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As for the reporting question, I'm going to make the same point again -- it's a process. Rumours emerge and are disproved, stories are written and/or corrected. That's how it works.
I (and others like Henry Blodget) mentioned the Jobs rumour, although skeptically. Within minutes it had been disproven. Journalism as a process FTW.
That said, with what I can muster I’d say that I know you’re right about the mainstream media and their level of accuracy. But at least they’ve been vetted, trained, and presumably vouched for by a respectable publication of some kind.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not suggesting there be a change in Twitter per se. It effectively lets everyone listen to first hand reports which isn't a bad thing. But what I am objecting to is people suggesting it’s equivalent or superior to the mainstream media’s ability to cover news. To me that seems like an endorsement of it's accuracy which, as I tried to point out, isn't great (and despite the MSM's flaws I suspect it's accuracy is a lot better).
P.S. For the record, It's weird talking to someone on your side of this that is also part of the MSM.
As far as the argument goes, I agree that suggesting Twitter reports are equivalent to or superior to mainstream media news stories is ridiculous.
I think the news in cases like this is a continuum that begins with scattered eyewitness or second-hand reports -- whether conveyed by Twitter, or cellphone, or email, or carrier pigeon -- and continues through traditional reporting and analysis and fact-checking.
It's an extension of the reporting process, not a replacement.
#Mumbai ~ 1st Tweets Timeline & Chart ... http://tweetip.us/lkphd
The problem wasn't twitter, it was people didn't find, digg, and share the aide's tweets -- the accurate ones. The tool wasn't inaccurate, the first reports were. This is a filter problem not a problem with the platform.
Yes typically MSM won't publish until they have two confirmed sources and that makes them seemingly more reliable, but you have seen Rashamon haven't you? Might as well make the construction of the truth as transparent as possible. Bring on the wikification of journalism -- I think you will find it can holds its own versus the old woodstein methods.
Journalism Will Survive the Death of Its Institutions
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/04/journalism-w...
On 9-11 I remember the networks talking about a mysterious 5th plane that was still up in the air somewhere.
I think the reality is, when it comes to chaotic situations like these - where even the MSM are falling over themselves trying to cover it there's going to be some misinformation & confusion.
The real problem is a almost total lack of critical thinking from a huge majority of the population when it comes to digesting this information. Anything I take in in a breaking news context (regardless of source) gets taken with a grain of salt and I usually try to keep track of things in the days that follow as a more realistic picture emerges. But for every one of me there's probably 10 people who heard CNN's resident chief make shit up on the fly correspondent Miles O'Brien say something and it gets etched in their heads as fact.
The Mariott Hotel was mis-reported by media too. Twitter posters like me were actually aggregating what they hear from news channels. Also, The Ramada Hotel is next to Mariott, and hence the confusion.
At that time in the night, the gunfire and hurling grenades was very random, and most of the news wasn't confirmed/verified by authorities.
Last night, while sifting through quadrillions of tweets, blogging in three different spots, and scanning another millions news sites, I was left thinking the same thing. What if Twitter is building itself out to become that new information architecture? Not so much "wisdom of the crowds" but "wisdom of the clouds" or something poetic like that?
It's all very, very confusing and exciting.
Have you seen some of the comments on TC that reference this post? - "if it wasn’t for Twitter, I wouldn’t have heard about it at all!", I'd wager > 90% of the tweets on the topic following the break by the few that were actually there, we're people summarizing what they got from traditional news.
It is a valid eye-witness report collection tool, a "news source" a stretch in my opinion.
Because of this there is no easy and fast way to search for this information.
We have built have integrated a news posting service into our micro blog “Conversations” This ability to post news to the microblog is also integrated into our feed reader and both services post to twitter.
We you search on adelph.us for a news story you will receive results that are from both main stream media as well as from related micro blogs.
However, I'm convinced, especially if authorities will finally come to grips with the reality that you and I are going to use the same mobile devices and Web 2.0 apps that we rely on in good times to share information in bad times, and will actually deign to tell us what kind of information might actually be helpful, that their positive role will actually increase.
For example, if something, God forbid, were planned during the US Inauguration, I'd feel a lot more confident if I knew that authorities had told people what might be valuable information, had set up dedicated channels for the public to submit cameraphone photos or videos (as NYC has done for 311 and 911 complaints), and, most important, were constantly monitoring all of these apps. Instead of 100,000 guards, you suddenly have 3-5 million. That might give the bad guys pause....
Meanwhile, in the absence of official guidance, I've created "21st-century disaster tips you WON'T hear from officials" about how to use Twitter, Flickr, Qik, etc. http://tinyurl.com/26zjsy
It's easy to use, is embeddable and the price is incredible: $0.
I *strongly* recommend journalists try out this technology...
FEEDBACK from journalist Robert Anthony:
"That was an excellent webcast. A perfect use of Web technology for breaking news. It
provided a world view superior than the repetitive reports coming in on [XXXXXX] right
now. The comments from the ground in Mumbai were downright scary and reflected how dangerous and unsettled things are at this point."
Happy to chat with anyone who wants to learn how they can use this in their work. And here's the BTR CEO's contact: Alan Levy <AlanLevy@blogtalkradio.com>
Sree / sree@sree.net
Pick up 3 or 4 newspapers covering the same thing, and you will find 3 or 4 different sides to the same story. Each will contain details which conflict with the other papers, each will contain its own bias. Mainstream Media's track record for breaking news is no different than what I have seen so far with Twitter. In fact, the information I received via Twitter yesterday regarding Mumbai is as accurate as what I am seeing reported by Mainstream Media... today.
Twitter cannot possibly replace Mainstream Media's in-depth reporting, but it can do more for getting important news the attention it deserves much more quickly than calling a news desk at CNN or MSNBC will. Live reports by the people experiencing a situation will often be as accurate as hearing about it from reporters who asked the same people after it was all over.
Have you considered that perhaps these live reports that come out of Mumbai will HELP mainstream journalists with source material for more accurate reports about the attacks? Or have you considered how much more likely governments are to react to situations they may otherwise ignore simply because the story cannot be contained? Or perhaps, the likelihood that Mainstream Media will pick up a story because it's already out rather than ignore it for whatever political or financial reason they may have? Imagine how useful this wealth of information will be to investigators as they begin piecing this all together. Mainstream Media would not be able to provide the same level of documentation which live witnesses did.
Personally, I welcome Social Media to the world of journalism, and I look forward to watching the forced evolution of journalism it will bring.
This was a thoughtful and intelligent roundup concerning the use of Twitter among the journalist set, which includes myself. Many in the profession are still struggling to pickup Twitter, but it is only a matter of time before they master the service and others duplicate.
Cheers,
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