The Voice
New social media Websites have left the American public confused; what is more valuable in their choice for news: timeliness or credibility? As journalists, we strive to build our credibility with every article we distribute to the public, whether it be within our print and online editions or our updates on Twitter. But it can be difficult to balance the two.
ABC News leaked that President Barack Obama said Kanye West behaved like a jackass during last Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards and immediately Tweeted the quote, not realizing it was supposed to be off the record. Nothing was illegal about posting such information, but it did pose a threat to what is largely considered a respectable presidential image. After finding out the Tweeted information was declared off the record, ABC News deleted the post and made an apology to Obama and their newswire source, CNBC.
Regretful Tweets are no new subject. Earlier this spring, a Florida radio station falsely announced the death of Patrick Swayze, causing a rumor of trending-topic proportions on Twitter. The information left people feeling scammed by the new fast-paced world of misinformed “journalists.”
Certainly, Twitter stands as arguably the most effective way to spread news quickly. In February, a Turkish Airlines crash was first posted on Twitter with information and pictures, building Twitter’s reputation as a reliable news source. People were informed faster because they were linked through the re-Tweeters and followers in the Twitterverse.
What we hope our readers value is the name behind the source. If a source is credible, it should run a follow-up article to every unlinked Tweet. Without long-form, sourced journalism, readers would be left with no more than 140 characters of questionable information.
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ColonnadeLetters@gcsu.edu.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 18 2009. Filed under Our Voice.
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