About seven hours ago, a U.S. Airways jet was allegedly attacked by a “double bird strike” and the pilot forcibly water ditched in New York’s Hudson River.
You know that already, right? Maybe you heard it on the evening news or read it on CNN or the BBC. I’m sure every morning newspaper will have a front page story.
But did you know the mainstream media did not break it? They may have broken the news for their networks or outlets, but they weren’t first on the scene.
Heather Dueitt, Dennis Stratton, and Janis Krums scooped the news. Click their names and you’ll be whisked to their Twitter streams. Scroll back to around 3:30 p.m. today and you can read their brief messages. Google them and read the rest.
Last September, Christopher S. Penn created this graphic and dissected old media and new media. You can see how Twitter is part of social media, a subset of new media. Your evening news and morning papers aren’t quite there, lacking internet technologies, commenting, and synchronous interactivity.
While National Public Radio reported about the US Air incident, the Silicon Alley Insider beat them to the punch.
Note how Janis Krums is front and center, who was interviewed on MSNBC about 30 minutes later.
Janis’ notoriety comes down to a single photograph of a sinking airplane, shot from his iPhone aboard a routine ferry from Manhattan to New Jersey as he headed home for the day.
A Twitter user since May 2008, he (like me and countless others) had previously synchronized his account with Twitpic, a third-party service that uses Twitter and enables photo sharing.
There were plenty of earlier photos of flight 1549, but nothing matched the awe and surrealism of Janis Krums’ impromptu shot.
Very quickly, people began “following” Janis and sending him messages, including:
ariggio: That photo is truly incredible! And an excellent reminder of what social media can do for citizen journalism.
LizTunheim: thank you to you and your iPhone for sharing. Amazing how social media has brought us all together!
The irony behind Janis’ quickly-spreading notoriety is he blogged three days ago about how he uses Twitter:
I think that Twitter is a blessing. Many writers tend to over use words that are not necessary. They feel if they use big words they will look smarter. In most cases their writing is a mess and they don’t look like the geniuses that they think they are.
With Twitter, you are set in a very limited space for your content. You use it to promote a blog, or some other type of business. Twitter makes you decide what are the most important aspects of your post.
I know what he means. I tweet bits frequently, constrained to 140 characters. I usually tweet in less–and I never assume the person I am tweeting to (if I am replying to someone) is watching in real-time.
On the other hand, take a look at this snippet of messages sent to Janis from old media outlets. I sorted the list in chronological order (with NBC being the first to tweet):
triciamckinney: can you call nbc news at 212-664-5023?
acmaurer: Can you DM me please? I work for the Chicago Tribune. Thanks, Amanda
joliemyers: Would you be willing to talk about the plane crash on NPR? If so tweet back with your contact -Jolie Myers, NPR News
newstalkradio: Is it possible to talk to you on the radio about what you see?
ProducerRachel: call our newsroom 704-329-3600 thanks
sarahkatharine: Producer for CBS in NYC. Please DM me if you get this. Would love to talk to you for Bcast news.
cbs2chicago: wow that was an amazing picture … we’d love to talk with you (as I am sure everybody else in the world) DM us
chris8video: hey janis…nice pix….i’m a photog at a Fox Station in NC. wondering if you might could do an interview over the phone later?
nettap: WNYC would love to talk with you as well. please dm me if you’d like to chat. thanks!
10Connectsat6p: Might be willing to do a phone interview with Channel 10 in St. Peterburg. I can be reached at 727-577-8456. Carolyn
TBOcom: Janis, wriitng from TBO.com, tampa. Would like to use image posted on your twitter feed on website. Please reply to @tbocom 813-2598086
joliver2: Hey Janis, I’m a reporter at the Charlotte Observer in NC… Could you call me if you get a sec.? 704-358-5886
GreeterDan: This is Daniel Terdiman from CNET News. I would like permission to use your airplane photo for a story I’m doing. Is that okay?
Every news team on Twitter did not want an interview. For instance, here’s something quite different:
StephStricklen: holy cow… that’s an amazing picture!!! we’re with the NBC station in Portland, OR. i’ll cross my fingers everyone is okay!
