The Hunger for News: #mumbai on Twitter

Bill — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:57:53 +0000

There has been much discussion around the validity of Twitter as a news source. Recent events have demonstrated beyond doubt that twitter is ahead of the mainstream news organisations when it comes to alerting the world to major events. However, dispute arises over the accuracy of the reporting. Tom holds the view that inaccurate reporting is irresponsible and often dangerous while Mike counters that as time goes on, the accuracy of the stream as a whole increases and the accurate information bubbles to the top. In their own way, they are both right. Whilst Tom looks at the accuracy of the individual Tweets, Mike tends to look at the trend and the overall accuracy of the stream.

Yesterday evening, I was watching the coverage of the Mumbai attacks on BBC News 24 and felt frustrated at the shallow, repetitive nature of the reporting. I turned to twitter and was astonished to see events unfolding before my eyes. The information available on Twitter was at least 10 minutes ahead of the BBC reporting. However, after a couple of minutes watching the Tweets come in, I got the sense that I was watching something quite powerful. This was a feeding frenzy, not for food, but for information. It was instantly apparent that speed was valued more than accuracy in the search to satisfy our information addiction.

had lots of plans, but i’m paralyzed by the violence in mumbai. can’t stop following the news. sad.
– @emilychang

But, whilst on the one hand we have a desire for instant access to raw data, quick updates in near real time; on the other, we have a desire for clarity – a clarity that only seems to come after a period of calm deliberation.

#mumbai attacks coverage, tweets, blogs etc. leaving me unclear of what is going on. too much raw information. not enough clarity. me nervous
– @om

While watching the Twitter stream, I found myself in a similar position to @om. I felt a slight sense of emptiness at what appeared to be nothing more than an information feeding frenzy. However, amidst the flood of raw data, there were a couple of posts that stood out from the rest.

#mumbai Blood needed at JJ Hospital
– fagunbhavsar

#mumbai if you need help getting in touch with a loved one, tweet me or call/sms at +91 995369????. will try and help
– narendranag

After much thought, I can see that Twitter has a lot to offer the world of journalism. But let us hope it doesn’t come at the expense of careful, well written, analysis of current affairs. They are both complementary, and one without the other would leave the world of journalism severely lacking.

[update]:Major international news outlets are also discussing the role of Twitter in reporting the recent events in Mumbai:

Amid Chaos, Citizens Spread Word on Web – The Wall St. Journal
Tweeting the terror: How social media reacted to Mumbai – CNN
How Twitter and Flickr recorded the Mumbai terror attacks – The Guardian

Bill (葛威) » journalism

The Hunger for News: #mumbai on Twitter