Case Study: How Twitter Helped the Discovery Channel During a Hostage Crisis
When a gunman took three hostages at Discovery Communications headquarters (home of the Discovery Channel) on September 1, 2010, hundreds of news outlets reported the crisis.
Yet mainstream media was not the first to break the story. An employee inside the Silver Spring, Maryland facility took a photo of an armed law enforcement official using a mobile phone and posted it on Twitpic.
“Discovery Channel building” quickly hit the top of the Twitter trending list.
From this one “citizen journalist,” Twitter’s viral power took over. Within seconds, people were learning about the ordeal for the first time through the micro-blogging site. Before long, the “Discovery Channel building” became the top trending topic with “Gunman” not far behind.
See How Twitter Helped the Discovery Channel During a Hostage Crisis by Casey Hibbard.
Employees gather in the atrium after returning to work (Photo: Ken Visser for Discovery Communications)
Tags: case study, crisis management, Discovery Channel, Twitter
