Stelter: In Joplin, ‘my best reporting was on Twitter’

…the Deadline
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter has blogged about his experience covering the tornado destruction in Joplin, Mo. — the first time he’s reported on a natural disaster. Expecting to go to Chicago to interview Oprah Winfrey, he arrived ill-prepared, without boots, maps, or a pen for his notebook. “What I learned: always carry extra pens.” Stelter ended up tweeting much of what he saw; he used Instagram to send photos, which helped him remember scenes for his stories. At his suggestion, the Times linked to his tweets on its home page. “It was, after all, the place where my latest reporting was being posted. … Looking back, I think my best reporting was on Twitter. … People later told me that they thought I was processing what I was seeing in real-time on Twitter. I was.” He archived his tweets on his Tumblr.