- The Register Citizen opens its newsroom to the public @RCNewsroomCafe http://j.mp/hO8oAP »
- How to Set Up a Podcast With Posterous http://j.mp/hkbsTm via @sarahjpurdy »
- On CNN iPad strategy "It turns out you want to touch imagery more than words.†http://j.mp/gJOd4A via @dkiesow »
- Sourcerer: a "context management system" used by asking and answering questions, seeing stories on a timeline http://j.mp/fRomnl by @richgor »
- What to Do With Twitter Errors http://j.mp/ehw1pe by @kkruesi »
- The 10 commandments of social media crisis management http://j.mp/g5AaID via @10000Words »
- Three papers, three approaches to social media staffing http://j.mp/hcvS6o How does your newsroom approach social media? #mileagemayvary »
- 10 storytelling tips for reporting in conflict zones http://j.mp/eJCB69 via @IJNet »
- "Stories must be microcosms. Stories localize, personify." http://j.mp/fDavgJ #newsrw presentation "Stop Telling Stories" by @trippenbach »
- Aggregated tweets and links from the News:rewired conference http://j.mp/geFqxR by @wannabehacks #newsrw @newsrewired »
Monthly Archives: December 2010
What to Do With Twitter Errors
Not too long ago Craig Silverman, author of blog Regret the Error, listed some of the most offensive journalism errors of 2010. (December got a free pass?) Among some of the more humorous media errors, Twitter real-time verification was named was named as the trend of the year.
We’re seeing many of forms of misinformation spread rapidly online and take hold in real-time. Whether it was an incorrect tweet about a volcano eruption in Iceland, a Washington Post editorial writer mistaking a fake Twitter account for the real thing, or people wrongly tweeting and retweeting that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been removed from Time’s Person Of The Year contest, we saw how the real-time nature of the online world causes problems and errors.
Reporter and blogger Kevin Loker points out that tweets are not held to the same meticulous fact checking a printed new story must go through before publication.
You probably have one – maybe two – sets of eyes that read over your headline before it’s tweeted. You ideally don’t make a mistake in the headline. If you do, you can’t change it. Most news outlets will send out another tweet noting the correction, because as in any medium, it’s common practice that errors can’t be left completely unattended.
Loker makes an interesting point that Twitter errors do not affect “media gurus,†because they will more than likely see the correction. Instead, he argues that those who do not focus on the news may be the most at risk for taking an error as truth.
Loker also argues that audiences are to blame if they cannot catch tweeting errors.
Just as it’s an individual’s own actions that lead them to a correction box in a print publication, it’s an individual’s own actions that make them knowledgeable or ignorant about any given news story.
Loker’s point is one of the many voices arguing that audiences must verify information coming off of Twitter. One blog offers four steps to verify a tweet while another urges news readers to join the Report an Error alliance. These sites are helpful but do they show a frighteningly cushioned error tolerance among news reporters? It seems that readers are now expected to verify news. And if so, who is defining the error tolerance level and why are we so quick to allow it?
Silverman returns again in his Columbia Review Journal column to explain what to do once a tweet is found false. According to him, it is the news media’s job not only to correct it via twitter but to continue correcting it.
It’s difficult to say how many corrections are necessary, but one good way to gauge would be to see if the mistaken information is still being retweeted. As long as it’s being passed around, you should be issuing corrections and asking people to RT your correction.
Overall, accuracy seems to be the main concern of all these bloggers and reporters. Twitter continues to be a critical tool for journalists but as Silverman puts it, “the difference between making an error and getting it right is often a matter of making one or two phone calls. Accuracy is often easier and faster to achieve than we think.”
