14 Comments

  1. and…the power of social media only strengthens through this post. Surely Laurel, this is the first media analysis of the event, while it is still currently ongoing news. The medium allows coverage to be assessed as it is taking place.

    and…how did i find this post, via twitter.

  2. Before we ‘social media types’ get all high-n-mighty about the MSM gorilla, step back and take a peek in the mirror. Tis not all beer n skittles. These horrible events tend to bring out both the best and worst in all of us and I’m seeing plenty of the latter.

    Appreciate your analysis, keep it balanced. I’ll tag some stuff I see so you can take a peek and assess for yourself.

    http://delicious.com/mseyfang/mumbai

    Fang

  3. I hadn’t though of that. *thoughtful* 35 people still in a room. News still breaking. I’m blogging about the impact on media. And currently on TV – golf, cooking and fashion. ABC is covering Mumbai. Seven has upped their advertisements (more eyeballs) but don’t have more content.

  4. @Mike *shrugs* I am focussing on how slow/inadequate the mainstream channel is compared to UGC channel. That we find out news and discuss it (with variable value systems) online, not over a newspaper or in front of the telly/radio.

    If you want to wave the “loser generated content” and “social media is destroying our cultures” banner, so be it. S’not what this blog post is about though 🙂

    For the record, I’ve never take a “social media is the answer, what was your question?” stance. Just doing some analysis and observation here guys 🙂

    Twitter breaks the news, but follow up with Wikipedia and other sites for distilled facts. And while Mike is right, and there will be variable quality and responses to current events, taking an observational role on Twitter will give you a head start in understanding the pulse of the always switched on club.

  5. CNN news coverage is actually focusing on information coming from blogs, Twitter and Flickr. They are advising viewers about what people to follow on Twitter to get the most up to date information, plus where to read the latest blog posts and see photos on Flickr.

    Have to give them credit for trying to combine heritage media with new media to provide the most up to date information.

  6. interesting post, thanks

    Twitter was a big part of my own experience following today’s sad events but i’d be curious what your view is on the reporting in the days that follow. as well as tracking twitter, flickr and various blogs, i will be looking to a range of news organisations for ongoing reporting and analysis of the aftermath. ‘we’ can (and do) play an important role (or roles) but i’m not sure i agree with the statement that ‘we can report the News just fine’.

    lots of food for thought.

  7. One of the things I’m noticing is the prevalence of calling this an Anti West or Anti American attack. Came initially from CNN but has been picked up by Citizen Media as well. They ignore the Police Commissioner, Minister of Parliament and other Indian pollies killed and go straight for the “show us your Brit/US passport” stories.

    *curious* why can’t we report the News as well? We’ve had 3 years on the job training now. (or more) 🙂

  8. twitter is a live, living window into peoples lives, it is a fait accompli that it will win over traditional media. the tool might change a little but the sharing streams into them will win over media.

  9. If you look at the http://tweetip.tumblr.com/post/61705258/mumbai-1st-tweets-timeline-20081126-23-13 log, you will see that the first tweet from the ground (@krazyfrog) is only 1 minute before people start re-tweeting what they are reading in the news.

    The strength of Social Media in the avalanche that follows is the hyper-connection of information from many disparate sources, not all necessarily on-the-ground.

    Like people once watched CNN, MSNBC, FOX (cable tv news) to get info — now twitter/flickr is replacing them for quick snippets of info either on-the-ground or more likely, reporting from MSM reports into the Social Media space.

    I dont think the tools are quite ready for easy citizen journalism. Also, humans on the ground probably had too much to personal safety issues to deal with before reporting to the world.

    I have always wondered about those people who call into news stations in the midst of a crisis.

    For the future, we have to have a “citizen journalism survival training” : keeping safe and reporting to help others keep safe.

    Lots of @fang like random thoughts

    Nick

  10. Thanks guys, I wrote that while things were still going on. And I couldn’t get any real news from Australian MSM during the day. Driving me mad. In review:

    As someone who doesn’t have Cable TV I can – hand on heart – swear that I learnt nothing about #Mumbai from Australian MSM.

    I relied totally on Twitter. Not because I wanted to, but because TV wouldn’t interrupt Kerri Anne Kennerly or children’s morning TV with real news.

    Twitter filtered to me websites, and tidbits I couldn’t get elsewhere. ALL news was broken to me by Twitter and the links they sent.

    In amongst retweeting MSM were the REAL stories. Someone hearing the bombing while lying bed. Someone else driving past a hotel as it was attacked. A guy worried about his friend. I realised this: who on earth ever said that social commentary is not News? O.o

    For me, MSM doesn’t make the news, they simply report OUR stories. Just another filter. After people-in-crisis are interviewed on CNN India (I watched online, thanks to link sent by Twitter) they tell a friend, who puts it on Facebook or Twitter or MySpace. More links to real stories.

    Australian Media is dead. It failed to meet my needs (I channel hopped from 9:30am until about 4pm hoping for new News) and by the time the 6 O’clock News came on, MSM was simply retweeting what I had already seen and heard through Twitter links.

    Remember MSM don’t make content – we, the public, do – they are a channel. Media/Medium does not mean content it means channel/s. And as such, Australian Heritage Media FAIL.

    Don’t believe me? Search twitter for the journo’s asking for contacts – our social network – to interview for MSM. I saw at least THREE. If you didn’t, boys and girls, it’s time to broaden your social network outside of geeky Sydney echo chamber. Oh ok, maybe that’s harsh – not everyone wants a couple of thousand followers – and I kinda knew to look for it.

    Oh and I have QIK on a hot button on my phone. Just in case I stick my head out one day, into something interesting. Shall film it first THEN ring @NickHodge to come and rescue me. 😛

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