In Unread Alerts, I suggest that anybody with a cell phone ought to know the contact points for their local news organizations. Finding the contact information is a different maze on each site. Given that many websites have adopted the familiar orange RSS icon, why isn’t there a consistent and recognizable icon for reaching the contact page?
When news breaks, it’s probably easiest to look in the phonebook. In fact, of the 5 television stations, I could find the phone number for only one of them on their websites– for WHDH’s tips hotline. Only WHDH has made an effort to brand their tips submission.
Here’s what I found for Boston’s 4 daily newspapers (including the 2 free dailies), 5 television stations, and 2 radio news stations. I looked for the “tips” number or the local news bureau:
Web | Phone | Text Message | ||
Boston Globe (Boston.com) | 617-929-3100 | [email protected] | ||
Boston Herald | form | 617-619-6789 | ||
Boston Metro | 617-210-7905 | |||
BostonNOW | 617-482-3669 | [email protected] | ||
NECN – New England Cable News | 617-630-5000 | |||
WBZ – CBS affiliate | 617-783-4444 | |||
WHDH – NBC affiliate | Send it to 7 | 800-280-TIPS | [email protected] [email protected] |
|
WCVB – ABC affiliate | form | 781-449-0400 | ||
WFXT – FOX affiliate | form | 781-467-2525 | ||
WBZ NewsRadio | 617-787-7000 | [email protected] | ||
WBUR – NPR affiliate | form | 617-353-0770 |
The web form may seem cumbersome, but it can support anonymous tips; it may also be less susceptible to spam. A text message to an email address generally includes the sender’s phone number, so it would be authenticated to some degree.
I’ll update this page to keep it current if I get more information. I think there’s a larger issue about whether news bureaus should be easier to contact, and whether they should register short code addresses. None of them have a specific text message address (aka “short code”) which are administered in the U.S. by the Common Short Codes Administration. It’s $500-$1000 a month for a 5- or 6- digit code. Of the 129 registered services listed as “Info Alerts,” a handful are owned TV and radio stations, and none explain that they can be used for passing along news tips. Most of the advertised upload/inbound capabilities of the short codes are for responding to trivia contests on music stations.
Is registering a short code entirely necessary, would it allow news to be reported that wouldn’t otherwise be? Would it just encourage more spam to a news bureau? I don’t know, I just suppose that it will be another branding extension– which may prove extremely useful when the Big Story hits.
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