Social media and journalism

Thursday, 02 February 2012 17:02

Social media and journalism

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Friday, February 3:

Legendary former Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno died Sunday morning, January 22 from lung cancer. The tributes to Paterno culminated with a memorial service witnessed by 12,000 at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus and millions more on television last Thursday.

The death of college football's winningest coach and one of the university's biggest benefactors arguably received as much media coverage as the passing of a head of state would.

For obvious reasons, Paterno's death overshadowed inaccurate media reports from the night before saying that Paterno had died.

It all started with a Twitter report that Paterno had died from the student run organization Onward State. That story was picked up, without attribution, by CBS Sports. Other reputable news organizations then ran with it. Websites, Twitter and Facebook were dominated with news that Paterno was dead. Less than an hour after the reports began, the Paterno family released a statement denying the reports.

On Friday's Radio Smart Talk, we'll use the premature reports of Joe Paterno's death as the starting point for our conversations on social media and journalism.

LISTEN TO PROGRAM:

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# Tom 2012-02-03 10:41

Hasn't social media become a modern day, lightening fast, rumor mill? And the quest of media to "out-scoop" each other hasn't changed. So the pressure to put news out there quickly is even greater, but verification absolutely must be done.

Thomas Dewey did not defeat Harry Truman...

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# Jim 2012-02-03 10:45

I think the real lesson that reporters need to take away is that social media is essentially the same as the rumor mill, or "tipsters" that reporters have used foreever. It still makes sense to consider this information, but it can't be treated as gospel. If reporters don't follow the long established rules such as requiring multiple credible sources, they play into the hands of folks like the right wing talk show hosts who claim all reporters are liars.

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# Mallary Jean Tenore 2012-02-03 12:43

Good point, Jim. Social media is a great starting point, but it's not the end all, be all. We still have to look into the information we find on social networks, rather than simply passing it along with the hope or assumption that it's true.

~Mallary

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# Troy 2012-02-03 10:50

I know I am in the minority with this.

I live without cable TV and only have a Trac Fone. I use Facebook, but not Twitter, but I do not use Facebook for news. I get all of my news from either news emails or NPR. I prefer the way NPR delivers the news without arguments back and forth like you find on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. Hearing the facts from both sides without bickering is so much more pleasant.

I decided to try following Kevin Trudeau’s idea of “If you want to know happiness, don’t read mainstream newspapers and don’t watch the news.”

I have found indeed that ignorance can be bliss. The less you know, the less you worry about. I feel sorry for people who hinge their lives on the news everyday. I remember what it was like to worry all the time.

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# Elliot 2012-02-03 10:53

Are you aware of the state Department "training" people in the Middle East on how to use social media? In regards to that, how can we trust retweets from Andy Carvin from NPR when he is retweeting unverified information?

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