Stephen Clark is well known in Michigan as the evening news anchor at Detroit’s channel 7, WXYZ Action News. He’s also a singer and songwriter and dedicated family man. He’s a master in his profession, and is one of the limited media personalities offered the opportunity to interview a sitting President, and yet his “down to earth” personality has made him a social media favorite. He interacts, rather than broadcasts our local news, and has unassumingly brought the channel 7 news team into uncharted territory: a two way conversation with their viewers.

Stephen Clark on Social Media Relationships and Building Community Part 2

In the second part of my interview with Stephen Clark of WXYZ Action News, he shares his thoughts on why the #backchannel has been successful and offers some key pieces of advice for other businesses considering an online community of their own. While listening to him describe how he manages the #backchannel I was struck with the vision of Aikido. Aikido is a form of martial arts described as a way of unifying with life energy. It blends with motion through redirection. Stephen doesn’t try to control or force the direction of the community, instead he uses the energy of the members and blends or respectfully redirects it. Stephen also candidly shares his thoughts on the current state of news casting, how he’s trying to change the quality of content, and how the #backchannel saved his professional career.

View Part 1 Here: