Today’s idea: Old media still has not learned that new media has a place at the table.
You might have saw the story the other day about how a woman follows Google Maps “walking” directions, gets hit, then sues. While this is once more proof of our litigious society and maybe our fall from general common sense there is one thing about this story you might not know.
The story behind the story is that this was broken by Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand. He himself references and attributes a friend of his Gary Price of ResourceShelf. Essentially he goes through how he released the information and the mainstream media ran with it without any attribution–which they would have never done to another old media source.
What’s the Big Deal?
You could say this is just a bunch of bloggers saying “look at me, look at me” but in this cases and most cases of the last year this shows a true lack professional courtesy. Yes most bloggers don’t have an editor and yes anybody can get up tomorrow and call themselves a news blogger.
That doesn’t excuse a news organization (new media or old media) of not following common courtesy. What if it were reversed and the blogger had taken a story that grew legs went viral without attributing an old media source?
The Larger Issue
We need to recognize that new media is here and has changed the media landscape for good. The mainstream media has a few problems beyond this simple courtesy play. First they have an archaic cost structure, delivery structure, and a general chip on their shoulder on who should be a “journalist”.
To be called a journalist I do believe that you should have the highest standards–also that this is something that is earned and not something that some governing body can bestow. Where the old media gets it wrong is putting a line in the sand at the point of delivery or size of an organization.
Some of the best journalism and breaking of stories has been done by new media from social media, to blogs to the Drudge Report. What do you think… do you think Bloggers deserve the same respect and authority as mainstream journalists?