Want to get the scoop on other journalists? Forget hitting the streets and working your sources over the phone. Who has time for all that? This isn't the 1950's damn it! If you want an exclusive, then you need to work in real time. Say hello to your new real time monitoring service: Twitter.

Ryan Satin from TMZ got the scoop on Snooki's July 2010 arrest just by listening on Twitter and talking to people who saw it happen at the Jersey Shore. Remember, almost everyone has an iPhone capable of recording video these days... or at least a basic camera phone.

This tutorial will walk you though the basics of using Twitter to get an exclusive. Listen up journalism majors!

Requirements:

• Twitter account (free; http://twitter.com)
• Basic knowledge of Twitter (see the article How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma)
• A good Twitter client with search

Get a Real Twitter Client

1) Still going to Twitter.com every time you tweet? Please stop. Download/Sign Up for a robust Twitter client like Hootsuite (awesome), CoTweet (meh) or TweetDeck (yuck!).

Breaking News

2) Wait for some news to happen... like Snooki getting arrested while filming Season 3 of the Jersey Shore.

Start Listening

3) There are millions of eyes around the world with multimedia broadcast platforms in their pockets - their phones. Immediately start listening for story specific keywords on Twitter. For example, run search queries like "saw snooki arrested." Your goals are to identify a witness, get additional information and obtain photos and video. Adding words like "saw" and "arrested" will help you narrow your search and find witnesses in a sea of tweets.

Find Witnesses

4) Presto! We have two witnesses below. Natashanievesx3 (view tweet) and Spineda22 (view tweet).

Check Sources

5) Pull up their Twitter accounts and make sure the witnesses are legit. Check out their previous tweets. They might tell you more about your witnesses and their whereabouts before the incident. It looks like 3 hours before Natashanievesx3 saw Snooki get arrested (view tweet), she used TweetPhoto to post a picture of Snooki (view tweet). That puts Natashanievesx3 at the scene with Snooki. Witness confirmed.

Contact Witness via Twitter

6) Start @replying your witnesses on Twitter and find out if they have any pictures, video and/or more information. Data. Data. Data. You can't make bricks without clay. Here's a series of tweets between @RyanSatin from TMZ and our witnesses Natashanievesx3 and Spineda22.

Take Your Conversations Out of the Public Eye

7) Ask your witnesses to follow you so you can direct message them on Twitter or take your conversations offline. You probably don't want to start exchanging email addresses, phone numbers or negotiating prices publicly over Twitter. Then buy their media, get statements and publish your exclusive story.

Congrats on Your Exclusive!

8) Scoop archived! That's how @RyanSatin from TMZ used Twitter to get the exclusive on Snooki's arrest. Nice work Ryan! BTW that's Ryan on the left in the picture below sitting next to his boss.

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