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 15
- Journal Register Company's Open Newsroom Launches New Era In Community Journalism http://j.mp/hMMnuT via @joebird »
- First Wikileaks, then #wookieleaks, now there's TwitterLeaks http://bit.ly/gwyk2u (RT @marksluckie) »
- "Great, honest thoughts by Michael Kamber on the changing medium of photojournalism http://bbc.in/gxs89l" -@christhedunn (via @journtoolbox) »
- Professors from @ColumbiaJourn send letter to President Obama opposing attempts to prosecute #WikiLeaks http://j.mp/eNvbyL via @journtoolbox »
- How Facebook mapped friendships across the world http://j.mp/i3hSdH via @seanmaynard »
- "Visualizing data is like photography… you manipulate the lens used to present the data from a certain angle." -@paulgb http://j.mp/i3hSdH »
- Professors at @ColumbiaJourn (@zseward @NYT_JenPreston @lavrusik @sree) to share "What We Learned Teaching Social Media" http://j.mp/h8AVGt »
- Sun TV News in Toronto seeks Multimedia Content Producer http://j.mp/f47w2o via @gmarkham #journalism #jobs »
- NPR's @planetmoney and @Slate let you click to translate the latest Fed statement into plain English http://j.mp/e1LecY via @scottleadingham »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 14
- A Reporter’s Guide To Corrections http://j.mp/e4T4sM by @mattderienzo via @RickThomason »
- Interview with @katiecouric about online engagement: "I get story ideas from Twitter" http://j.mp/i9Ninf via @corybe »
- Why Poynter redesigned its website on WordPress http://j.mp/gxtwOw #opensource »
- How the @nytimes designed its election results for the iPad http://j.mp/eQ0duY via @pilhofer »
- 10 Best Data Visualization Projects of 2010 http://j.mp/dWqPoH by @flowingdata »
- Interview with @feltron about his personal data collection http://j.mp/f6MWZU via @infosthetics »
- 3 Key Moments To Identify When Coaching Writers http://j.mp/g1u5NZ via @Poynter »
- 7 Tips For Teaching Mobile Media To Journalism Students http://j.mp/fL7GfP by @girljournalist »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 13
- J-prof @fishnette advocates for combining journalism, computer science, data gathering and presentation http://j.mp/iadMA0 »
- Q: Is it lazy journalism to simply publish raw data? A: No, "and to think otherwise is pure journalistic egoism" http://j.mp/fJbXzt »
- Coding for Journalists 101 http://j.mp/gbetTe by @dancow "Go from knowing nothing to scraping Web pages in 1 hour. Hopefully." »
- Are you cut out for the freelance life? http://j.mp/eQddsS by @VirtuallyYourz »
- Employee Benefits for Freelancers http://j.mp/hS6kAH by @VirtuallyYourz »
- Five Strategies for Success as a Freelancer http://j.mp/eZ8EZS »
- Lessons from a successful journalism entrepreneur: @CraigSilverman http://j.mp/hvH6Q7 by @stevebuttry »
- Texas sets social media ethics rules for educators to prohibit "inappropriate communication with a student" http://j.mp/fnAusf »
- Inspired by @Guardian, @Mashable posts commenting guidelines http://j.mp/fTq7T9 »
- Will civilizing reader comment sections result in fewer people participating? http://j.mp/i7XTPD by @dkiesow for @Poynter »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 10
- Facebook status updates reveal a mother's joy and a family's sorrow http://j.mp/hYdyui by @ianshapira »
- How @ianshapira discovered a mother's personal and tragic story through her own Facebook updates http://j.mp/h2h1u4 via @whitneyshefte »
- A fun one for your Friday: TSA Scanner-Proof Clothing and Underwear http://j.mp/i7YU7J These would make great Christmas presents! »
- Twitter Explains Assange’s Absence From Its Trending Topics http://j.mp/hF89pN by @dkiesow #wikileaks »
- Columbia College Chicago seeks Assistant Professor of Interactive/Online/Multimedia Journalism http://j.mp/fakAQy #teaching #jobs via @koci »
- 6 tips on explanatory journalism http://j.mp/fmtTEZ from @vosdscott, CEO of investigative nonprofit @voiceofsandiego (via @ExplainerNet) »
- NYTimes drops social media editor role in favor of integrating social media into editorial process http://j.mp/f92o3C »
- "NPR has never actually had a social media editor, per se" -@acarvin http://j.mp/hU794j »
- Will NPR join the Report an Error Alliance http://reportanerror.org? @Ombudsman Alicia Shepard hopes so http://j.mp/hRs4iM »
