Sarah Hill “Sarah’s Stories” and Google +

On Monday there was a presentation about “Sarah’s Stories” on U_News on KOMU. Sarah Hill is a newscaster on KOMU and uses Google +, Facebook, and Twitter to communicate with the audience simultaneously with the newscast at 4pm. She talked to viewers on Google + during the broadcast, and she was able to get context to what the viewers think about today’s topics. Related to my last post about the St. Louis Beacon, both of these news sources are incorporating direct audience feedback in their news. Since the news is directed to a certain audience, getting opinions from that audience will enhance the story and let the newscasters/writers know what their viewers/readers want. This is a revolutionary idea and should, hopefully, give other news stations the incentive to use this idea to get a better glimpse on their audience’s desires. Here is a video about “Sarah’s Stories” and how she weaves audience interaction with the normal afternoon newscast seamlessly.