Altered BP photo took up 22% of blogged news links

Posted by Dawn Osakue on July 30, 2010 at 2:34 PM

Analyses by Journalism.org on reports from PEJ New Media Index for July 19-23, have noted the "roles of - and differences between - traditional journalism and digital media in a rapidly changing news universe."

Taking up 22% of blogged news links was the story about a BP spill photo with alterations discovered by blogger John Aravosis. Closely following the oil spill photo and taking up 16% of blog links was a "satirical yet pointed column in the Washington Post magazine by Gene Weingarten who lamented the changes to newspapers in the age of online news." At 14% was a column by Andrew Alexandra on how the Post "had taken too long to cover a controversy." The Shirley Sherrod story came in at 10%, and a piece by Charles Krauthammer "warning conservatives against underestimating President Obama's political skill and the impact of his policy agenda," had 9% of the links in question.

These five stories display an obvious, perhaps unintended mix between the old and the new as columnists and bloggers respect and refer to each other, yet vying among themselves for legitimacy and attention. Traditional news media is getting more tangled with and reliant on digital media, while digital media is learning the hard way to respect the old standards remain relevant.

According to Journalism.org, Aravosis "provided an example of how social media play an important role as fact-checkers. And (Weingarten) focused on the dramatic changes in newspaper journalism - with much of online commentary coming from print journalists themselves." Could such unintended interdependence form the bedrock of a smoother relationship between traditional and digital media, or would it lead to a more intense struggle between them?

Source: Journalism.org