Live Streaming the News

Exploring opportunities on livestreaming platforms

Platforms like Twitch are growing audience at break-neck speed thanks in part to covid lockdowns. But we haven’t seen as much interest among most news organizations. When we do see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that allows user engagement. The form tends to be much more casual and success tends to come from interacting with the audience to a degree we rarely see from a news organization.

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of the previous quarter in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch. The goal for this project is to create workflows, tools and resources for journalists to leverage Twitch as a platform for journalism.

Faculty and Staff Leads

Zach Wise

Associate Professor

Emmy winning interactive producer & Associate Professor @NorthwesternU, @KnightLab. Formerly of The New York Times. Creator of TimelineJS & StoryMapJS

Project Details

2020 Fall
Live Streaming the News

Description

People and organizations (for instance, event organizers and musicians) are doing a lot of live-stream content delivery.  But we haven’t seen as much interest among most news organizations. There are some good open-source technology tools available that have the ability to interact live with audiences across multiple platforms. For this project, a team of students will prototype news organization that exists exclusively on one or more streaming platforms to derive insights and best practices.

Important Questions
  • What are the norms for a broadcaster on different streaming platforms?
  • What capabilities could news organizations leverage from the existing set of streaming tools?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement, especially with content other than gaming?
Outcome

For this project, a team of students will prototype news organization that exists exclusively on one or more streaming platforms to derive insights and best practices. The insights and best practices will be captured in a series of blog posts or videos that can help news organizations get started with streaming platforms.

Students

Lydia Rivers

Bennett Baker

Beck Dengler

Andrew Bridgeman

Judy Lee

2021 Winter
Live Streaming the News

Description

Platforms like Twitch are growing audience at break-neck speed thanks in part to covid lockdowns. But we haven’t seen as much interest among most news organizations. When we do see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that allows user engagement. The form tends to be much more casual and success tends to come from interacting with the audience to a degree we rarely see from a news organization.

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of the previous quarter in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch. The goal for this project is to create workflows, tools and resources for journalists to leverage Twitch as a platform for journalism.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to the Twitch culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement, especially with content other than gaming?
Outcome

The goal for this project is to create workflows, tools and resources for journalists to leverage Twitch as a platform for journalism.

2021 Spring
Live Streaming the News

Description

Platforms like Twitch are growing audience at break-neck speed thanks in part to covid lockdowns. But we haven’t seen as much interest among most news organizations. When we do see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that allows user engagement. The form tends to be much more casual and success tends to come from interacting with the audience to a degree we rarely see from a news organization.

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of the previous two quarters in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch. The goal for this project is to create workflows and resources for journalists to start streaming on Twitch. Students will be expected to stream on Twitch on a regular basis on a consistent schedule.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to the Twitch culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement, especially with content other than gaming?
  • How do we build community on Twitch based on news and information?
  • How do we grow an audience?
Outcome

The goal for this project is to create workflows and resources for journalists to start streaming on Twitch. Students will be expected to stream on Twitch on a regular basis on a consistent schedule.

2021 Fall
Live Streaming the News

Description

Platforms like Twitch and Youtube continue to grow their audience at a dramatic pace but we haven’t seen news organizations leverage these platforms effectively. When we see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that invites user engagement and aligns with the norms of the respective platform.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to the Twitch culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement, especially with content other than gaming?
  • How do we build community on Twitch based on news and information?
  • How do we grow an audience?
Outcome

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of the previous quarter in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch. The team will also broadcast to YouTube and develop a guide on the differences and strategies for the two platforms. Students will be expected to stream on Twitch on a regular basis on a consistent schedule.

2022 Spring
Twitter Spaces and Twitch Live Streaming

Description

Twitter Spaces has been growing fast! Many companies and projects have been using it to engage with their audience and members in real time. Some news organizations like the AP have been leveraging the platform effectivly but most of the news industry is lagging behind. Platforms like Twitch and Youtube continue to grow their audience at a dramatic pace but we haven’t seen news organizations leverage these platforms effectively. When we see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that invites user engagement and aligns with the norms of the respective platform. For this project, we continue our exploration of creating and practicing a live broadcasting strategy for news built around viewer/listener/user engagement.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What types of prompts work well for Twitter Spaces?
  • What are the norms and engagement patterns for running a Twitter Space?
  • How important is scheduling for Twitter Spaces and what are the best scheduling practices?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to the Twitch culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement, especially with content other than gaming?
  • How do we build community on Twitch based on news and information?
  • How do we grow an audience?
Outcome

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of previous quarters in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter Spaces. Students will be expected to stream on a regular basis on a consistent schedule and refine workflows and practices for effective streaming.

2022 Fall
YouTube Live Streaming and Discord Communities

Description

Platforms like Twitch and YouTube continue to grow their audience at a dramatic pace but we haven’t seen news organizations leverage these platforms effectively. When we see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that invites user engagement and aligns with the norms of the respective platform. For this project, we continue our exploration of creating and practicing a live broadcasting strategy for news built around viewer/listener/user engagement.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What types of prompts work well for livestreaming on YouTube?
  • What are the norms and engagement patterns for running a Twitter Space?
  • How important is scheduling for YouTube and what are the best scheduling practices?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to YouTube culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement?
  • How do we build community on Youtube based on news and information?
  • How do we grow an audience?
  • What are best practices for running a Discord community connected to YouTube?
Outcome

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of previous quarters in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter Spaces. Students will be expected to stream on a regular basis on a consistent schedule and refine workflows and practices for effective streaming. Students will update our living guide to streaming for journalists. Students will also build and manage a Discord community and document best practices.

2023 Winter
YouTube Live Streaming and Discord Communities

Description

Platforms like Twitch and YouTube continue to grow their audience at a dramatic pace but we haven’t seen news organizations leverage these platforms effectively. When we see legacy news organizations streaming to places like Twitch or YouTube live, they simply stream their broadcast instead of creating native content that invites user engagement and aligns with the norms of the respective platform. For this project, we continue our exploration of creating and practicing a live broadcasting strategy for news built around viewer/listener/user engagement.

Important Questions
  • How can we make the technology for broadcasting more accessible and useful for journalists?
  • What types of prompts work well for livestreaming on YouTube?
  • What are the norms and engagement patterns for running a Twitter Space?
  • How important is scheduling for YouTube and what are the best scheduling practices?
  • What content forms and practices connect journalists to YouTube culture as it exists now?
  • What does the audience on these platforms expect as far as engagement?
  • How do we build community on Youtube based on news and information?
  • How do we grow an audience?
  • What are best practices for running a Discord community connected to YouTube?
Outcome

For this project, a team of students will build on the results of previous quarters in which students experimented and prototyped news live-streams and created guides and insights into streaming on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter Spaces. Students will be expected to stream on a regular basis on a consistent schedule and refine workflows and practices for effective streaming. Students will update our living guide to streaming for journalists. Students will also build and manage a Discord community and document best practices.