Although we are reducing our attendance its still busy so please avoid Linton St pic.twitter.com/0daXCQamke
— Shaun Walton (@StnMgr_Preston) September 4, 2013
As journalists we read and do a lot about Freedom of Information.
Mostly FOI seems to involve lots of dusty reports, putting out/searching through spreadsheets and finding parts of an act of government which can be used either for or against divulging information.
But the use of Twitter by a station manager at Preston fire station got me thinking. Is this real Freedom of Information?
Lancashire Fire and Rescue issue a latest incidents feed on their website – a bit clunky but available to subscribe to via RSS – which is great. They also tweet the incidents. But Shaun Walton takes it a step further.
I, along with a team of volunteers, run a community news site for Preston in Lancashire and what station manager Walton does deserves highlighting.
These incidents on their own provide the basic information but Walton tweets from the scene whenever he and his crew are deployed. He’s not a communications person, he’s not a press officer and he’s not a techy person. He’s someone who saves people’s lives and is paid by the taxpayer to do it.
The tweets from incidents, clearly taken once the fire has either been brought under control or Walton is no longer needed on active duty, give the public (and the media) a birds-eye view of what the fire crews face.
In attendance house fire Linton St Preston heavy traffic avoid area pic.twitter.com/1Uli5uuVjs
— Shaun Walton (@StnMgr_Preston) September 4, 2013
It’s simple. It’s free. And it’s incredibly effective.
For a hyperlocal news site like Blog Preston, and I imagine for other local media, the tweets by Shaun are vital. They add context to the incident reports, they provide pictures, colour and additional information. For the public they show what a vital job Walton and his team too.
We’ve used Walton’s tweets to add additional information to reports and regularly embed his tweets (giving his account exposure to a wider audience).
The nice thing about Walton’s account is it’s not all “fire here” and “fire there”. He gives an insight into the fire prevention work the teams do and even has time for some off-the-job tweeting too.
Attending a neighbourhood watch meeting in Fulwood tonight speaking about deliberate and accidental fire prevention and what FRS do
— Shaun Walton (@StnMgr_Preston) September 10, 2013
But his Twitter bio makes it 100% clear what his account is there to do and that you should not report fires to it and is not monitored 24 hours a day (good to know our fire fighters get some sleep!).
My question to the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service would be. Why are all your station managers not tweeting? Why are you not using this great content Walton produces and adding it to your site? Walton’s tweets are far more interesting and easy to understand than the incident reports (full of emergency services jargon) posted on their website.
So to Station Manager Walton, keep tweeting and to the people of Preston he’s one for your must follow list.
I am sure this isn’t the only example of a public service tweeting? What other examples are there? I’ve seen lots of examples of well-run official Twitter accounts (Solihull Police and their jokes being one) but not many individuals like Walton. Post them in the comments below
