Twitter is great but it's no substitute for professional journalism

[cagesoulman]

Neither are blogs, message boards, or vanity sites.

Just saying.

[CJCRANE]

1. Too late. It is now.

MSM dropped the ball.

[rvablue]

8. Oh, Give it up. Seriously.

The MSM didn't "drop the ball."

They were kicked out of Iran.

The level of discourse surrounding the media re: Iran is sophmoric at best as of late on here.

Does the MSM have issues? Of course!

But they didn't drop any ball. They were thrown out. And, as is being talked about in LBN, some journalists who hid out and overstayed visas are now being arrested.

Why don't you go read Cohen's OpEd in the NYT today.

Those who were able to stay are doing the best they can.

Twitter can be of use in these kinds of situations, but the OP is right.

[CJCRANE]

13. In fairness, we need all of them, MSM, twitter, blogs etc, a multitude of sources.

The internet sometimes helps the MSM to pick up the ball. The MSM can give us a good overview.

[rvablue]

24. Yeah, every little bit helps. But characterizing the MSM as having "dropped the ball"

on the Iran story is just plain wrong.

Every network had journalists on the ground to cover this story -- until they had to leave because their visas ran out and they would have been detained/arrested anyway.

Example: a Canadian reporter working for Newsweek was just arrested. Did she drop the ball, as she won't be reporting the story anymore? No, she's a victim of state-sponsored censorship, as are all of the MSM outlets, in this instance.

[Life Long Dem]

34. Power to the people!

Technology didn't allow them to sit on the ball.

[monmouth]

2. Haha, so says the MSM...Twitter kept us informed, thank you very much...n/t

[BlooInBloo]

3. And nobody said it was. But when it's the best you got, it's the best you got.

[kentuck]

4. mumbo jumbo...

in my opinion. But useful, if you can collect and organize all the scattered thoughts.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Link?

I'd like to see a site devoted to "professional journalism" now currently reporting in Iran.

Until then, I'll just take in the ONLY sources of information I have and trust those who can vouch for that information.

Thanks for your concern.

[Kahuna]

6. Nice try, David Gregory. nt

[BlooInBloo]

11. That's David "It's not our role" Gregory to you.

""I think there are a lot of critics who think that . . . . if we did not stand up and say 'this is bogus, and you're a liar, and why are you doing this,' that we didn't do our job. I respectfully disagree. It's not our role" -- NBC News' David Gregory, thereafter promoted to host Meet the Press."

[Left Is Write]

30. If it's not the role of journalists, then whose role is it?

[cagesoulman]

40. I wish, man.

4'33"

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Is that a funny? Second time in so many months

that twitter does a far better job as a news agregator.

There is more... what do you think CNN is using RIGHT NOW? Tweeter.

[undeterred]

9. Like right on.

Whatever.

[sandnsea]

10. Not for investigative reporting

That is difficult to do and requires a variety of skills.

But most of what passes for journalism these days is a reprint of the AP or press release. Then a blogger repeats that or offers a personal analysis. None of that is journalism either.

[JI7]

12. it's the fault of so called professional journalists that blogs, twitter etc

have gained so much influence.

just look at the joke of reporting they did with the 2000 election and their openly contempt for Gore and then the war in Iraq.

[BlooInBloo]

15. That's personally my favorite part of it all. They did it to themselves.

[tekisui]

14. I don't think it is trying to or risking replacing journalism.

I can't figure out why people can't understand that each medium has its own unique and useful purposes.

[shadowknows69]

16. No shit. As soon as you find some these days let me know.

[WeDidIt]

17. I get all of my news from Blogs

Both left and right.

The MSM misses almost all the important stories.

[rvablue]

25. No, you don't.

Most blogs on the intertubes, with maybe the exception of TPM (which actually has staff reporters and therefore really isn't a blog) just feeds off what they read from newspapers, magazines and, very rarely, but the television.

You don't get your news from blogs. You read your news on blogs, which get their news from traditional resources.

[WeDidIt]

29. Yes, I do.

REgardless of primary sourcing, I turn to blogs first for news. Bloggers sift throught the bullshit to report the key news.

And most of the primary sources are not the mainstream media.

[rvablue]

31. Care to share?

I'm fascinated by these assertions re: blogs.

Can you turn me on to some of these blogs of which you speak.

Because I have yet to find any blogs that don't take the lion's share of their content from traditional sources.

I'd love to be proven wrong, so maybe you can share some links with me.

Blogs are aggregators. There are some on the local/municipal level that actually break real news. I have yet to find one that is doing that on a consistent basis on the national, international level.

[Duer 157099]

18. Give it some time

Pretty soon it too may be as irrelevent as the M$M.

But for today, it's ok.

[liberalmuse]

19. It looks like they will have to be a substitute for now.

Iran has jailed 24 journalists that we know of and the rest are either 'missing' or have been ordered to leave. But thank you for letting those of us with inferior intellects know this. :eyes:

[rvablue]

32. +1 n/t

[NeedleCast]

20. Twitter isn't advertised as a substitute for professional journalism

[rocktivity]

21. You left out "corporate media."

rocktivity

[supernova]

22. Professional Journalism? Would that we had some!

The sighting of the rare Journalis Professionalis in the wild is as rare as a the spotted owl. It's the dearth of such creatures that makes blogging, and twittering all the more powerful.

In a way, I think that's headed in a good direction. You get information on the ground, as it happens, not filtered through a person with their own set of biases and foibles, but from the people experiencing it themselves.

Journalism is becoming democratized (small "d')

[Life Long Dem]

23. Just saying

Unfiltered = no propaganda.

[rvablue]

28. Careful....

While Twitter has definitely contributed to news getting out of Iran, there also seems to be some BS posts on there as well.

Don't totally understand it, but from what I do understand, there is no 100% way to verify that any of those Tweets you are reading from Iran, are actually coming from Iran.

I'm not saying they are all inventions. That obviously is not the case. But it is possible, and probable given the propaganda we are seeing on the state run television stations in Iran, that some Tweets are utter, psyops BS.

So, be very, very careful with the assertion that nothing on Twitter could be propaganda.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Oh there is plenty of that right now

you just have to develop a nose for it

[spanone]

26. what professional journalism? very very little

[arcadian]

27. If by "great" you mean "total shit, sucky and lacking"

Then we are in agreement.

:D

[GeorgeGist]

35. Just saying is great but it's no substitute ...

for proof.

[Oregone]

36. Though emoticons are

[AlinPA]

37. OK, but a lot of the trash on U.S. TV (airheads, fools and loudmouths)

are not journalists.

[Sheltiemama]

38. Amen.

[mitchum]

39. "And that horseless carriage will never take off", said the blacksmith