July 25th, 2010 
joel Andrew Breitbart and his extensively edited YouTube video of Shirley Sherrod is the latest example of social media leading the “old” media around by the nose. Maybe it’s because of the mixing of entertainment into the newscast, or the budget cutbacks of real journalists, or even an inferiority complex and envy of the new viral media, but major vetting procedures were missed this week in the rush to judgment by Fox and the government. A whole lot of people messed up.
In Erie, its cutbacks and the economy which causes us to endure less than stellar picture quality from our TV stations, the same DJ voicetracking on multiple radio stations of different formats, and single reporters covering the entire local beat on the weekends for the newspaper. Lots of opportunities for messing up.
We can’t go back to the old days, but as media consumers we can demand better. Let your voice be heard hear on this open forum; leave a comment below, send me an e-mail or Tweet (don’t forget to follow @pressandtower).
Embrace the chaos!
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24/66 The worst judgement in jouralism I have ever heard. Fox used “facebook” for the names of the two ladies who died in the West 18th house fire. Their names had not been released as of Sunday night 10:00 gossip report.
12/35 did the same thing. Look before you leap when you criticize 24/66, all of the Erie stations are guilty of leaking the names.
Since the names of the victims were already posted on Facebook I’ll give the Erie stations a pass on reporting the names before they were officially released.
Someone posted a Facebook tribute page, so this is a grey area for Erie media: the names are already out there in “cyberspace” so who not relase them since they are already on the Internet?
It’s a stretch but 12/35, 24/66 get a pass on this. But next time…who knows?
There is no pass on it…PERIOD! If the names were being withheld pending notification of relatives then you don’t use them. I don’t care if facebook or a blog site or tribute page already had them. That is what will set “journalists” apart from “bloggers” in this new age of technology. Why use the names? It’s not like Erie TV news is competitive anymore. It’s because this is “low hanging fruit”…just log onto the internet and cut and paste. If TV newsrooms want to really impress me then do an enterprising piece of in-depth stuff on an issue facing our community. Here’s another “epic fail” on the part of TV news. Last week, WJET did the tuition comparison story on the local colleges and trade schools. Ooops! they kind of forget all about Erie Business Center. DUH!
Thank you RIP, I didn’t leap, the media did, as of Tuesday AM the names had still not been released. There have always been ways to find peoples names (phone bbooks city directories etc.) but the media usually held the info until it was released. BTW, I no longer watch the local news, I just happen to pass a TV that was on.
Really bad journalism when you have to use Facebook for your source. There is no authentication on FB…just wild accusations and statements. All the local stations are lazy and incompetant if they have to use FB. A good lawsuit againest them would fix that, but Erie doesn’t have any good lawyers anymore. Just like investigative journalism…no one in Erie has the guts to go after the offenders for fear of making waves. Where is Carol Pella when you need her? Now there was a great investigative reporter.
Hey Joel…looks like WCTL’s getting some competition. Fybush.com reports that Iorio Broadcasting seloing WNAE to Family Life Ministries, but it hinges on FCC approval of moving 102.7 to just west of Wattsburg (which is about where WCTL’s tower is, no?
Would that be allowed with WQHZ at 102.3 Jim? It could be if 102.7 was aimed away from Erie, somehow. If not, could 98.7 be sold if a translator is not needed with 102.7 covering Erie.
When FLN applied for Cambridge Springs in 2007, they promised the FCC that if they received approval, they would dispose of the 98.7 translator.
I remember working at Country 98 before and told Bill Shannon about the 98.7 translator when the WGOJ owners had it. He wasn’t too concerned until he drove by WICU and lost WXTA due to 98.7 having their antenna on a tower there. Neither he nor then station owner Bob Winters was too happy about it the next day. Too bad WYNE could not get 98.7 & boost the power but that can be costly.