Though it sounds like a new drug trend, twittering is the newest thing journalists like.
Journalists like to play catch up stay current on new technology trends, so when newsrooms heard about twitter, editors, who some didn’t quite understand what twitter is, sent reporters to twitter events like campaign speeches, city hall meetings and funerals. In retrospect, that last one probably wasn’t a good idea.
As fewer and fewer people read actual newspapers, journalists are desperate eager to find new ways to reach readers (even if it’s a handful of them). Journalists and newspapers have tried blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, email updates and almost everything else - save from producing actually better journalism - to try to boost readership. And since twitter doesn’t cost much, newspapers are more than eager to jump on the bandwagon.
For journalists, it’s another attempt chance to be cool, hip and relate to non-newspaper reading readers. Twittering opens up an entire new world to journalists, a world where the conventional lede and inverted pyramid are thrown out the window for nut graphs and buzz words.
Seeing their work, be it ever so brief, releases that chemical in every journalist’s brain that ensures them they are ahead of 99 percent of the world when it comes to reporting on the presidential debate, hurricane or community bake sale.
Journalists like to think that their readers want to know what is happening NOW, not then. So instead of reading a fully thought out analysis on the a speech, readers get to read postings in 140 characters or less. For example:
Biden speech: Biden: two straight forward goals - restore middle class and reclaim the world’s respect.
Palin speech: Crowd chanting “USA.”
OMG! US Prez awarded Nobel Peace Prize! :)
So in addition to taking photos, taking notes and blogging at events, journalists can add twittering to their list of duties at an assignment.
"The Daily Show's" take on journalists using Twitter, which is eerily similar to SJL's.
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