I had just eaten dinner after hours of air travel in the wackiest flight pattern possible from national journalism conference in New York home to Oklahoma. I was catching up with my family and attempting to make the transition from “conference networking and learning Kenna” to “professor giving midterms tomorrow Kenna.”
My student editor-in-chief had just arrived home from her first experience at conference. She was settling back in, likely contemplating finishing off a bag of Nutter Butters while studying for my 10 a.m. midterm exam in media law.
I called her phone as soon as I got the text alert that the campus was on lockdown. It was busy the first time I called. Apparently she already was on the phone with the campus police department, confirming the status and attempting to gather more details.
Student Publications editors spent much of the rest of the night gathering information and using their website and social media accounts to do some of their best reporting this year. The information they provided their campus audience was critical, since the university’s emergency alert system (which is being replaced) lagged for the second time this academic year.
BREAKING: Campus is on lockdown, according to OCUPD. Seek safety indoors.
— MediaOCU.com (@MediaOCU) March 13, 2013
The campus was locked down at 10:09 p.m. This tweet went out at 10:12 p.m. Three minutes seems a bit late to me. However, I’m pretty sure they updated their Facebook status first. For many students on campus, it was the first they heard of the lockdown.
Although I served as their adviser via my sofa, they really already had it covered.
Here are some of the key parts of their process in covering the campus on lockdown.
Lock down!
There is a reason that university officials call for a lockdown. It’s not just done on a whim. My first advice to my students was to lock down immediately, then start reporting from wherever they were located. I told the students not to leave their location (Admittedly, this was much more a demand than advising. I even used ALL CAPS in my message.) until the lockdown was cleared officially.
BREAKING: This is not a drill. Campus is locked down due to reports of gunfire. Remain indoors until further notice. — MediaOCU.com (@MediaOCU) March 13, 2013
I have been unpopular in the past for disagreeing with advisers who tell their students to go immediately to the news. I really don’t care what people think of this decision. As an adviser and a faculty member, my first priority is the safety of my students. And, as I told my students last night, they could do the reporting they needed to do from their locations. Plus, it was convenient that one student already was working in the Newsroom. She just locked down there.
Bottom line: I can’t think of a single thing reported in student media that would make it worth my students risking their safety. I take collegiate media quite seriously. I take my role as caregiver to my students even more seriously.
Have a communication method
The editorial board recognized a couple of weeks ago that they needed a method of communication outside of emails and group texts. They set up a Facebook chat that each editor and myself are part of. It allows them to contact each other immediately when help is needed for whatever reason. It also creates an ongoing dialogue without all of those annoying group texts or cumbersome emails.
The editor Facebook chat worked magically during the lockdown. Assignments were dispatched, information was shared, rumors were reported for each other to check out, copy edits were suggested, and I advised the process from home. It was an excellent way to keep everyone on the same page. Also, Facebook’s structure allowed the group to know who was reading the chat messages, so there was no question about who was getting what or what aspects of the story anyone was working on. It broke down a bit like this, although I’m sure there was crossover at times:
Editor-in-chief – reporting with the campus and city police
Multimedia editor – filing stories online as the EIC got more information, interviewing students via telephone (FYI, this was the student locked down in the Newsroom, so we made good use of her reporting and writing skills.)
Web editor – updating social media and engaging with students as much as possible
Advertising/marketing director – updating on students’ reports on the emergency alert system and various rumors spreading via social media (These weren’t reported, but were checked out as warranted and provided context for questions.)
Copy editor – making copy change suggestions for web stories and updating staff on student reports
Spread truth, not rumor
The rumor mill goes crazy in situations of uncertainty, but student media cannot get caught up in the hype. One of my first pieces of advice to the student editors reporting on the lockdown was not to report anything they couldn’t confirm with campus or city police. The editor-in-chief reminded them of that several times during the process. They did an excellent job of confirming information as quickly as possible.
BREAKING: The lockdown has NOT been lifted. Please remain indoors.
— MediaOCU.com (@MediaOCU) March 13, 2013
Use social immediately
The students did the majority of their lockdown reporting via Facebook and Twitter. They immediately recognized and embraced this method as the most efficient way to reach the student body with important information. I previously had been told by students that they went to Stu Pub’s Facebook page first when the university was locked down in the fall.
BREAKING: A shooting occurred off campus and university police are assisting Oklahoma City police. — MediaOCU.com (@MediaOCU) March 13, 2013
Post more A.S.A.P.
People can’t get enough information as quickly as they want it in situations of emergency. In the end, my students only filed two stories on their website. The first was Shots fired, campus on lockdown. The second was Lockdown lifted, OCUPD gives the ‘all clear’.
These obviously were the two most important aspects of the story. I assume they will follow up today with a story about the crime itself and short information about the emergency alert system.
Ironically, they already have a story coming out in today’s edition (it’s a weekly) about the system being replaced. I assume there will be a larger issue story about the system in the first paper after Spring Break.
Engage when possible
Readers are likely to post questions, toward you or in general, via social media. Respond to them with the most accurate information you can provide. If you don’t have answers, try to get and post them. Chances are that if one person has a question, so do others.
@mediaocu I got the emails in a timely manner. Still no texts… #OCUlockdown
— Emma Velez (@EmmaDVelez) March 13, 2013
Follow it through
The reporting doesn’t end when the lockdown is lifted. Continue reporting on the event that caused the lockdown and the effectiveness of the system.
The lockdown has ended. How and when were you informed of the lockdown? Text? Email? Let us know! #OCUlockdown
— MediaOCU.com (@MediaOCU) March 13, 2013
Evaluate systems
How well did your staff and internal systems work in reporting on this event? It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of reporting something big and just want to rest afterward, but it’s important to review your processes and plan for similar situations in the future.
The Society of Professional Journalists has an amazing list of resources for covering school violence on their Journalist’s Toolbox site.
Distribute Praise
Openly praise your staff for the positive things they did during this coverage. People like to hear that they’ve done a good job. Covering a campus lockdown is an important service to your university community. Praise your staff for the positive differences they made.
I hope you never have to report about a lockdown, but they are an unfortunate reality of today’s university environment. When these issues occur, student media have an obligation to readers to keep them as calm and informed as possible. I am proud of the work my students did this week. I hope their process and examples can help you if necessary.
Let’s Talk Nerdy!
Do you have policies or best practices for covering lockdowns or other campus crime events? If so, share them below so we can learn from each other.
MPCWatkins says
I and the editorial staff at The Colonnade at Georgia College and State University covered a bomb threat from literally across the nation. We were at a journalism conference in Chicago and had to resort solely on what we saw on social media and what we could gather through phone calls. We split up tasks similar to the ones outlined in the post, but it would be great to have this conversation beforehand so everyone can jump right into their set disaster response roles. I second the use of social media as our report of what happen went up on Facebook and updates went out through Twitter/comment posts on Facebook. Great article! Thanks for posting!
profkrg says
MPCWatkins That sound quite challenging. I agree that it’s good to have these conversations beforehand, although we often don’t. I guess we just get caught up in everything else we need to do.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
chasesnider says
profkrg thanks for sharing, very insightful
WriterChickNJ says
profkrg Great advice!
WriterChickNJ says
profkrg So what happened? What was the lockdown all about?
profkrg says
WriterChickNJ there were shots fired a few blocks from campus. It was a safety precaution.
WriterChickNJ says
profkrg Whew!
natecheat says
profkrg going to post this in our newsroom lots of really good tips. Especially after our own lockdown march 7th! LiveWireMCC #lwpaper
profkrg says
natecheat LiveWireMCC There’s a PDF maker at the bottom of the page, if that helps. Did you follow some of these steps?
natecheat says
profkrg thanks, and yes though disorganized at times this fits what we did. We are following up with a huge story in our monthly issue
profkrg says
natecheat I was super impressed by how well my students handled it. Their training kicked in, for sure. You can see the stories MediaOCU.
natecheat says
profkrg MediaOCU I’ll take a look, our staff is fairly young and inexperienced hopefully your tips can help us realize what we missed
profkrg says
natecheat MediaOCU everyone is learning. That’s why it’s called higher education, right?