We've had an exciting week of news here at AU. The Snow-pocalypse hit, the MGC canopy collapsed, and DC has essentially been shut down.The implications of the snow extend farther than transportation logistics and widespread milk-eggs-bread shortages. Two AU news outlets are battling it out West Side Story Sharks v. Jets style to take the top spot as the "go-to" source for campus information.
In one corner, we have the tried and true Eagle. Despite their inability to produce a paper issue on Monday (Some of their Tweets cited dangerous driving conditions as the roadblock to paper delivery), they have kept both their website and Twitter account updated with campus news.
In the other corner, we have new-comer The AU Examiner. The Examiner operates on the web only, updating posts and Tweeting to generate hits on the website. The Examiner launched on Saturday to capitalize on cabin fever weary students.
Now, let me be forthcoming. I am on The AU Examiner staff, so my loyalties fall with the newbie. However, my goal is to generate a legitimate dicussion about how these two outlets are morphing, changing, and competing in the current journalistic environment.
The battle so far seems to be focused on getting "the scoop" before the other--and since there has been a plethora of breaking news, the competition has generated plenty of controversy.Some are already weary of heavy Twitter use--emphasizing the age-old debate of whether social media should be considered journalism ("Stop equating twitter updates with good journalism practices," tweeted one AU student).
Others are concerned with receiving information as fast as possible. Tweets regarding who posted information about closings first flooded the social network.
But some are simply focused on the competitive journalism aspect. "I really enjoy the shots that @theeagleonline and @auexaminer take at each other. Get over yourselves," tweeted one student.
"I dunno," said another student, "I think some journalistic competition would be very healthy for @theeagleonline and @auexaminer."
As far as I'm concerned, this dynamic sums up what we've been learning in the web section of our class. Which website reigns supreme/hits the most aspects of a good news website?
*Photo courtesy of Puget Sound Blog.
Let me start by saying that I am also slightly biased toward the Examiner as I too am a writer for the website.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with how the Examiner has broken the news nearly the instant it happens. I have heard of every snow closing first from the Examiner, then from my AU email. Furthermore, Twitter should definitely be considered a form of journalism! What faster way to break the news than by tweeting? Additionally, the Examiner would tweet the news first and then quickly work to update their website. Then, they would retweet and provide the link to the AU Examiner site.
Again, I apologize if this comment was biased toward the Examiner. I want to also give credit to the Eagle for holding down the news since 1925...impressive!