12 Days of the RRJ: Day 3 – Twitter on the Hill

As more and more Canadians consume their news on a growing variety of platforms and devices, handheld reporting is changing how Parliamentary news is produced, consumed and digested. As Twitter takes the Hill, here is Ashley Csanady’s list of the top ten political reporters you should be following.

Bonus Round: Can you match the political pundit to his or her tweet? Look below for the answers.

Kings and Queens of the Hill

• David Akin, Sun Media parliamentary bureau chief (@davidakin)
Tireless and knows what’s up in Ottawa. Always one of the first members of the gallery to jump on new technology.

• Rosemary Barton, CBC national reporter (@RosieBarton)
Tweets
range from deep policy debates to Rideau Hall’s broken air-conditioner
that had guests sweating through their formal wear.

• Andrew Coyne, Maclean’s national editor (@acoyne)
Based in Toronto, but his 140-character conversations with the Twittering Press Gallery make him part of the Hill gang.

• Susan Delacourt, senior political writer for the Toronto Star (@SusanDelacourt)
Quick-witted and knows Parliament inside and out, so her tweets are often funny and always relevant.

• Dan Gardner, Ottawa Citizen senior writer and columnist (@dgardner)
Prolific and interacts with both readers and fellow journalists.

• Kady O’Malley, CBC parliamentary blogger (@kady)
Trades barbs and puns with other reporters and tweets about the inner-workings of Parliament and the press gallery.

• Laura Payton, Sun Media parliamentary bureau reporter  (@laura_payton)
Offers
a synopsis of what she’s covering and a round-up of notable headlines.
Says Twitter helped her build contacts and credibility as a young
reporter on the Hill, despite the fact she’d covered Parliament on and
off since 1999.

• Joanna Smith, Toronto Star reporter in the Ottawa bureau (@smithjoanna)
When
she live-tweeted the sentencing of Russell Williams, she proved the
seemingly frivolous platform can produce serious journalism.

• Paul Wells, Maclean’s columnist (@InklessPW)
A wicked wit, he covers politics—and jazz.

• Stephen Wicary, The Globe and Mail online political editor (@wicary)
Posts links to relevant stories and blogs by his colleagues and his competitors.

Csanady pops into the bubble and uncovers the method to the Twitter reporting madness. Find out how in the Winter 2011 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism, launching on December 14 at the Cadillac Lounge in Toronto.

Correction: December 1, 2010

The original version of this article stated that Laura Payton arrived on the Hill in 2009. She has covered Parliament on and off since 1999. The Review regrets the error.

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by Ashley Csanady

Ashley Csanady was the Chief Copy Editor for the Winter 2011 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism.