A team of 30 UTS communication students will be on the ground in NSW electorates tomorrow, reporting on the federal election for social media giant Twitter.
According to UTS senior lecturer in journalism Jenna Price it's the first time anywhere in the world that Twitter has partnered with a university to report an election.
"We have our own verified handle @UTSreports and we are covering seats from Gilmore to Dobell and out to Macquarie," Price said.
"The students will be tweeting but they will also be livestreaming their stand-ups from polling booths and giving us reviews of Democracy Sausage (@DemSausage) as they work.
"The team, mostly from the journalism and digital and social media programs, all volunteered for the project after a callout on UTS Online. We have everyone from our brand new first years, partnered up mainly with older students, to a journalism master's student."
The students completed a workshop at Twitter earlier this week on tools for their reporting, including Twitter's livestreaming service Periscope.
Twitter Australia's Head of News and TV Partnerships Tony Broderick said the partnership was driven by the fact that the majority of millennials on Twitter were undecided this election and the student channel would add another dimension to reporting.
"In every election Twitter is the key social platform for journalists and newsrooms. It's the only tool that allows you to break news, share your coverage and discover real-time, public content from the scene and from the source," he said.
"The #UTSreports team will be delivering 140-second video updates every 15 minutes as well as additional updates through the accounts of team members. They'll be reporting live from locations across NSW marginal seats and also be utilising the TwitterAU #BlueRoom as their live studio."
Price said the team would operate "live all day" from 7.30am to 6pm with about eight students acting as anchors for the coverage from TwitterAU headquarters at 2 Park St in the city.
Keep track of the UTS coverage via @UTSreports or via the hashtag #UTSreports.
Update: A recap of the day here by Twitter's Tony Broderick and a collection of @UTSreports "moments" here.
- UTS communication students will cover tomorrow's federal election for Twitter in what's claimed as a first for the social media giant
- A team of 30 students will be on the ground in NSW electorates delivering livestreaming coverage of the vote
- Update: A recap of the day here by Twitter's Tony Broderick and a collection of @UTSreports "moments"here