A couple of weeks ago a propane factory exploded in Toronto. Within seconds the explosion was being reported via twitter. When Jeremiah Owyang tweeted that pictures and video were available at photojunkie he was quickly followed by reporters and the LA Times Blog, a Canadian journalist then picked up the story.
As Jeremiah suggests this evolution in media reporting comes with risks attached but these can be mitigated with due diligence and common sense:
1) Sources may panic, and over or under state the situation. 2) Determining who is a credible source is a challenge, 3) Echos from the online network may over pump or mis state very important facts that could impact people’s safety. How did I know that Photojunkie wasn’t lying? I don’t. I did however first review his site, his history on Twitter, and saw his pictures and videos before pointing to them.
Some of his ideas to contemplate over lunch (I particularly like 1,5, and 7):
- The new News Wire is now Twitter, the “Twire”?
- News continues to break from first hand sources, in the past, the press would break the stories.
- The jobs of the press are both easier and harder: They’ve improved access to sources in real time, but the level of noise has increased.
- Press and Media must monitor Twitter: we’ve never seen information break as fast as this.
- Press still have a very important role: vetting out what’s true and false to the best of their ability.
- The media community must be mindful of what’s real and what’s not, over hyping or spreading false information could impact lives.
- Emergency response teams and local municipalities should monitor the online chatter, just as they do emergency short wave channels.
