Media Giraffe: Craig Kanalley

As a part of #jenclass, I’m participating in the Media Giraffe project, which is compiling profiles of journalists and other innovators who are “sticking their necks out” for community and democracy.  Earlier this month, I had a great back-and-forth conversation via Twitter with Craig Kanalley, the Traffic and Trends Editor at the Huffington Post and the founder of Breaking Tweets.  At 24, he’s already rethinking how journalists interact with the communities around them.  Here’s what he had to say.

Elle Moxley: Have you always been interested in social media?

Craig Kanalley: I started with a journalism degree focusing on print in undergrad. I always wanted to write for a newspaper, preferably in sports. Late in my junior year, I had a chance to be online editor at the school paper and I loved it. Senior year I really gravitated toward online I saw a lot happening in that space and a lot of opportunities in the Web, so I decided to do a grad degree focused on online at DePaul.  I wasn’t always interested in social media but just got really interested in it over time. At DePaul, I really grew interested in Twitter.  I decided to focus on Twitter for many of my classes and put a huge emphasis on it to learn it really well.

EM: Where did the idea for Breaking Tweets come from?

CK: I first thought of the idea of Breaking Tweets when I attended Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., and saw the use of Twitter there. It was outstanding and so cool to see real-time reaction/emotions from so many people both in DC and elsewhere.  I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to monitor Twitter reaction to major events around the world? So I started Breaking Tweets as a personal blog.  It quickly grew into something much bigger due to Twitter and Google referrals.

EM: How did you end up at the Huffington Post?

CK: I work as Traffic and Trends Editor, which basically means I monitor trends online and breaking news and help file news stories about them. I originally contacted HuffPost about Breaking Tweets – to see about a potential partnership – and next thing I knew there was a job offer.

EM: How can young journalists use social media to find similar opportunities?

CK: I teach a class at DePaul (remotely from NYC now, this quarter is the second time it’s being offered).  I think the biggest thing for journalists, especially young journalists, is to just jump into all the social media tools out there today.  Give it a try. Experiment. See what works, what gets a response and what doesn’t. By engaging, it’s amazing how much you’ll learn and how quickly you’ll learn it.

EM: How is social media changing how journalists report the news?

CK: I think Twitter and other social media will only continue to grow and become more important in the news. They provide millions of sources instantly around the world. It’s a great tip service for news organizations that know how to use it, and it’s a great way to do research. But you do have to be careful about inaccurate information. You still need to go through traditional methods to verify and double check info.  Twitter has made it incredibly easy for anyone to jump into all kinds of conversations – about news events or any topic they’re interested in. Twitter is great for journalism. It opens up a range of opinions and thoughts in real time about almost anything imaginable. It’s a very useful tool.

EM: Finally, earlier this year you wrote about changes in Facebook’s privacy settings for the Huffington Post.  Is there such thing as a social media balance?

CK: Sure.  It’s possible to use Facebook as a private feed and Twitter as a public one. That’s the real value of each I think.  On Twitter, it’s not really possible to over share good, quality content. But it is possible to be annoying. You need to be sensible.

Kanalley received his Bachelor’s of Arts from St. John Fischer College in Rochester, New York, and his Master’s of Arts from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.  In addition to his work with the Huffington Post and Breaking Tweets, he’s teaching a class at DePaul on Twitter and social media.