NPR's senior social media strategist Andy Carvin was our sole guest today on "St. Louis on the Air."
Carvin touched on his beginnings, his role as a "information DJ" and how he pieces together truth in real time.
How does he describe his job?
Carvin said one of the best ways he can think of to describe what he does is a "journalistic test pilot."
"I use the word storytelling because...not everything I do could be considered journalism."
"Someone once referred to what I do as 'information DJ-ing.'"
On the state of journalism now and opportunity:
"I think the door is wide open not only for non traditional news startups but also for traditional news as well."
On weather there's a 'dividing line' between older and younger people about social media and journalism that uses it:
"I don't think the divide is generational...I think the divide tends to exist based upon how people feel about being open about how journalism is produced."
How did he get started?
Carvin said that originally, his primary role was to experiment with new tools at NPR. In turn, he spent a lot of time on Twitter and he began to develop relationships on that platform in its early days.
He also said that before his work at NPR, he worked on internet access issues. From the relationships he developed working on the access issues, the same people in North Africa started tweeting about uprisings later. He was able to use that built-in network to start understanding what was happening there and other places during the Arab Spring.
"What started as a little bit of curiosity on my part ended up as a full-time job."
On determining credibility:
"When you have lots of people participating on the ground rather than just one, you can piece together the truth and sort through it."
On media literacy and his role:
"I think it's really important in the news business to inform people about tricks people use."
"I view my Twitter feed as an ongoing media literacy class."
- Come meet Andy Carvin at St. Louis Public Radio on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
