Event Report: Is Eyewitness News News?

How we receive news is ever-changing, and these days it’s faster than ever and we’ve got access to more outlets than we’ve ever had. The reason for this is of course new technology and the fact that news can be posted in an instant, by anyone, on social media. The latest example is the news of Whitney Houston’s death which was reported on Twitter only minutes after she was declared dead with 2½ million tweets being tweeted within the first two hours.

New technology is changing the way we can record what’s happening around us and many spoke of 2011 as being the year of the camera phone with the Arab Spring being broadcasted to the world straight from the streets, and fashion designer John Galliano having his career ending because of a racist rant caught on a dinner guest’s phone.

As it’s Social Media Week at the moment there are events taking place all over London (check #smw12 and #smwldn for latest updates and events). I attended one organised by The Good Agency and MyNewsdesk where participants discussed journalism, social media, eyewitness news and professionalism. The panel was chaired by The Good Agency’s Head of Digital Charlotte Beckett.

Speakers:

• Jason Mills  –  Web and Techology Editor, ITN/ITV
• Lauren Wyper  –  Communications Strategist, The Good Agency
• Fergus Bell  –  Digital Newsgatherer and Senior Producer, Associated Press
• Adam Baker  –  Founder, Blottr
• Stephen Sidlo  –  Head Publisher, Demotix

All panellists agreed that social media has created change for news reporting, but Fergus argued that media always changes so this isn’t anything new. Jason agreed and stated that a good journalist is still doing the same thing. However, Adam argued that social media has transformed news more than perhaps TV did as it is now different for the public – people can contribute rather than just consume. The challenge for journalists as well as the public is to cut through the information overload, irrelevant reporting and actual lies. Blottr’s Adam suggested that if something is trending on Twitter it is probably true but others on the panel and most people in the audience seemed to disagree.

We live in a fast-paced society and we have learned to expect to know about events as they happen. Journalists have to, with reduced resources, keep producing news, fast. Nick Davies uses the term ‘churnalism’ to describe the result of journalists having to churn out news but whatever you may call it there is this constant worry that something has got to give in this quest for quick news. Can we still trust that thoroughly checks are being made? The recent phone-hacking scandal has done a lot of damage to journalists’ credibility and many more of us have probably started question what the consequences of ‘a good story’ are. We might sometimes doubt the accuracy of citizen journalism but it is traditional (professional?) journalists that are going through this media ethics inquiry.

Today’s diversity of media can create a challenge when charities are trying to reach out to their publics as it’s easy to get lost in the maze of different types of sources. But it can obviously also be seen as an opportunity – as long as you take the time to find the most suitable outlet for your cause/campaign. Tips from the panel on how charities can make it into the news included the importance of making sure you’ve actually got a story and understanding how readers/viewers might relate to it. There was emphasis on exclusivity with Jason arguing that today when everyone’s got a voice, exclusivity offers something different. The panel also suggested that communications professionals shouldn’t be relying too much on social media as 140 characters isn’t always enough – make sure you pick up the phone and talk to someone in person about your story. But in some cases using social media may be enough and it might be worth asking whether your story actually needs to be on the news or whether it might do as well going viral across social networking platforms.

What is social media’s role within professional journalism? Where do you normally pick up news stories – TV or your Twitterfeed? Are we more interested in eyewitness news and citizen journalism rather than traditional media these days? How do you get heard above the noise?