This means that they must select from multiple sources exactly what they choose to report – choosing one story from a much broader and richer canvas.

Online media is not linear and doesn’t have the same channel or resource limits.

Therefore, by it’s nature, online is able to paint a richer and deeper picture of events. It can capture and retain an almost 360 degree view of news, compared to the limited window provided by MSM.

Part of the online channel’s reporting is the MSM reporting. In effect, MSM becomes simply one of the sources for online citizen-driven media, with online providing a bigger picture of events.

The last paradigm is becoming just one facet of the new paradigm, as has occurred time and time again in the past.

Now, if only Jay Rosen and Clay Shirky would comment here

US Attorney General Mukasey collapsed delivering a speech at a dinner. It was all over the twitterverse (including the excellent @breakingnewson) for about an hour before the traditional media picked up on it. In fact, it was on twitter before the EMTs arrived.

The point of origin was @bamber, in attendance at the dinner, twittering. It didn’t take long for for it to spread after that.

As for Mumbai, it’s a lot easier to get up-to-date news via twitter than via the traditional media. Yes, in some cases it isn’t as accurate as hours old news that has been verified is, however, the signal to noise ratio is still pretty decent, I think due in part to the distributed nature of citizen journalism.

By the way, if you really didn’t learn anything more on Twitter than you did from Australian TV or newspapers (hard to believe) than I suggest you broaden your Twitter network. Try keeping an eye on the guys that are compiling this Google Docs list on Dead/hospital of #mumbai victims http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p_esnE-3Z3p-HehX1YOZIaw and also http://arunshanbhag.com/2008/11/27/mumbai-blasts-day-2/ @arunshanbhag.

I saw at least three journos asking around on Twitter for Mumbai contacts. I mean, isn’t MSM another distribution outlet for our news? Plonking a microphone/telephone/skype in front of a twitterer is not creating content, it’s reporting it. Retweeting it away from Twitter no?

Finally, and I dont’ expect agreement here, but when did we change and decide that social commentary was not news? Why can the evening news on Ten repeat what we saw on CNN during the day, and that’s ok. But if Twitterers pass a link to CNN India around, it’s just commentary and piggybacking off of “serious” media?

My 2 cents worth, and now I’ve spent it

Stephen, I know MSM media beat the news up or down (I would blame individual editors for that) but manufacture news? I’ve been in the game for than 20 years and I can’t recollect an example (apart from the odd April Fools yarn). Sure, MSM gets things wrong from time to time but make things up? The only thing it makes up is the package and then it squeezes the news to fit.

PS: I’m not really old-fashioned as I began publishing news online in 1994. These days they would be called blogs; back then I had to hard-code the mongrels.

PPS: I was the online editor at my MSM organisation for five harrowing years. I allowed myself to be removed from the position because I was sick of dealing with idiots who just didn’t get “it”.

PPPS: I really hoped Twitter would bring me more up-to-date information today (I have a soft spot for Mumbai’s Colaba district and the Leopold in particualr) but all I really found was a lot of noise and not much substance.

- MSM has faults and weaknesses (in spades)
- individuals can and do break stories
- quoting other sources isn’t news in and of itself
- MSM is no longer the only player (and decreasing in relevance)

As opposed to agreeing that MSM makes news. MSM tries to manufacture news, and that’s *never* been news.

MSM has never ‘made’ news. They report it. It’s always been a distribution medium. (media being plural of medium or channel, not content). Twitterers report or retweet or distribute or filter news too. Bloggers read a Mumbai girl driving past a hotel, or watch a Channel Ten broadcast talking to some starlet in a hotel – both cases the ‘news’ is created by the women, not by the medium. Twitter adds a back channel.

Most of the reporting on coverage that I saw was how bad it was. American media calling it an “anti American” attack when it clearly felled more local people than Americans. CNN India did a good job and Sky had a Twitter feed as a ticker tape but Australian TV was apalling – I sat through 6 hours of channel flicking free to air to report THAT fact.

… and these days, we blog other bloggers articles, not MSM