Brea Jones » new media

Bin Laden and the social media news-olution

Brea — Tue, 03 May 2011 06:29:36 +0000

I remember September 11, 2001 well. I was a junior in high school, and my mother woke me to watch the TV station’s coverage of the planes flying into the Twin Towers in New York City. I used dial-up internet from AOL at home back then. Facebook and Twitter didn’t exist. Social media was yet to be dreamed up.

But yesterday, May 1, 2011, huge portions of the world learned about the death of Osama bin Laden largely through these channels. I tuned in to TV to watch Obama’s speech, but I had my laptop and iPhone by me.

But before Obama even had a chance to announce the success of the military mission, millions of people already knew Osama was dead because of Twitter. Keith Urbahn tweeted the news more than an hour before Obama’s speech.

Twitter reports more than 4,000 tweets per second were sent at the beginning and end of Obama’s speech. TV news was struggling to keep up with the social sphere while ensuring they meet their ethical need to verify information before reporting it.

The entire flow of information changed in this major news event.

And while it is amazing to get information quickly, this must make us wonder about what ethics guide its use. There are no professionals ensuring the factual accuracy of information on Twitter. If the news media is competing with a tool that is a free-for-all, will the integrity of news media be diminished?

When I was in journalism school, we always learned that you cannot break news without confirming it. But in the race to break news, or at least not be the only news agency not covering this HUGE news, nearly every major news outlet reported the news before it was confirmed. TV newscasters even used Twitter posts and Facebook questions during the breaking news coverage.

The social media sphere has definitely changed the way we get information forever. And each major news event further evidences this evolution.

Clips for online

Brea — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:15:43 +0000

After two years spent producing and managing content rather than writing stories as a reporter, I’m finding it challenging to find ways to demonstrate my skills. What are clips when you work in online content production?

I tried to put some things together, including some stories from my writing days, so check it out. If you have suggestions for what else I should use as an example, please pass them along.

Fires on everyone’s mind

Brea — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:56:28 +0000

There is something strange about blowing away records and performing your best when others are in peril. On Tuesday, some of the worst fires Stockton has ever seen raged through a neighborhood. Smoke poured onto the highway and roads were blocked off. As firefighters did their jobs, I did mine.

I redesigned the top element of Recordnet.com to house all of the stories, video and audio from the scene and put all of our efforts on the fire. I built photo galleries, jotted down notes from reporters at the scene and worked with newsroom staff to build something thousands of people came to see and participate in. Thirty families were displaced and we set a site traffic record with 391,000 page views in one day.

It’s a sad irony, but newspapers really do show their value in times of devestation.

The content is no longer on the front page, but you can find it on a landing page:

I’m back

Brea — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:34:22 +0000

I haven’t done much blogging lately with so much going on at work. But I logged onto my Web site and realized it is in dire need of a facelift. This theme is temporary, as I’m planning a redesign of the site to make it more functional and fun. Thanks for stopping by. Check back for updates.

Corporate media jumping on the bandwagon

Brea — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:04:00 +0000

I saw this video awhile ago, but I was surprised when The Record publisher presented it to the entire editorial staff over the past several days. Check it out if you haven’t seen it before.