Twitter is starting to show live, local news broadcasts in a live streaming window next to its timeline during major breaking news events.
Buzzfeed reports Twitter's initiative to air these videos is currently rolled out across the platform, a company spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News. The company will rely on a set of partnerships with local news stations to select the footage.
On Wednesday, Twitter put the initiative into action in a big way, streaming hours of footage from Miami's WSVN 7 next to the timelines of US users as the news station covered the shooting at Broward County's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
"We're continuing to work on new ways we can surface credible and relevant information to help people stay informed. By pairing live video with the conversation on Twitter, there is no faster way to see what’s happening in the world," Twitter video GM Kayvon Beykpour told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement.
The move furthers Twitter's embrace of its role as a media and news company, and is a more natural use of live streaming space for a company that has previously aired obscure live streams like high school basketball and professional bull riding.
Twitter's efforts to promote news contrast with Facebook's recent moves, which have been to deemphasize news content in its News Feed.
Wednesday's broadcast about the Florida school shooting was clearly of interest to a decent number of people using Twitter. It registered more than 50,000 concurrent Twitter viewers at one point.
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