- Smartphone users prefer mobile for breaking news http://j.mp/h2I5az by @laureni via @andybull @paulbradshaw »
- How To Use Google Reader As A Bookmarking Service http://j.mp/gYQB8r via @richardkendall @steverubel »
- Is ‘Teaching Journalism’ Part Of ‘Doing Journalism’? http://j.mp/e4HAvb via @digidickinson »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 9
- Pulitzer prize contest entries to include video, databases, multimedia and interactive presentations http://j.mp/dFJf3F (via @whitneyshefte) »
- Cool! RT @girljournalist: It's official, faculty advisor for @XpressNews, co-teaching digital news gathering & intro to online this spring. »
- When is the best time to publish? http://j.mp/g7ia3e "@lavrusik: The morning looks to be consistently best for views/engagement." »
- 8 Journalism Apps of 2010 http://j.mp/e6JOMA by @abrahamhyatt via @lavrusik »
- Top media errors and corrections of 2010 http://j.mp/gEkyOk by @CraigSilverman »
- Headline writers are wary of the evil "jogger" http://j.mp/h62za9 via @romenesko »
- Mobile Journalism Reporting Tools Guide http://j.mp/gJeIFW via @warhovert »
- USAToday seeks social media manager http://j.mp/hiRtk8 #journalism #jobs via @MacDivaONA »
- How to highlight text on @NYTimes articles when sharing links http://j.mp/fjf1LN via @drewvigal »
- J-school competition gathers students in engineering, business, programming and journalism to create Android apps http://j.mp/iiaMAk »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 8
- "Newsrooms needs to integrate social media into editorial/production process. Everyone needs to be a SM Editor." -@NYT_JenPreston »
- New York Times social media editor @NYT_JenPreston moves on to reporting role http://j.mp/hOWQIq »
- Medill seeks Video Storytelling/Visual Leader to join faculty http://j.mp/ec2vfk via @mattmansfield #journalism #jobs »
- PBS is hiring an Online Producer/Editor for news and public affairs http://bit.ly/hghufq via @michelleminkoff #journalism #jobs »
- Multimedia News Features: Are They Really Worth The Effort? http://j.mp/ficWzJ by @agahran »
- For Newspapers, The Future Is Now: Digital Must Be First http://j.mp/dW6ZZI by @mathewi »
- Multimedia business strategy: "Three steps to take now to best prepare yourself for later" http://j.mp/eERO77 by @iitweets »
- "Editors, designers, photojournalists and data journalists are, in fact, journalists" @macloo on the #dataskills debate http://j.mp/fyTpVE »
- Data journalism: What Is Its Role? http://j.mp/flmzuS via @sethgitner »
- Why You Should Go To CAR 2011 http://j.mp/gsFEKz by @andymboyle »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 7
- "Nothing could delight me more" said @jayrosen_nyu as @cshirky joins the journalism program at NYU and @studio20nyu http://j.mp/f4ngRF »
- #newsfoo recap by @stevebuttry: Where TBD Is ‘Mainstream’ http://j.mp/hxvvLc »
- #newsfoo recap by @Digidave: We Still Have a Long Way to Go http://j.mp/gIgyEq »
- #newsfoo recap curated by @Krochmal: #Newsfoo At A Distance http://j.mp/elNtxK »
- "Charts and graphs at newsroom pace: an introduction to @Timetric for journalists and bloggers" http://j.mp/hyoVbs via @kvox @mthomps »
- 8 Ways Your Newsroom Can Get More Out of Facebook http://j.mp/hGqypd by @journalistics »
- "Grappling with Google Maps: Creating a ward map of Cardiff" http://j.mp/fLpz5x @hrwaldram talks about her @datastore project »
- 5 Twitter tips for TV anchors http://j.mp/gF8yYz by @KrisKetz via @lostremote »
@ModernJourno Tweets for Dec. 6
- Panda, A Newsroom Data Appliance http://j.mp/esyzLl A Knight News Challenge proposal by @brianboyer (via @greglinch) »
- Overview: a tool for exploring large document sets http://j.mp/eupLrX A Knight News Challenge proposal by @AP (via @MacDivaONA) »
- One judge’s perspective on the Knight News Challenge http://j.mp/dI9cqw via @MacDivaONA »
- Public Data Explorer: Visualize the US Budget http://j.mp/hFPwjs via @googlepubpolicy »
- DIY Data Tool @Needlebase Now Available to Everyone http://j.mp/hxjg1u via @mthomps »
- Great tool for real-time web reporting http://freze.it created by @williampd (via @greglinch) »
- How to use Google Spreadsheet to populate a Twitter list http://j.mp/hcgHaI via @alisongow »
- Interview with White House photographer @PeteSouza [VIDEO] http://j.mp/hzPvpq via @inarratives »