Journalism and Twitter – the Battle for Hard Facts
It’s not news that Twitter has fast become the way to share breaking stories. I wrote about it here a couple of months ago when the Iranian elections turned Twitter into a lifeline to the rest of the world.
Yesterday, Facebook announced that it bought FriendFeed. This move will give Facebook the power it needs to contend with Twitter as the place people turn to the share information. And the place they turn to keep in touch with major events around the world.
More and more, people are using online microblogging sites like Twitter to get their news. This includes journalists looking for new stories. But at what point does using Twitter as a “source” for a news story cross over into shaky territory?
As stated in this article, many news organizations have developed new guidelines for their writers in regards to online sharing. It’s easy to see why journalists would be drawn to Twitter. What better way to get fast, breaking news than automatic updates from people around the world? And while there is wisdom in allowing reporters to tap into the vast population of Twitter, it also poses great risk.
In order to build a solid base of followers, one must be willing to interact with them. In order to interact, one must share details. A reporter trying to gather information for a story has to walk a fine line between giving his followers the confidence to share information with him and not giving out so much information that his story is lost to someone else.
A journalist will also have to take measures to verify the facts he receives via Twitter. And he’ll have to do so quickly, because he’s not the only person with access to the given information. Therefore, it makes fact verification and story grabbing more of a race. This can be dangerous and requires very smart reporting.
Traditional news media has taken a bit of a hit in recent months, partly due to Twitter and Facebook, where people feel more comfortable sharing and receiving information. It’s much more personal to tweet directly with the news source than to yell at the TV.
So, as the news continues to pour in, print journalists will have to work even harder at gaining solid information. They also have to realize that they may often be beat to the punch by Twitter and now, potentially, Facebook. Will this devoid traditional media of all its power? Not likely. More than anything, it will just keep them on their toes and make them work more diligently to stay current and up to date.
A feat that’s becoming harder and harder to accomplish…
I’d like to think this could encourage journalists to return to the thing they excel at – and which Twitter/Facebook can’t match.
Twitter and Facebook are great competitors when it comes to spreading rumor and gossip. Rumor and gossip is often correct – but not always.
Journalists can do the research necessary and report the News not the Rumor. I’m willing to wait for the news if it has some solid research behind it. I may have heard about it first on Twitter, but I’d like to know that I can expect to read the full story in the newspaper.
Unfortunately, with newspaper staffs cut to a fraction of what they once were, this is unlikely.
If newspapers can’t afford to do the work necessary to bring us the full story – and can only afford to repeat what we already heard on Twitter — where will we turn for the complete story?