Maybe Steph knew about the earlier NBC tweet (and MSNBC interview) and maybe she didn’t. But looking at her outbound tweets, she didn’t tweet Janis anything else. That’s notable.
What’s also notable is few of the old media broadcasts or stories referenced Twitter, despite several of them using Janis’ photo in their galleries. Is this because they don’t want to admit someone else broke the news?
On bloggers not being journalists, Jeff Cutler opines:
…the reality is that on election night, the majority of the country got its news from four outlets and then re-reported the news of the election. When the major outlets are dead, is Billy the blogger going to have the resources and the reach to inform the entire country about election results?
I don’t know the answer but Billy the blogger (or Tony the twitterer) is in the running and if old media doesn’t embrace new media and actively use it, the outlets will die sooner than hoped.
Here are three things you can do if interested in continuing this dialogue:
- Monitor Janis Krums’ original photo at Twitpic and Andy Carvin’s duplication on Flickr and watch the numbers of views as they increase. As I write this sentence, I see 72,739 on Twitpic and 12,335 on Flickr.
- While the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the official cause, you can read more about birds flying into airplane engines at the Federal Aviation Administration’s website on airport wildlife hazard mitigation.
- If you work in media or communications, I encourage you to join Sarah Evans and hundreds of Twitter users every Monday night for #journchat. Details and more information at journchat.info or by tweeting Sarah.
Related posts:
- My 20 Most Popular Blog Posts on Social Media
- From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars Embraces Social Media
- Why Social Media is a Fad
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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Wow, I really need to add Twitpic …
Adriel Hampton´s last blog post..If I Don’t Know Who You Are, I Don’t Care What You Say
Old media… ummm strike that… “conventional media,” will forever more try to keep up with collaborative media or social media. There are just far too many camera phones out there to compete with! @journik
Ari, it’s likely too late at nite for me to comment as intelligently as I’d like…but I didn’t want a miss a chance to say how much I enjoyed this post. There was a lot flying around about this event, and you brought it all together nicely with some astute observations, furthermore making recommendations as to what we can learn/grow from here.
I think one of the most interesting points is how one person’s natural habit (call it self expression, communication, participation, whatever) triggered a wave of interest by groups that by all accounts, leveraged his findings in their own best interests (in the name of mass audiences, of course).
I don’t frown on the media for pursuing Janis with zeal. But rather I do wonder how much those same media persons had been tending/cultivating their own audiences/networks/communities by giving and sharing, inspiring on their own accord *before* pouncing on the (mis)fortune of another. Had they been active before? Or just lurkers?
Heather Rast´s last blog post..Is “Satisfied” Good Enough?
All in all, i have to say that at least the “old media” outlets are reaching out to “new media” outlets, as seen in their use of Twitter to contact Janis. The game is changing every day. This is a TRUE democracy/republic in that the power is now shifting back to the people. Social media has leveled the playing field. Now your “average” “ordinary” citizen is empowered to report the news. Besides recent events, this is most prominently seen with CBS’ EyeMobile iPhone app and NowPublic.
This isn’t new, but it’s much more prevalent. As technology becomes more available to us, paradigms will shift more.
Damien Basile´s last blog post..Freemium Marketing In Your Mind’s Real Estate
What do you use twitpic with? It’s not accessible with Tweetdeck right now and that’s the only thing I use. It’s crazy how new media is transforming news. I like many others first found out about it on Twitter, and then went to cnn.com. Same happened when Britney spears and others were hacked.
Another irony of Janis Krums’ blog is that one of his goals for 2009 was to exceed 1000 followers. When I saw his Twitpic yesterday and followed him he was under 600… now 2947.
Hey Ari,
I love when I hear about “the new reality” or “new media” – it’s “reality” and it’s “media”. Great post, keep sharing your wonderful insights!
@knealemann
Kneale Mann´s last blog post..You Want Inspiration? Here’s Plenty…
It’s the age of convergence, my friend – either keep up or shut up shop. For media companies especially, not using all the media tools at your disposal is like applying to the Olympic 100m team before you can even walk – it’s a disaster (no pun intended) waiting to happen.
Great post, by the way – one of your best (not that there’s anything wrong with the rest!!)
Danny Brown´s last blog post..Still Not Convinced? Check Out Twitter’s FollowFriday
I’ve read a few other posts on this topics lately. It seems to me that new media is definitely better suited for short term quick breakouts like this plane crash. No company can match the reporting reach of ‘everyone’.
There is some part of newspapers that I don’t think will be substituted by the new media though (at least in the medium term): investigative journalism. I think we’re unlikely to see watergate type of stuff in blogs soon.
Ari K´s last blog post..No pain, no gain – what happens when everything gets funded easily?
Heather: You raise a good question, whether media employees using twitter had used it similarly in the past. I’m guessing not, based on the divergence of tweets to Janis. Moreover, some like Ms. McKinney from NBC, if you look at her twitter profile, indicates she rarely tweets about work.
Craig: Twitpic is a service that works *with* twitter, like tweetdeck. You go to the site, register for an account, tweak your settings, and voila. I send SMS email messages to Twitpic, which redirects it to twitter.
Kneale: I don’t know what “reality” means, but I agree the day will come when media is media. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re there yet.
Ari–I really enjoyed this post. I learned about the plane crash through Twitter (I don’t watch a heck of a lot of TV), but I wasn’t on long enough to learn all the details. I suppose that’s one of Twitter’s downfalls: the tweets are so short. Your post here was illuminating and very interesting for me, a former newspaper reporter. I passed it on to a journalist friend who is still in the biz.
Alisa Bowman´s last blog post..How not to stay balanced
Hi Ari,
I think twitter is now a major internet service. Every major internet services had “their” moment. Remember youtube was the best publisher of images during the Tsunami in south east asia. I interviewed a manager of the wikipedia foundation 6 months ago and she told me that they understood they were becoming really big with the death of the pope John-Paul II because they had the best update in formation about his life… I think twitter proved they were becoming a major media with the terrorist attach in Bombay.
Who’s next?
stetoscope´s last blog post..In 2009, we will be editors!
Very informative post about the advantages of micro blogging like twitter. An also the quote about using big words just to look smart. As Leonardo da Vinci says : Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Ari – Excellent post. I’ve been thinking a lot about the “old” vs. the “new” media lately and at least in my corner of the world, I do see a stark contrast that is very indicative of many of the sentiments above. And I love Danny’s analogy about trying to join the Olympic swim team before you can walk.
True story: My local “big circulation” newspaper actually paid their most popular columnist to go to Florida and attend a conference on how to blog and use new media, esp. Twitter. Frankly, this appalls me since every day print journalists are losing their jobs and here they were wasting money sending this guy to Florida to learn something (IMHO) he should have already known how to do.
When he came back he wrote a column all about this “new thing” called blogging and how “the future of news is on blogs.” I want more than anything to walk into the office of the editor-in-chief of his paper and scream, “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THIS PAST DECADE?!”
Said columnist is also on Twitter. He is actually one of my Facebook friends and asked me for advice on how to use it, so I told him the basics, including the obvious: “Have conversations. Don’t broadcast. If that’s all you do, nobody will listen and nobody will care.”
What does he do? Nothing but, “Check out my latest blog/column!” followed by a link.
I don’t know if there’s something in the water in the area of Michigan I live which makes journalists turn into Neanderthals with no capacity to learn or what, but I know the rest of the world is NOT like this. Or at least I thought I did, until you mentioned here that very few big “old” media outlets mentioned Twitter. When I turn on CNN, I do hear them mention Twitter and I mentally noted that they were relying on it during the recent Mumbai attacks. I think that when “old” embraces “new” media and successfully integrates like CNN does/did, everybody’s a winner. It’s when it turns into an “us” vs. “them” scenario between old and new that gets us tangled in some kind of an unnecessary competition that divides generations and even eliminates jobs. We need to make sure that old media “gets” new media, not expresses disdain nor jumps head first into a pool of sharks.
Stacy Lukas´s last blog post..Today’s word, boys and girls, is “boundaries”
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