Comments on: Past tense: Did a Minnesota Wikipedia user break news of Russert’s death?

By: s4xton

s4xton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:01:13 +0000

It wasn't citizen journalism at all and it wasn't independent reporting. It was taking information that the MSM was going to publish shortly and internally scooping them on their own scoop.

If the Wikipedia entry was updated by someone outside of the whole NBC circle, then yeah, fair game, but this wasn't. It'd be the same thing if the person writing the story about Russert's death was editing Wikipedia before he published his story.

I'm not a fan of media embargoes generally but I think this story is more of an internal affair at NBC and its partners and a story of breach of confidentiality. I don't buy into the idea that every single thing in every situation needs to be published immediately before the story's been written. Journalists and content publishers, both mainstream and citizen-based have responsibilities and should maintain the same levels of respect.

By: s4xton

s4xton — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

It wasn’t citizen journalism at all and it wasn’t independent reporting. It was taking information that the MSM was going to publish shortly and internally scooping them on their own scoop.

If the Wikipedia entry was updated by someone outside of the whole NBC circle, then yeah, fair game, but this wasn’t. It’d be the same thing if the person writing the story about Russert’s death was editing Wikipedia before he published his story.

I’m not a fan of media embargoes generally but I think this story is more of an internal affair at NBC and its partners and a story of breach of confidentiality. I don’t buy into the idea that every single thing in every situation needs to be published immediately before the story’s been written. Journalists and content publishers, both mainstream and citizen-based have responsibilities and should maintain the same levels of respect.