Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the talk of the town with his reelection victory on June 12. Commanding 63 percent of the electorate, many voters and political onlookers believe a scam occurred and votes were rigged, expecting former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi to take more than 34% of the total.
Protesters took to the streets and canvassed the internet. But one by one, they were quieted.
British blogger and web consultant Paul Canning summed the scene nicely:
First they came for the newspapers, like they always do. Then they went after the opposition’s leaders, like they always do. Then they shut down the TV, like they always do. Then they cut the telephone lines including the mobile networks. Then they slowed down the internet and tried to block youtube and social networks, like they now have to.
This left Twitter as the last channel of opposition organisation standing.
Because the newspapers were quieted, little reporting occurred on the streets of Tehran. News staffs were forced to write from afar, or with local correspondents.
See what the big newspapers wrote. Forget the headlines, though I’m including a few of them. Look at the character counts and the Wordle images of what the stories are really saying.
You may be surprised by these results. Or not.
The Vancouver Sun: The World Today, June 15 – 2,080 characters
The Vancouver Sun
San Francisco Chronicle: Iranian Election Followed by Violent Protests – 2,624 characters
San Francisco Chronicle
The Independent: World Casts Doubt Over Election That ‘Suppressed Speech’ – 3,083 characters
The Independent
Bloomberg: Ahmadinejad Defends Election Victory Amid Protests – 9,204 characters
Bloomberg
The reporting, style, and length may differ, but the content–condensed to repeating words–is about the same. That says something. Maybe you can write the same thing with less words.
Twittering journalists get it. With the aid of hashtags for tracking purposes, such as #IranElection, savvy reporters and citizens on the ground can send short bursts about what’s happening and the world can watch and retweet those actions to their followers.
Limited to 140 characters per status update, here’s a recent snapshot:
IranElection on Twitter
Maybe you prefer to read up to 9,000 characters to learn the news. I used to, too. Not anymore. If I can’t get the crux in 140 characters (or less), with the option to click a link to gain detail, I won’t waste my brain waves reading pages of paragraphs of text.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting newspapers are dying nor Twitter is the way to go. But if you’re churning out copy and–regardless of the subject–have more than 1,000 characters of he said, she said quotations, you’ve already lost my eyeball.
Keep it simple. Write with small words. Keep the total word length to a minimum. Then maybe I’ll read your words. Until then, I have alternatives.
Related posts:
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Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Why thank you Ari :]
More thoughts here http://paulcanning.blogspot.com/2009/06/twitter-and-events-in-iran.html
paul canning shares Twitter and the events in Iran with you
So … 2,500 updates of about 140 characters each is how many characters? Have you never heard of rich detail, differing perspectives and analysis? None of that can be done in 140 characters. I can read a headline and get pretty much the same information, but I read on because I’m interested in information, not ’sound’ bites.
Ari, I look forward to writing about your candidacy for Newburyport City Council without too many “he said” quotes, keeping it real simple and real short … and using only small words.
Huh. Somehow I think the other candidates will have an edge in this scenario.
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Perhaps I should amend the above that community newspapers are exempt. I refer to publications with national or international printed circulations, e.g. those that would devote a front-page story to Ahmadinejad. That’s where verbosity thrives–and where I don’t read.
Local reporting is different, if only for limited competition.
Nice dig at Ari in your local context Gillian. Classy.
In the Iranian context Twitter is proving exceptionally useful. In my additional post I point out how particular users are being ‘picked out from the stream’ and followed and how it’s being used in very new ways. Also how BBC/CNN are monitoring Twitter for tips (as both have remarked on).
I have been, as have others, linking to in-depth articles, which is very important so people understand. For example, having read up, I believe it’s essentially a military coup and nothing to do with ‘mullahs’. But in a fast changing situation if you want ‘news’ twitter is absolutely central and these events have confirmed it.
paul canning shares Twitter and the events in Iran with you
In my local context, Ari is a friend. And as such, I believe he knows I won’t be writing anything – long or short – about his candidacy, at least not for a newspaper.
New from Gillian Swart: Clarification/correction
I am not using Twitter anymore because I just couldn’t understand it.
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