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November 20, 2005
Caveats to New Media Journalists (Chapter 9)
“In the physical world, I always try to ask my self what a person I’m interviewing has to gain from doing an interview” (184).
Prospective journalists, in my opinion, would be wise to add Gillmor’s quote to their cache of journalistic wisdom. This sound advice extends to the digital world as well. Cyber-spin in the form of comments or postings, Gillmor cautions, is becoming harder to detect. Be wary of opinions from anyone who doesn’t convey their connection to the issue.
“But for now, people need to take information on the Internet with the proverbial grain of salt” (190).
Gillmor reminds the reader that there’s no substitution for common sense. Anything that has significant impact on one’s life needs to be checked out. Why? Because …
“One of the Net’s great features, the ability to remain anonymous, can also be one of its chief defects” (180).
For the journalists, anonymous posts or sources are incredulous.
Posted by NancyGregg at November 20, 2005 8:15 PM