What makes news news? Is it accuracy? Is it speed? Or is there some kind of special social digibabble magic that has changed the way we view the information we get? Bottom line, this isn’t a new story nor is the issue a result of our digital world.
But it’s been a big story lately, owing to reddit’s botched attempt to use the internet to find the bombers at the Boston Marathon. And CNN’s quick misreporting of both suspects and an arrest. In other words, the issue is not simply digital nor is it rooted in an analog past.
The backlash is spawning a lot of introspection: Is the digital world making it impossible to verify sources and thus judge the value of information — or worse, did crowdsourcing incite a kind of vigilante justice? Has the need for content 24/7 lowered the standards of journalism?
Not so fast.
Behind every digital technology is a human need — the need to share, the need to communicate, the need to create community. Let’s be clear, the race to be first is a time-honored ritual of journalism.
Where there are humans, there is human error. And there’s certainly nothing new about that. Remember Dewey vs. Truman.
CNN gave us the incredible privilege of seeing news unfold before our eyes. The 24/7 cycle they created gave us a new perspective on the world and brought faraway places into our homes no matter where we live. Digital communications have taken that cycle a step further.
New technology has given the disenfranchised a larger voice, exposed evil more quickly than ever, and helped shine a light on places and problems that would otherwise seem remote and obscure.
So it seems to me that all these recriminations after Boston are missing the point. The issue is neither the technology or the lack of technology. The issue, plain and simply put, was us.
The digital world has extraordinary potential, but it’s people that give it its power — good and bad. The same with journalism.
We are watching journalism as it is reinvented for our time. Reddit is a fantastic and worthwhile idea. And I will also keep tuning in to CNN, reading the New York Times, scanning the Huffington Post and talking to friends on the ground.
The best journalists will find ways to leverage digital’s innate strengths. The best readers/listeners will demand veracity, credibility and clarity. I’m banking on the partnership of the writer/creator and reader to build on the legacy of integrity that needs to be extended into our world.
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