Two articles dovetailing nicely today for your consideration. First, the technological tale of President Obama going direct to the people using Google+. I’m sure his administration enjoyed not having to work through media filters on that address. All you have to do is prep the president, sit him in front of a laptop and let him talk with his audience and answer their questions.
This means something to us as reporters, of course. The White House press corps still has their deadline, but they don’t have this story. In a lot of environments we’re now seeing a bit more of this, where newsmakers speak out directly, amplifying their own message. Gigaom points to a David Carr piece about Rupert Murdoch’s nascent use of Twitter. As rebuttal Gigaom mentions a Brian Stelter presentation where he last week discussed “sources going direct,” recognizing it as a disruptive change in journalism. Gigaom agrees it is a paradigm shift.
Is it good for journalism? How can you benefit from it as a reporter? How can you overcome the obstacles it puts into place?
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