Twitter vs Newspapers?

Friends or Enemies
Nowadays, the role of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, is changing the
way how we get information. Journalists from the School of Social Communication of
the Universidad Central de Venezuela made a poll about Which means of
communication (mass media) do young people use in Venezuela to get world breaking
news. Almost 60% of the ones polled affirmed that they prefer using social networks
instead of traditional media as newspapers. Based on these results, young people use
twitter more than newspapers to be informed. However, is twitter a reliable source to
red news?
Twitter has some advantages. First, Using this social network gives the possibility to
have a quick update on currents news. Readers do not need to wait until the next edition
of the print newspaper to know the outcome of an event. In fact, twitter users can give
their opinions or reports at the same time of the story. This means that news can spread
faster with this social network than newspapers.
Because of this, many press agencies have created their twitter accounts. Also, we could
see a new tendency of bloggers and Citizen Journalists that they do not have an
academic degree in journalism or communication sciences, but they do the same work
that a journalist does.
Nonetheless, newspapers are not dead. Most of the news we see on twitter is
misreported. People share information that is not confirmed. This creates chaos and
confusion, causing rumors that in the most part of the cases are false at the end.
Whereas, journalist who were trained on the science of reporting, and have developed
skills such as hard-working, responsibility, objectivity, attention to details, and the
famous nose of the journalist, make them a much better source. Furthermore,
journalist know how to manage information and present it organized in an article that
you can just read in a newspaper.
As a consequence, we could not put in a versus social networks as twitter against
newspapers because they are just two ways where the information can be shown to the
readers. They are more friends than enemies.

5 Reasons Why Facebook and Twitter Are No Replacement for a Real Newspaper

By Sabith Khan June 13, 2012

LIKE MIC ON FACEBOOK: I cant remember the last time I held a broad-sheet newspaper
in my hands. It may well be more than a month since I read the New York Times or Washington
Post in paper form. But, while the newspaper in its traditional form may be dying, reporting is
definitely not. I think there is a market for good, honest reporting; now more than ever.Most of
the news I read on a daily basis comes from: Twitter, Facebook, or an iPhone app for the
particular news service I subscribe to. As a former PR professional, I miss the daily excitement
of following an issue or news story and seeing how it is reported (or misreported) by different
newspapers. It was the unstated rule that we read at least five newspapers on a daily basis, as
we entered the office. I miss the ritual to this day. My ex-boss at Ogilvy Public Relations would
be surprised by this.While the circulation figures of major newspapers are dwindling, reporters
are laid off, and mergers and acquisitions become the trend, the days of the old style
newspapers seem to be coming to an end. But not reporting. A recent
Huffington Post article mentioned that the New York Times digital subscriptions have exceeded
their regular subscriptions according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation reports. The article
mentions that:"Overall, the report showed that circulation was up with national daily newspapers
leading the pack. Daily circulation for the 618 reporting newspapers rose .68 percent. Sunday
circulation for the 532 reporting newspapers rose 5 percent. The latest figures cover the six
months that ended on March 31, 2012."While several analysts and pundits have predicted the
fall of newspapers, I think the opposite is true. Here are five reasons why I think newspapers
will survive and evolve in the years to come, despite or rather because of the growth of social
media and blogging:
1. While anyone with a half-baked idea can write and put up a blog-post, it takes a certain skill,
aptitude, and nose for news to get to the heart of good reporting. And journalists are trained to
do this.2. There is a certain credibility that we attach to reporters that comes with plain hardwork, diligence and attention to detail. Most bloggers are not that diligent, in my
experience.3. Training makes a lot of difference. Reporting and writing analytically about
complex issues takes not only domain knowledge, but also a lot of skill and investment in time
and effort. Again, I am not sure how many bloggers invest this amount of time to hone their craft
and check for facts and counter-facts, until they arrive at the truth. 4. Information over-load is a
real issue -- it will push people to search for fewer sources to turn to on a regular basis. This
gain, will push them to more credible sources which may turn out to be the traditional
newspapers or editorial media. 5. Social media is helping traditional journalism I am sure there
are a lot of studies on this issue, but social media and content curating sites can actually help
traditional newspapers gain more popularity and readership.