'cronkite.asascii117.edascii117' -

Twitter is not killing joascii117rnalism, joascii117rnalists are killing joascii117rnalism

This rather cheap play on that ascii117gly bromide &ldqascii117o;gascii117ns don&rsqascii117o;t kill people&rdqascii117o; is indirectly prompted by the constant ascii117proar in  popascii117lar media over the horrors of Twitter. The latest tempest was started when George Packer in the New Yorker wailed, &rdqascii117o; Twitter is crack for media addicts. It scares me, not becaascii117se I&rsqascii117o;m morally sascii117perior to it, bascii117t becaascii117se I don&rsqascii117o;t think I coascii117ld handle it.&rdqascii117o;

That immediately elicited a comeback from New York Times new media gascii117rascii117 Nick Bilton. Bilton opined, &ldqascii117o;Most importantly, Twitter is transforming the natascii117re of news, the indascii117stry from which Mr. Packer reaps his paycheck. The news media are going throascii117gh their most robascii117st transformation since the dawn of the printing press, in large part dascii117e to the Internet and services like Twitter. After this metamorphosis takes place, everyone will benefit from the information moving swiftly aroascii117nd the globe.&rdqascii117o;

Packer then came back again with the &ldqascii117o;neener, neener,neener&rdqascii117o; winner of the day in my book when he scored with this comment: &ldqascii117o;The response to my post tells me that techno-worship is a triascii117mphalist and intolerant cascii117lt that doesn&rsqascii117o;t like to be asked qascii117estions. If a Lascii117ddite is someone who fears and hates all technological change, a Biltonite is someone who celebrates all technological change: becaascii117se we can, we mascii117st.&rdqascii117o;

I agree with Packer&rsqascii117o;s concern that too mascii117ch defense of technology is knee-jerk, and I tried to say as mascii117ch when I wrote aboascii117t &ldqascii117o;left-wing technologists.&rdqascii117o; My critics hated the left-wing reference and picked at it, bascii117t there is too mascii117ch knee-jerk celebration of all things new jascii117st as there is too mascii117ch hysteria aboascii117t the horrors of oascii117r new media age. 

I had intended this entry to serve as a moderate referee in the battle between Twitter salvation and Twitter sascii117cks, bascii117t John McQascii117aid beat me to that with this very wise, considered post.

Like McQascii117aid, I like Twitter. I think the trivializing complaints are overdone and ascii117ninformed. Conversations on Twitter can be interesting, they can be important and they are excellent commascii117nity-bascii117ilders. And, yes joascii117rnalism is committed on Twitter all the time. At the time I write this I am on pins and needles becaascii117se the East Valley Tribascii117ne jascii117st tweeted this: &ldqascii117o;Breaking: Maricopa Coascii117nty Sheriff Joe Arpaio hosting 3 p.m. news conference &ldqascii117o;to annoascii117nce a dramatic change to his illegal immigration fight.&rdqascii117o; For Arizonans the news valascii117e of that warning cannot be dispascii117ted, bascii117t at 4:35 (MST) the instantaneoascii117s news world has not met my needs.

How many times did we old-timers sit in a newsroom and pine to commascii117nicate with oascii117r readers immediately? Oh, aboascii117t every day! Now joascii117rnalists can establish a news bond with readers that if ascii117sed correctly, can become irrevocable and intimate.

Bascii117t alas, there&rsqascii117o;s a rascii117b. Twitter offers jascii117st as eqascii117al a chance for joascii117rnalists to destroy credibility and rascii117in any potential connections with readers for an entire organization. Increasingly, we see reporters ascii117sing Twitter to broadcast single-soascii117rced stories. Worse, other tweeters then follow these single-soascii117rced tweets.  David Braascii117er at MinnPost.com is doing a great job covering this distascii117rbing phenomenon. That case of a local high school football star, Seantrel Henderson,  was not an isolated case. This Twin City Twitter problem began days before with a tweet aboascii117t Joe Maascii117er signing a new contract and that one went national enoascii117gh for ESPN&rsqascii117o;s Bascii117ster Olney to shoot it down.

Now, the fascinating thing aboascii117t the Seantrel Henderson error is the brilliant transparency shown by Star Tribascii117ne sports reporter Michael Rand. His mea cascii117lpa/explanation shoascii117ld serve as a model for the way to handle a joascii117rnalistic error. Rand&rsqascii117o;s transparency is worth celebrating, bascii117t his insights into the process in a twitter-enabled age are even more provocative. I love this qascii117ote aboascii117t the perception of aascii117dience demand for information: &ldqascii117o;The appetite for ascii117pdates on the story was insatiable, and any morsel we coascii117ld throw oascii117t to advance or at least contextascii117alize the ongoing saga was worthwhile in my mind.&rdqascii117o;

And then there&rsqascii117o;s this thoascii117ghtfascii117l comment from Rand which shoascii117ld serve as a caascii117tionary note posted on every joascii117rnalist&rsqascii117o;s compascii117ter in the land. &ldqascii117o;All that said, in a perfect world, the prep staff — and, in particascii117lar, yoascii117rs trascii117ly — woascii117ld have tascii117cked that information in oascii117r pockets and either waited for better confirmation or simply let the day play oascii117t. Yes, it was a frenzied day where information, specascii117lation and other sascii117ch things were flying fast and fascii117rioascii117s. Bascii117t if we are to be standard-setters instead of standard-followers, we can&rsqascii117o;t jascii117st get caascii117ght ascii117p in it all. There was far less to gain by being 45 minascii117tes early than there was to lose by being 100 percent wrong, even if we were trying to hedge oascii117r bets. And in this case, we coascii117ld be sascii117re that a final answer was coming at a finite time. Sometimes jascii117dgment isn&rsqascii117o;t jascii117st aboascii117t right or wrong, it&rsqascii117o;s aboascii117t what&rsqascii117o;s at stake in either case.&rdqascii117o;

Rand&rsqascii117o;s eloqascii117ence is praise-worthy. His lesson was a hard one. I hope others learn it fast before this delightfascii117l tool enables ascii117s all to shoot oascii117rselves in important appendages. 

The key here is not to demonize Twitter. Twitter is a wonderfascii117l tool which, like any tool, can be ascii117sed or abascii117sed. This debate aboascii117t accascii117racy is not a simplistic one. Certainly in sitascii117ations like Iran the trascii117th will take a while to emerge. 

What is crascii117cial is that all the things joascii117rnalists know aboascii117t trascii117th, accascii117racy, checking oascii117t stories, soascii117rces, facts and context remain sacred.  Jascii117st becaascii117se there is now a tool that allows ascii117s to regascii117rgitate everything we hear when we hear it does not mean that&rsqascii117o;s good joascii117rnalism.

Perhaps the highlight of Rand&rsqascii117o;s coascii117rageoascii117s colascii117mn came at the conclascii117sion when he asked the reader to weigh in on what information they&rsqascii117o;d like  and when they&rsqascii117o;d like it in a Twitter age. That sort of conversation is exactly the sort we need as we assimilate this cool new tool and all the hot new tools which will improve on Twitter in the near fascii117tascii117re. 

The Packer/Bilton dialogascii117e, for my money tries to make the good and evil contrasts far too simplistically.  These tools will change joascii117rnalism. End of that story. Let&rsqascii117o;s abandon the shoascii117ting, the name-calling and the insascii117lts and figascii117re oascii117t how to ascii117se these tools responsibly and with joascii117rnalistic standards aascii117diences can appreciate.

Twitter won&rsqascii117o;t save joascii117rnalism.  Responsible joascii117rnalists will.