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Comments

• [1] hjs from 11211 November 10, 2009 - 09:01AM

  treat every eye witness with skepticism

  
  
• [2] Alexandra Fenwick November 10, 2009 - 10:43AM

  Check out my colleague Megan Garber's piece for the Columbia Journalism Review on Paul Carr's story: "Citizen Journalism vs. Tragi-Porn"

  http://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/citizen_journalism_vs_tragipor.php

  
  
• [3] Tony from San Jose, CA November 10, 2009 - 11:03AM

  Well, "professional" journalists make mistakes all the time. The quality of tweeter and other new sources is about the same.

  
  
• [4] James from Brooklyn November 10, 2009 - 11:05AM

  The issue isn't Twitter - that's just one platform - but rather the expectations inherent in 24/7 "in real-time" news and maybe a larger "in real-time" culture. No matter how technology-enabled we are, we just can't know all things all the time. And the sort of "late-breaking" knowledge - where? who? what building? how many casualties? - cannot substitute for more complex knowledge - why? what are we dealing with? what was the motive? I think that's the false promise peddled by the good-looking and excitable people on TV. That we can know all; that the latest update will be the key to it all. But it's always not. And the result of the breakdown is anxiety, speculation, and the substitution of "new information" for facts, logic, and consideration.

  
  
• [5] plp November 10, 2009 - 11:08AM

  So when things were in turmoil in Tehran everyone was hanging at the edges of their birds nest craning necks for the next tweet.

  Twitter, blogging and facebook are not journalism, welcome to junknews.

  
  
• [6] hjs from 11211 November 10, 2009 - 11:08AM

  tony

  like julith miller from the NY times on iraq

  
  
• [7] Mark November 10, 2009 - 11:12AM

  I always knew twitter was a bunch of bull since the attacks in Mumbai. I was watching two indian tv station on the internet and reading twitter. The twitter people were just reposting stuff from indian tv! They weren't even there, just saying what's on tv. Half the people were Indians in America that weren't even in Mumbia! Then the hype from Iran was even worse. All these Iranian radicals are posting in English not Farsi? Really? And how do I know they are even in Iran and not just some American hillbilly trying to make Iran look bad? But the worst part? The "professional" journalists who love to bash the blogs all took it uncritically! Bah!

  
  
• [8] Mark November 10, 2009 - 11:13AM

  Quick question: Why do old people love twitter but hate blogs?

  
  
• [9] Annie Shreffler from Boston November 10, 2009 - 11:15AM

  Megan's article is fantastic, Alexandra. Thanks for sharing. Espcially, "There is no Society of Non-Professional Journalists setting standards for their behavior as they engage in their reporting." But, she adds that we'll have yet to see if group-moderation of a non-pro journalist's reputation will serve us as we look for reliable sources. Those of us who are journalists can take part in guiding those non-pros towards better ways to act upon their impulse to share a story.

  
  
• [10] CJ from NY November 10, 2009 - 11:15AM

  I have little interest in Twitter, MySpace, Facebook etc. However, these journalists sound a little elitest. News happens whether an "experienced journalist" is present or not. The problem is as long as getting paid is the incentive then all news is suspect.

  
  
• [11] SuzanneNYC from Upper West Side November 10, 2009 - 11:16AM

  This is hideous! The person who was tweeting was a medical person at the hospital? She was tweeting while she worked on gunshot victims? So now if you're in an accident or some other tragedy and taken to an emergency room or other public place someone is going to tweet about your status while you could be unconscious or dying? This is not good.

  
  
• [12] hjs from 11211 November 10, 2009 - 11:16AM

  what is a 'citizen journalists' i thought journalism is a profession

  
  
• [13] Gary from Upper Left Side November 10, 2009 - 11:16AM

  Twitter is for twits.

  
  
• [14] CJ from NY November 10, 2009 - 11:17AM

  Uh oh Smackdown!

  
  
• [15] Michael from Rockville Centre, November 10, 2009 - 11:18AM

  Twitter:CB Radio for the 21st Century.

