Are there any newspaper reporters using Twitter to cover council meetings? I know that we’ve seen examples of sporting events being covered via Twitter, but I don’t recall anyone saying that they are using it to report on municipal types of events.

I’m sure there are those of you who are already shaking your heads and saying “it won’t work” or “messages can only be 140 characters long.” Actually, I think, not only can it work, but also that the 140 character limit makes it ideal for this type of event.

Reporters are infamous for over-reporting and especially for taking pages upon pages of notes, many of which will never be used. Covering a meeting via Twitter might just be the remedy to this malady. If “notes” or in this case Tweets need to be limited to 140 characters per entry, it might just force them to focus their efforts and be more judicious with what they note. And when the meeting is complete, they’ll have a chronological record of their coverage.

And, there’s a bonus, a Twittered meeting can be pulled (via the RSS feed) into a newspaper’s webpage and readers can be invited to follow along either at your site or through Twitter. Seems like a win-win for me.

What do you think?

1/21, 9:23 p.m. (EST) The New York Times has a great piece today about Twitter and Presidential campaign reporting. If this approach at all interests you, check it out: “Campaign Reporting in Under 140 Taps“

Some of you may notice that I have removed the flashing Plusmo badge from my site. This shouldn’t be taken as a commentary on Plusmor or the mobile services they offer. Rather, I have uploaded a mobile plugin that will automatically sense your phone’s browser and provide it with the appropriate template. I think this streamlined approach is better for the majority of mobile visitors to this blog. If you disagree or have any comments or suggestions, I’d appreciate hearing from you. And if you never visit this blog from a mobile browser please forgive this interruption.

Remember to check back on Monday for a new post and have a great weekend.