The Balance Between Life and Work: How Journalists Use Social Media.
Meerah Powell has been working for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) as a Higher Education Reporter for roughly three years. She graduated from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communications (UOSOJC) and previously reported and produced a podcast for Eugene Weekly.
I was lucky enough to meet with her to talk about her work and how she uses different social media platforms with her job, as well as in her personal life. I was able to gather the significance of these platforms in the journalism world, and how to use them when it comes to promoting your brand, your work, and as a tool when seeking out sources and stories.
How did you become interested in journalism?
“I grew up in Eugene and I always liked writing growing up, but I didn’t know how I would feasibly make a job about of it. I fell into it while I was at the University of Oregon (UO). I started hanging out at the Daily Emerald and got into Arts and Culture writing there doing mostly concert reviews and other fun things. Then, I interned at Eugene Weekly while also taking classes at the SOJC.”
“I ended up interning at OPB my junior year of college. I was very much still deep in Arts and Culture writing. I’d never done anything for radio, and my only experience was taking reporting classes. Through the internship, I got more into radio and audio work and eventually more comfortable with working in reporting news versus Arts and Culture.”
On the topic of social media, what platforms do you use for both work and your personal life?
“For work, I, unfortunately, use Twitter. I feel like it’s a time suck and often find myself scrolling forever and being depressed by everything on there. However, I use it mostly for retweeting my colleague’s stories or posting my stories. It’s also helpful to see what other journalists in the community are working on. It’s helpful to have that live feed of what people are talking about.”
“When I’m working, Twitter is my mainstay once again, unfortunately, because it can be a lot sometimes when I’m trying to have a work-life balance and use social media for fun. I like Instagram and sometimes deep dive into TikTok. I guess those are my two fun ones, and Twitter is my work one.”
Because you use Twitter mainly for work, do you use it to find sources?
“Sometimes I do. I guess it depends on the story. At OPB, we’ve done callouts for stories. We usually plaster the story on our pages and basically say, ‘Hey, if you want to talk to OPB about this, you can contact us here.’ So, we’ve done more organized things like that.”
“I’ve definitely done a lot of Twitter and Facebook stalking of people and trying to find sources depending on the story. As I said, I cover Higher Education, so a lot of the time I’m looking for students from specific schools. It’s helpful because most people have their schools in their bios, so I’m able to search for people that way.”
How do you filter your content on Twitter?
“I started using Tweet Deck. You just sign into it through your Twitter and you can organize your feed into different groups. I have one for Oregon news, newspaper partners we have at OPB, different specific reporters, and national news. This was super helpful for me as a general assignment reporter. I’m just trying to keep my finger on the pulse of news happening everywhere at once.”
How do you balance your journalistic life versus your personal life?
“I still follow some news sources on Instagram, so it’s hard to completely separate everything. I keep my Instagram private to try to be like, ‘this is my friends and family zone,’ versus my Twitter being my ‘public work persona.’ I feel like a big part of being a journalist and social media is having a brand and this outward face persona that you have to keep professional and unbiased. So, yeah, Twitter is for work, and Instagram and TikTok are where I try to separate and not think about work. I think it’s gotten harder during the pandemic because I’ve been mostly working from home. When I was in the OPB newsroom, I had my desk and my office phone. Now, I’m in a one-bedroom apartment where my room is my office. I also use my cell phone for work now, which is hard. I use Do Not Disturb on my phone, though, when I’m off work and I try to mute Twitter for the weekends. I actually think that those technical barriers really help.”
What do you do to protect your mental health in this line of work?
“Before the pandemic, when I was having a tough day at work, I would go out with my coworkers to a happy hour somewhere, but we can’t do that anymore. It’s hard to find solace away from everything that’s happening in the world. I try to take regular breaks when I can throughout the day and set those technology boundaries. I think it’s just acknowledging when you’re feeling burnt out and stressed and trying to make time for yourself to address that in any way you can.
What advice would you give to journalists who are just starting to use social media to promote themselves and their work?
“I would say don’t be afraid to really put yourself out there. Be proud of your work and showcase it. When I started working for the Daily Emerald and doing concert reviews, I would always be posting my photos everywhere on Instagram and Twitter. Don’t be afraid to be very proud of your work and hype it up because that’s the only way to get it out there. It’s for other folks to see. It should be something you’re proud of putting out into the world.”
[See Powells’ recent articles here: https://www.opb.org/author/meerah-powell/]