Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

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Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and a plethora of smartphone apps, newsrooms now have an entirely new toolbox available to them in breaking news situations. And here’s another one to add to the kit: Banjo. 

 

Banjo is an app that describes itself as “a social discovery service.” Available for iPhone and Android users, the app collects social media updates from a variety of networks in real-time and posts them according to geo-tag. You don’t have to “check in” or even be part of a network to see other people’s updates, which are shown on a map.

 

In January, Andy Stettler used Banjo to clarify a breaking news situation. Stettler, an assistant online editor with the Lansdale Reporter, a Pennsylvania newspaper, heard reports about a possible “bomb device” at the King of Prussia Mall. His first thought was to check social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Then he remembered to log into Banjo, which he had installed just days before....