The introduction of social media sites
such a Twitter has taken the role of the journalist on a raging rollercoaster. Now
news is a 24-hour cycle, it’s about audience participation and most
importantly, who can break a story first.
Journalists no longer depict the top news stories for the day. The newsworthiness will be
determined by the amount of tweets, likes or hash tags. The audience holds the
crystal ball, however it is the journalists that have the skills to investigate
and tell the stories. If a story is broken in the morning it
will be seen as old by the afternoon. This has resulted in Journalists having
to post stories instantaneously, their role is all about multitasking and being
efficient.
Twitter describes their networking site as
a “real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas
and news”. I find it interesting to note that twitter
classifies themselves as connecting you to the news, what I would like to know
is whether people feel that this domain is a trustworthy news source?
Jay Baer coauthor of, ‘The Now Revolution:
7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social’ Says
“Ultimately, speed wins. The companies
that engage customers on Twitter and Facebook within minutes are making a
none-too-subtle statement about their embrace of the social telephone and the
primacy of the customer”.
He may be right that speed wins the
majority of the time, however it’s hard to beat an investigative piece of
journalism. Journalists push the boundaries, they dig deeper, uncover further
information and then tell it to the world.
Jason Chatfield’s article ‘Go Forth and
Verify’ provides a great insight into the role of the journalist in the age of
social media. A statement which really stuck with me was “when official sources
say something, a journalists job isn’t to report it, its to check that its
true”.
I not think Twitter is damaging to
journalism, I actually think Twitter is an incredible source to use, if used
appropriately. When engaging with Twitter journalists need to be extremely
careful and make sure their sources are reliable.
Twitter and journalists can maintain a
very healthy partnership and the below YouTube link will show you just
that!
Enjoy!!
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