Interview with Daniel Honigman, the man behind Colonel Tribune

Colonel Tribune has become one of the more popular Twitter and Web personalities run by a traditional media organization.

Tribune Interactive’s Daniel Honigman is the brainchild behind the Colonel. The Chicago Tribune describes the Colonel as, “the Chicago Tribune’s Web ambassador. He is here to help you stay informed and in touch with the latest news.” The Colonel posts links to interesting stories from the Chicago Tribune, blogs and even competitors’ Web sites. 

“To be honest if someone beats the Tribune on a story, I’m going to link to them first,” Honigman said. “It goes over better with some people than others.”

Honigman believes that industry attitudes about linking to blogs and other Web sites are beginning to change. Within a few years he doesn’t think it will be a big deal. Sites like Publish2 have popped up to help journalists and news organizations embrace link journalism.

Why did Honigman and Tribune Interactive decide to embrace social media? After all, so many newspapers still haven’t embraced even the most basics parts of social media, let alone created an online persona like the Colonel. 

“You want to go where the conversation is at,” he said. 

Twitter’s popularity has exploded this year. The Colonel has more than 2,300 followers, but that’s not the real secret to Twitter’s power. Those 2,300 followers can then send the links that the Colonel posts around to their followers. And then those people can forward the links around as well.

The Colonel doesn’t have a distant, corporate voice. Honigman wanted to make Tribune’s Twitter presence more personal — something that people could connect with.

“The Colonel is a voice,” he said. “People like that because it really turns you into a person and not an institution.”

Honigman cautions, however, against doing the same exact things in different markets. Different tools may work better for different markets. Different approaches may be better for different areas as well.

“What works in LA may not work in Baltimore or Chicago,” he said.

After all, Colonel Tribune is based off of Robert McCormick, the Chicago newspaper baron and owner of the Chicago Tribune. Colonel Times, for the LA Times, may not work so well. 

Some other topics discussed:

• What does Honigman’s job entail? How does someone go about getting a job like his?
• What kinds of Tweets are the most popular?
• How do newsroom staffers feel about social media and the Colonel?
• Why is it important for news organizations to interact with users?

Click here to stream the interview. Or download the MP3.