Twitter and the media

The media can use Twitter in some excellent ways, mostly to break news stories. The media can also redirect their viewers, or followers in this case to different people's Twitter accounts. This aspect helps bring the fans closer to the player/ coach. I think this is an excellent use for Twitter because it gives more access to the fans. The media can also use Twitter to break stories. Twitter allows people to make quick and short posts that can tell people a lot about what's going on. I've even heard stories of Twitter helping to save people from a fire by giving them updates about the situation. The same is true for sporting events and now, especially with events that aren't covered by television or other media, people are able to give updates about the events. A problem arises when the posts are inaccurate. People doing the posting need to make sure that what they are reporting is true and not mislead their followers. Just because anyone can have a Twitter account doesn't mean that journalists can slack off with their responsibilities regarding ethical journalism. Journalists need to remember that they are considered to be more credible than others on Twitter and that what they are reporting is still journalism. They also need to be careful of redirecting others to false information. Redirecting fans to a player's Twitter account is much different than directing them to a "neighbor of the player who says...." They need to do a certain amount of fact checking before they post something on the Twitter account from other peoples' accounts. I think that sometimes people are more worried about getting the story out quickly than they are getting it out correctly. Personally I would like to wait the extra time so I can get the truth. I would like to think that most people are like me and would prefer the truth as oppposed to a false story that came out quicker.

Overall I would say that Twitter can and will play a key role in journalism for the next couple of years. I think that, like most of technology, it is a good thing if it is used correctly. Journalists need to remember that they are still journalists and they need to apply the same ethics and research that they would apply to a story in a newspaper to their Twitter tweets. Even though anyone can have a Twitter account, journalists need to hold themselves to a higher standard because people look to them as reputable sources of information. When false Twitter tweets are reported by journalists it causes problems for everyone in the industry and makes the readers/followers or journalists skeptical about everything they say. Unfortunately most people aren't skeptical about what they read, which can cause rumors to be spread. I think its important for the public to also be more critical of what they see on Twitter and I think they need to hold journalists who have Twitter accounts to a higher standard than their relatives who have Twitter accounts.

Regardless of how it is used, it seems that Twitter will be a part of journalism in the future, which is why it is important that journalists realize all of the responsibility that comes with a Twitter account. This isn't important for just the journalist, but the entire journalism field because one bad report can make everyone question the legitimacy of journalists everywhere. This could be a problem for getting sources as well as for getting people you're covering to trust you and give you information. Also it is terrible for your readers/followers because they won't have any trust in you or your reporting.

I think this is an important part in separating the real reporting from the gossip reporting. A journalist (and everyone in the field) needs to establish a positive reputation so their followers can trust them. People eventually figure out that most of the gossip reporting that is done tends to be fabricated or embellished. Hopefully today's journalists can decipher from what is false and only report the facts. If they can do this then I believe people will go to the journalists who have a reputation for delivering the truth instead of listening to the gossip reporting. If this can happen then it would help to eliminate some of the rumors that swirl around during controversial stories, like the Tiger Woods story.