You’re probably expecting a cleverly written column about some amazing new gadget that just hit the market. Maybe you want a suggestion on which of the new iPods I recommend. Perhaps, you’re interested in hearing the latest gossip about cell phones.
What you probably don’t expect is a writeup about the news. Why in the world is the Westside Gadget Guy writing about news, you may ask? Well, let me just tell you… I won’t pretend to be of the generation that woke up in the morning, put on my robe, patted the dog, and then headed out to the driveway to pick up the daily newspaper. That wasn’t me. When I was growing up, the news came from a box, a rectangular, flickering box. It had a knob that you could twist 13 times, giving you the choice of 13 voices that would talk and talk and talk, without ever taking
a break. How could anybody talk so much? What was there to talk about?
One thing they talked about, one very important thing, was the news. Back then the “Evening News†was a wrap-up of the day’s events. The newscaster would have a script, or at least a general outline, of what was to be reported on. Anything that happened after the newscast was tucked away for the next day’s evening news. Up-to-date news was simply a one-hour, daily feed of information. All of this changed with the birth of the Internet. News that was 24-hours-old became exactly that…old. The Internet provided a means by which news could be delivered, literally, as it happened.
This has had a huge impact on the way reporters do their work. The new
generation of reporters doesn’t go to a press conference, take some notes, have a cup of coffee, chat casually with other reporters, and then drive back to the office to start writing up a story. That would take way too long. Today’s reporters arrive with a laptop in hand, ready to type up the news and upload it to the Internet as they hear it. Even without a laptop, they can type short messages on their cell phone and publish them immediately online.
One of the ways to compete for the online readers is to be the first to get a story online. Go to any major press conference and you will see people typing away, calling away, and posting away, getting the news out at warp speed. Unfortunately, content suffers. Gone are the days of letting a story or news event percolate in your mind until it is perfectly fermented and ready for distribution. If you don’t get the news out immediately, it becomes old news.
Accuracy suffers too. A small slipup in what was or wasn’t supposed to
be said and it’s too late…the words are already uploaded in indelible ink. Didn’t mean to reveal something? Tough. Gave
some information from the wrong report? Tough. Once uploaded, a story will be available for readers before a reporter can make it back to their office to find the pink slip from their boss.
Recently, I had a personal experience with this problem of too much information too soon. A certain company’s (not to be named) sales representative inadvertently provided me with product information that he shouldn’t have. He knew I was a writer, he knew I had online blogs, and he invited me to a company unveiling of a new product. But, he goofed. He said just a bit more than he was supposed to and a few
things that weren’t 100% accurate. Within a few hours of my posting this information on my blog, he told me that his boss had come down on him because of it and that his job was on the line. All of this happened, in less time than it would take to go out for dinner and a movie. If expectations for the immediate release of news were a bit more relaxed, this might have been prevented.
We need to go back to a time when the news was both ready for public consumption and worthwhile for public consumption. We don’t have to go all the way back to bathrobes and papers on the driveway, or 13 channels on the box.
But we do need to find a happy medium. Word to the wise from the Westside Gadget Guy, be selective about what you read online or in blogs, and more importantly, about what you believe.
