Comments on: The news flow: Dealing with the fire hose http://www.mondaynote.com/2009/07/05/the-news-flow-dealing-with-the-fire-hose/ Media, Tech & Business Models Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:46:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Juan Suarez http://www.mondaynote.com/2009/07/05/the-news-flow-dealing-with-the-fire-hose/#comment-919 Juan Suarez Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:16:34 +0000 http://www.mondaynote.com/?p=1932#comment-919 I think that the problem is not if news are transmitted by twitter users or not, but how reliable they can be. in order to be the first some news companies would prefer to divulge news first and confirm it later. I think that the problem is not if news are transmitted by twitter users or not, but how reliable they can be. in order to be the first some news companies would prefer to divulge news first and confirm it later.

]]> By: David Sharp http://www.mondaynote.com/2009/07/05/the-news-flow-dealing-with-the-fire-hose/#comment-878 David Sharp Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:29:02 +0000 http://www.mondaynote.com/?p=1932#comment-878 Frankly, Mr. FIlloux, this is naïve to say the least. Do you really believe that the United States, in a war situation like that of Vietnam, would have allowed (or will allow in the future, or even now) a merry band of journalist bloggers and twitterers to pursue their activities unhindered? And even if such a situation, with such technology, had existed in Vietnam the 1970s, how many people would have been in a position to physically stand up/duck down, type on their mobile devices, in such circumstances? Today we have a situation in which "certain régimes" - to take a couple of recent examples, China and Iran - are castigated in the western media because they cut off Internet and/or mobile phone access when political situations get rough. Well, it's easy to condemn such practices when the countries involved just happen to be the "usual suspects". But to believe that the types of régimes a lot of us live in at present - say European Union countries, or North American ones - would and will not do exactly the same in emergency situations of the same type is to take a manichean, and completely unjournalistic view of the world. When the going gets really rough, those countries will cut off Internet and phone lines without the slightest hesitation, supposing that such facilities exist in the first place. Which is precisely why it is extremely irresponsible to preach that for journalists, technology basically changes *anything*. The truth will always be difficult to get out in certain cases - not because some fancy technological gizmo is missing, but because truth can often clash with politics, ie power. All the twittering in the world will never change that. David Sharp (Agence France-Presse journalist and trade unionist, Paris) Frankly, Mr. FIlloux, this is naïve to say the least. Do you really believe that the United States, in a war situation like that of Vietnam, would have allowed (or will allow in the future, or even now) a merry band of journalist bloggers and twitterers to pursue their activities unhindered?

And even if such a situation, with such technology, had existed in Vietnam the 1970s, how many people would have been in a position to physically stand up/duck down, type on their mobile devices, in such circumstances?

Today we have a situation in which “certain régimes” - to take a couple of recent examples, China and Iran - are castigated in the western media because they cut off Internet and/or mobile phone access when political situations get rough.

Well, it’s easy to condemn such practices when the countries involved just happen to be the “usual suspects”.

But to believe that the types of régimes a lot of us live in at present - say European Union countries, or North American ones - would and will not do exactly the same in emergency situations of the same type is to take a manichean, and completely unjournalistic view of the world.

When the going gets really rough, those countries will cut off Internet and phone lines without the slightest hesitation, supposing that such facilities exist in the first place.

Which is precisely why it is extremely irresponsible to preach that for journalists, technology basically changes *anything*.

The truth will always be difficult to get out in certain cases - not because some fancy technological gizmo is missing, but because truth can often clash with politics, ie power.

All the twittering in the world will never change that.

David Sharp (Agence France-Presse journalist and trade unionist, Paris)

]]> By: Cnn | All Days Long http://www.mondaynote.com/2009/07/05/the-news-flow-dealing-with-the-fire-hose/#comment-841 Cnn | All Days Long Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:52:53 +0000 http://www.mondaynote.com/?p=1932#comment-841 [...] The news flow: Dealing with the fire hose | Monday Note By Frédéric Filloux On a field such as Iraq, big news organizations (newswires, but also BBC, CNN, The NYT) spend between $1m and $3m a year. They maintain correspondents, but also a web of freelancers, each one equipped with a sat phone and a digital … Monday Note – http://www.mondaynote.com/ [...] [...] The news flow: Dealing with the fire hose | Monday Note By Frédéric Filloux On a field such as Iraq, big news organizations (newswires, but also BBC, CNN, The NYT) spend between $1m and $3m a year. They maintain correspondents, but also a web of freelancers, each one equipped with a sat phone and a digital … Monday Note – http://www.mondaynote.com/ [...]

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