  
  
• [16] Calls'em As I Sees'em from McLean, VA November 10, 2009 - 11:18AM

  As a good liberal don't you want more info rather then less info?

  I know that the media likes to control things, but that ship has sailed and is not coming back.

  In 2008 the media lied to the people about Obama, his background, his friends, his legislative record, the thug tactics of his team during the primaries and the election - but the truth came out anyway - because people were there. The truth unfortunately ignored by 80% of the media "professionals."

  The press has been lying to the people since the Crimean War. The people who were there tell the truth - like victims of the Holocaust or even Obama's paternal Grandmother and cousins who have stated that they were there at the President's birth in Kenya.

  Too bad they didn't have camera web ready cameras in those days.

  
  
• [17] SuzanneNYC from Upper West Side November 10, 2009 - 11:19AM

  Jeff Jarvis -- step back and take a critical look at this new citizen media. Don't just embrace it because it's there and it's new. And don't extrapolate from your behaviour to others. Based on what you're saying about this particular event, it seems we need to take on this new development with caution. It's one thing to tweet that you're at a Bruce Springsteen concert. It's another to tweet about a tragic event and post pictures.

  
  
• [18] db from nyc November 10, 2009 - 11:21AM

  How is an "amateur" perception more or less accurate than a perception with a Columbia Journalism attached to it.

  It's all subjective, and therefore subject to critical analysis.

  BTW: Twitter is a snooze.

  
  
• [19] Pablo Alto from Da' Bronx November 10, 2009 - 11:21AM

  Mr. Jarvis is bloviating a bit too much.

  
  
• [20] juliec November 10, 2009 - 11:21AM

  I really do not like Jeff Jarvis's argument style.

  
  
• [21] LH from Manhattan November 10, 2009 - 11:21AM

  Citizen journalism and "crowd-sourcing" have been your hobbyhorses for a while, Brian. It feels like you're being unnecessarily truculent, as is Jeff, because your a priori belief about citizen journalism is that it's a good thing, despite what the Fort Hood incident might reveal.

  
  
• [22] Calls'em As I Sees'em from McLean, VA November 10, 2009 - 11:22AM

  Brian - where's the democracy? Why no calls? In the old days you would be getting calls from Walter, Brokaw, Pete Hammil, etc. on a segment like this.

  Come on Brian - be a man - stand up to the powers at WNYC that have forced this reduction of listener participation on you.

  
  
• [23] mozo from nyc November 10, 2009 - 11:26AM

  If you take a look at some of these comments, it is no wonder that quality journalism is dying. Anyone remember what the word "twitter" originally meant? Two things: the chirping of birds and the dissemination of inconsequetial, meaningless information.

  
  
• [24] kate November 10, 2009 - 12:07PM

  Great topic. James' comment above perfectly describes how I feel on the matter.

  
  
• [25] smrstrauss November 11, 2009 - 07:55AM

  Re: " Obama's paternal Grandmother and cousins who have stated that they were there at the President's birth in Kenya."

  NO they didn't. Obama's paternal grandmother actually said that Obama was born in Hawaii, and the rest didn't say anything. Obama's paternal grandmother was recorded saying that Obama was born in Hawaii.

  This can be clearly heard if you listen to the complete recording of the tape, which is on Berg’s site. The complete recording includes a question asking “Whereabouts was he born?” And her answer was: “America, Hawaii.”

  Here is the complete recording on Berg’s site. Be sure to listen for at least five minutes until the question is asked. (http://obamacrimes.com/Telephone_Interview_with_Sarah_Hussein_Obama_10-16-08.mp3)

  If it is too difficult to listen to the complete tape, here is a transcript (http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/obamatranscriptlulu109.pdf).

  All the allegations of Obama’s birth abroad were checked out by the McCain campaign, and they found that there were no facts. No facts at all. (http://washingtonindependent.com/52474/mccain-campaign-investigated-dismissed-obama-citizenship-rumors)