case there are important developments. Therefore have food, water and damp towels to wipe your forehead at the ready. To complicate things, as a result of consuming food and water, chances are nature will call so use a portable device to blog (e.g. Ipad) because it’s hard to carry a desktop computer to the loo!

3.       Do stretches – No matter what type of device you use, by the end of your live blogging session you’ll have the hands of an 80-year-old. To avoid this, have a rest and stretch those fingertips.

4.       You don’t have to be on the spot to be ‘Johnny on the spot’– I was watching the convention on the internet thousands of kilometres away from Charlotte. Yet I broke the news on Twitter that Barack Obama had accepted his party’s nomination before the New York Times correspondent who was based at the convention did.  Most big events now have their own live web feeds, so use them. 

5.       Don’t get caught up in the moment –I fell into the trap of blogging nearly every statement Vice President Joe Biden made because I got fired up about it. Don’t do it - even if you’re passionate about the subject take a step back. Yes it’s hard but remember you’re a journalist, not Alan Jones or Kyle Sandilands who gets paid for their opinion. Be objective and try to make readers feel like they’re at the event themselves. 

6.       If watching an event online, DON’T do it at QUT because chances are you’ll exhaust your internet quota.....

  

See my full live blogging coverage on Twitter  @TayBunnag