Melissa wanted to hangout on Mars - others weren’t so sure

This week saw the first Google hangout that we have organised centrally in BBC News. It had to be a big, bold topic.

BBC science editor David Shukman joined World Have Your Say presenter Ben James for a 30-minute discussion on space exploration and the prospect of sending people on a one-way ticket to Mars. The participants included an applicant for the Mars One project, a space historian (on screen above) and a number of space enthusiasts.

(If you missed the hangout you can watch it and read David Shukman’s blog.)

The discussion was lively and informative. Some participants were sceptical about the feasibility of sending humans to Mars but, as Melissa Ede who has applied to go pointed out, how do we know it’s impossible unless we try “and accept the challenge”?

The hangout offers a great opportunity for journalists to engage directly with our audience on camera, drawing in comments from across our social media platforms. It’s also a great way of showcasing the benefits of a multimedia newsroom.

The broadcast was trailed widely across our social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Google+), and on the BBC News Channel, BBC World TV (below) and the BBC News website. Google UK even promoted the hangout on its own G+ page.

This time last year the BBC’s Raama Sharma blogged about how hangouts were starting to be used by journalists, and they’ve proved to be an excellent vehicle to connect with audiences. But more specifically they provide new opportunities for our editors, correspondents and in-house specialists to extend the reach of their journalism and create an intimate and easy-going environment for members of the public to share their views and thoughts.

Seen in 53 countries, our Mars hangout was shared hundreds of times on YouTube and was initially amongst the top 10 most watched videos on the BBC News website.

Some people pointed out that our webcam was too high and the backdrop could have looked smarter, and there was some drop-off during the hangout. There are some production lessons here, but one thing’s very clear: Mars might be a hard act to follow but we will definitely be following up with more hangouts soon.

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