The Race To Report

While the Boston Marathon Bombing is an utter travesty and a deeply saddening event, there are other things that have been learned. First of all, the race to put out a story first now has reporters competing with non-journalists. Second, this race not only has non-journalists providing false information, but reporters as well! Note CNN’s coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombing, when John King reported that a suspect had been arrested around 2 pm on April 17. These reports were false.

Reporters want to be the first to report big news, everyone knows that. But sometimes it means that they report wrong information. So this becomes a dilemma: report whatever you have first in hopes that your information is correct have dibs on the story, or report whatever you have first and run the risk of reporting false information to the American public. But now, the race is not only between reporters. Having social media users provide news raises an issue. With non-journalists participating in the race, they are able to report any news without consequence; if the information is wrong, they have nothing to lose, and if the information is correct, they reap the benefits do having the story first.

So we’ll have to see what happens next. Maybe these journalists need to have a team of social media junkies that check all social media outlets and try to recognize if whatever news on social media is true or false. But for now, we’ll have to see what CNN does during the next big event. After the Obamacare coverage and the false reporting of the Boston Marathon Bombing, third strike and you’re out. So, watch out.

For More:

New York Times Rips CNN’s Boston Bombing Coverage

After bombings, social media informs (and disinforms)

Social Media Journalism Gets Mixed Reviews In Boston Marathon Bombings Coverage