Sorry, Interactive-Media Professors
CNN.com posted an article on the Obama-McCain debate just nine minutes after the two candidates shook hands. NPR clocked in at twenty minutes. Dinosaurs compared to CUNY J-school twitters (or is it tweeters?) and New York Times bloggers who had published their reactions, predictions, analyses, and reports, before moderator Bob Schieffer had even introduced the second topic. While many see this as democracy-in-action, I see it as somewhat irresponsible.
To me, instant journalism is sort of like running on a treadmill while eating a sandwich (stay with me). The meal hasn’t even been digested, and if nothing else, the sandwich will certainly distract from the act of running (or vice-versa, but either way the end result is sure to be messy).
Don’t get me wrong; I know that deadlines and timeliness are the essence of journalism, which is fine. But there’s a difference between getting a story out by the next morning’s paper and getting the story out before the event is even done. The latter overwhelms me. Not just as a journalist anticipating a career that might obligate me to do some live blogging and desperate praying that no one finds this post. But also as a consumer of media. Misinformation is one of the largest problems with breaking news.
The most famous example may be 9/11 when reports were changing with each hour that passed. “Accident” became “potential terrorist attack in New York,” which then became a “confirmed attack on the United States.” And under those circumstances, not only is that completely fine, that’s completely necessary. But not everything is breaking news. Not everything needs to be dished out to the public on a minute-by-minute basis, particularly when it involves analysis and opinion. There’s a danger in that. New information gives new meaning and context to something old.
NPR and CNN know that. They each posted articles within the first half hour of the debate entitled “Economy Takes Center Stage in FInal Debate,” and “McCain, Obama Debate their Tax Plans,” respectively. Now, at 12:55am, I am unable to find these articles on their websites. It seems they updated the articles, and retitled them after apparently realizing that their original ways of conceiving the debate were inaccurate.
I remember learning, in elementary school, about a Native American culture that didn’t speak unless there was something essential to say. There was no small talk, no blabbering, no thinking out-loud. Just silence, until there was something well thought out and meaningful to say. I think there’s something to that.
