Massive failure by local news team night crews - they blew it! - NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, SFGate - all failed with Chile Quake story
Well before midnight last night I was on Twitter. That's where I learned about the earthquake in Chile.
I subscribe to automatic tweet notices from the U. S. Geological Survey (on Twitter: and and ). I learned about the earthquake in Chile moments after it struck.
I tweeted about it shortly after. That was well before midnight Friday night. The quake struck early Saturday morning Chile time. I sent off a few more warning tweets and spent the next 30 or 40-minutes or so trying to find breaking news coverage on TV.
Nothing.
CNN was showing a tired-old repeat of a tired-old Larry King program. MSNBC was broadcasting paid programming. NBC, CBS and ABC had nothing, zippo, nada. The entire American professional media was a no-show. I didn't turn on any local radio stations, but the local media that love to blast us Twitter users with their endless spam/news/garbage all day long were silent on Twitter. Nothing.
And what about all those "wannabe" journalists who have all those "breaking news" type Twitter names? Where were they? Asleep? At a party?
Where were all those local radio and TV newsroom crews who (we are told) monitor Twitter 24/7? Where were they? Asleep?
Here was an opportunity for anyone in the local professional media to use Twitter as a source and make a name for themselves by scooping the competition to get on the air with a breaking story. They let the opportunity slip away.
I've heard the local media brag about how well they monitor Twitter. TV news stations brag about it frequently. Some of the local media even follow me ( ) on Twitter, not all of them, but a few. So, if they really monitor Twitter, how did they miss that story for so long?
Professional journalism failed and they failed miserably. They did the same thing during the Iran election riots. During the first hours of the events in Iran last year, the U.S. professional media were failures and no-shows. The world relied on Twitter, Facebook and social media.
This is why the major news networks in this country are losing money. This is why they are in trouble. This is why SFGate, the online presence of the San Francisco Chronicle, is little more than an "also mention" when it comes to local news.
When the real people of the world need real news they turn to Twitter and to social media. Professional journalism has become irrelevant.
For me one thing is absolutely certain. When emergencies arise on the planet, I will turn-off the TV paid-programming, forget about the radio and log in to Twitter and social networking. I will be directly plugged into the whole world - instantly. The professional media will slowly catch up with in-depth reporting to be certain, but they no longer have a monopoly on breaking news.
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