Newswise — The increasing impact of social media on how breaking news is collected and disseminated was apparent when media outlets began to report about the deadly shootings in Tucson, Ariz., this past Saturday.
As major news outlets began to report facts they had gathered about the assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of six individuals, those reports moved quickly to Twitter, where both journalists monitoring that social media and everyday news consumers recast and re-tweeted the information.
The result was a blend of facts, misinformation and opinion that moved quickly along the Internet.
And that, said Washington and Lee University journalism professor Claudette Artwick, illustrates the changing nature of the way in which we receive information.
"This is where we live now," said Artwick, who studies how journalists use social media. "Many people are receiving their news through Twitter and other social media. It's no longer the favorite station or the favorite newspaper. People are getting their information from many, many different sources."
So, too, Artwick said, are journalists trying to figure out just how to use Twitter, which is both a new reporting tool and a news platform. That was especially apparent on Saturday, when tweets from mainstream media outlets, from National Public Radio to CBS anchor Katie Couric, showed up alongside the tweets and retweets of both eyewitness and casual observers.
As a reporting tool, Artwick said Twitter can be useful in identifying potential news sources.
"Suppose you were in the newsroom on Saturday afternoon and you saw on Twitter someone saying that he was in a barbershop across the street from the shopping center," Artwick said. "You can follow that to the source and find out if it is, indeed, a reliable eyewitness. You don't simply retweet what someone says, but this does give you a starting point for new information that you might not have had previously."
Earlier this year Artwick conducted a study of Twitter references to slain Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington during the 48 hours after her body was found near Charlottesville. Harrington had disappeared during a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena in October 2009, and her body was found in January 2010.
"I wanted to know whether or not the mainstream media were setting the agenda for this particular event," she said. "The influence is shifting. In the case of Morgan Harrington, alternative sources on Twitter shared influence in terms of getting that story out. For example, the band Metallica, which had performed the concert when she disappeared, tweeted its condolences when her body was found. That spread like wildfire, and people were as likely to see the news about this discovery from an entertainment source as from a news source."
The breaking news model is changing, said Artwick. In the past, reporters first focused on who, what, where, when and how. "Now we're seeing 'why' get into the mix much more quickly," she said. "The Tucson shootings are a case in point. Before we had answers to those traditional five questions, we were already seeing people weigh in with answers to 'why' by suggesting that the nasty political rhetoric was to blame for the event when we didn't yet know what the event really entailed. It's a big challenge."
Artwick said more media organizations are developing social media policies and that it's critical for the media to take a leadership role in the way that information is disseminated.
"It does strike me that professionals are working together more than they've ever done before," she said. "In the past there has been such a competitive spirit among journalists. Now I am seeing more of a cooperative effort in trying to find the truth. I think that's very helpful. The news media have a great responsibility, and it's more important than ever that we provide guidance for how these tools will develop."
For audio of this interview, go to http://www.wlu.edu/x52400.xml
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