As Quinn and Lamble point out in Online News Gathering - newspapers are static. And while we still value them for their in depth analysis of news stories - the news is not updated regularly. This is why breaking news through social media websites and online blogs has really taken off over the last few years. As Quinn and Lamble note “In a world of information overload people want online news that they can consume quickly and easily” . This is where social networking sites such as twitter come into play. Twitter only allows 140 character messages. This means that news updated via twitter is a fast hit of information. Although I have noted that The Newcastle Herald will write a breaking news story on twitter then provide a link to the full story on their news website.
I follow a number of news outlets on my twitter which makes me feel very connected and in tune with what is happening locally, nationally and internationally. Not everyone agrees, however, that twitter is the best medium for breaking news. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch points out that that the accuracy of twitter which allows “anyone with a cell phone instantly update the world with what they see and hear, via the simple and ubiquitous text message” needs to be questioned. Tom at Tom’s Tech Blog uses the example of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai which spread via twitter before mainstream news coverage to illustrate a similar point. He notes that early reports on Twitter said there were explosions or attacks at the wrong hotel. He asks readers to imagine, if they were someone who had family or friends at the hotel that was said to be under siege and how scared out of their mind they would have been over information that was completely false.
This is a valid point and breaking news via social netwoking sites and blogs does raise such issues but this can happen in other mediums too. When an event is actually taking place there is often confusion surrounding it and wrong facts do get transmitted in broadcast and even print journalism as well. Twitter can be seen as a rough draft of history. It’s important , however, not to accept all you see on Twitter as gospel. I am more likely to be more trustworthy of Tweets from credible news outlets, however even then I keep a healthy scepticism and make sure I conduct further research.
I realise we must be cautious of breaking news on such mediums but I also think these mediums are an important factor in our changing medium landscape and are a fairly effective way of keeping citizens informed about breaking news
I also found this interview with the co-founders of Twitter interesting
I'm very much the same as you Nat in that I constantly want updates on events. However, I don't go through social networking sites to get it. Rather, I go to newspaper websites, usually SMH because they are usually trustworthy. I do agree that social networking is necessary though, as it allows news to reach so many more people.
ReplyDeleteThere are always going to be disadvantages to a system of providing information, and social networking is no different. People see and hear things and think they have to contribute to the public sphere. And thus, we see wrong information.
Also, an interesting argument to social networking with news is that it wouldn't exist without old media insuttions, including newspapers.
Overall, I think old media and new media need to work together to produce quality stories.